dpkg-genchanges(1)

📦
version 1.23.11 · 19 versions
, in arch rolling

✨ dpkg-genchanges — generate Debian .changes files ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to the dpkg-genchanges(1) page from the dpkg suite — this is the little tool that makes your Debian .changes file happen, and we're gonna get into every last flag together. 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

dpkg-genchanges — generate Debian .changes files.

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

dpkg-genchanges [option...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So dpkg-genchanges reads information from an unpacked and built Debian source tree, plus all the files it has generated, and then it generates a Debian upload control file — aka a .changes file. That's the whole vibe. ✨

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --build=type — specifies the build type from a comma-separated list of components. Supported since dpkg 1.18.5. The allowed values are:
    • source — upload the source package.
    • any — upload the architecture specific binary packages.
    • all — upload the architecture independent binary packages.
    • binary — upload the architecture specific and independent binary packages. This is an alias for any,all.
    • full — upload everything. This is alias for source,any,all, and the same as the default case when no build option is specified.
  • -g — equivalent to --build=source,all. Supported since dpkg 1.17.11.
  • -G — equivalent to --build=source,any. Supported since dpkg 1.17.11.
  • -b — equivalent to --build=binary or --build=any,all.
  • -B — equivalent to --build=any.
  • -A — equivalent to --build=all.
  • -S — equivalent to --build=source.

The -sx options control whether the original source archive is included in the upload if any source is being generated (i.e. -b or -B haven't been used). 👀

  • -si — by default, or if specified, the original source will be included only if the upstream version number (the version without epoch and without Debian revision) differs from the upstream version number of the previous changelog entry.
  • -sa — forces the inclusion of the original source.
  • -sd — forces the exclusion of the original source and includes only the diff.
  • -vversion — causes changelog information from all versions strictly later than version to be used.
  • -Cchanges-description — read the description of the changes from the file changes-description rather than using the information from the source tree's changelog file.
  • -mmaintainer-address — use maintainer-address as the name and email address of the maintainer for this package, rather than using the information from the source tree's control file.
  • -emaintainer-address — use maintainer-address as the name and email address of the maintainer for this upload, rather than using the information from the source tree's changelog.
  • -Vname=value — set an output substitution variable. See deb-substvars(5) for a discussion of output substitution.
  • -Tsubstvars-file — read substitution variables in substvars-file; the default is debian/substvars. No variable substitution is done on any of the fields that are output, except for the contents extracted from each binary package Description field (since dpkg 1.19.0), however the special variable Format will override the field of the same name. This option can be used multiple times to read substitution variables from multiple files (since dpkg 1.15.6).
  • -Dfield=value — override or add an output control file field.
  • -Ufield — remove an output control file field.
  • -ccontrolfile — specifies the main source control file to read information from. The default is debian/control.
  • -lchangelog-file — specifies the changelog file to read information from. The default is debian/changelog.
  • -ffiles-list-file — read the list of files to be uploaded here, rather than using debian/files.
  • -Fchangelog-format — specifies the format of the changelog. See dpkg-parsechangelog(1) for information about alternative formats.
  • -uupload-files-dir — look for the files to be uploaded in upload-files-dir rather than .. (dpkg-genchanges needs to find these files so that it can include their sizes and checksums in the .changes file).
  • -q — usually dpkg-genchanges will produce informative messages on standard error, for example about how many of the package's source files are being uploaded. -q suppresses these messages.
  • -O[filename] — print the changes file to standard output (the default) or to filename if specified. Support for the filename argument since dpkg 1.18.5.
  • -?, --help — show the usage message and exit.
  • --version — show the version and exit.

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

  • DEB_HOST_ARCH — sets the host architecture.
  • DEB_BUILD_PROFILES — if set, it will be used as the active build profile(s) to use when generating the .changes file. It is a space separated list of profile names, without any exclamation marks.
  • DPKG_COLORS — sets the color mode. The currently accepted values are: auto (default), always and never. Supported since dpkg 1.18.5.
  • DPKG_NLS — if set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native Language Support, also known as internationalization (or i18n) support. The accepted values are: 0 and 1 (default). Supported since dpkg 1.19.0.

🍓 FILES 🍓

  • debian/files — the list of generated files which are part of the upload being prepared. dpkg-genchanges reads the data here when producing a .changes file.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

deb-email(7), deb-substvars(5), deb-src-control(5), deb-src-files(5), deb-changelog(5), deb-changes(5).

💖 That’s the whole page, bestie — dpkg-genchanges(1) from the dpkg suite, version 1.23.11-dirty, dated 2026-09-09. Now go make a .changes file that slays. 🫶
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