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https://github.com/kornelski/cargo-deb

A cargo subcommand that generates Debian packages from information in Cargo.toml
https://github.com/kornelski/cargo-deb

debian debian-packaging deployment rust

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A cargo subcommand that generates Debian packages from information in Cargo.toml

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README 

        
# Debian packages from Cargo projects



This is a [Cargo](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/) helper command which automatically creates binary [Debian packages](https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-binary.html) (`.deb`) from Cargo projects.



## Installation



```sh

rustup update   # Debian's Rust is too outdated, use rustup.rs

cargo install cargo-deb

```



Requires Rust 1.71+, and optionally `dpkg`, `dpkg-dev` and `liblzma-dev`. Compatible with Ubuntu. If the LZMA dependency causes you headaches, try `cargo install cargo-deb --no-default-features`.



If you get a compilation error, run `rustup update`! If you get an error running `rustup update`, uninstall your rust/cargo package, and install [the official Rust](https://rustup.rs/) instead.



## Usage



```sh

cargo deb

```



Upon running `cargo deb` from the base directory of your Rust project, the Debian package will be created in `target/debian/_-1_.deb` (or you can change the location with the `--output` option). This package can be installed with `dpkg -i target/debian/*.deb`.



`cargo deb --install` builds and installs the project system-wide.



## Configuration



No configuration is necessary to make a basic package from a Cargo project with a binary. This command obtains basic information it needs from [the `Cargo.toml` file](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html). It uses Cargo fields: `name`, `version`, `license`, `license-file`, `description`, `readme`, `homepage`, and `repository`.



For a more complete Debian package, you may also define a new table, `[package.metadata.deb]` that contains `maintainer`, `copyright`, `license-file`, `changelog`, `depends`, `conflicts`, `breaks`, `replaces`, `provides`, `extended-description`/`extended-description-file`, `section`, `priority`, and `assets`.



For a Debian package that includes one or more systemd unit files you may also wish to define a new (inline) table, `[package.metadata.deb.systemd-units]`, so that the unit files are automatically added as assets and the units are properly installed. [Systemd integration](./systemd.md)



### Debug symbols



Debug symbols are stripped from built binaries by default, unless `[profile.release] debug = true` is set in `Cargo.toml`. If `cargo deb --separate-debug-symbols` is run, the debug symbols will be packaged as a separate file installed at `/usr/lib/debug/.debug`. This can also be enabled via `[package.metadata.deb]` under `separate-debug-symbols`.



### `[package.metadata.deb]` options



Everything is optional:



- **name**: The name of the Debian package. If not present, the name of the crate is used.

- **maintainer**: The person maintaining the Debian packaging. If not present, the first author is used.

- **copyright**: To whom and when the copyright of the software is granted. If not present, the list of authors is used.

- **license-file**: 2-element array with a location of the license file and the amount of lines to skip at the top. If not present, package-level `license-file` is used.

- **depends**: The runtime [dependencies](https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html) of the project. Generated automatically when absent, or if the list includes the `$auto` keyword.

- **pre-depends**: The [pre-dependencies](https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html) of the project. This will be empty by default.

- **recommends**: The recommended [dependencies](https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html) of the project. This will be empty by default.

- **suggests**: The suggested [dependencies](https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-relationships.html) of the project. This will be empty by default.

- **enhances**: A list of packages this package can enhance. This will be empty by default.

- **conflicts**, **breaks**, **replaces**, **provides** — [package transition](https://wiki.debian.org/PackageTransition) control.

- **extended-description**: An extended description of the project — the more detailed the better. Either **extended-description-file** (see below) or package's `readme` file is used if it is not provided.

- **extended-description-file**: A file with extended description of the project. When specified, used if **extended-description** is not provided.

- **revision**: An additional version of the Debian package (when the package is updated more often than the project). It defaults to "1", but can be set to an empty string to omit the revision.

- **section**: The [application category](https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/) that the software belongs to.

- **priority**: Defines if the package is `required` or `optional`.

- **assets**: Files to be included in the package and the permissions to assign them. If assets are not specified, then defaults are taken from binaries listed in `[[bin]]` (copied to `/usr/bin/`) and package `readme` (copied to `usr/share/doc/…`).

    1. The first argument of each asset is the location of that asset in the Rust project. Glob patterns are allowed. You can use `target/release/` in asset paths, even if Cargo is configured to cross-compile or use custom `CARGO_TARGET_DIR`. The target dir paths will be automatically corrected.

    2. The second argument is where the file will be copied.

        - If is argument ends with `/` it will be inferred that the target is the directory where the file will be copied.

        - Otherwise, it will be inferred that the source argument will be renamed when copied.

    3. The third argument is the permissions (octal string) to assign that file.

- **merge-assets**: [See "Merging Assets" section under "Advanced Usage"](#merging-assets)

- **maintainer-scripts**: directory containing `templates`, `preinst`, `postinst`, `prerm`, or `postrm` [scripts](https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-maintainerscripts.html).

- **conf-files**: [List of configuration files](https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/dother.en.html#conffiles) that the package management system will not overwrite when the package is upgraded.

- **triggers-file**: Path to triggers control file for use by the dpkg trigger facility.

- **changelog**: Path to Debian-formatted [changelog file](https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/dreq.en.html#changelog).

- **features**: List of [Cargo features](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html#the-features-section) to use when building the package.

- **default-features**: whether to use default crate features in addition to the `features` list (default `true`).

- **separate-debug-symbols**: whether to keep debug symbols, but strip them from executables and save them in separate files (default `false`). If it is enabled, then `cargo deb --no-separate-debug-symbols` can be used to suppress extraction of the debug symbols.

- **preserve-symlinks**: Whether to preserve symlinks in the asset files (default `false`).

- **systemd-units**: Optional configuration settings for automated installation of [systemd units](./systemd.md).

- **conf-files**: List of absolute paths of [config files outside `/etc`](https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/dother.en.html#conffiles) `["/not-etc/app/config"]`. You still need to list the files in `assets` to have them packaged.



### Example of custom `Cargo.toml` additions



```toml

[package.metadata.deb]

maintainer = "Michael Aaron Murphy "

copyright = "2017, Michael Aaron Murphy "

license-file = ["LICENSE", "4"]

extended-description = """\

A simple subcommand for the Cargo package manager for \

building Debian packages from Rust projects."""

depends = "$auto"

section = "utility"

priority = "optional"

assets = [

    ["target/release/cargo-deb", "usr/bin/", "755"],

    ["README.md", "usr/share/doc/cargo-deb/README", "644"],

]

```



## Advanced usage



Debian packages can use a number of different compression formats, but the target system may only support some of them.

The default format is currently xz, but this may change at any point to support newer formats.

The format can be explicitly specified using the `--compress-type` command-line option. The supported formats are "gzip" and "xz".



`--fast` flag uses lighter compression. Useful for very large packages or quick deployment.



`--compress-system` forces the use of system command-line tools for data compression.



### `[package.metadata.deb.variants.$name]`



There can be multiple variants of the metadata in one `Cargo.toml` file. `--variant=name` selects the variant to use. Options set in a variant override `[package.metadata.deb]` options. It automatically adjusts the package name.



### Merging Assets



When defining a variant it can be useful to also define different assets. If the `merge-assets` option is used, `cargo-deb` will merge the list of assets provided to the option with the parent asset list. There are three merging strategies, `append`, `by.dest`, and `by.src`.



- **merge-assets.append**: Appends this list of assets to the parent list of assets.

- **merge-assets.by.dest**: Merges this list of assets to the parent list of assets, joining on the destination path. Will replace both the source path and permissions.

- **merge-assets.by.src**: Merges this list of assets to the parent list of assets, joining on the source path. Will replace both the destination path and permissions.



**Note**: Using both `append`, and a `by.*` option are allowed, w/ the former being applied before the latter.



#### Example of `merge-assets`



```toml

# Example parent asset list

[package.metadata.deb]

assets = [

    # binary

    ["target/release/example", "usr/bin/", "755"],

    # assets

    ["assets/*", "var/lib/example", "644"],

    ["target/release/assets/*", "var/lib/example", "644"],

    ["3.txt", "var/lib/example/3.txt", "644"],

    ["3.txt", "var/lib/example/merged.txt", "644"],

]



# Example merging by appending asset list

[package.metadata.deb.variants.mergeappend]

merge-assets.append = [

    ["4.txt", "var/lib/example/appended/4.txt", "644"]

]



# Example merging by `dest` path

[package.metadata.deb.variants.mergedest]

merge-assets.by.dest = [

    ["4.txt", "var/lib/example/merged.txt", "644"]

]



# Example merging by `src` path

[package.metadata.deb.variants.mergesrc]

merge-assets.by.src = [

    ["3.txt", "var/lib/example/merged-2.txt", "644"]

]



# Example merging by appending and by `src` path

[package.metadata.deb.variants.mergeappendandsrc]

merge-assets.append = [

    ["4.txt", "var/lib/example/appended/4.txt", "644"]

]

merge-assets.by.src = [

    ["3.txt", "var/lib/example/merged-2.txt", "644"]

]

```



### `[package.metadata.deb.systemd-units]`



[See systemd integration](./systemd.md).



### Cross-compilation



`cargo deb` supports cross-compilation. It can be run from any unix-like host, including macOS, provided that the build environment is set up for cross-compilation:



* The cross-compilation target has to be [installed via rustup](https://github.com/rust-lang-nursery/rustup.rs#cross-compilation) (e.g. `rustup target add i686-unknown-linux-gnu`) and has to be [installed for the host system](https://wiki.debian.org/ToolChain/Cross) (e.g. `apt-get install libc6-dev-i386`). Note that [Rust's](https://forge.rust-lang.org/release/platform-support.html) and [Debian's architecture names](https://www.debian.org/ports/) are different. See `rustc --print target-list` for the list of supported values for the `--target` argument.

* A Linux-compatible linker and system libraries (e.g. glibc or musl) must be installed and available to Rust/Cargo,

   * `dpkg --add-architecture `

   * `apt-get install pkg-config build-essential crossbuild-essential-`

* Cargo must be [configured to use a cross-linker](https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/config.html#targettriplelinker).

* Cargo dependencies that use C libraries probably won't work, unless you install a target's sysroot for `pkg-config`. Setting `PKG_CONFIG_ALLOW_CROSS=1` *will not help* at all, and will only make things *worse*.

   * `apt-get install libssl-dev:`

* Cargo dependencies that build C code probably won't work, unless you install a C compiler for the target system, and configure appropriate `CC_` variables.

   * `export HOST_CC=gcc`

   * `export CC_x86_64_unknown_linux_gnu=/usr/bin/x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc` (correct the target and paths for your OS)

* Stripping probably won't work, unless you install versions compatible with the target and configure their paths in `.cargo/config` by adding `[target.] strip = { path = "…" } objcopy = { path = "…" }`. Alternatively, use `--no-strip`.



Yes, these requirements are onerous. You can also try [`cross`](https://lib.rs/crates/cross) or [`cargo zigbuild`](https://lib.rs/crates/cargo-zigbuild), since Zig is way better at cross-compiling, and then run `cargo deb --target=… --no-build`.



```sh

cargo deb --target=i686-unknown-linux-gnu

```



Cross-compiled archives are saved in `target//debian/*.deb`. The actual archive path is printed on success.



Note that you can't use cross-compilation to build for an older version of Debian. If you need to support Debian releases older than the host, consider using a container or a VM, or make a completely static binary for MUSL instead.



### Separate debug info



To get debug symbols, set in `Cargo.toml`:



```toml

[profile.release]

debug = true

# or debug="line-tables-only" for smaller files

```



Note: building using the `dev` profile is intentionally unsupported.



```sh

cargo deb --separate-debug-symbols --compress-debug-symbols

```



Removes debug symbols from the executables, and places them in separate files in `/usr/lib/debug/.build-id/*`. Requires GNU `objcopy` tool. `--compress-debug-symbols` uses zstd, and requires `objcopy` to support it.



### Custom build flags



If you would like to handle the build process yourself, you can use `cargo deb --no-build` so that the `cargo-deb` command will not attempt to rebuild your project.



    cargo deb -- 



Flags after `--` are passed to `cargo build`, so you can use options such as `-Z`, `--frozen`, and `--locked`. Please use that only for features that `cargo-deb` doesn't support natively.



### Workspaces



Cargo-deb understands workspaces and can build all crates in the workspace if necessary. However, you must choose one crate to be the source of the package metadata. You can select which crate to build with `-p crate_name` or `--manifest-path=`.



### Custom version strings



    cargo deb --deb-version my-custom-version



Overrides the version string generated from the Cargo manifest. It also suppresses the `revision` option.



## Troubleshooting



For maximum logging, use:



```sh

RUST_LOG=debug cargo deb --verbose

```



### Undefined reference to `lzma_stream_encoder_mt` error



This happens when the system-provided LZMA library is too old. Try with a bundled version:



```sh

cargo install cargo-deb --features=static-lzma

```



or use the xz command-line tool by setting the `--compress-system` flag.



> [!NOTE]

> cargo-deb uses the [xz2](https://lib.rs/crates/xz2) crate that bundles an old safe version of liblzma 5.2 by the original maintainer, and a simple Cargo-based build script.

> It is **unaffected** by the CVE-2024-3094.