1DH_INSTALL(1) Debhelper DH_INSTALL(1)
2
6 dh_install - install files into package build directories
7
9 dh_install [-Xitem] [--autodest] [--sourcedir=dir] [debhelper options]
10 [file|dir ... destdir]
11
13 dh_install is a debhelper program that handles installing files into
14 package build directories. There are many dh_install* commands that
15 handle installing specific types of files such as documentation,
16 examples, man pages, and so on, and they should be used when possible
17 as they often have extra intelligence for those particular tasks.
18 dh_install, then, is useful for installing everything else, for which
19 no particular intelligence is needed. It is a replacement for the old
20 dh_movefiles command.
21 This program may be used in one of two ways. If you just have a file or
23 two that the upstream Makefile does not install for you, you can run
24 dh_install on them to move them into place. On the other hand, maybe
25 you have a large package that builds multiple binary packages. You can
26 use the upstream Makefile to install it all into debian/tmp, and then
27 use dh_install to copy directories and files from there into the proper
28 package build directories.
29 From debhelper compatibility level 7 on, dh_install will fall back to
31 looking in debian/tmp for files, if it does not find them in the
32 current directory (or wherever you've told it to look using
33 --sourcedir).
34
36 debian/package.install
37 List the files to install into each package and the directory they
38 should be installed to. The format is a set of lines, where each
39 line lists a file or files to install, and at the end of the line
40 tells the directory it should be installed in. The name of the
41 files (or directories) to install should be given relative to the
42 current directory, while the installation directory is given
43 relative to the package build directory. You may use wildcards in
44 the names of the files to install.
45 Note that if you list exactly one filename or wildcard-pattern on a
47 line by itself, with no explicit destination, then dh_install will
48 automatically guess the destination to use, the same as if the
49 --autodest option were used.
50 debian/not-installed
52 Used with the deprecated --list-missing and --fail-missing options.
53 Please refer to dh_missing(1) for the documentation of this file.
54
56 --list-missing
57 Deprecated: Please use dh_missing --list-missing instead. If you
58 use this option, dh_install will call dh_missing with that option
59 after it has processed all the files. Please see dh_missing(1) for
60 the documentation of this option.
61 This option is removed in compat 12.
63 --fail-missing
65 Deprecated: Please use dh_missing --fail-missing instead. If you
66 use this option, dh_install will call dh_missing with that option
67 after it has processed all the files. Please see dh_missing(1) for
68 the documentation of this option.
69 This option is removed in compat 12.
71 --sourcedir=dir
73 Look in the specified directory for files to be installed.
74 Note that this is not the same as the --sourcedirectory option used
76 by the dh_auto_* commands. You rarely need to use this option,
77 since dh_install automatically looks for files in debian/tmp in
78 debhelper compatibility level 7 and above.
79 --autodest
81 Guess as the destination directory to install things to. If this is
82 specified, you should not list destination directories in
83 debian/package.install files or on the command line. Instead,
84 dh_install will guess as follows:
85 Strip off debian/tmp (or the sourcedir if one is given) from the
87 front of the filename, if it is present, and install into the
88 dirname of the filename. So if the filename is debian/tmp/usr/bin,
89 then that directory will be copied to debian/package/usr/. If the
90 filename is debian/tmp/etc/passwd, it will be copied to
91 debian/package/etc/.
92 file|dir ... destdir
94 Lists files (or directories) to install and where to install them
95 to. The files will be installed into the first package dh_install
96 acts on.
97
99 dh_install cannot rename files or directories, it can only install them
100 with the names they already have into wherever you want in the package
101 build tree.
102 However, renaming can be achieved by using dh-exec with compatibility
104 level 9 or later. An example debian/package.install file using dh-exec
105 could look like:
106 #!/usr/bin/dh-exec
108 debian/default.conf => /etc/my-package/start.conf
109 Please remember the following three things:
111 · The package must be using compatibility level 9 or later (see
113 debhelper(7))
114 · The package will need a build-dependency on dh-exec.
116 · The install file must be marked as executable.
118
120 debhelper(7)
121 This program is a part of debhelper.
123
125 Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>
12612.7.3 2020-07-27 DH_INSTALL(1)