dpkg-scanpackages(1)                                         dpkg suite                                        dpkg-scanpackages(1)

NAME
       dpkg-scanpackages - create Packages index files

SYNOPSIS
       dpkg-scanpackages [option...] binary-path [override-file [path-prefix]] > Packages

DESCRIPTION
       dpkg-scanpackages  sorts  through  a tree of Debian binary packages and creates a Packages file, used by apt(8), dselect(1),
       etc, to tell the user what packages are available for installation. These Packages files are the  same  as  those  found  on
       Debian  archive  sites  and  CD-ROMs.  You  might  use dpkg-scanpackages yourself if making a directory of local packages to
       install on a cluster of machines.

       Note: If you want to access the generated Packages file with apt you will probably need to  compress  the  file  with  xz(1)
       (generating  a  Packages.xz file), bzip2(1) (generating a Packages.bz2 file) or gzip(1) (generating a Packages.gz file). apt
       ignores uncompressed Packages files except on local access (i.e.  file:// sources).

       binary-path is the name of the tree of the binary packages to process (for example, contrib/binary-i386).   It  is  best  to
       make  this relative to the root of the Debian archive, because every Filename field in the new Packages file will start with
       this string.

       override-file is the name of a file to read which contains information about how the package fits into the distribution (the
       file can be compressed since dpkg 1.15.5); see deb-override(5).

       path-prefix is an optional string to be prepended to the Filename fields.

       If  more than one version of a package is found only the newest one is included in the output. If they have the same version
       and only differ in architecture only the first one found is used.

OPTIONS
       -t, --type type
              Scan for *.type packages, instead of *.deb.

       -e, --extra-override file
              Scan file to find supplementary overrides (the file can be compressed since dpkg 1.15.5).  See  deb-extra-override(5)
              for more information on its format.

       -a, --arch arch
              Use a pattern consisting of *_all.deb and *_arch.deb instead of scanning for all debs.

       -h, --hash hash-list
              Only  generate  file  hashes for the comma-specified list specified (since dpkg 1.17.14).  The default is to generate
              all currently supported hashes.  Supported values: md5, sha1, sha256.

       -m, --multiversion
              Include all found packages in the output.

       -M, --medium id-string
              Add an X-Medium field containing the value id-string (since dpkg 1.15.5).  This field is  required  if  you  want  to
              generate Packages.cd files for use by the multicd access method of dselect.

       -?, --help
              Show the usage message and exit.

       --version
              Show the version and exit.

ENVIRONMENT
       DPKG_COLORS
              Sets the color mode (since dpkg 1.18.5).  The currently accepted values are: auto (default), always and never.

       DPKG_NLS
              If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native Language Support, also known as internationalization (or
              i18n) support (since dpkg 1.19.0).  The accepted values are: 0 and 1 (default).

DIAGNOSTICS
       dpkg-scanpackages outputs the  usual  self-explanatory  errors.  It  also  warns  about  packages  that  are  in  the  wrong
       subdirectory,  are  duplicated,  have  a  Filename  field in their control file, are missing from the override file, or have
       maintainer substitutions which do not take effect.

SEE ALSO
       dpkg(1), dselect(1), deb-override(5), deb-extra-override(5), dpkg-scansources(1).

1.19.7                                                       2019-06-03                                        dpkg-scanpackages(1)

Usage: dpkg-scanpackages [<option>...] <binary-path> [<override-file> [<path-prefix>]] > Packages

Options:
  -t, --type <type>        scan for <type> packages (default is 'deb').
  -a, --arch <arch>        architecture to scan for.
  -h, --hash <hash-list>   only generate hashes for the specified list.
  -m, --multiversion       allow multiple versions of a single package.
  -e, --extra-override <file>
                           use extra override file.
  -M, --medium <medium>    add X-Medium field for dselect multicd access method
  -?, --help               show this help message.
      --version            show the version.