extract a deb file, including "control" files

[cc]

Hello

Howto extract a deb file, including "control" file using dpkg-deb?
BTW I'd like to change one file and create back a deb file.

[Bro.Tiag]

Hello

Howto extract a deb file, including "control" files using dpkg-deb?
BTW I'd like to change one file and create back a deb file.

dpkg -x filename.deb target-directory will extract what is in the deb, but I'm not sure where the "control" file is.

ar -x filename.deb will give you the "control" file

-OR-


ar -t filename.deb to see what's in the deb.

[cc]

Code: Select all

# dpkg-deb -e package.deb

seems to extract "control" file into "DEBIAN" directory.

[Bro.Tiag]

Code: Select all

# dpkg-deb -e package.deb

seems to extract "control" file into "DEBIAN" directory.

Ah, there you have it.

From the dpkg man page it says;

dpkg can also be used as a front-end to dpkg-deb(1). The following are dpkg-deb
actions, and if they are encountered, dpkg just runs dpkg-deb with the parameters
given to it:
-b, --build,
-c, --contents,
-I, --info,
-f, --field,
-e, --control,
-x, --extract,
-X, --vextract, and
--fsys-tarfile.
Please refer to dpkg-deb(1) for information about these actions.

which in turn says;

-e, --control archive [directory]
Extracts the control information files from a package archive into the speci‐
fied directory.

If no directory is specified then a subdirectory DEBIAN in the current direc‐
tory is used.

The target directory (but not its parents) will be created if necessary.

Which is why dpkg -h was criptic.

Use dpkg -b|--build|-c|--contents|-e|--control|-I|--info|-f|--field|
-x|--extract|-X|--vextract|--fsys-tarfile on archives (type dpkg-deb --help).

Thanks
Cheers

[vangelis]

To extract deb file,including control files use this command:

Code: Select all

 sudo dpkg -i package.deb *

[dzz]

Surely 'dpkg -i' is to install not extract? and you don't need root to extract a deb. I did read, you should use fakeroot to rebuild.

Because I always forget the syntax I keep a script to extract and rebuild. It works for me, maybe it's useful to someone. Don't run it as root.

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash

# script name: rebuild-deb.sh
# extracts/rebuilds a deb package
# Put your deb and the script in a new directory and run it from there
#

echo "This script extracts and rebuilds a deb package. "
echo "It should called from the directory containing the original deb and run as:"
echo "./rebuild-deb.sh"
echo
ls
echo
echo "1.   Extract deb?"
echo "2.   Make deb?"
echo "Enter <1/2> :"
read REPLY
echo

   if [ "$REPLY" = "1" ]; then
ls

DEB=$(ls *.deb 2>&1)
mkdir package
cd ./package
ar -x ../$DEB

   rm debian-binary
   tar xvzf data.tar.gz && rm data.tar.gz
   mkdir DEBIAN && cd DEBIAN
   tar xvzf ../control.tar.gz && rm ../control.tar.gz

   echo "Extracted to './package'"
   echo "Make your changes. Make sure to update control and md5sum files"   
   elif [ "$REPLY" = "2" ]; then

PACKAGE=$(cat 'package/DEBIAN/control'|grep Package|sed 's|Package: ||')
VERSION=$(cat 'package/DEBIAN/control'|grep Version|sed 's|Version: ||')
ARCH=$(cat 'package/DEBIAN/control'|grep Architecture|sed 's|Architecture: ||')
fakeroot dpkg-deb -b package $PACKAGE\_$VERSION\_$ARCH.deb
   
   echo "Done"
fi


Anyone like to test/improve it?

[jmtd]

Anyone like to test/improve it?

It's far too complicated.

Extract can be achieved with just:

dpkg-deb -x foo.deb some-dir
dpkg-deb -e foo.deb some-dir/DEBIAN

Rebuild is even simpler:

dpkg-deb -b some-dir foo.deb

[dzz]

As well as forgetting the syntax, I did a script to also pick out what might be a long-winded name and (on rebuild) to get automatically the updated version line in the control file, hopefully reducing risk of typo errors and subsequent rage

But I like:

dpkg-deb -x foo.deb some-dir
dpkg-deb -e foo.deb some-dir/DEBIAN

better than ar -x and untar/tar and will try that in future

Is it incorrect that fakeroot should be used?

[eric1959]

http://ailoo.net/2009/06/repack-a-deb-a ... -dpkg-deb/

[nadir]

Found this link per chance a few days ago:
http://blog.ksplice.com/author/spang/
seems like a nice summary.

btw: per chance means that someone (you know who, right?) gave me this perl link:
http://blog.ksplice.com/2010/05/top-10- ... er-tricks/
and i clicked around at that side. This was just a pointless extra-rant.

[dzz]

Thanks eric1959, that's a really good method, it updates name and version change!

Thanks nadir, an excellent summary.

[jmtd]

Is it incorrect that fakeroot should be used?

Good catch. You should generally use fakeroot for the build stage: otherwise, the files inside the deb will be owned by whichever user you used to build it (and that used should generally not be "real" root).

Compare:

Code: Select all

jon@inoshiro:~/tmp/q$ dpkg-deb -c game-data-packager_26_all.deb |head -n 3
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2011-04-07 22:35 ./
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2011-04-07 22:35 ./etc/
-rw-r--r-- root/root       185 2011-03-23 10:00 ./etc/game-data-packager.conf

jon@inoshiro:~/tmp/q$ dpkg-deb -c foo.deb |head -n 3
drwxr-xr-x jon/jon           0 2011-04-15 14:38 ./
drwxr-xr-x jon/jon           0 2011-04-07 22:35 ./etc/
-rw-r--r-- jon/jon         185 2011-03-23 10:00 ./etc/game-data-packager.conf

In this example, 'foo.deb' is just 'game-data-packager_26_all.deb' unpacked (via -x and -e) and repacked (with -b), but not using fakeroot. As a result, all the files are owned by me (jon), not root. When installed, they'd spread jon-owned files over the filesystem. Probably not what you want.

[phenest]

Is it incorrect that fakeroot should be used?

Good catch. You should generally use fakeroot for the build stage: otherwise, the files inside the deb will be owned by whichever user you used to build it (and that used should generally not be "real" root).

Compare:

Code: Select all

jon@inoshiro:~/tmp/q$ dpkg-deb -c game-data-packager_26_all.deb |head -n 3
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2011-04-07 22:35 ./
drwxr-xr-x root/root         0 2011-04-07 22:35 ./etc/
-rw-r--r-- root/root       185 2011-03-23 10:00 ./etc/game-data-packager.conf

jon@inoshiro:~/tmp/q$ dpkg-deb -c foo.deb |head -n 3
drwxr-xr-x jon/jon           0 2011-04-15 14:38 ./
drwxr-xr-x jon/jon           0 2011-04-07 22:35 ./etc/
-rw-r--r-- jon/jon         185 2011-03-23 10:00 ./etc/game-data-packager.conf

In this example, 'foo.deb' is just 'game-data-packager_26_all.deb' unpacked (via -x and -e) and repacked (with -b), but not using fakeroot. As a result, all the files are owned by me (jon), not root. When installed, they'd spread jon-owned files over the filesystem. Probably not what you want.

Good catch indeed. I was just about to ask why fakeroot was needed until your post. I have a local repo with home made debs without using fakeroot. So far, the debs are only use on my computer, but I was going to transfer it to a web site. Can I just use:

Code: Select all

fakeroot dpkg-deb -b foo_dir

[jmtd]

Good catch indeed. I was just about to ask why fakeroot was needed until your post. I have a local repo with home made debs without using fakeroot. So far, the debs are only use on my computer, but I was going to transfer it to a web site. Can I just use:

Code: Select all

fakeroot dpkg-deb -b foo_dir

Yes.

[milomak]

Anyone like to test/improve it?

It's far too complicated.

Extract can be achieved with just:

dpkg-deb -x foo.deb some-dir
dpkg-deb -e foo.deb some-dir/DEBIAN

Rebuild is even simpler:

dpkg-deb -b some-dir foo.deb

sorry to necro the thread, but this is simply one of the best things i have learnt.