dh_movetousr(1) — Linux manual page

DH_MOVETOUSR(1)                 Debhelper                DH_MOVETOUSR(1)

NAME

       dh_movetousr - canonicalize location according to merged-/usr

SYNOPSIS

       dh_movetousr [debhelper options] [--fail-noop | --warn-noop]

DESCRIPTION

       dh_movetousr is a debhelper program that canonicalizes paths
       inside packages according to merged-/usr.  Shipping aliased paths
       is known to cause problems with dpkg, so this helper moves all
       affected files to /usr regardless of how they were installed.
       The compatibility symlinks ensure that converted packages
       continue to work.  In the process, absolute symbolic links may
       become relative or vice versa due to Debian policy section 10.5.

       Please keep in mind that moving files in this way is known to
       cause problems.  Known problems have been documented at
       <https://people.debian.org/~helmutg/dep17.html>.  For instance,
       if files have been moved between packages, use of this tool may
       cause file loss during upgrades (P1).  Most problems can be
       detected by <https://salsa.debian.org/helmutg/dumat>, which uses
       the Debian bug tracking for feedback.  Therefore, it is
       recommended to upload to experimental when moving files (e.g.
       using this helper) or restructuring packages that earlier moved
       files.  A particular problem not being detected is about dpkg-
       statoverride (P5).  Please review uses of dpkg-statoverride in
       maintainer scripts and update them as needed.  For these reasons,
       dh_movetousr is not automatically enabled in e.g. a compatibility
       level.

       While we want to move files to /usr in trixie and beyond, we do
       not want to move them in bookworm and earlier.  This poses
       challenges to backporting packages, because any such moves have
       to be reverted during the backport.  A backport of debhelper to
       bookworm shall include a stub for this helper doing nothing to
       achieve this goal.  For packages that do not need to be
       backported (e.g. packages targeting forky and beyond), consider
       updating locations instead of using this helper.  When the only
       affected type of file is systemd units, consider using
       dh_installsystemd or detecting the unit location from "pkgconf
       --variable=systemdsystemunitdir systemd" instead of this helper
       as both will work in backports.

       For further information on the state of the transition refer to
       <https://wiki.debian.org/UsrMerge>.

       dh_movetousr shall be removed from debhelper during forky+1 is
       release cycle.

OPTIONS

       --fail-noop
           Fail if no files were found in aliased locations and
           therefore no change has been performed.

       --warn-noop
           Warn if no files were found in aliased locations and
           therefore no change has been performed.

EXAMPLES

         Build-Depends: dh-sequence-movetousr

       Enable this tool in a package that uses dh.

SEE ALSO

       debhelper(7)

       This program is a part of debhelper.

AUTHOR

       Helmut Grohne <helmut@subdivi.de>

COLOPHON

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13.11.9                        2023-12-22                DH_MOVETOUSR(1)

Pages that refer to this page: debhelper(7)

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