ALIEN(1p)

📦
version 8.95.9 · 4 versions
, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 ALIEN(1p) 💖

okay bestie, so this is the manual page for alien, from the User Contributed Perl Documentation corner of the internet. yes it's perl. yes it's iconic. let's go ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

alien — convert or install an alien binary package 🛸

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

alien [--to-deb] [--to-rpm] [--to-tgz] [--to-slp] [options] file [...]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so like, alien is the program that converts between Red Hat rpm, Debian deb, Stampede slp, Slackware tgz, and Solaris pkg file formats. it's literally a universal translator but for packages 💅

say you wanna use a package from a different linux distribution than the one you actually have installed — you just run alien on it, it converts to your preferred package format, and then you install it. that's it. that's the whole vibe.

it also supports LSB packages, periodt. 👑

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

bestie. listen. i need you to hear me on this one.

alien should NOT be used to replace important system packages. we're talking init, libc, or literally anything else that's essential for the functioning of your system. many of these packages are set up differently by the different distributions, and packages from different distributions cannot be used interchangeably. 🚫

in general: if you can't remove a package without breaking your system, don't try to replace it with an alien version. i'm serious. no cap. that's a "restore from backup" speedrun and you do NOT want that smoke. 🙈

🌈 PACKAGE FORMAT NOTES 🌈

rpm

for converting to and from rpm format, the Red Hat Package Manager must be installed. that's the prerequisite, no shortcuts. ✨

lsb

unlike the other package formats, alien can handle the dependencies of lsb packages — but only if the destination package format supports dependencies. okay so important detail: this means the package generated from an lsb package will depend on a package named "lsb" — your distribution should provide a package by that name, if it is lsb compliant. 🫶

also, the scripts in the lsb package will be converted by default as well.

to generate lsb packages, the Red Hat Package Manager must be installed, and alien will use by preference a program named lsb-rpm, if it exists.

🚨 no guarantees are made that the generated lsb packages will be fully LSB compliant, and it's rather unlikely they will — unless you build them in the lsbdev environment. so. temper those expectations, bestie. 😭

note that unlike other package formats, converting an LSB package to another format will not cause its minor version number to be changed. (yes that's the opposite of the default behaviour elsewhere, keep reading, it's giving plot twist 💀)

deb

for converting to (but not from) deb format, the gcc, make, debhelper, dpkg-dev, and dpkg packages must be installed. all five. every single one. 💖

tgz

okay so note that when converting from the tgz format, alien will simply generate an output package that has the same files in it as are in the tgz file. this only works well if the tgz file has precompiled binaries in it in a standard linux directory tree.

🚨 do NOT run alien on tar files with source code in them — unless you want this source code to be installed in your root directory when you install the package! like. ma'am. no. 🙈

when using alien to convert a tgz package, all files in /etc in are assumed to be configuration files.

pkg

to manipulate packages in the Solaris pkg format (which is really the SV datastream package format), you will need the Solaris pkginfo and pkgtrans tools. go get those first. 🧚

✨ OPTIONS ✨

alien will convert all the files you pass into it into all the output types you specify. if no output type is specified, it defaults to converting to deb format. that's the default, bestie. 💅

  • file [...] — the list of package files to convert. yes, plural. give it as many as you want, she can handle it.
  • -d, --to-deb — make debian packages. this is the default. 👑
  • -r, --to-rpm — make rpm packages.
  • -t, --to-tgz — make tgz packages.
  • --to-slp — make slp packages.
  • -p, --to-pkg — make Solaris pkg packages.
  • -i, --install — automatically install each generated package, and remove the package file after it has been installed. so it's like, convert-then-yeet. 🔥
  • -g, --generate — generate a temporary directory suitable for building a package from, but do not actually create the package. this is useful if you want to move files around in the package before building it. the package can be built from this temporary directory by running debian/rules binary, if you were creating a Debian package, or by running rpmbuild -bb <packagename>.spec if you were creating a Red Hat package. 🎀
  • -s, --single — like -g, but do not generate the packagename.orig directory. this is only useful when you are very low on disk space and are generating a debian package. (disk space girlies, this one's for you 🫶)
  • -c, --scripts — try to convert the scripts that are meant to be run when the package is installed and removed.
🚨 use this with caution, because these scripts might be designed to work on a system unlike your own, and could cause problems. it is recommended that you examine the scripts by hand and check to see what they do before using this option. like, actually read them. fr fr. 😭

this is enabled by default when converting from lsb packages.

  • --patch=patch — specify the patch to be used instead of automatically looking the patch up in /var/lib/alien. this has no effect unless a debian package is being built.
  • --anypatch — be less strict about which patch file is used, perhaps attempting to use a patch file for an older version of the package. this is not guaranteed to always work; older patches may not necessarily work with newer packages. so, y'know. it's giving "best effort". 💀
  • --nopatch — do not use any patch files. simple. clean. no patch energy. ✨
  • --description=desc — specify a description for the package. this only has an effect when converting from the tgz package format, which lacks descriptions. (tgz is out here with no lore, so you have to write it yourself 📝)
  • --version=version — specify a version for the package. this only has an effect when converting from the tgz package format, which may lack version information.

note that without an argument, this displays the version of alien instead. so it's a two-for-one. 🎁

  • -T, --test — test the generated packages. currently this is only supported for debian packages, which, if lintian is installed, will be tested with lintian and lintian's output displayed. 📋
  • -k, --keep-version — by default, alien adds one to the minor version number of each package it converts. if this option is given, alien will not do this. keeping it real, keeping it original. 💜
  • --bump=number — instead of incrementing the version number of the converted package by 1, increment it by the given number. you pick the number, she does the math. 🔢
  • --fixperms — sanitize all file owners and permissions when building a deb. this may be useful if the original package is a mess. on the other hand, it may break some things to mess with their permissions and owners to the degree this does, so it defaults to off. this can only be used when converting to debian packages.
🚨 so like — useful for chaos cleanup, but it can also create chaos. it's off for a reason, bestie.
  • --target=architecture — force the architecture of the generated package to the given string. 🎯
  • -v, --verbose — be verbose: display each command alien runs in the process of converting a package. 👀
  • --veryverbose — be verbose as with --verbose, but also display the output of each command run. some commands may generate a lot of output. like, a lot a lot. 🌊
  • -h, --help — display a short usage summary. 🆘
  • -V, --version — display the version of alien. 🏷️

🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

here are some examples of the use of alien:

alien --to-deb package.rpm convert the package.rpm into a package.deb 💖

alien --to-rpm package.deb convert the package.deb into a package.rpm 🔁

alien -i package.rpm convert the package.rpm into a package.deb (converting to a .deb package is default, so you need not specify --to-deb), and install the generated package. 🚀

alien --to-deb --to-rpm --to-tgz --to-slp foo.deb bar.rpm baz.tgz creates 9 new packages. when it is done, foo bar and baz are available in all 4 package formats. that's the main character move right there 👑✨

🌱 ENVIRONMENT 🌱

alien recognizes the following environment variables:

  • RPMBUILDOPT — options to pass to rpm when it is building a package.
  • RPMINSTALLOPT — options to pass to rpm when it is installing a package.
  • EMAIL — if set, alien assumes this is your email address. email addresses are included in generated debian packages. 📧

👑 AUTHOR 👑

alien was written by Christoph Lameter, <clameter@debian.org>.

deb to rpm conversion code was taken from the martian program by Randolph Chung, <tausq@debian.org>.

the Solaris pkg code was written by Mark A. Hershberger <mah@everybody.org>.

alien has been extensively rewritten (3 times) and is now maintained by Joey Hess, <joeyh@debian.org>. three rewrites?? the dedication. the commitment. we stan. 🫶

alien may be copied and modified under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

okay that's the whole page bestie, go forth and convert responsibly 💅✨

this has been perl v5.40.1, dated 2025-10-08 — the ALIEN(1p) page, signing off 🦋🎀

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