1dpkg-split(1) dpkg suite dpkg-split(1)
2
6 dpkg-split - Debian package archive split/join tool
7
9 dpkg-split [option...] command
10
12 dpkg-split splits Debian binary package files into smaller parts and
13 reassembles them again, to support the storage of large package files
14 on small media such as floppy disks.
15 It can be operated manually using the --split, --join and --info
17 options.
18 It also has an automatic mode, invoked using the --auto option, where
20 it maintains a queue of parts seen but not yet reassembled and
21 reassembles a package file when it has seen all of its parts. The
22 --listq and --discard options allow the management of the queue.
23 All splitting, joining and queueing operations produce informative
25 messages on standard output; these may safely be ignored.
26
28 -s, --split complete-archive [prefix]
29 Splits a single Debian binary package into several parts.
30 The parts are named prefix.NofM.deb where N is the part number,
32 starting at 1, and M is the total number of parts (both in
33 decimal).
34 If no prefix is supplied then the complete-archive filename is
36 taken, including directory, with any trailing .deb removed.
37 -j, --join part...
39 Joins the parts of a package file together, reassembling the
40 original file as it was before it was split.
41 The part files given as arguments must be all the parts of exactly
43 the same original binary file. Each part must occur exactly once in
44 the argument list, though the parts to not need to be listed in
45 order.
46 The parts must of course all have been generated with the same part
48 size specified at split time, which means that they must usually
49 have been generated by the same invocation of dpkg-split --split.
50 The parts' filenames are not significant for the reassembly
52 process.
53 By default the output file is called package_version_arch.deb.
55 -I, --info part...
57 Prints information, in a human-readable format, about the part
58 file(s) specified. Arguments which are not binary package parts
59 produce a message saying so instead (but still on standard output).
60 -a, --auto -o complete-output part
62 Automatically queue parts and reassemble a package if possible.
63 The part specified is examined, and compared with other parts of
65 the same package (if any) in the queue of packages file parts.
66 If all parts of the package file of which part is a part are
68 available then the package is reassembled and written to complete-
69 output (which should not usually already exist, though this is not
70 an error).
71 If not then the part is copied into the queue and complete-output
73 is not created.
74 If part is not a split binary package part then dpkg-split will
76 exit with status 1; if some other trouble occurs then it will exit
77 with status 2.
78 The --output or -o option must be supplied when using --auto. (If
80 this were not mandatory the calling program would not know what
81 output file to expect.)
82 -l, --listq
84 Lists the contents of the queue of packages to be reassembled.
85 For each package file of which parts are in the queue the output
87 gives the name of the package, the parts in the queue, and the
88 total number of bytes stored in the queue.
89 -d, --discard [package...]
91 This discards parts from the queue of those waiting for the
92 remaining parts of their packages.
93 If no package is specified then the queue is cleared completely; if
95 any are specified then only parts of the relevant package(s) are
96 deleted.
97 -?, --help
99 Show the usage message and exit.
100 --version
102 Show the version and exit.
103
105 --depotdir directory
106 Specifies an alternative directory for the queue of parts awaiting
107 automatic reassembly. The default is /var/lib/dpkg/parts.
108 --admindir directory
110 Set the administrative directory to directory (since dpkg 1.21.10).
111 This is where the statoverride file is stored. Defaults to
112 «/var/lib/dpkg» if DPKG_ADMINDIR has not been set.
113 --root directory
115 Set the root directory to directory (since dpkg 1.21.10), which
116 sets the installation directory to «directory» and the
117 administrative directory to «directory/var/lib/dpkg» if DPKG_ROOT
118 has not been set.
119 -S, --partsize kibibytes
121 Specifies the maximum part size when splitting, in kibibytes (1024
122 bytes). The default is 450 KiB.
123 -o, --output complete-output
125 Specifies the output file name for a reassembly.
126 This overrides the default for a manual reassembly (--join) and is
128 mandatory for an automatic queue-or-reassemble (--auto).
129 -Q, --npquiet
131 When doing automatic queue-or-reassembly dpkg-split usually prints
132 a message if it is given a part that is not a binary package part.
133 This option suppresses this message, to allow programs such as dpkg
134 to cope with both split and unsplit packages without producing
135 spurious messages.
136 --msdos
138 Forces the output filenames generated by --split to be MSDOS-
139 compatible.
140 This mangles the prefix - either the default derived from the input
142 filename or the one supplied as an argument: alphanumerics are
143 lowercased, plus signs are replaced by x's and all other characters
144 are discarded.
145 The result is then truncated as much as is necessary, and filenames
147 of the form prefixNofM.deb are generated.
148
150 0 The requested split, merge, or other command succeeded. --info
151 commands count as successful even if the files are not binary
152 package parts.
153 1 Only occurs with --auto and indicates that the part file was not a
155 binary package part.
156 2 Fatal or unrecoverable error due to invalid command-line usage, a
158 file that looked like a package part file but was corrupted, or
159 interactions with the system, such as accesses to the database,
160 memory allocations, etc.
161
163 DPKG_ROOT
164 If set and --root option has not been specified, it will be used as
165 the filesystem root directory (since dpkg 1.21.10).
166 DPKG_ADMINDIR
168 If set and the --admindir or --root options have not been
169 specified, it will be used as the dpkg data directory (since dpkg
170 1.21.10).
171 DPKG_DEBUG
173 Sets the debug mask (since dpkg 1.21.10) from an octal value. The
174 currently accepted flags are described in the dpkg --debug option,
175 but not all these flags might have an effect on this program.
176 DPKG_COLORS
178 Sets the color mode (since dpkg 1.18.5). The currently accepted
179 values are: auto (default), always and never.
180 SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
182 If set, it will be used as the timestamp (as seconds since the
183 epoch) in the deb-split(5)'s ar(5) container.
184
186 /var/lib/dpkg/parts
187 The default queue directory for part files awaiting automatic
188 reassembly.
189 The filenames used in this directory are in a format internal to
191 dpkg-split and are unlikely to be useful to other programs, and in
192 any case the filename format should not be relied upon.
193
195 Full details of the packages in the queue are impossible to get without
196 digging into the queue directory yourself.
197 There is no easy way to test whether a file that may be a binary
199 package part is one.
200
202 deb(5), deb-control(5), dpkg-deb(1), dpkg(1).
2031.21.21 2023-02-25 dpkg-split(1)