1ALIEN(1)              User Contributed Perl Documentation             ALIEN(1)
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NAME

6       alien - Convert or install an alien binary package
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SYNOPSIS

9        alien [--to-deb] [--to-rpm] [--to-tgz] [--to-slp] [options] file [...]
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DESCRIPTION

12       alien is a program that converts between Red Hat rpm, Debian deb,
13       Stampede slp, Slackware tgz, and Solaris pkg file formats. If you want
14       to use a package from another linux distribution than the one you have
15       installed on your system, you can use alien to convert it to your
16       preferred package format and install it. It also supports LSB packages.
17

WARNING

19       alien should not be used to replace important system packages, like
20       init, libc, or other things that are essential for the functioning of
21       your system. Many of these packages are set up differently by the
22       different distributions, and packages from the different distributions
23       cannot be used interchangeably. In general, if you can't remove a
24       package without breaking your system, don't try to replace it with an
25       alien version.
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PACKAGE FORMAT NOTES

28       rpm For converting to and from rpm format the Red Hat Package Manager
29           must be installed.
30
31       lsb Unlike the other package formats, alien can handle the
32           depenendencies of lsb packages if the destination package format
33           supports dependencies. Note that this means that the package
34           generated from a lsb package will depend on a package named "lsb"
35           -- your distribution should provide a package by that name, if it
36           is lsb compliant. The scripts in the lsb package will be converted
37           by default as well.
38
39           To generate lsb packages, the Red Hat Package Manager must be
40           installed, and alien will use by preference a program named lsb-
41           rpm, if it exists.  No guarantees are made that the generated lsb
42           packages will be fully LSB compliant, and it's rather unlikely they
43           will unless you build them in the lsbdev environment.
44
45           Note that unlike other package formats, converting an LSB package
46           to another format will not cause its minor version number to be
47           changed.
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49       deb For converting to (but not from) deb format, the gcc, make,
50           debhelper, dpkg-dev, and dpkg packages must be installed.
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52       tgz Note that when converting from the tgz format, alien will simply
53           generate an output package that has the same files in it as are in
54           the tgz file. This only works well if the tgz file has precompiled
55           binaries in it in a standard linux directory tree. Do NOT run alien
56           on tar files with source code in them, unless you want this source
57           code to be installed in your root directory when you install the
58           package!
59
60           When using alien to convert a tgz package, all files in /etc in are
61           assumed to be configuration files.
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63       pkg To manipulate packages in the Solaris pkg format (which is really
64           the SV datastream package format), you will need the Solaris
65           pkginfo and pkgtrans tools.
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OPTIONS

68       alien will convert all the files you pass into it into all the output
69       types you specify. If no output type is specified, it defaults to
70       converting to deb format.
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72       file [...]
73           The list of package files to convert.
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75       -d, --to-deb
76           Make debian packages. This is the default.
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78       -r, --to-rpm
79           Make rpm packages.
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81       -t, --to-tgz
82           Make tgz packages.
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84       --to-slp
85           Make slp packages.
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87       -p, --to-pkg
88           Make Solaris pkg packages.
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90       -i, --install
91           Automatically install each generated package, and remove the
92           package file after it has been installed.
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94       -g, --generate
95           Generate a temporary directory suitable for building a package
96           from, but do not actually create the package. This is useful if you
97           want to move files around in the package before building it. The
98           package can be built from this temporary directory by running
99           "debian/rules binary", if you were creating a Debian package, or by
100           running "rpmbuild -bb <packagename>.spec" if you were creating a
101           Red Hat package.
102
103       -s, --single
104           Like -g, but do not generate the packagename.orig directory. This
105           is only useful when you are very low on disk space and are
106           generating a debian package.
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108       -c, --scripts
109           Try to convert the scripts that are meant to be run when the
110           package is installed and removed. Use this with caution, because
111           these scripts might be designed to work on a system unlike your
112           own, and could cause problems. It is recommended that you examine
113           the scripts by hand and check to see what they do before using this
114           option.
115
116           This is enabled by default when converting from lsb packages.
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118       --patch=patch
119           Specify the patch to be used instead of automatically looking the
120           patch up in /var/lib/alien. This has no effect unless a debian
121           package is being built.
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123       --anypatch
124           Be less strict about which patch file is used, perhaps attempting
125           to use a patch file for an older version of the package. This is
126           not guaranteed to always work; older patches may not necessarily
127           work with newer packages.
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129       --nopatch
130           Do not use any patch files.
131
132       --description=desc
133           Specifiy a description for the package. This only has an effect
134           when converting from the tgz package format, which lacks
135           descriptions.
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137       --version=version
138           Specifiy a version for the package. This only has an effect when
139           converting from the tgz package format, which may lack version
140           information.
141
142           Note that without an argument, this displays the version of alien
143           instead.
144
145       -T, --test
146           Test the generated packages. Currently this is only supported for
147           debian packages, which, if lintian is installed, will be tested
148           with lintian and lintian's output displayed.
149
150       -k, --keep-version
151           By default, alien adds one to the minor version number of each
152           package it converts. If this option is given, alien will not do
153           this.
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155       --bump=number
156           Instead of incrementing the version number of the converted package
157           by 1, increment it by the given number.
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159       --fixperms
160           Sanitize all file owners and permissions when building a deb. This
161           may be useful if the original package is a mess. On the other hand,
162           it may break some things to mess with their permissions and owners
163           to the degree this does, so it defaults to off. This can only be
164           used when converting to debian packages.
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166       --target=architecture
167           Force the architecture of the generated package to the given
168           string.
169
170       -v, --verbose
171           Be verbose: Display each command alien runs in the process of
172           converting a package.
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174       --veryverbose
175           Be verbose as with --verbose, but also display the output of each
176           command run. Some commands may generate a lot of output.
177
178       -h, --help
179           Display a short usage summary.
180
181       -V, --version
182           Display the version of alien.
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EXAMPLES

185       Here are some examples of the use of alien:
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187       alien --to-deb package.rpm
188           Convert the package.rpm into a package.deb
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190       alien --to-rpm package.deb
191           Convert the package.deb into a package.rpm
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193       alien -i package.rpm
194           Convert the package.rpm into a package.deb (converting to a .deb
195           package is default, so you need not specify --to-deb), and install
196           the generated package.
197
198       alien --to-deb --to-rpm --to-tgz --to-slp foo.deb bar.rpm baz.tgz
199           Creates 9 new packages. When it is done, foo bar and baz are
200           available in all 4 package formats.
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ENVIRONMENT

203       alien recognizes the following environment variables:
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205       RPMBUILDOPT
206           Options to pass to rpm when it is building a package.
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208       RPMINSTALLOPT
209           Options to pass to rpm when it is installing a package.
210
211       EMAIL
212           If set, alien assumes this is your email address. Email addresses
213           are included in generated debian packages.
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AUTHOR

216       alien was written by Christoph Lameter, <clameter@debian.org>.
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218       deb to rpm conversion code was taken from the martian program by
219       Randolph Chung, <tausq@debian.org>.
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221       The Solaris pkg code was written by Mark A. Hershberger
222       <mah@everybody.org>.
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224       alien has been extensively rewritten (3 times) and is now maintained by
225       Joey Hess, <joeyh@debian.org>.
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228       alien may be copied and modified under the terms of the GNU General
229       Public License.
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233perl v5.38.0                      2023-07-19                          ALIEN(1)
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