path: root/doc/mini-dinstall.1

.\" $Id: mini-dinstall.1 59 2004-01-28 20:28:50Z bob $
.\"
.\" Copyright (C) 2002 Colin Walters <walters@debian.org>
.\" Copyright (C) 2003 Graham Wilson <graham@debian.org>
.\"
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.\" it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
.\" the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
.\" (at your option) any later version.
.\"  
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.\" but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
.\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
.\" GNU General Public License for more details.
.\" 
.\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
.\" along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
.\" Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA

.TH MINI\-DINSTALL 1 "December 29, 2003" "Debian Project" mini\-dinstall
.\"
.SH NAME
mini\-dinstall \- daemon for updating Debian packages in a repository
.\"
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B mini\-dinstall
[\fIoptions\fP] [\fIdirectory\fP]
.\"
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBmini\-dinstall\fR is a tool for installing Debian packages into a personal
APT repository; it is very similar to the \fBdinstall\fR tool on auric: it takes
a changes file and installs it into the Debian archive.
.PP
The main focus of operation is a changes file.
This file specifies a set of Debian binary packages, and often contains
a source package too. Changes files are intended to group both Debian source and
binary packages together, so that there is a single file to manipulate when
uploading a package.
.PP
\fBmini-dinstall\fR takes a changes file in its \fIincoming\fR directory
(or on its command line in batch mode), and installs the files it references
into a directory, and sets up Packages and Sources files for use with APT.
.\"
.SH RUNNING
\fBmini\-dinstall\fR can run in one of two modes: batch mode or daemon mode. In
batch mode, the queue is process immediately, and the command exits when it is
done. In daemon mode, which is the default, \fBmini\-dinstall\fR runs in the
background and continually checks the queue, and will process it whenever it
has changed.
.PP
The optional \fIdirectory\fR argument specifies the root directory of the
queue. If no argument is specified, the value from the configuration file is
used.
.PP
The following options can be used:
.TP
\fB\-v\fR, \fB\-\-verbose\fR
display extra information while running
.TP
\fB\-q\fR, \fB\-\-quiet\fR
display as little information as possible
.TP
\fB\-c\fR, \fB\-\-config\fR=\fIFILE\fR
use FILE as the configuration file, instead of \fI~/.mini\-dinstall.conf\fR
.TP
\fB\-d\fR, \fB\-\-debug\fR
output debugging information to the terminal and to the log
.TP
\fB\-\-no\-log\fR
don't write any information to the logs
.TP
\fB\-n\fR, \fB\-\-no\-act\fR
don't perform any changes; useful in combination with the
.B \-v
flag
.TP
\fB\-b\fR, \fB\-\-batch\fR
run in batch mode
.TP
\fB\-r\fR, \fB\-\-run\fR
tell the currently running daemon to process the queue immediately
.TP
\fB\-k\fR, \fB\-\-kill\fR
kill the currently running daemon
.TP
\fB\-\-help\fR
display a short overview of available options
.TP
\fB\-\-version\fR
display the software version
.\"
.SH CONFIGURATION
\fBmini\-dinstall\fR's main configuration file is \fI~/.mini\-dinstall.conf\fP.
The file consists of a number of different sections, each one applying to a
different distribution (which corresponds to the Distribution field in a
changes file). There is also a default section (\fBDEFAULT\fP), which applies
to all distributions.
.PP
Each section can contain any number of
.PP
.RS
name = value
.RE
.PP
combinations, which set a configuration parameter for that distribution (or the
default one). Lists should be separated by commas, strings need only be
enclosed with quotes if they contain spaces or commas, and boolean values
should be 1 for true, and 0 for false.
.PP
The configuration parameters available in the \fBDEFAULT\fR section are as
follows:
.TP
.B archivedir
The root of the \fBmini\-dinstall\fR archive. Must be set, either here or on the
command line.
.TP
.B extra_keyrings
Additional GnuPG keyrings to use for signature verification.
.TP
.B incoming_permissions
The permissions for the \fIincoming\fR directory. \fBmini\-dinstall\fR will
attempt to set the directory's permissions at startup. Defaults to 0750.
.TP
.B keyrings
GnuPG keyrings to use for signature verification of changes files. Setting this
parameter will modify the default list; it is generally better to modify
\fBextra_keyrings\fR instead. Defaults to the keyrings from the debian\-keyring
package.
.TP
.B logfile
The filename (relative to \fBarchivedir\fR) where information will be logged.
Defaults to \*(lqmini-dinstall.log\*(rq.
.TP
.B mail_log_flush_count
Number of log messages after which queued messages will be sent to you.
Defaults to 10.
.TP
.B mail_log_flush_level
The log level upon which to immediately send all queued log messages. Valid
values are the same as for the \fBmail_log_level\fR option. Defaults to
\fBERROR\fR.
.TP
.B mail_log_level
The default log level which is sent to you by email. Valid values include
\fBDEBUG\fR, \fBINFO\fR, \fBWARN\fR, \fBERROR\fR, and \fBCRITICAL\fR. Defaults
to \fBERROR\fR.
.TP
.B mail_to
The user to whom logs should be mailed. Defaults to the current user.
.TP
.B trigger_reindex
In daemon mode, whether or not to recreate the Packages and Sources files after
every upload. If you disable this, you probably want to enable
\fBdynamic_reindex\fR. You may want to disable this if you install a \fIlot\fR
of packages. Defaults to enabled.
.TP
.B use_dnotify
If enabled, uses the \fBdnotify\fR(1) command to monitor directories for
changes. Only relevant if \fBdynamic_reindex\fR is enabled. Defaults to false.
.TP
.B verify_sigs
Whether or not to verify signatures on changes files. Defaults to enabled if
the debian\-keyring package is installed, disabled otherwise.
.\"
.PP
The configuration parameters that can be set in the \fBDEFAULT\fR section and
the distribution-specific sections are:
.TP
.B architectures
A list of architectures to create subdirectories for. Defaults to \*(lqall, i386,
powerpc, sparc\*(rq.
.TP
.B archive_style
Either \*(lqflat\*(rq or \*(lqsimple\-subdir\*(rq. A flat archive style puts all of
the binary packages into one subdirectory, while the simple archive style
splits up the binary packages by architecture. Must be set.
.RS
.PP
Sources for the \(lqflat\(rq style should look like:
.PP
.NF
.RS
 deb file:///home/walters/debian/ unstable/
 deb-src file:///home/walters/debian/ unstable/
 deb file:///home/walters/debian/ experimental/
 deb-src file:///home/walters/debian/ experimental/
.RE
.FI
.PP
Sources for the \(lqsubdir\(rq style should look like:
.PP
.NF
.RS
 deb http://localhost/~walters/debian/ local/$(ARCH)/
 deb http://localhost/~walters/debian/ local/all/
 deb-src http://localhost/~walters/debian/ local/source/
.RE
.FI
.RE
.TP
.B chown_changes_files
Determines if the changes files should be made unreadable by others. This is
enabled by default, and is a good thing, since somebody else could unexpectedly
upload your package. Think carefully before changing this.
.TP
.B dynamic_reindex
If enabled, directories are watched for changes and new Packages and Sources
files are created as needed. Only used in daemon mode. Defaults to true.
.TP
.B generate_release
Causes a Release file to be generated (see \fBrelease_*\fR below) if enabled.
Disabled by default.
.TP
.B keep_old
Whether or not old packages should be kept, instead of deleting them when newer
versions of the same packages are uploaded. Defaults to false.
.TP
.B mail_on_success
Whether to mail on successful installation. Defaults to true.
.TP
.B max_retry_time
The maximum amount of time to wait for an incomplete upload before rejecting
it. Specified in seconds. Defaults to two days.
.TP
.B poll_time
How often to poll directories (in seconds) for changes if \fBdynamic_reindex\fR
is enabled. Defaults to 30 seconds.
.TP
.B post_install_script
This script is run after the changes file is installed, with the full path of
the changes file as its argument.
.TP
.B pre_install_script
This script is run before the changes file is installed, with the full path of
the changes file as its argument. If it exits with an error, the changes file
is skipped.
.TP
.B release_codename
The Codename field in the Release file. Defaults to \*(lqNone\*(rq.
.TP
.B release_description
The Description field in the Release file. Defaults to \*(lqNone\*(rq.
.TP
.B release_label
The Label field in the Release file. Defaults to the current user's username.
.TP
.B release_origin
The Origin field in the Release file. Defaults to the current user's username.
.TP
.B release_suite
The Suite field in the Release file. Defaults to \*(lqNone\*(rq.
.TP
.B release_signscript
If specified, this script will be called to sign Release files. It will be
invoked in the directory containing the Release file, and should accept the
filename of the Release file to sign as the first argument (note that it is
passed a temporary filename, not \fIRelease\fR). It should generate a detached
signature in a file named \fIRelease.gpg\fR.
.\"
.SH "USING DPUT"
One convenient way to use \fBmini-dinstall\fR is in combination with
\fBdput\fR's \(lqlocal\(rq method. The author generally tests his Debian
packages by using \fBdput\fR to upload them to a local repository, and then
uses APT's \(lqfile\(rq method to retrieve them locally. Here's a sample
\fBdput\fR stanza:
.PP
.NF
.RS
 [local]
 fqdn = space\-ghost.verbum.private
 incoming = /src/debian/mini\-dinstall/incoming 
 method = local
 run_dinstall = 0
 post_upload_command = mini\-dinstall \-r
.RE
.FI
.PP
Obviously, you should replace the \(lqfqdn\(rq and \(lqincoming\(rq values with
whatever is appropriate for your machine.  Some sample APT methods were listed
in the configuration section.
.PP
Now, all you have to do to test your Debian packages is:
.PP
.NF
.RS
 $ dpkg-buildpackage
 $ dput local ../program_1.2.3\-1_powerpc.changes
 # wait a few seconds
 $ apt\-get update
 $ apt\-get install program
.RE
.FI
.\"
.SH AUTHOR
.B mini\-dinstall
was originally written by Colin Walters <walters@debian.org> and is now
maintained by Graham Wilson <graham@debian.org>.
.\"
.SH "SEE ALSO"
\fBapt\-get\fR(8), \fBdnotify\fR(1), \fBdput\fR(1), \fBgpg\fI(1)