dh_link(1) — Linux manual page

DH_LINK(1)                      Debhelper                     DH_LINK(1)

NAME

       dh_link - create symlinks in package build directories

SYNOPSIS

       dh_link [debhelper options] [-A] [-Xitem]
       [source destination ...]

DESCRIPTION

       dh_link is a debhelper program that creates symlinks in package
       build directories.

       dh_link accepts a list of pairs of source and destination files.
       The source files are the already existing files that will be
       symlinked from (called target by ln(1)). The destination files
       are the symlinks that will be created (called link name by
       ln(1)). There must be an equal number of source and destination
       files specified.

       Be sure you do specify the absolute path to both the source and
       destination files (unlike you would do if you were using
       something like ln(1)).  Please note that the leading slash is
       optional.

       dh_link will generate symlinks that comply with Debian policy -
       absolute when policy says they should be absolute, and relative
       links with as short a path as possible. It will also create any
       subdirectories it needs to put the symlinks in.

       Any pre-existing destination files will be replaced with
       symlinks.

       dh_link also scans the package build tree for existing symlinks
       which do not conform to Debian policy, and corrects them (v4 or
       later).

FILES

       debian/package.links
           Lists pairs of source and destination files to be symlinked.
           Each pair should be put on its own line, with the source and
           destination separated by whitespace.

           In each pair the source file (called target by ln(1)) comes
           first and is followed by the destination file (called link
           name by ln(1)). Thus the pairs of source and destination
           files in each line are given in the same order as they would
           be given to ln(1).

           In contrast to ln(1), source and destination paths must be
           absolute (the leading slash is optional).

           Supports substitution variables in compat 13 and later as
           documented in debhelper(7).

OPTIONS

       -A, --all
           Create any links specified by command line parameters in ALL
           packages acted on, not just the first.

       -Xitem, --exclude=item
           Exclude symlinks that contain item anywhere in their filename
           from being corrected to comply with Debian policy.

       source destination ...
           Create a file named destination as a link to a file named
           source. Do this in the package build directory of the first
           package acted on.  (Or in all packages if -A is specified.)

EXAMPLES

        dh_link usr/share/man/man1/foo.1 usr/share/man/man1/bar.1

       Make bar.1 be a symlink to foo.1

        dh_link var/lib/foo usr/lib/foo \
          usr/share/man/man1/foo.1 usr/share/man/man1/bar.1

       Make /usr/lib/foo/ be a link to /var/lib/foo/, and bar.1 be a
       symlink to the foo.1

        var/lib/foo usr/lib/foo
        usr/share/man/man1/foo.1 usr/share/man/man1/bar.1

       Same as above but as content for a debian/package.links file.

SEE ALSO

       debhelper(7)

       This program is a part of debhelper.

AUTHOR

       Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>

COLOPHON

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       (At that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found
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13.15.3                        2024-06-07                     DH_LINK(1)

Pages that refer to this page: debhelper(7)

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