dpkg-scansources(1) dpkg suite dpkg-scansources(1)
NAME
dpkg-scansources - create Sources index files
SYNOPSIS
dpkg-scansources [option...] binary-dir [override-file [path-prefix]] >
Sources
DESCRIPTION
dpkg-scansources scans the given binary-dir for .dsc files. These are
used to create a Debian source index, which is output to stdout.
The override-file, if given, is used to set priorities in the resulting
index stanzas and to override the maintainer field given in the .dsc
files. The file can be compressed (since dpkg 1.15.5). See
deb-override(5) for the format of this file.
Note: Since the override file is indexed by binary, not source packages,
there's a bit of a problem here. The current implementation uses the
highest priority of all the binary packages produced by a .dsc file for
the priority of the source package, and the override entry for the first
binary package listed in the .dsc file to modify maintainer information.
This might change.
The path-prefix, if given, is prepended to the directory field in the
generated source index. You generally use this to make the directory
fields contain the path from the top of the Debian archive hierarchy.
Note: If you want to access the generated Sources file with apt(8) you
will probably need to compress the file with gzip(1) (generating a
Sources.gz file). apt(8) ignores uncompressed Sources files except on
local access (i.e. file:// sources).
OPTIONS
-n, --no-sort
Do not sort the index stanzas. Normally they are sorted by source
package name.
-e, --extra-override file
Scan file to find supplementary overrides (since dpkg 1.15.4; the
file can be compressed since dpkg 1.15.5). See
deb-extra-override(5) for more information on its format.
-s, --source-override file
Use file as the source override file (the file can be compressed
since dpkg 1.15.5). The default is the name of the override file
you specified with .src appended.
The source override file is in a different format from the binary
override file. It contains only two whitespace separated fields,
the first is the source package name and the second is the section.
Blank lines and comment lines are ignored in the normal manner. If
a package appears in both files the source override takes precedence
for setting the section.
--debug
Turn debugging on.
--help
Show the usage message and exit.
--version
Show the version and exit.
ENVIRONMENT
DPKG_COLORS
Sets the color mode (since dpkg 1.18.5). The currently accepted
values are: auto (default), always and never.
DPKG_NLS
If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native
Language Support, also known as internationalization (or i18n)
support (since dpkg 1.19.0). The accepted values are: 0 and 1
(default).
SEE ALSO
deb-override(5), deb-extra-override(5), dpkg-scanpackages(1).
1.22.21 2025-06-30 dpkg-scansources(1)
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