doc/apt-ftparchive.1.xml

   1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
   2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
   3   "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
   4 <!ENTITY % aptent SYSTEM "apt.ent"> %aptent;
   5 <!ENTITY % aptverbatiment SYSTEM "apt-verbatim.ent"> %aptverbatiment;
   6 <!ENTITY % aptvendor SYSTEM "apt-vendor.ent"> %aptvendor;
   7 ]>
   8
   9 <refentry>
  10
  11  <refentryinfo>
  12    &apt-author.jgunthorpe;
  13    &apt-author.team;
  14    &apt-email;
  15    &apt-product;
  16    <!-- The last update date -->
  17    <date>2016-05-27T00:00:00Z</date>
  18  </refentryinfo>
  19
  20  <refmeta>
  21    <refentrytitle>apt-ftparchive</refentrytitle>
  22    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  23    <refmiscinfo class="manual">APT</refmiscinfo>
  24  </refmeta>
  25
  26  <!-- Man page title -->
  27  <refnamediv>
  28     <refname>apt-ftparchive</refname>
  29     <refpurpose>Utility to generate index files</refpurpose>
  30  </refnamediv>
  31
  32  &synopsis-command-apt-ftparchive;
  33
  34  <refsect1><title>Description</title>
  35    <para><command>apt-ftparchive</command> is the command line tool that generates the index
  36    files that APT uses to access a distribution source. The index files should
  37    be generated on the origin site based on the content of that site.</para>
  38
  39    <para><command>apt-ftparchive</command> is a superset of the &dpkg-scanpackages; program,
  40    incorporating its entire functionality via the <literal>packages</literal> command.
  41    It also contains a contents file generator, <literal>contents</literal>, and an
  42    elaborate means to 'script' the generation process for a complete
  43    archive.</para>
  44
  45    <para>Internally <command>apt-ftparchive</command> can make use of binary databases to
  46    cache the contents of a .deb file and it does not rely on any external
  47    programs aside from &gzip;. When doing a full generate it automatically
  48    performs file-change checks and builds the desired compressed output files.</para>
  49
  50    <para>Unless the <option>-h</option>, or <option>--help</option> option is given,
  51    one of the commands below must be present.</para>
  52
  53    <variablelist>
  54      <varlistentry><term><option>packages</option></term>
  55      <listitem><para>
  56      The packages command generates a package file from a directory tree. It
  57      takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files,
  58      emitting a package record to stdout for each. This command is
  59      approximately equivalent to &dpkg-scanpackages;.</para>
  60
  61      <para>The option <option>--db</option> can be used to specify a binary caching DB.</para></listitem>
  62      </varlistentry>
  63
  64      <varlistentry><term><option>sources</option></term>
  65      <listitem><para>
  66      The <literal>sources</literal> command generates a source index file from a directory tree.
  67      It takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .dsc files,
  68      emitting a source record to stdout for each. This command is approximately
  69      equivalent to &dpkg-scansources;.</para>
  70      <para>
  71      If an override file is specified then a source override file will be
  72      looked for with an extension of .src. The --source-override option can be
  73      used to change the source override file that will be used.</para></listitem>
  74      </varlistentry>
  75
  76      <varlistentry><term><option>contents</option></term>
  77      <listitem><para>
  78      The <literal>contents</literal> command generates a contents file from a directory tree. It
  79      takes the given directory and recursively searches it for .deb files,
  80      and reads the file list from each file. It then sorts and writes to stdout
  81      the list of files matched to packages. Directories are not written to
  82      the output. If multiple packages own the same file then each package is
  83      separated by a comma in the output.</para>
  84      <para>
  85      The option <option>--db</option> can be used to specify a binary caching DB.</para></listitem>
  86      </varlistentry>
  87
  88      <varlistentry><term><option>release</option></term>
  89      <listitem><para>
  90      The <literal>release</literal> command generates a Release file from a
  91      directory tree. It recursively searches the given directory for
  92      uncompressed and compressed <filename>Packages</filename>,
  93      <filename>Sources</filename>, <filename>Contents</filename>,
  94      <filename>Components</filename> and <filename>icons</filename> files as
  95      well as <filename>Release</filename>, <filename>Index</filename> and
  96      <filename>md5sum.txt</filename> files by default
  97      (<literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release::Default-Patterns</literal>).
  98      Additional filename patterns can be added by listing them in
  99      <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release::Patterns</literal>.  It then writes to
 100      stdout a <filename>Release</filename> file containing (by default) an MD5,
 101      SHA1, SHA256 and SHA512 digest for each file.</para>
 102      <para>
 103      Values for the additional metadata fields in the Release file are
 104      taken from the corresponding variables under
 105      <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release</literal>,
 106      e.g. <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Release::Origin</literal>. The supported fields
 107      are <literal>Origin</literal>, <literal>Label</literal>, <literal>Suite</literal>,
 108      <literal>Version</literal>, <literal>Codename</literal>, <literal>Date</literal>,
 109      <literal>Valid-Until</literal>, <literal>Signed-By</literal>, <literal>Architectures</literal>,
 110      <literal>Components</literal> and <literal>Description</literal>.</para></listitem>
 111
 112      </varlistentry>
 113
 114      <varlistentry><term><option>generate</option></term>
 115      <listitem><para>
 116      The <literal>generate</literal> command is designed to be runnable from a cron script and
 117      builds indexes according to the given config file. The config language
 118      provides a flexible means of specifying which index files are built from
 119      which directories, as well as providing a simple means of maintaining the
 120      required settings.</para></listitem>
 121      </varlistentry>
 122
 123      <varlistentry><term><option>clean</option></term>
 124      <listitem><para>
 125      The <literal>clean</literal> command tidies the databases used by the given
 126      configuration file by removing any records that are no longer necessary.</para></listitem>
 127      </varlistentry>
 128    </variablelist>
 129  </refsect1>
 130
 131  <refsect1><title>The Generate Configuration</title>
 132    <para>
 133    The <literal>generate</literal> command uses a configuration file to describe the
 134    archives that are going to be generated. It follows the typical ISC
 135    configuration format as seen in ISC tools like bind 8 and dhcpd.
 136    &apt-conf; contains a description of the syntax. Note that the generate
 137    configuration is parsed in sectional manner, but &apt-conf; is parsed in a
 138    tree manner. This only effects how the scope tag is handled.</para>
 139
 140    <para>
 141    The generate configuration has four separate sections, each described below.</para>
 142
 143      <refsect2><title><literal>Dir</literal> Section</title>
 144      <para>
 145      The <literal>Dir</literal> section defines the standard directories needed to
 146      locate the files required during the generation process. These
 147      directories are prepended certain relative paths defined in later
 148      sections to produce a complete an absolute path.</para>
 149      <variablelist>
 150       <varlistentry><term><option>ArchiveDir</option></term>
 151       <listitem><para>
 152       Specifies the root of the FTP archive, in a standard
 153       Debian configuration this is the directory that contains the
 154       <filename>ls-LR</filename> and dist nodes.</para></listitem>
 155       </varlistentry>
 156
 157       <varlistentry><term><option>OverrideDir</option></term>
 158       <listitem><para>
 159       Specifies the location of the override files.</para></listitem>
 160       </varlistentry>
 161
 162       <varlistentry><term><option>CacheDir</option></term>
 163       <listitem><para>
 164       Specifies the location of the cache files.</para></listitem>
 165       </varlistentry>
 166
 167       <varlistentry><term><option>FileListDir</option></term>
 168       <listitem><para>
 169       Specifies the location of the file list files,
 170       if the <literal>FileList</literal> setting is used below.</para></listitem>
 171       </varlistentry>
 172      </variablelist>
 173    </refsect2>
 174
 175    <refsect2><title><literal>Default</literal> Section</title>
 176      <para>
 177      The <literal>Default</literal> section specifies default values, and settings
 178      that control the operation of the generator. Other sections may override
 179      these defaults with a per-section setting.</para>
 180      <variablelist>
 181       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages::Compress</option></term>
 182       <listitem><para>
 183       Sets the default compression schemes to use
 184       for the package index files. It is a string that contains a space
 185       separated list of at least one of the compressors configured via the
 186       <option>APT::Compressor</option> configuration scope.
 187       The default for all compression schemes is '. gzip'.</para></listitem>
 188       </varlistentry>
 189
 190       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages::Extensions</option></term>
 191       <listitem><para>
 192       Sets the default list of file extensions that are package files.
 193       This defaults to '.deb'.</para></listitem>
 194       </varlistentry>
 195
 196       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources::Compress</option></term>
 197       <listitem><para>
 198       This is similar to <literal>Packages::Compress</literal>
 199       except that it controls the compression for the Sources files.</para></listitem>
 200       </varlistentry>
 201
 202       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources::Extensions</option></term>
 203       <listitem><para>
 204       Sets the default list of file extensions that are source files.
 205       This defaults to '.dsc'.</para></listitem>
 206       </varlistentry>
 207
 208       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents::Compress</option></term>
 209       <listitem><para>
 210       This is similar to <literal>Packages::Compress</literal>
 211       except that it controls the compression for the Contents files.</para></listitem>
 212       </varlistentry>
 213
 214       <varlistentry><term><option>Translation::Compress</option></term>
 215       <listitem><para>
 216       This is similar to <literal>Packages::Compress</literal>
 217       except that it controls the compression for the Translation-en master file.</para></listitem>
 218       </varlistentry>
 219
 220       <varlistentry><term><option>DeLinkLimit</option></term>
 221       <listitem><para>
 222       Specifies the number of kilobytes to delink (and
 223       replace with hard links) per run. This is used in conjunction with the
 224       per-section <literal>External-Links</literal> setting.</para></listitem>
 225       </varlistentry>
 226
 227       <varlistentry><term><option>FileMode</option></term>
 228       <listitem><para>
 229       Specifies the mode of all created index files. It
 230       defaults to 0644. All index files are set to this mode with no regard
 231       to the umask.</para></listitem>
 232       </varlistentry>
 233
 234       <varlistentry><term><option>LongDescription</option></term>
 235       <listitem><para>
 236       Specifies whether long descriptions should be included in the <filename>Packages</filename> file or split
 237       out into a master <filename>Translation-en</filename> file.</para></listitem>
 238       </varlistentry>
 239      </variablelist>
 240    </refsect2>
 241
 242    <refsect2><title><literal>TreeDefault</literal> Section</title>
 243      <para>
 244      Sets defaults specific to <literal>Tree</literal> sections. All of these
 245      variables are substitution variables and have the strings $(DIST),
 246      $(SECTION) and $(ARCH) replaced with their respective values.</para>
 247
 248      <variablelist>
 249       <varlistentry><term><option>MaxContentsChange</option></term>
 250       <listitem><para>
 251       Sets  the number of kilobytes of contents
 252       files that are generated each day. The contents files are round-robined
 253       so that over several days they will all be rebuilt.</para></listitem>
 254       </varlistentry>
 255
 256       <varlistentry><term><option>ContentsAge</option></term>
 257       <listitem><para>
 258       Controls the number of days a contents file is allowed
 259       to be checked without changing. If this limit is passed the mtime of the
 260       contents file is updated. This case can occur if the package file is
 261       changed in such a way that does not result in a new contents file
 262       [override edit for instance]. A hold off is allowed in hopes that new
 263       .debs will be installed, requiring a new file anyhow. The default is 10,
 264       the units are in days.</para></listitem>
 265       </varlistentry>
 266
 267       <varlistentry><term><option>Directory</option></term>
 268       <listitem><para>
 269       Sets the top of the .deb directory tree. Defaults to
 270       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/</filename></para></listitem>
 271       </varlistentry>
 272
 273       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcDirectory</option></term>
 274       <listitem><para>
 275       Sets the top of the source package directory tree. Defaults to
 276       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/source/</filename></para></listitem>
 277       </varlistentry>
 278
 279       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages</option></term>
 280       <listitem><para>
 281       Sets the output Packages file. Defaults to
 282       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/binary-$(ARCH)/Packages</filename></para></listitem>
 283       </varlistentry>
 284
 285       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources</option></term>
 286       <listitem><para>
 287       Sets the output Sources file. Defaults to
 288       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/source/Sources</filename></para></listitem>
 289       </varlistentry>
 290
 291       <varlistentry><term><option>Translation</option></term>
 292       <listitem><para>
 293       Sets the output Translation-en master file with the long descriptions if they
 294       should be not included in the Packages file. Defaults to
 295       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/i18n/Translation-en</filename></para></listitem>
 296       </varlistentry>
 297
 298       <varlistentry><term><option>InternalPrefix</option></term>
 299       <listitem><para>
 300       Sets the path prefix that causes a symlink to be
 301       considered an internal link instead of an external link. Defaults to
 302       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/</filename></para></listitem>
 303       </varlistentry>
 304
 305       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents</option></term>
 306       <listitem><para>
 307       Sets the output Contents file. Defaults to
 308       <filename>$(DIST)/$(SECTION)/Contents-$(ARCH)</filename>. If this setting causes multiple
 309       Packages files to map onto a single Contents file (as is the default)
 310       then <command>apt-ftparchive</command> will integrate those package files
 311       together automatically.</para></listitem>
 312       </varlistentry>
 313
 314       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents::Header</option></term>
 315       <listitem><para>
 316       Sets header file to prepend to the contents output.</para></listitem>
 317       </varlistentry>
 318
 319       <varlistentry><term><option>BinCacheDB</option></term>
 320       <listitem><para>
 321       Sets the binary cache database to use for this
 322       section. Multiple sections can share the same database.</para></listitem>
 323       </varlistentry>
 324
 325       <varlistentry><term><option>FileList</option></term>
 326       <listitem><para>
 327       Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree,
 328       <command>apt-ftparchive</command> should read the list of files from the given
 329       file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive directory.</para></listitem>
 330       </varlistentry>
 331
 332       <varlistentry><term><option>SourceFileList</option></term>
 333       <listitem><para>
 334       Specifies that instead of walking the directory tree,
 335       <command>apt-ftparchive</command> should read the list of files from the given
 336       file. Relative files names are prefixed with the archive directory.
 337       This is used when processing source indexes.</para></listitem>
 338       </varlistentry>
 339      </variablelist>
 340    </refsect2>
 341
 342    <refsect2><title><literal>Tree</literal> Section</title>
 343      <para>
 344      The <literal>Tree</literal> section defines a standard Debian file tree which
 345      consists of a base directory, then multiple sections in that base
 346      directory and finally multiple Architectures in each section. The exact
 347      pathing used is defined by the <literal>Directory</literal> substitution variable.</para>
 348      <para>
 349      The <literal>Tree</literal> section takes a scope tag which sets the
 350      <literal>$(DIST)</literal> variable and defines the root of the tree
 351      (the path is prefixed by <literal>ArchiveDir</literal>).
 352      Typically this is a setting such as <filename>dists/&debian-stable-codename;</filename>.</para>
 353      <para>
 354      All of the settings defined in the <literal>TreeDefault</literal> section can be
 355      used in a <literal>Tree</literal> section as well as three new variables.</para>
 356      <para>
 357      When processing a <literal>Tree</literal> section <command>apt-ftparchive</command>
 358      performs an operation similar to:
 359      <programlisting>
 360 for i in Sections do
 361    for j in Architectures do
 362       Generate for DIST=scope SECTION=i ARCH=j
 363      </programlisting></para>
 364
 365      <variablelist>
 366       <varlistentry><term><option>Sections</option></term>
 367       <listitem><para>
 368       This is a space separated list of sections which appear
 369       under the distribution; typically this is something like
 370       <literal>main contrib non-free</literal></para></listitem>
 371       </varlistentry>
 372
 373       <varlistentry><term><option>Architectures</option></term>
 374       <listitem><para>
 375       This is a space separated list of all the architectures that appear under
 376       search section. The special architecture 'source' is used to indicate
 377       that this tree has a source archive.  The architecture 'all' signals that
 378       architecture specific files like <filename>Packages</filename> should not
 379       include information about architecture <literal>all</literal> packages in
 380       all files as they will be available in a dedicated file.
 381       </para></listitem>
 382       </varlistentry>
 383
 384       <varlistentry><term><option>LongDescription</option></term>
 385       <listitem><para>
 386       Specifies whether long descriptions should be included in the <filename>Packages</filename> file or split
 387       out into a master <filename>Translation-en</filename> file.</para></listitem>
 388       </varlistentry>
 389
 390       <varlistentry><term><option>BinOverride</option></term>
 391       <listitem><para>
 392       Sets the binary override file. The override file
 393       contains section, priority and maintainer address information.</para></listitem>
 394       </varlistentry>
 395
 396       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcOverride</option></term>
 397       <listitem><para>
 398       Sets the source override file. The override file
 399       contains section information.</para></listitem>
 400       </varlistentry>
 401
 402       <varlistentry><term><option>ExtraOverride</option></term>
 403       <listitem><para>
 404       Sets the binary extra override file.</para></listitem>
 405       </varlistentry>
 406
 407       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcExtraOverride</option></term>
 408       <listitem><para>
 409       Sets the source extra override file.</para></listitem>
 410       </varlistentry>
 411      </variablelist>
 412    </refsect2>
 413
 414    <refsect2><title><literal>BinDirectory</literal> Section</title>
 415      <para>
 416      The <literal>bindirectory</literal> section defines a binary directory tree
 417      with no special structure. The scope tag specifies the location of
 418      the binary directory and the settings are similar to the <literal>Tree</literal>
 419      section with no substitution variables or
 420      <literal>Section</literal><literal>Architecture</literal> settings.</para>
 421      <variablelist>
 422       <varlistentry><term><option>Packages</option></term>
 423       <listitem><para>
 424       Sets the Packages file output.</para></listitem>
 425       </varlistentry>
 426
 427       <varlistentry><term><option>Sources</option></term>
 428       <listitem><para>
 429       Sets the Sources file output. At least one of
 430       <literal>Packages</literal> or <literal>Sources</literal> is required.</para></listitem>
 431       </varlistentry>
 432
 433       <varlistentry><term><option>Contents</option></term>
 434       <listitem><para>
 435       Sets the Contents file output (optional).</para></listitem>
 436       </varlistentry>
 437
 438       <varlistentry><term><option>BinOverride</option></term>
 439       <listitem><para>
 440       Sets the binary override file.</para></listitem>
 441       </varlistentry>
 442
 443       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcOverride</option></term>
 444       <listitem><para>
 445       Sets the source override file.</para></listitem>
 446       </varlistentry>
 447
 448       <varlistentry><term><option>ExtraOverride</option></term>
 449       <listitem><para>
 450       Sets the binary extra override file.</para></listitem>
 451       </varlistentry>
 452
 453       <varlistentry><term><option>SrcExtraOverride</option></term>
 454       <listitem><para>
 455       Sets the source extra override file.</para></listitem>
 456       </varlistentry>
 457
 458       <varlistentry><term><option>BinCacheDB</option></term>
 459       <listitem><para>
 460       Sets the cache DB.</para></listitem>
 461       </varlistentry>
 462
 463       <varlistentry><term><option>PathPrefix</option></term>
 464       <listitem><para>
 465       Appends a path to all the output paths.</para></listitem>
 466       </varlistentry>
 467
 468       <varlistentry><term><option>FileList</option></term><term><option>SourceFileList</option></term>
 469       <listitem><para>
 470       Specifies the file list file.</para></listitem>
 471       </varlistentry>
 472      </variablelist>
 473    </refsect2>
 474  </refsect1>
 475
 476
 477  <refsect1><title>The Binary Override File</title>
 478    <para>The binary override file is fully compatible with &dpkg-scanpackages;. It
 479    contains four fields separated by spaces. The first field is the package name,
 480    the second is the priority to force that package to, the third is
 481    the section to force that package to and the final field is the maintainer
 482    permutation field.</para>
 483    <para>The general form of the maintainer field is:
 484    <literallayout>old [// oldn]* => new</literallayout>
 485    or simply,
 486    <literallayout>new</literallayout>
 487    The first form allows a double-slash separated list of old email addresses
 488    to be specified. If any of those are found then new is substituted for the
 489    maintainer field. The second form unconditionally substitutes the
 490    maintainer field.</para>
 491  </refsect1>
 492
 493
 494  <refsect1><title>The Source Override File</title>
 495    <para>
 496    The source override file is fully compatible with &dpkg-scansources;. It
 497    contains two fields separated by spaces. The first field is the source
 498    package name, the second is the section to assign it.</para>
 499  </refsect1>
 500
 501  <refsect1><title>The Extra Override File</title>
 502    <para>
 503    The extra override file allows any arbitrary tag to be added or replaced
 504    in the output. It has three columns, the first is the package, the second is
 505    the tag and the remainder of the line is the new value.</para>
 506  </refsect1>
 507
 508  <refsect1><title>options</title>
 509    &apt-cmdblurb;
 510
 511    <variablelist>
 512       <varlistentry>
 513          <term><option>--md5</option></term>
 514          <term><option>--sha1</option></term>
 515          <term><option>--sha256</option></term>
 516          <term><option>--sha512</option></term>
 517      <listitem><para>
 518      Generate the given checksum. These options default to on, when turned off the generated
 519      index files will not have the checksum fields where possible.
 520      Configuration Items: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::<replaceable>Checksum</replaceable></literal> and
 521      <literal>APT::FTPArchive::<replaceable>Index</replaceable>::<replaceable>Checksum</replaceable></literal> where
 522      <literal><replaceable>Index</replaceable></literal> can be <literal>Packages</literal>, <literal>Sources</literal> or
 523      <literal>Release</literal> and <literal><replaceable>Checksum</replaceable></literal> can be <literal>MD5</literal>,
 524      <literal>SHA1</literal>, <literal>SHA256</literal> or <literal>SHA512</literal>.</para></listitem>
 525      </varlistentry>
 526
 527      <varlistentry><term><option>-d</option></term><term><option>--db</option></term>
 528      <listitem><para>
 529      Use a binary caching DB. This has no effect on the generate command.
 530      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::DB</literal>.</para></listitem>
 531      </varlistentry>
 532
 533      <varlistentry><term><option>-q</option></term><term><option>--quiet</option></term>
 534      <listitem><para>
 535      Quiet; produces output suitable for logging, omitting progress indicators.
 536      More q's will produce more quiet up to a maximum of 2. You can also use
 537      <option>-q=#</option> to set the quiet level, overriding the configuration file.
 538      Configuration Item: <literal>quiet</literal>.</para></listitem>
 539      </varlistentry>
 540
 541      <varlistentry><term><option>--delink</option></term>
 542      <listitem><para>
 543      Perform Delinking. If the <literal>External-Links</literal> setting is used then
 544      this option actually enables delinking of the files. It defaults to on and
 545      can be turned off with <option>--no-delink</option>.
 546      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::DeLinkAct</literal>.</para></listitem>
 547      </varlistentry>
 548
 549      <varlistentry><term><option>--contents</option></term>
 550      <listitem><para>
 551      Perform contents generation. When this option is set and package indexes
 552      are being generated with a cache DB then the file listing will also be
 553      extracted and stored in the DB for later use. When using the generate
 554      command this option also allows the creation of any Contents files. The
 555      default is on.
 556      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Contents</literal>.</para></listitem>
 557      </varlistentry>
 558
 559      <varlistentry><term><option>-s</option></term><term><option>--source-override</option></term>
 560      <listitem><para>
 561      Select the source override file to use with the <literal>sources</literal> command.
 562      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::SourceOverride</literal>.</para></listitem>
 563      </varlistentry>
 564
 565      <varlistentry><term><option>--readonly</option></term>
 566      <listitem><para>
 567      Make the caching databases read only.
 568      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::ReadOnlyDB</literal>.</para></listitem>
 569      </varlistentry>
 570
 571      <varlistentry><term><option>-a</option></term><term><option>--arch</option></term>
 572      <listitem><para>Accept in the <literal>packages</literal> and <literal>contents</literal>
 573      commands only package files matching <literal>*_arch.deb</literal> or
 574      <literal>*_all.deb</literal> instead of all package files in the given path.
 575      Configuration Item: <literal>APT::FTPArchive::Architecture</literal>.</para></listitem>
 576      </varlistentry>
 577
 578      <varlistentry><term><option>APT::FTPArchive::AlwaysStat</option></term>
 579      <listitem><para>
 580      &apt-ftparchive; caches as much as possible of metadata in a cachedb. If packages
 581      are recompiled and/or republished with the same version again, this will lead to problems
 582      as the now outdated cached metadata like size and checksums will be used. With this option
 583      enabled this will no longer happen as it will be checked if the file was changed.
 584      Note that this option is set to "<literal>false</literal>" by default as it is not recommend
 585      to upload multiply versions/builds of a package with the same versionnumber, so in theory
 586      nobody will have these problems and therefore all these extra checks are useless.
 587      </para></listitem>
 588      </varlistentry>
 589
 590      <varlistentry><term><option>APT::FTPArchive::LongDescription</option></term>
 591      <listitem><para>
 592      This configuration option defaults to "<literal>true</literal>" and should only be set to
 593      <literal>"false"</literal> if the Archive generated with &apt-ftparchive; also provides
 594      <filename>Translation</filename> files. Note that the <filename>Translation-en</filename>
 595      master file can only be created in the generate command.
 596      </para></listitem>
 597      </varlistentry>
 598
 599      &apt-commonoptions;
 600
 601    </variablelist>
 602  </refsect1>
 603
 604 <refsect1><title>Examples</title>
 605
 606 <para>To create a compressed Packages file for a directory containing
 607 binary packages (.deb):
 608
 609 <programlisting>
 610 <command>apt-ftparchive</command> packages <replaceable>directory</replaceable> | <command>gzip</command> > <filename>Packages.gz</filename>
 611 </programlisting></para>
 612
 613 </refsect1>
 614
 615  <refsect1><title>See Also</title>
 616    <para>&apt-conf;</para>
 617  </refsect1>
 618
 619  <refsect1><title>Diagnostics</title>
 620    <para><command>apt-ftparchive</command> returns zero on normal operation, decimal 100 on error.</para>
 621  </refsect1>
 622
 623  &manbugs;
 624
 625 </refentry>