MINI-DINSTALL(1)

NAME
mini-dinstall - daemon for updating Debian packages in a repository

SYNOPSIS
mini-dinstall [options] [directory]

DESCRIPTION
mini-dinstall is a tool for installing Debian packages into a personal APT repository; it is very similar to the dinstall tool on auric: it takes a changes file and installs it into the Debian archive.

The main focus of operation is a changes file. This file specifies a set of Debian binary packages, and often contains a source package too. Changes files are intended to group both Debian source and binary packages together, so that there is a single file to manipulate when uploading a package.

mini-dinstall takes a changes file in its incoming directory (or on its command line in batch mode), and installs the files it references into a directory, and sets up Packages and Sources files for use with APT.

RUNNING
mini-dinstall can run in one of two modes: batch mode or daemon mode. In batch mode, the queue is processed immediately, and the command exits when it is done. In daemon mode, which is the default, mini-dinstall runs in the background and continually checks the queue, and will process it whenever it has changed.

The optional directory argument specifies the root directory of the queue. If no argument is specified, the value from the configuration file is used.

The following options can be used:

-v, --verbose
    display extra information while running

-q, --quiet
    display as little information as possible

-c, --config=FILE
    use FILE as the configuration file, instead of ~/.mini-dinstall.conf

-d, --debug
    output debugging information to the terminal and to the log

-f, --foreground
    run in daemon mode but do not detach from the console

--no-log
    don't write any information to the logs

--no-db
    disable lookups on package database. apt-ftparchive run without --db option

-n, --no-act
    don't perform any changes; useful in combination with the -v flag

-b, --batch
    run in batch mode

-r, --run
    tell the currently running daemon to process the queue immediately

-k, --kill
    kill the currently running daemon

--help
    display a short overview of available options

--version
    display the software version

CONFIGURATION
mini-dinstall's main configuration file is ~/.mini-dinstall.conf. The file consists of a number of different sections, each one applying to a different distribution (which corresponds to the Distribution field in a changes file). There is also a default section (DEFAULT), which applies to all distributions.

Each section can contain any number of

    name = value

combinations, which set a configuration parameter for that distribution (or the default one). Lists should be separated by commas, and strings need only be enclosed with quotes if they contain spaces or commas.

The configuration parameters available in the DEFAULT section are as follows:

archivedir
    The root of the mini-dinstall archive. Must be set, either here or on the command line.

extra_keyrings
    Additional GnuPG keyrings to use for signature verification.

incoming_permissions
    The permissions for the incoming directory. mini-dinstall will attempt to set the directory's permissions at startup. A value of zero (''0'' or ''0o000'') will disable permission setting. Doing this, you MUST set permission for incoming by hand! Defaults to 0o750.

keyrings
    GnuPG keyrings to use for signature verification of changes files. Setting this parameter will modify the default list; it is generally better to modify extra_keyrings instead. Defaults to the keyrings from the debian-keyring package.

logfile
    The filename (relative to archivedir) where information will be logged. Defaults to “mini-dinstall.log”.

mail_log_flush_count
    Number of log messages after which queued messages will be sent to you. Defaults to 10.

mail_log_flush_level
    The log level upon which to immediately send all queued log messages. Valid values are the same as for the mail_log_level option. Defaults to ERROR.

mail_log_level
    The default log level which is sent to you by email. Valid values include DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, and CRITICAL. Defaults to ERROR.

mail_to
    The user to whom logs should be mailed. Defaults to the current user.

mail_subject_template
    Style of the email subject. Available substitution variables are source, version, maintainer, ... (all statements in .changes) and changes_without_dot (same as changes, but without lines with only a dot). Default is:

     mini-dinstall: Successfully installed %(source)s %(version)s to %(distribution)s

mail_body_template
    Style of the email body. Valid values are the same as for the mail_subject_template option. Default is:

     Package: %(source)s
     Maintainer: %(maintainer)s
     Changed-By: %(changed-by)s
     Changes:
     %(changes_without_dot)s

tweet_server
    server to push tweets. Possible values are twitter or identica

tweet_user
    username to login on tweet server

tweet_password
    password to login on tweet server

tweet_template
    Style of the tweet body. Valid values are the same as for the mail_subject_template option. Default is:

     Installed %(source)s %(version)s to %(distribution)s

trigger_reindex
    In daemon mode, whether or not to recreate the Packages and Sources files after every upload. If you disable this, you probably want to enable dynamic_reindex. You may want to disable this if you install a lot of packages. Defaults to enabled.

use_dnotify
    If enabled, uses the dnotify(1) command to monitor directories for changes. Only relevant if dynamic_reindex is enabled. Defaults to false.

verify_sigs
    Whether or not to verify signatures on changes files. Defaults to enabled if the debian-keyring package is installed, disabled otherwise.

The configuration parameters that can be set in the DEFAULT section and the distribution-specific sections are:

alias
    A list of alternative distribution names.

architectures
    A list of architectures to create subdirectories for. Defaults to “all, i386, powerpc, sparc”.

archive_style
    Either “flat” or “simple-subdir”. A flat archive style puts all of the binary packages into one subdirectory, while the simple archive style splits up the binary packages by architecture. Must be set.

    Sources for the “flat” style should look like:

         deb file:///home/walters/debian/ unstable/
         deb-src file:///home/walters/debian/ unstable/
         deb file:///home/walters/debian/ experimental/
         deb-src file:///home/walters/debian/ experimental/

    Sources for the “subdir” style should look like:

         deb http://localhost/~walters/debian/ local/$(ARCH)/
         deb http://localhost/~walters/debian/ local/all/
         deb-src http://localhost/~walters/debian/ local/source/

restrict_changes_files
    Determines if the changes files should be made unreadable by others. This is enabled by default, and is a good thing, since somebody else could unexpectedly upload your package. Think carefully before changing this.

dynamic_reindex
    If enabled, directories are watched for changes and new Packages and Sources files are created as needed. Only used in daemon mode. Defaults to true.

generate_release
    Causes a Release file to be generated (see release_* below) if enabled. Disabled by default.

keep_old
    Whether or not old packages should be kept, instead of deleting them when newer versions of the same packages are uploaded. Defaults to false.

mail_on_success
    Whether to mail on successful installation. Defaults to true.

tweet_on_success
    Whether to tweet (e.g. on twitter/identi.ca) on successful installation. Defaults to false.

max_retry_time
    The maximum amount of time to wait for an incomplete upload before rejecting it. Specified in seconds. Defaults to two days.

poll_time
    How often to poll directories (in seconds) for changes if dynamic_reindex is enabled. Defaults to 30 seconds.

post_install_script
    This script is run after the changes file is installed, with the full path of the changes file as its argument.

pre_install_script
    This script is run before the changes file is installed, with the full path of the changes file as its argument. If it exits with an error, the changes file is skipped.

release_codename
    The Codename field in the Release file. Defaults to “None”.

release_description
    The Description field in the Release file. Defaults to “None”.

release_label
    The Label field in the Release file. Defaults to the current user's username.

release_origin
    The Origin field in the Release file. Defaults to the current user's username.

release_suite
    The Suite field in the Release file. Defaults to “None”.

backport_release
    If enabled, automatically install package upgrades from this repository only if the installed version of the package is higher than the version of the package in other sources. Defaults to false.

experimental_release
    If enabled, packages will not automatically install or upgrade to newer versions from this repository

If this option is set, it overrides the option backport_release. Defaults to false.

release_signscript
    If specified, this script will be called to sign Release files. It will be invoked in the directory containing the Release file, and should accept the filename of the Release file to sign as the first argument (note that it is passed a temporary filename, not Release). It should generate a detached signature in a file named Release.gpg.

USING DPUT
One convenient way to use mini-dinstall is in combination with dput's “local” method. The author generally tests his Debian packages by using dput to upload them to a local repository, and then uses APT's “file” method to retrieve them locally. Here's a sample dput stanza:

     [local]
     fqdn = space-ghost.verbum.private
     incoming = /src/debian/mini-dinstall/incoming
     method = local
     run_dinstall = 0
     post_upload_command = mini-dinstall -r

Obviously, you should replace the “fqdn” and “incoming” values with whatever is appropriate for your machine. Some sample APT methods were listed in the configuration section.

Now, all you have to do to test your Debian packages is:

     $ dpkg-buildpackage
     $ dput local ../program_1.2.3-1_powerpc.changes
     # wait a few seconds
     $ apt-get update
     $ apt-get install program

AUTHOR
mini-dinstall was originally written by Colin Walters <walters@debian.org> and is now maintained by Christoph Goehre <christoph.goehre@gmx.de>.

SEE ALSO
apt-get(8), dnotify(1), dput(1), gpg(1)