How do I do Debian packaging of a Python package?
Question
I need to write, or find, a script to create a Debian package, using package python-support , from a Python package. The Python package will be pure Python without C extensions.
The Python package for testing purposes will just be a directory with an empty __init__.py file and a single Python module, package_test.py .
The packaging script must use python-support to provide the correct bytecode for possible multiple installations of Python on a target platform, ie v2.5 and v2.6 on Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope).
Most advice I find while googling are just examples of nasty hacks that don't even use python-support or python-central .
I have spent hours researching this, and the best I can come up with is to hack around the script from an existing open source project, but I don't know which bits are required for what I'm doing.
Has anyone here made a Debian package out of a Python package in a reasonably non-hacky way?
I'm starting to think that it will take me more than a week to go from no knowledge of Debian packaging and python-support to getting a working script. How long has it taken others?
5 answers
solution1
30 2014-08-12 22:37:15
The right way of building a .deb package is using dpkg-buildpackage , but sometimes it is a little bit complicated. Instead you can use dpkg -b <folder> , and it will create your Debian package.
These are the basics for creating a Debian package with dpkg -b <folder> with any binary or with any kind of script that runs automatically without needing manual compilation (Python, Bash, Perl, and Ruby):
Create the files and folders in order to recreate the following structure:
ProgramName-Version/ ProgramName-Version/DEBIAN ProgramName-Version/DEBIAN/control ProgramName-Version/usr/ ProgramName-Version/usr/bin/ ProgramName-Version/usr/bin/your_scriptThe scripts placed at
/usr/bin/are directly called from the terminal. Note that I didn't add an extension to the script. Also you can notice that the structure of the .deb package will be the structure of the program once it's installed. So if you follow this logic, if your program has a single file, you can directly place it underProgramName-Version/usr/bin/your_script, but if you have multiple files, you should place them underProgramName-Version/usr/share/ProgramName/all your filesand place only one file under/usr/bin/that will call your scripts from/usr/share/ProgramName/.Change all the folder permission to root:
chown root:root -R /path/to/ProgramName-VersionChange the script's permissions:
chmod 0755 /path/to/the/scriptFinally, you can run:
dpkg -b /path/to/the/ProgramName-Versionand your .deb package will be created! (You can also add the post/pre install scripts and everything you want. It works like a normal Debian package.)
Here is an example of the control file. You only need to copy-paste it in to an empty file called "control" and put it in the DEBIAN folder.
Package: ProgramName
Version: VERSION
Architecture: all
Maintainer: YOUR NAME <EMAIL>
Depends: python2.7, etc , etc,
Installed-Size: in_kb
Homepage: http://example.com
Description: Here you can put a one line description. This is the short Description.
Here you put the long description, indented by one space.
The full article about Debian packages can be read here .
solution2
22 2010-05-09 00:50:12
I think you want http://pypi.python.org/pypi/stdeb :
stdeb produces Debian source packages from Python packages via a new distutils command, sdist_dsc. Automatic defaults are provided for the Debian package, but many aspects of the resulting package can be customized (see the customizing section, below). An additional command, bdist_deb, creates a Debian binary package, a .deb file.
solution3
21 ACCPTED 2009-09-05 06:00:43
I would take the sources of an existing Debian package, and replace the actual package in it with your package. To find a list of packages that depend on python-support, do
apt-cache rdepends python-support
Pick a package that is Architecture: all , so that it is a pure-Python package. Going through this list, I found that eg python-flup might be a good starting point. To get the source of one such package, do
apt-get source <package>
To build it, do
cd <packagesrc>
dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot
When editing it, expect that you only need the files in the debian folder; replace all references to flup with your own package name.
Once you get started, it should take you a day to complete.
solution4
18 2013-01-20 09:55:25
Most of the answers posted here are outdated, but fortunately a great Debian wiki post has been made recently, which explains the current best practices and describes how to build Debian packages for Python modules and applications.
solution5
7 2009-09-05 05:52:10
First off, there are plenty of Python packages already in Debian; you can download the source (including all the packaging) for any of them either using apt-get source or by visiting http://packages.debian.org .
You may find the following resources of use:
The technical post webpages of this site follow the CC BY-SA 4.0 protocol. If you need to reprint, please indicate the site URL or the original address.Any question please contact:yoyou2525@163.com.