Debian Package a Day ([info]debaday) wrote,
@ 2004-11-11 07:00:00
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checkinstall - installation tracker
CheckInstall keeps track of all the files created or modified by your installation script ("make install" "make install_modules", "setup", etc), builds a standard binary package and installs it in your system giving you the ability to uninstall it with your distribution's standard package management utilities.

Suggested by Malte S.:
I think it's really useful if you've got a tarball archive with software that you have to compile with the usual:
./configure
make
make install

Makes removal and reinstalling really easy!

More information on this package can be found on the Debian web site.
(If there is a package you would like to see featured here, go to the userinfo page and follow the directions there to submit your entry.)

Now available in RSS and ATOM flavors too.

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[info]diffrentcolours
2004-11-11 03:05 pm UTC (link)
Don't forget to ./configure --with-prefix=/usr/local to keep stuff out of apt's way, and to use equivs to let apt know it's there!

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[info]k8to
2004-11-11 05:45 pm UTC (link)
Is there a handy guide to surviving equivs anywhere? I often have problems getting apt to FORGET them after I want them gone. The info in the apt howto didn't really point out the pitfalls to me well enough.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

[info]dottedmag
2004-11-12 02:14 am UTC (link)
dpkg --purge?

(Reply to this)(Parent)
Why do I want it out of apt's way?
[info]angrykeyboarder
2005-11-21 01:20 am UTC (link)
I've never seen this instruction before.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)
Re: Why do I want it out of apt's way?
[info]diffrentcolours
2005-11-21 09:15 am UTC (link)
Uhm, apt assumes that anything in the filesystem outside /usr/local, /opt and /home is fair game. It will write whatever it wants there, and overwrite any files that it isn't aware of (because they don't come from packages). Sticking nonstandard things in /usr/local stops them from (a) overwriting files owned by apt and (b) having their files overwritten by apt.

It's even good for third-party debs which don't necessarily follow Debian standards - apt won't overwrite files owned by these packages because it's aware of them, but this can cause problems.

The classic example of breakage caused by overwriting files is the nVidia installer shell script from their site, which overwrites files owned by one of the Debian X packages. Everything works fine until there's a security update in that package, apt doesn't know that the library in question is "supposed" to be the nVidia version and overwrites it, and all hell breaks loose.

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[info]spb_nick
2004-11-11 09:51 pm UTC (link)
Thank you, I think this package would be very helpful. However, and not entirely offtopic, could anybody suggest good, more or less thorough, Debian package system manual/tutorial, with all pieces covered as a whole (from the bird's eye view)?
Please forgive me my English. Many thanks in advance.

(Reply to this)(Thread)
debian packaging resources
(Anonymous)
2004-11-11 10:51 pm UTC (link)
here's something of a high-level description of debian packaging (http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-debpkg.html?ca=dgr-lnxw01DebianLinux)

here's the Debian New Maintainer's Guide (http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/), which could be practically renamed to the Debian Packaging Guide, as it has more to do with simple packaging than maintaining.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)
Re: debian packaging resources
[info]spb_nick
2004-11-12 07:26 am UTC (link)
Thank you very much, again :)

(Reply to this)(Parent)
great stuff
[info]toykeeper
2004-11-28 01:43 am UTC (link)
Checkinstall is really, really nice. It's an indispensable tool for anal admins like me, who want to be able to cleanly track and (un)install things which aren't available in debian.

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[info]angrykeyboarder
2005-11-21 01:24 am UTC (link)
This has to be one of my faves. Somehow despite the thousands upon thousands of .deb packages out there, I always seem to find something I want that's not available as a .deb.

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