ubuntu-lint(1)

📦 version 0.2.3ubuntu, in ubuntu stonking

💅 ubuntu-lint(1) — the packaging linter that has ur back

okay so like, hi bestie 🫶 this is ubuntu-lint(1), from the General Commands Manual. if ur doing Ubuntu uploads and u want someone to double-check ur vibes before u hit send, this is literally her. she's giving main character energy for Ubuntu-specific packaging policy, and i'm obsessed. let's get into it ✨

✨ NAME ✨

ubuntu-lint — packaging linter for Ubuntu uploads 🎀

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

ubuntu-lint [--help] [--verbose] [--json] [--source-dir DIR]
[--changelog FILE] [--changes-file FILE] [--all=(auto|off|warn|fail)]
[--<linter>=(auto|off|warn|fail)]...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so ubuntu-lint is a packaging linter and she is focused on Ubuntu-specific policies and conventions. she inspects Debian source package directories, changelogs, and .changes files, and then runs modular lint checks on them. no cap.

if u run her with no explicit context flags and there's a debian/ directory hanging around, ubuntu-lint will infer context from the changelog and the most recent .changes file. like she just knows. 🔮 but if u wanna tell her explicitly, use the context options down below.

bestie, the best part: most lint checks have an associated dput-ng hook defined for easy linting at upload time. so the linter can just. show up. when u upload. iconic. 👑

💜 OPTIONS 💜

  • --help, -h — show help and exit. very demure, very mindful.
  • --verbose — enable verbose output. for when u want the tea ☕
  • --json — print results as JSON.

🍓 CONTEXT OPTIONS 🍓

  • --source-dir DIR — path to the Debian source package directory to use as context.
  • --changelog FILE — path to debian/changelog to use as context.
  • --changes-file FILE — path to a source .changes file to use as context.

🌈 LINTER OPTIONS 🌈

every lint has a corresponding flag, --<linter-name>=, and it accepts exactly one of: auto, off, warn, fail.

  • auto — use the lint's default behavior, depending on whether the target is a development or stable release.
  • warn — treat detected issues as warnings.
  • fail — treat detected issues as failures.
  • off — disable the check. (she's asleep 😴)

--all= sets the default level for all linters. and any linter-specific flags that come after take precedence, so speak now or forever hold ur peace 💅

👑 AVAILABLE LINTERS 👑

⭐ distribution-invalid

detects invalid or unsupported distribution field, like incorrect distribution names.

⭐ missing-bug-references

detects when the upload is missing Launchpad bug references in the changelog.

⭐ missing-launchpad-bugs-fixed

detects when the upload is missing Launchpad bug references (i.e. the Launchpad-Bugs-Fixed field) in the .changes file.

⭐ missing-git-ubuntu-references

detects when the changes file is missing git-ubuntu metadata (i.e. the Vcs-Git, Vcs-Git-Commit, Vcs-Git-Ref fields).

⭐ git-ubuntu-references-mismatch

checks that if present, the git-ubuntu metadata in the changes file is consistent with the remote. like bestie, are u sure that's where u said u were? 😭

⭐ missing-pending-changelog-entry

detects when an upload's changelog is missing the entry of a pending change — for example, an upload that is still in -proposed.

⭐ missing-ubuntu-maintainer

detects when the changes file has not set the Maintainer field to Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>.

⭐ sru-bug-missing-template

for SRU uploads, checks if the associated bugs have filled out the SRU template.

⭐ sru-bug-missing-release-tasks

for SRU uploads, checks if the associated bugs have the correct release tasks set.

⭐ sru-version-string-breaks-upgrades

for SRU uploads, checks if the version string could break upgrade paths. 🚨

⭐ sru-version-string-convention

for SRU uploads, checks if the version string follows Ubuntu and SRU conventions.

⭐ release-mismatch

attempts to detect inconsistencies in the version string and series name. e.g. 1.2.3-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 and noble — because the ~22.04.1 looks like it is meant for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS "Jammy Jellyfish", and noble refers to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS "Noble Numbat". those two are NOT the same girl. 💀

⭐ missing-version-suffix

detects when an upload for Ubuntu is missing an appropriate version string suffix, e.g. "ubuntuX" or "buildX".

⭐ merge-missing-new-debian-changelog

for package merge uploads, checks that the changes file includes the new Debian changelog entries. in other words, this check ensures that the source package was built with -v<previous_ubuntu_version>.

there's more where that came from — see ubuntu-lint --help for the complete list. 🫶

🧚 DPUT-NG HOOKS 🧚

most lint checks have an associated dput-ng hook which is shipped in /etc/dput.d/hooks/<linter>.json. if installed alongside dpug-ng, these hooks will be invoked with dput-ng's context at upload time. automatic linting, no extra effort, we love to see it. 🔥

🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

run in the current directory (auto-detect context):

$ ubuntu-lint

run against an explicit source directory:

$ ubuntu-lint –source-dir=/path/to/src

disable a specific linter:

$ ubuntu-lint –missing-git-ubuntu-references=off

force all checks to be warnings:

$ ubuntu-lint –all=warn

🎀 AUTHOR 🎀

Canonical Ltd. — see project files for contributors.

🙈 BUGS 🙈

found something cursed? report issues to the project's issue tracker: https://github.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-lint/issues.

💖 AUTHORS 💖

Canonical Ltd..

and that's the whole page bestie, no cap. this one's ubuntu-lint(1) from the General Commands Manual, dated 2026-06-22 — go forth, lint ur uploads, and slay 💅✨💜
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