doc/apt-ftparchive.1.xml

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   2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
   3   "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
   4
   5 <!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent">
   6 %aptent;
   7
   8 <!ENTITY % aptverbatiment SYSTEM "apt-verbatim.ent">
   9 %aptverbatiment;
  10
  11 <!ENTITY % aptvendor SYSTEM "apt-vendor.ent">
  12 %aptvendor;
  13 ]>
  14
  15 <refentry>
  16
  17  <refentryinfo>
  18    &apt-author.jgunthorpe;
  19    &apt-author.team;
  20    &apt-email;
  21    &apt-product;
  22    <!-- The last update date -->
  23    <date>2012-06-09T00:00:00Z</date>
  24  </refentryinfo>
  25
  26  <refmeta>
  27    <refentrytitle>apt-ftparchive</refentrytitle>
  28    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  29    <refmiscinfo class="manual">APT</refmiscinfo>
  30  </refmeta>
  31
  32  <!-- Man page title -->
  33  <refnamediv>
  34     <refname>apt-ftparchive</refname>
  35     <refpurpose>Utility to generate index files</refpurpose>
  36  </refnamediv>
  37
  38  &synopsis-command-apt-ftparchive;
  39
  40  <refsect1><title>Description</title>
  41    <para><command>apt-ftparchive</command> is the command line tool that generates the index
  42    files that APT uses to access a distribution source. The index files should
  43    be generated on the origin site based on the content of that site.</para>
  44
  45    <para><command>apt-ftparchive</command> is a superset of the &dpkg-scanpackages; program,
  46    incorporating its entire functionality via the <literal>packages</literal> command.
  47    It also contains a contents file generator, <literal>contents</literal>, and an
  48    elaborate means to 'script' the generation process for a complete
  49    archive.</para>
  50
  51    <para>Internally <command>apt-ftparchive</command> can make use of binary databases to
  52    cache the contents of a .deb file and it does not rely on any external
  53    programs aside from &gzip;. When doing a full generate it automatically
  54    performs file-change checks and builds the desired compressed output files.</para>
  55
  56    <para>Unless the <option>-h</option>, or <option>--help</option> option is given,
  57    one of the commands below must be present.</para>
  58
  59    <variablelist>
  60      <varlistentry><term><option>packages</option></term>
  61      <listitem><para>
  62      The packages command generates a package file from a directory tree. It
  63      takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files,
  64      emitting a package record to stdout for each. This command is
  65      approximately equivalent to &dpkg-scanpackages;.</para>
  66
  67      <para>The option <option>--db</option> can be used to specify a binary caching DB.</para></listitem>
  68      </varlistentry>
  69
  70      <varlistentry><term><option>sources</option></term>
  71      <listitem><para>
  72      The <literal>sources</literal> command generates a source index file from a directory tree.
  73      It takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .dsc files,
  74      emitting a source record to stdout for each. This command is approximately
  75      equivalent to &dpkg-scansources;.</para>
  76      <para>
  77      If an override file is specified then a source override file will be
  78      looked for with an extension of .src. The --source-override option can be
  79      used to change the source override file that will be used.</para></listitem>
  80      </varlistentry>
  81
  82      <varlistentry><term><option>contents</option></term>
  83      <listitem><para>
  84      The <literal>contents</literal> command generates a contents file from a directory tree. It
  85      takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files,
  86      and reads the file list from each file. It then sorts and writes to stdout
  87      the list of files matched to packages. Directories are not written to
  88      the output. If multiple packages own the same file then each package is
  89      separated by a comma in the output.</para>
  90      <para>
  91      The option <option>--db</option> can be used to specify a binary caching DB.</para></listitem>
  92      </varlistentry>
  93
  94      <varlistentry><term><option>release</option></term>
  95      <listitem><para>
  96      The <literal>release</literal> command generates a Release file from a
  97      directory tree. It recursively searches the given directory for uncompressed
  98      <filename>Packages</filename> and <filename>Sources</filename> files and ones
  99      compressed with <command>gzip</command>, <command>bzip2</command> or <command>lzma</command>
 100      as well as <filename>Release</filename> and <filename>md5sum.txt</filename> files by default
 101      (<literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release::Default-Patterns</literal>). Additional filename patterns
 102      can be added by listing them in <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release::Patterns</literal>.
 103      It then writes to stdout a <filename>Release</filename> file containing an MD5, SHA1 and SHA256 digest
 104      for each file.</para>
 105      <para>
 106      Values for the additional metadata fields in the Release file are
 107      taken from the corresponding variables under
 108      <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release</literal>,
 109      e.g. <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release::Origin</literal>.  The supported fields
 110      are: <literal>Origin</literal>, <literal>Label</literal>, <literal>Suite</literal>,
 111      <literal>Version</literal>, <literal>Codename</literal>, <literal>Date</literal>,
 112      <literal>Valid-Until</literal>, <literal>Architectures</literal>,
 113      <literal>Components</literal>, <literal>Description</literal>.</para></listitem>
 114
 115      </varlistentry>
 116
 117      <varlistentry><term><option>generate</option></term>
 118      <listitem><para>
 119      The <literal>generate</literal> command is designed to be runnable from a cron script and
 120      builds indexes according to the given config file. The config language
 121      provides a flexible means of specifying which index files are built from
 122      which directories, as well as providing a simple means of maintaining the
 123      required settings.</para></listitem>
 124      </varlistentry>
 125
 126      <varlistentry><term><option>clean</option></term>
 127      <listitem><para>
 128      The <literal>clean</literal> command tidies the databases used by the given
 129      configuration file by removing any records that are no longer necessary.</para></listitem>
 130      </varlistentry>
 131    </variablelist>
 132  </refsect1>
 133
 134  <refsect1><title>The Generate Configuration</title>
 135    <para>
 136    The <literal>generate</literal> command uses a configuration file to describe the
 137    archives that are going to be generated. It follows the typical ISC
 138    configuration format as seen in ISC tools like bind 8 and dhcpd.
 139    &apt-conf; contains a description of the syntax. Note that the generate
 140    configuration is parsed in sectional manner, but &apt-conf; is parsed in a
 141    tree manner. This only effects how the scope tag is handled.</para>
 142
 143    <para>
 144    The generate configuration has four separate sections, each described below.</para>
 145
 146      <refsect2><title><literal>Dir</literal> Section</title>
 147      <para>
 148      The <literal>Dir</literal> section defines the standard directories needed to
 149      locate the files required during the generation process. These
 150      directories are prepended certain relative paths defined in later
 151      sections to produce a complete an absolute path.</para>
 152      <variablelist>
 153       <varlistentry><term><option>ArchiveDir</option></term>
 154       <listitem><para>
 155       Specifies the root of the FTP archive, in a standard
 156       Debian configuration this is the directory that contains the
 157       <filename>ls-LR</filename> and dist nodes.</para></listitem>
 158       </varlistentry>
 159
 160       <varlistentry><term><option>OverrideDir</option></term>
 161       <listitem><para>
 162       Specifies the location of the override files.</para></listitem>
 163       </varlistentry>
 164
 165       <varlistentry><term><option>CacheDir</option></term>
 166       <listitem><para>
 167       Specifies the location of the cache files.</para></listitem>
 168       </varlistentry>
 169
 170       <varlistentry><term><option>FileListDir</option></term>
 171       <listitem><para>
 172       Specifies the location of the file list files,
 173       if the <literal>FileList</literal> setting is used below.</para></listitem>
 174       </varlistentry>
 175      </variablelist>
 176    </refsect2>
 177
 178    <refsect2><title><literal>Default</literal> Section</title>
 179      <para>
 180      The <literal>Default</literal> section specifies default values, and settings
 181      that control the operation of the generator. Other sections may override
 182      these defaults with a per-section setting.</para>
 183      <variablelist>
 184       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages::Compress</option></term>
 185       <listitem><para>
 186       Sets the default compression schemes to use
 187       for the package index files. It is a string that contains a space
 188       separated list of at least one of: '.' (no compression), 'gzip' and
 189       'bzip2'. The default for all compression schemes is '. gzip'.</para></listitem>
 190       </varlistentry>
 191
 192       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages::Extensions</option></term>
 193       <listitem><para>
 194       Sets the default list of file extensions that are package files.
 195       This defaults to '.deb'.</para></listitem>
 196       </varlistentry>
 197
 198       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources::Compress</option></term>
 199       <listitem><para>
 200       This is similar to <literal>Packages::Compress</literal>
 201       except that it controls the compression for the Sources files.</para></listitem>
 202       </varlistentry>
 203
 204       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources::Extensions</option></term>
 205       <listitem><para>
 206       Sets the default list of file extensions that are source files.
 207       This defaults to '.dsc'.</para></listitem>
 208       </varlistentry>
 209
 210       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents::Compress</option></term>
 211       <listitem><para>
 212       This is similar to <literal>Packages::Compress</literal>
 213       except that it controls the compression for the Contents files.</para></listitem>
 214       </varlistentry>
 215
 216       <varlistentry><term><option>Translation::Compress</option></term>
 217       <listitem><para>
 218       This is similar to <literal>Packages::Compress</literal>
 219       except that it controls the compression for the Translation-en master file.</para></listitem>
 220       </varlistentry>
 221
 222       <varlistentry><term><option>DeLinkLimit</option></term>
 223       <listitem><para>
 224       Specifies the number of kilobytes to delink (and
 225       replace with hard links) per run. This is used in conjunction with the
 226       per-section <literal>External-Links</literal> setting.</para></listitem>
 227       </varlistentry>
 228
 229       <varlistentry><term><option>FileMode</option></term>
 230       <listitem><para>
 231       Specifies the mode of all created index files. It
 232       defaults to 0644. All index files are set to this mode with no regard
 233       to the umask.</para></listitem>
 234       </varlistentry>
 235
 236       <varlistentry><term><option>LongDescription</option></term>
 237       <listitem><para>
 238       Specifies whether long descriptions should be included in the <filename>Packages</filename> file or split
 239       out into a master <filename>Translation-en</filename> file.</para></listitem>
 240       </varlistentry>
 241      </variablelist>
 242    </refsect2>
 243
 244    <refsect2><title><literal>TreeDefault</literal> Section</title>
 245      <para>
 246      Sets defaults specific to <literal>Tree</literal> sections. All of these
 247      variables are substitution variables and have the strings $(DIST),
 248      $(SECTION) and $(ARCH) replaced with their respective values.</para>
 249
 250      <variablelist>
 251       <varlistentry><term><option>MaxContentsChange</option></term>
 252       <listitem><para>
 253       Sets  the number of kilobytes of contents
 254       files that are generated each day. The contents files are round-robined
 255       so that over several days they will all be rebuilt.</para></listitem>
 256       </varlistentry>
 257
 258       <varlistentry><term><option>ContentsAge</option></term>
 259       <listitem><para>
 260       Controls the number of days a contents file is allowed
 261       to be checked without changing. If this limit is passed the mtime of the
 262       contents file is updated. This case can occur if the package file is
 263       changed in such a way that does not result in a new contents file
 264       [override edit for instance]. A hold off is allowed in hopes that new
 265       .debs will be installed, requiring a new file anyhow. The default is 10,
 266       the units are in days.</para></listitem>
 267       </varlistentry>
 268
 269       <varlistentry><term><option>Directory</option></term>
 270       <listitem><para>
 271       Sets the top of the .deb directory tree. Defaults to
 272       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/</filename></para></listitem>
 273       </varlistentry>
 274
 275       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcDirectory</option></term>
 276       <listitem><para>
 277       Sets the top of the source package directory tree. Defaults to
 278       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/source/</filename></para></listitem>
 279       </varlistentry>
 280
 281       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages</option></term>
 282       <listitem><para>
 283       Sets the output Packages file. Defaults to
 284       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/Packages</filename></para></listitem>
 285       </varlistentry>
 286
 287       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources</option></term>
 288       <listitem><para>
 289       Sets the output Sources file. Defaults to
 290       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/source/Sources</filename></para></listitem>
 291       </varlistentry>
 292
 293       <varlistentry><term><option>Translation</option></term>
 294       <listitem><para>
 295       Sets the output Translation-en master file with the long descriptions if they
 296       should be not included in the Packages file. Defaults to
 297       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/i18n/Translation-en</filename></para></listitem>
 298       </varlistentry>
 299
 300       <varlistentry><term><option>InternalPrefix</option></term>
 301       <listitem><para>
 302       Sets the path prefix that causes a symlink to be
 303       considered an internal link instead of an external link. Defaults to
 304       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/</filename></para></listitem>
 305       </varlistentry>
 306
 307       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents</option></term>
 308       <listitem><para>
 309       Sets the output Contents file. Defaults to
 310       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/Contents-$(ARCH)</filename>. If this setting causes multiple
 311       Packages files to map onto a single Contents file (as is the default)
 312       then <command>apt-ftparchive</command> will integrate those package files
 313       together automatically.</para></listitem>
 314       </varlistentry>
 315
 316       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents::Header</option></term>
 317       <listitem><para>
 318       Sets header file to prepend to the contents output.</para></listitem>
 319       </varlistentry>
 320
 321       <varlistentry><term><option>BinCacheDB</option></term>
 322       <listitem><para>
 323       Sets the binary cache database to use for this
 324       section. Multiple sections can share the same database.</para></listitem>
 325       </varlistentry>
 326
 327       <varlistentry><term><option>FileList</option></term>
 328       <listitem><para>
 329       Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree,
 330       <command>apt-ftparchive</command> should read the list of files from the given
 331       file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive directory.</para></listitem>
 332       </varlistentry>
 333
 334       <varlistentry><term><option>SourceFileList</option></term>
 335       <listitem><para>
 336       Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree,
 337       <command>apt-ftparchive</command> should read the list of files from the given
 338       file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive directory.
 339       This is used when processing source indexes.</para></listitem>
 340       </varlistentry>
 341      </variablelist>
 342    </refsect2>
 343
 344    <refsect2><title><literal>Tree</literal> Section</title>
 345      <para>
 346      The <literal>Tree</literal> section defines a standard Debian file tree which
 347      consists of a base directory, then multiple sections in that base
 348      directory and finally multiple Architectures in each section. The exact
 349      pathing used is defined by the <literal>Directory</literal> substitution variable.</para>
 350      <para>
 351      The <literal>Tree</literal> section takes a scope tag which sets the
 352      <literal>$(DIST)</literal> variable and defines the root of the tree
 353      (the path is prefixed by <literal>ArchiveDir</literal>).
 354      Typically this is a setting such as <filename>dists/&stable-codename;</filename>.</para>
 355      <para>
 356      All of the settings defined in the <literal>TreeDefault</literal> section can be
 357      used in a <literal>Tree</literal> section as well as three new variables.</para>
 358      <para>
 359      When processing a <literal>Tree</literal> section <command>apt-ftparchive</command>
 360      performs an operation similar to:
 361      <programlisting>
 362 for i in Sections do
 363    for j in Architectures do
 364       Generate for DIST=scope SECTION=i ARCH=j
 365      </programlisting></para>
 366
 367      <variablelist>
 368       <varlistentry><term><option>Sections</option></term>
 369       <listitem><para>
 370       This is a space separated list of sections which appear
 371       under the distribution; typically this is something like
 372       <literal>main contrib non-free</literal></para></listitem>
 373       </varlistentry>
 374
 375       <varlistentry><term><option>Architectures</option></term>
 376       <listitem><para>
 377       This is a space separated list of all the
 378       architectures that appear under search section. The special architecture
 379       'source' is used to indicate that this tree has a source archive.</para></listitem>
 380       </varlistentry>
 381
 382       <varlistentry><term><option>LongDescription</option></term>
 383       <listitem><para>
 384       Specifies whether long descriptions should be included in the <filename>Packages</filename> file or split
 385       out into a master <filename>Translation-en</filename> file.</para></listitem>
 386       </varlistentry>
 387
 388       <varlistentry><term><option>BinOverride</option></term>
 389       <listitem><para>
 390       Sets the binary override file. The override file
 391       contains section, priority and maintainer address information.</para></listitem>
 392       </varlistentry>
 393
 394       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcOverride</option></term>
 395       <listitem><para>
 396       Sets the source override file. The override file
 397       contains section information.</para></listitem>
 398       </varlistentry>
 399
 400       <varlistentry><term><option>ExtraOverride</option></term>
 401       <listitem><para>
 402       Sets the binary extra override file.</para></listitem>
 403       </varlistentry>
 404
 405       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcExtraOverride</option></term>
 406       <listitem><para>
 407       Sets the source extra override file.</para></listitem>
 408       </varlistentry>
 409      </variablelist>
 410    </refsect2>
 411
 412    <refsect2><title><literal>BinDirectory</literal> Section</title>
 413      <para>
 414      The <literal>bindirectory</literal> section defines a binary directory tree
 415      with no special structure. The scope tag specifies the location of
 416      the binary directory and the settings are similar to the <literal>Tree</literal>
 417      section with no substitution variables or
 418      <literal>Section</literal><literal>Architecture</literal> settings.</para>
 419      <variablelist>
 420       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages</option></term>
 421       <listitem><para>
 422       Sets the Packages file output.</para></listitem>
 423       </varlistentry>
 424
 425       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources</option></term>
 426       <listitem><para>
 427       Sets the Sources file output. At least one of
 428       <literal>Packages</literal> or <literal>Sources</literal> is required.</para></listitem>
 429       </varlistentry>
 430
 431       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents</option></term>
 432       <listitem><para>
 433       Sets the Contents file output (optional).</para></listitem>
 434       </varlistentry>
 435
 436       <varlistentry><term><option>BinOverride</option></term>
 437       <listitem><para>
 438       Sets the binary override file.</para></listitem>
 439       </varlistentry>
 440
 441       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcOverride</option></term>
 442       <listitem><para>
 443       Sets the source override file.</para></listitem>
 444       </varlistentry>
 445
 446       <varlistentry><term><option>ExtraOverride</option></term>
 447       <listitem><para>
 448       Sets the binary extra override file.</para></listitem>
 449       </varlistentry>
 450
 451       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcExtraOverride</option></term>
 452       <listitem><para>
 453       Sets the source extra override file.</para></listitem>
 454       </varlistentry>
 455
 456       <varlistentry><term><option>BinCacheDB</option></term>
 457       <listitem><para>
 458       Sets the cache DB.</para></listitem>
 459       </varlistentry>
 460
 461       <varlistentry><term><option>PathPrefix</option></term>
 462       <listitem><para>
 463       Appends a path to all the output paths.</para></listitem>
 464       </varlistentry>
 465
 466       <varlistentry><term><option>FileList</option></term><term><option>SourceFileList</option></term>
 467       <listitem><para>
 468       Specifies the file list file.</para></listitem>
 469       </varlistentry>
 470      </variablelist>
 471    </refsect2>
 472  </refsect1>
 473
 474
 475  <refsect1><title>The Binary Override File</title>
 476    <para>The binary override file is fully compatible with &dpkg-scanpackages;. It
 477    contains four fields separated by spaces. The first field is the package name,
 478    the second is the priority to force that package to, the third is
 479    the section to force that package to and the final field is the maintainer
 480    permutation field.</para>
 481    <para>The general form of the maintainer field is:
 482    <literallayout>old [// oldn]* => new</literallayout>
 483    or simply,
 484    <literallayout>new</literallayout>
 485    The first form allows a double-slash separated list of old email addresses
 486    to be specified. If any of those are found then new is substituted for the
 487    maintainer field. The second form unconditionally substitutes the
 488    maintainer field.</para>
 489  </refsect1>
 490
 491
 492  <refsect1><title>The Source Override File</title>
 493    <para>
 494    The source override file is fully compatible with &dpkg-scansources;. It
 495    contains two fields separated by spaces. The first field is the source
 496    package name, the second is the section to assign it.</para>
 497  </refsect1>
 498
 499  <refsect1><title>The Extra Override File</title>
 500    <para>
 501    The extra override file allows any arbitrary tag to be added or replaced
 502    in the output. It has three columns, the first is the package, the second is
 503    the tag and the remainder of the line is the new value.</para>
 504  </refsect1>
 505
 506  <refsect1><title>options</title>
 507    &apt-cmdblurb;
 508
 509    <variablelist>
 510      <varlistentry><term><option>--md5</option></term><term><option>--sha1</option></term><term><option>--sha256</option></term>
 511      <listitem><para>
 512      Generate the given checksum. These options default to on, when turned off the generated
 513      index files will not have the checksum fields where possible.
 514      Configuration Items: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::<replaceable>Checksum</replaceable></literal> and
 515      <literal>APT::FTPArchive::<replaceable>Index</replaceable>::<replaceable>Checksum</replaceable></literal> where
 516      <literal><replaceable>Index</replaceable></literal> can be <literal>Packages</literal>, <literal>Sources</literal> or
 517      <literal>Release</literal> and <literal><replaceable>Checksum</replaceable></literal> can be <literal>MD5</literal>,
 518      <literal>SHA1</literal> or <literal>SHA256</literal>.</para></listitem>
 519      </varlistentry>
 520
 521      <varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--db</option></term>
 522      <listitem><para>
 523      Use a binary caching DB. This has no effect on the generate command.
 524      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::DB</literal>.</para></listitem>
 525      </varlistentry>
 526
 527      <varlistentry><term><option>-q</option></term><term><option>--quiet</option></term>
 528      <listitem><para>
 529      Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
 530      More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
 531      <option>-q=#</option> to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
 532      Configuration Item: <literal>quiet</literal>.</para></listitem>
 533      </varlistentry>
 534
 535      <varlistentry><term><option>--delink</option></term>
 536      <listitem><para>
 537      Perform Delinking. If the <literal>External-Links</literal> setting is used then
 538      this option actually enables delinking of the files. It defaults to on and
 539      can be turned off with <option>--no-delink</option>.
 540      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::DeLinkAct</literal>.</para></listitem>
 541      </varlistentry>
 542
 543      <varlistentry><term><option>--contents</option></term>
 544      <listitem><para>
 545      Perform contents generation. When this option is set and package indexes
 546      are being generated with a cache DB then the file listing will also be
 547      extracted and stored in the DB for later use. When using the generate
 548      command this option also allows the creation of any Contents files. The
 549      default is on.
 550      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Contents</literal>.</para></listitem>
 551      </varlistentry>
 552
 553      <varlistentry><term><option>-s</option></term><term><option>--source-override</option></term>
 554      <listitem><para>
 555      Select the source override file to use with the <literal>sources</literal> command.
 556      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::SourceOverride</literal>.</para></listitem>
 557      </varlistentry>
 558
 559      <varlistentry><term><option>--readonly</option></term>
 560      <listitem><para>
 561      Make the caching databases read only.
 562      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::ReadOnlyDB</literal>.</para></listitem>
 563      </varlistentry>
 564
 565      <varlistentry><term><option>-a</option></term><term><option>--arch</option></term>
 566      <listitem><para>Accept in the <literal>packages</literal> and <literal>contents</literal>
 567      commands only package files matching <literal>*_arch.deb</literal> or
 568      <literal>*_all.deb</literal> instead of all package files in the given path.
 569      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Architecture</literal>.</para></listitem>
 570      </varlistentry>
 571
 572      <varlistentry><term><option>APT::FTPArchive::AlwaysStat</option></term>
 573      <listitem><para>
 574      &apt-ftparchive; caches as much as possible of metadata in a cachedb. If packages
 575      are recompiled and/or republished with the same version again, this will lead to problems
 576      as the now outdated cached metadata like size and checksums will be used. With this option
 577      enabled this will no longer happen as it will be checked if the file was changed.
 578      Note that this option is set to "<literal>false</literal>" by default as it is not recommend
 579      to upload multiply versions/builds of a package with the same versionnumber, so in theory
 580      nobody will have these problems and therefore all these extra checks are useless.
 581      </para></listitem>
 582      </varlistentry>
 583
 584      <varlistentry><term><option>APT::FTPArchive::LongDescription</option></term>
 585      <listitem><para>
 586      This configuration option defaults to "<literal>true</literal>" and should only be set to
 587      <literal>"false"</literal> if the Archive generated with &apt-ftparchive; also provides
 588      <filename>Translation</filename> files. Note that the <filename>Translation-en</filename>
 589      master file can only be created in the generate command.
 590      </para></listitem>
 591      </varlistentry>
 592
 593      &apt-commonoptions;
 594
 595    </variablelist>
 596  </refsect1>
 597
 598 <refsect1><title>Examples</title>
 599
 600 <para>To create a compressed Packages file for a directory containing
 601 binary packages (.deb):
 602
 603 <programlisting>
 604 <command>apt-ftparchive</command> packages <replaceable>directory</replaceable> | <command>gzip</command> > <filename>Packages.gz</filename>
 605 </programlisting></para>
 606
 607 </refsect1>
 608
 609  <refsect1><title>See Also</title>
 610    <para>&apt-conf;</para>
 611  </refsect1>
 612
 613  <refsect1><title>Diagnostics</title>
 614    <para><command>apt-ftparchive</command> returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.</para>
 615  </refsect1>
 616
 617  &manbugs;
 618
 619 </refentry>