A short guide on how to package software into .deb packages for debian, ubuntu and linux mint based linux distros

how_to_make_deb_packages.md

How To Create Debian Packages

This guide is copied from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep88vVfzDAo

Note: Commands here are just for examples. They will NOT run as they are shown here. You have to adapt them to your own needs and system.

1. Create the directory to hold the project:

   mkdir /home/USER/debpkgs/my-program_version_architecture

2. Create a directory called "DEBIAN" inside the project directory:

   mkdir /home/USER/debpkgs/my-program_version_architecture/DEBIAN

3. Copy files into project root directory and include the final paths:

   /usr/bin/ would be /home/USER/debpkgs/my-program_version_architecture/usr/bin/

   /opt/ would /home/USER/debpkgs/my-program_version_architecture/opt/

4. Create a control file in DEBIAN:

   touch /home/USER/debpkgs/my-program_version_architecture/DEBIAN/control

5. Now add the necessary meta data to the control file:

   Package: my-program
   Version: 1.0
   Architecture: all
   Essential: no
   Priority: optional
   Depends: packages, my-program, needs, to, run
   Maintainer: Your Name
   Description: A short description of my-program that 
    will be displayed when the package is being selected for installation. 
   

6. If desired a "preinst" and/or "postinst" script can be added that execute before and/or after installation. They must be given proper execute permissions to run:

   touch /home/USER/debpkgs/my-program_version_architecture/DEBIAN/postinst

   Add commands you'd like to run in postinst and then set the permissions to 755.

7. Now generate package:

   dpkg-deb --build /home/USER/debpkgs/my-program_version_architecture

8. The package will be in /home/USER/debpkgs