PG_BUILDEXT(1) Debian PostgreSQL infrastructure PG_BUILDEXT(1)
NAME
pg_buildext - Build and install a PostgreSQL extension
SYNOPSIS
pg_buildext [options] action [src-dir] [arguments]
DESCRIPTION
pg_buildext is a script that will build a PostgreSQL extension in a
VPATH way, for potentially several PostgreSQL server versions in
parallel. It builds for the intersection of versions known in
debian/pgversions (versions supported by the package) and in
/usr/share/postgresql-common/supported-versions (versions supported in
this release).
Many PostgreSQL extension packages require no special handling at build
time and can use dh $@ --with pgxs or dh $@ --with pgxs_loop to
automatically execute the steps outlined below.
USAGE
Packages using pg_buildext should be prepared to build binaries for
PostgreSQL versions that are not present in Debian unstable, e.g. for
older releases when building backports for Debian (old)stable (possibly
including backports of newer PostgreSQL releases), or for all PostgreSQL
releases when the package is built for apt.postgresql.org.
As the set of binary packages depends on the target PostgreSQL versions,
debian/control is generated from a template in debian/control.in when
pg_buildext updatecontrol is run. Package sections that contain
PGVERSION in the package name are replaced by a list of sections,
filling in the supported PostgreSQL versions. Package sections that
contain PGVERSION outside the package name have the newest supported
PostgreSQL version filled in (useful for meta packages); words
containing PGVERSIONS be replaced by a list of words with the supported
versions filled in, this is most useful in Build-Depends. Include
/usr/share/postgresql-common/pgxs_debian_control.mk in debian/rules to
run a check at build time if updating debian/control is required.
As pg_buildext invokes make for the build, install, and clean actions,
invocations from debian/rules (which is a makefile) should be prefixed
with + so the sub-makes can talk with the make jobserver. Additional
makefile variables can be passed to make via the -m option.
Many extensions support make installcheck testing using pg_regress. As
this needs the package to be installed, it cannot be run at build time.
Instead, the tests should be run using autopkgtest from debian/tests/*.
If debian/tests/control.in exists, occurrences of package names
containing PGVERSION are replaced by lists of package names with the
target PostgreSQL versions filled in. (If no replacing is needed in
debian/tests/control, it is fine to provide the tests control file
directly.)
OPTIONS
-cio arg
-s Passed to pg_virtualenv when running installcheck.
These arguments can also be set via the PG_VIRTUALENV_ARGS
environment variable.
-m arg
Passed to make.
ACTIONS
Most actions expect a directory name where to build the sources. It will
get created for you if it does not exist. If the build-dir contains a %v
sign, it will get replaced by the specific version of PostgreSQL being
built against. (Usually this parameter is build-%v.)
supported-versions
Print effective list of supported versions, i.e. the intersection of
the sets of versions supported by the system (from
/usr/share/postgresql-common/supported-versions) and the package
(from debian/pgversions).
Use this when building packages.
installed-versions
In the list of installed packages, look for packages matching the
PGVERSION package name templates from debian/control.in, and print
the PostgreSQL major version number part.
Use this when testing packages.
checkcontrol
Check if debian/control needs updating from debian/control.in. This
is invoked from /usr/share/postgresql-common/pgxs_debian_control.mk.
When building for a backports or pgdg suite as determined by
debian/changelog, this action also updates the control file.
Otherwise, updatecontrol needs to be run manually.
updatecontrol
Update debian/control from debian/control.in, and
debian/tests/control from debian/tests/control.in if the latter
exists.
configure [src-dir] build-dir [extra-configure-options]
For every supported version, call ../configure from the build-dir
directory. (Most PostgreSQL extensions do not have a configure
script.)
build [src-dir] build-dir [extra-cflags]
Build the extension in the build-dir directory.
install [src-dir] build-dir package-pattern
Invoke make install from the build-dir directory. The third
parameter specifies the package name to use. Most packages use
postgresql-%v-pkgname. Make will be called with
DESTDIR="$(CURDIR)/debian/package".
The dpkg substitution variable postgresql:Depends is set to depend
on the required PostgreSQL server package. For compatibility with
previous packaging standards, the dependency is also added to
misc:Depends if postgresql:Depends is not used.
clean [src-dir] [build-dir] [package-pattern]
Clean the build directories.
loop [src-dir] package-pattern
As a variant to calling build and install separately for VPATH
builds, loop over the supported PostgreSQL versions in the top
source directory. This should be used if the package does not
support VPATH builds. As it also invokes make install, it should be
placed were installation happens in debian/rules, rather than where
build would normally be called.
installcheck [src-dir] [build-dir] [package-pattern]
Use pg_virtualenv make installcheck to run the extension regression
tests. This is meant to be run from debian/tests/control using
autopkgtest. If build-dir is omitted, the top source directory is
used.
If package-pattern is given, options are passed to pg_virtualenv to
set up the temporary PostgreSQL instance to find extension files in
debian/package-directory/.
Other than the other actions which run on the "supported" versions,
if debian/control.in exists, this one runs on the "installed"
versions as reported by installed-versions (unless package-pattern
is provided, which means we are called during a build).
psql [src-dir] [build-dir] [package-pattern]
virtualenv [src-dir] [build-dir] [package-pattern]
Like installcheck, but invokes psql, or a shell, both wrapped in
pg_virtualenv. Input is read from stdin.
run [src-dir] command
run_installed [src-dir] command
Runs command, with %v placeholder replaced on all supported
versions, or all installed versions, respectively.
Sometimes it is desirable to run extra code per version before invoking
the action, in that case the loop over supported versions needs to be in
the calling script. To facilitate this mode, actions can also be called
as action-version. See the installcheck example below.
SUPPORTED VERSIONS
pg_buildext reads debian/pgversions to decide which PostgreSQL to build
modules/extensions for. This file contains one PostgreSQL version number
per line, in the following formats:
all Support all versions. This is recommended unless there are known
incompatibilities.
NN Support this version.
NN+ Support this and all greater versions.
#...
Comment.
For a version to be used, it must also be listed in the output of
/usr/share/postgresql-common/supported-versions. See this file for how
to configure the list of supported versions on your system.
EXAMPLE
debian/control.in:
Source: postgresql-foobar
Rules-Requires-Root: no
Build-Depends:
architecture-is-64-bit <!pkg.postgresql.32-bit>,
debhelper-compat (= 13),
postgresql-all <!nocheck>,
postgresql-server-dev-all (>= 217~),
Package: postgresql-PGVERSION-foobar
Architecture: any
Depends:
${misc:Depends},
${postgresql:Depends},
${shlibs:Depends},
debian/pgversions:
all
# alternatives:
#9.6
#11+
debian/rules using dh $@ --with pgxs:
#!/usr/bin/make -f
override_dh_installdocs:
dh_installdocs --all README.*
%:
dh $@ --with pgxs
If the package does no support building from subdirectories, use dh $@
--with pgxs_loop:
#!/usr/bin/make -f
%:
dh $@ --with pgxs_loop
If the package does not use PGXS's "make installcheck" for testing:
override_dh_pgxs_test:
debian/rules using pg_buildext directly:
#!/usr/bin/make -f
include /usr/share/postgresql-common/pgxs_debian_control.mk
# omit this if the package does not use autoconf
override_dh_auto_configure:
+pg_buildext configure build-%v "--libdir=/usr/lib/postgresql/%v/lib --datadir=/usr/share/postgresql-%v-foobar"
override_dh_auto_build:
+pg_buildext build build-%v
override_dh_auto_test:
# nothing to do here, see debian/tests/* instead
override_dh_auto_install:
+pg_buildext install build-%v postgresql-%v-foobar
override_dh_installdocs:
dh_installdocs --all README.*
override_dh_pgxs_test:
+pg_buildext installcheck . build-%v postgresql-%v-foobar
override_dh_auto_clean:
+pg_buildext clean build-%v
%:
dh $@
debian/tests/control:
Depends: @, postgresql-common-dev
Tests: installcheck
Restrictions: allow-stderr
debian/tests/control.in: (optional)
Depends: @, postgresql-common-dev, postgresql-PGVERSION-bar
Tests: installcheck
Restrictions: allow-stderr
debian/tests/installcheck:
#!/bin/sh
pg_buildext installcheck
# alternatively: pg_buildext installcheck build-%v
# Running extra code before invoking the actual action:
set -e
for v in $(pg_buildext installed-versions); do
test -L build-$v/sql || ln -s ../sql build-$v/
test -L build-$v/expected || ln -s ../expected build-$v/
pg_buildext installcheck-$v build-$v
done
SOURCE DIRECTORY
If the package source code is not in the top level directory (i.e. the
directory which has debian/ as subdirectory), use the src-dir argument,
where src-dir must be an absolute path. Example:
override_dh_auto_build:
+pg_buildext build $(CURDIR)/postgresql-module build-%v
COMPATIBILITY
pg_buildext loop was introduced in postgresql-server-dev-all (>= 141~).
The usage of "all" or "NN+" in debian/pgversions was introduced in
postgresql-server-dev-all (>= 148~).
pg_buildext installcheck was introduced in postgresql-server-dev-all (>=
153~).
PG_VIRTUALENV_UNSHARE=-n was introduced in postgresql-common (>= 170~).
Handling of debian/tests/control.in with PGVERSION replacement was
introduced in postgresql-common (>= 171~).
The action installed-versions was introduced in postgresql-common (>=
208~). installcheck was switched to use it in the same version.
dh $@ --with pgxs and pgxs_loop, the corresponding --buildsystem, and
the psql and virtualenv actions were introduced in postgresql-server-
dev-all (>= 217~).
The replacement of PGVERSIONS (plural) in debian/control.in and
pg_buildext run and run_installed were introduced in postgresql-common
(>= 256~).
Setting pg_virtualenv arguments from PG_VIRTUALENV_ARGS was introduced
in postgresql-common (>= 259~).
SEE ALSO
/usr/share/postgresql-common/supported-versions, autopkgtest(1),
pg_virtualenv(1).
AUTHORS
Dimitri Fontaine <dim@tapoueh.org>, with extensions by Christoph Berg
<myon@debian.org>.
Debian 2025-05-07 PG_BUILDEXT(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 05:34:55 CET 2025.