dpkg-architecture(1) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | COMMANDS | OPTIONS | TERMS | VARIABLES | FILES | EXAMPLES | ENVIRONMENT | NOTES | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

dpkg-architecture(1)           dpkg suite           dpkg-architecture(1)

NAME         top

       dpkg-architecture - set and determine the architecture for
       package building

SYNOPSIS         top

       dpkg-architecture [option...] [command]

DESCRIPTION         top

       dpkg-architecture provides a facility to determine and set the
       build and host architecture for package building.

       The build architecture is always determined by either the
       DEB_BUILD_ARCH variable if set (and --force not being specified)
       or by an external call to dpkg(1), and cannot be set at the
       command line.

       You can specify the host architecture by providing one or both of
       the options --host-arch and --host-type, otherwise the
       DEB_HOST_ARCH variable is used if set (and --force not being
       specified). The default is determined by an external call to
       gcc(1), or the same as the build architecture if CC or gcc are
       both not available. One out of --host-arch and --host-type is
       sufficient, the value of the other will be set to a usable
       default. Indeed, it is often better to only specify one, because
       dpkg-architecture will warn you if your choice does not match the
       default.

COMMANDS         top

       -l, --list
           Print the environment variables, one each line, in the format
           VARIABLE=value. This is the default action.

       -e, --equal architecture
           Check for equality of architecture (since dpkg 1.13.13).  It
           compares the current or specified Debian host architecture
           against architecture, to check if they are equal.  This
           action will not expand the architecture wildcards.  Command
           finishes with an exit status of 0 if matched, 1 if not
           matched.

       -i, --is architecture-wildcard
           Check for identity of architecture (since dpkg 1.13.13).  It
           compares the current or specified Debian host architecture
           against architecture-wildcard after having expanded it as an
           architecture wildcard, to check if they match.  Command
           finishes with an exit status of 0 if matched, 1 if not
           matched.

       -q, --query variable-name
           Print the value of a single variable.

       -s, --print-set
           Print an export command. This can be used to set the
           environment variables using the POSIX shell or make eval,
           depending on the output format.

       -u, --print-unset
           Print a similar command to --print-set but to unset all
           variables.

       -c, --command command-string
           Execute a command-string in an environment which has all
           variables set to the determined value.

           If the command-string contains shell metacharacters, then it
           will be invoked through the system bourne shell.

       -L, --list-known
           Print a list of valid architecture names.  Possibly
           restricted by one or more of the matching options
           --match-wildcard, --match-bits or --match-endian (since dpkg
           1.17.14).

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

       --version
           Show the version and exit.

OPTIONS         top

       -a, --host-arch architecture
           Set the host Debian architecture.

       -t, --host-type gnu-system-type
           Set the host GNU system type.

       -A, --target-arch architecture
           Set the target Debian architecture (since dpkg 1.17.14).

       -T, --target-type gnu-system-type
           Set the target GNU system type (since dpkg 1.17.14).

       -W, --match-wildcard architecture-wildcard
           Restrict the architectures listed by --list-known to ones
           matching the specified architecture wildcard (since dpkg
           1.17.14).

       -B, --match-bits architecture-bits
           Restrict the architectures listed by --list-known to ones
           with the specified CPU bits (since dpkg 1.17.14). Either 32
           or 64.

       -E, --match-endian architecture-endianness
           Restrict the architectures listed by --list-known to ones
           with the specified endianness (since dpkg 1.17.14). Either
           little or big.

       --print-format format
           Sets the output format for --print-set and --print-unset
           (since dpkg 1.20.6), to either shell (default) or make.

       -f, --force
           Values set by existing environment variables with the same
           name as used by the scripts are honored (i.e. used by dpkg-
           architecture), except if this force flag is present. This
           allows the user to override a value even when the call to
           dpkg-architecture is buried in some other script (for example
           dpkg-buildpackage(1)).

TERMS         top

       build machine
           The machine the package is built on.

       host machine
           The machine the package is built for.

       target machine
           The machine the compiler is building for, or the emulator
           will run code for.  This is only needed when building a
           cross-toolchain (or emulator), one that will be built on the
           build architecture, to be run on the host architecture, and
           to build (or run emulated) code for the target architecture.

       Debian architecture
           The Debian architecture string, which specifies the binary
           tree in the FTP archive. Examples: i386, sparc, hurd-i386.

       Debian architecture tuple
           A Debian architecture tuple is the fully qualified
           architecture with all its components spelled out.  This
           differs with Debian architectures in that at least the cpu
           component does not embed the abi.  The current tuple has the
           form abi-libc-os-cpu.  Examples: base-gnu-linux-amd64,
           eabihf-musl-linux-arm.

       Debian architecture wildcard
           A Debian architecture wildcard is a special architecture
           string that will match any real architecture being part of
           it.  The general form is a Debian architecture tuple with
           four or less elements, and with at least one of them being
           any.  Missing elements of the tuple are prefixed implicitly
           as any, and thus the following pairs are equivalent:

           any-any-any-any = any
           any-any-os-any = os-any
           any-libc-any-any = libc-any-any

           Examples: linux-any, any-i386, hurd-any, eabi-any-any-arm,
           musl-any-any.

       GNU system type
           An architecture specification string consisting of two parts
           separated by a hyphen: cpu and system.  Examples:
           i586-linux-gnu, sparc-linux-gnu, i686-gnu, x86_64-netbsd.

       multiarch triplet
           The clarified GNU system type, used for filesystem paths.
           This triplet does not change even when the baseline ISA gets
           bumped, so that the resulting paths are stable over time.
           The only current difference with the GNU system type is that
           the CPU part for i386 based systems is always i386.
           Examples: i386-linux-gnu, x86_64-linux-gnu.  Example paths:
           /lib/powerpc64le-linux-gnu/, /usr/lib/i386-kfreebsd-gnu/.

VARIABLES         top

       The following variables are read from the environment (unless
       --force has been specified) and set by dpkg-architecture (see the
       TERMS section for a description of the naming scheme):

       DEB_BUILD_ARCH
           The Debian architecture of the build machine.

       DEB_BUILD_ARCH_ABI
           The Debian ABI name of the build machine (since dpkg
           1.18.11).

       DEB_BUILD_ARCH_LIBC
           The Debian libc name of the build machine (since dpkg
           1.18.11).

       DEB_BUILD_ARCH_OS
           The Debian system name of the build machine (since dpkg
           1.13.2).

       DEB_BUILD_ARCH_CPU
           The Debian CPU name of the build machine (since dpkg 1.13.2).

       DEB_BUILD_ARCH_BITS
           The pointer size of the build machine (in bits; since dpkg
           1.15.4).

       DEB_BUILD_ARCH_ENDIAN
           The endianness of the build machine (little / big; since dpkg
           1.15.4).

       DEB_BUILD_GNU_CPU
           The GNU CPU part of DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE.

       DEB_BUILD_GNU_SYSTEM
           The GNU system part of DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE.

       DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE
           The GNU system type of the build machine.

       DEB_BUILD_MULTIARCH
           The clarified GNU system type of the build machine, used for
           filesystem paths (since dpkg 1.16.0).

       DEB_HOST_ARCH
           The Debian architecture of the host machine.

       DEB_HOST_ARCH_ABI
           The Debian ABI name of the host machine (since dpkg 1.18.11).

       DEB_HOST_ARCH_LIBC
           The Debian libc name of the host machine (since dpkg
           1.18.11).

       DEB_HOST_ARCH_OS
           The Debian system name of the host machine (since dpkg
           1.13.2).

       DEB_HOST_ARCH_CPU
           The Debian CPU name of the host machine (since dpkg 1.13.2).

       DEB_HOST_ARCH_BITS
           The pointer size of the host machine (in bits; since dpkg
           1.15.4).

       DEB_HOST_ARCH_ENDIAN
           The endianness of the host machine (little / big; since dpkg
           1.15.4).

       DEB_HOST_GNU_CPU
           The GNU CPU part of DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE.

       DEB_HOST_GNU_SYSTEM
           The GNU system part of DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE.

       DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE
           The GNU system type of the host machine.

       DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH
           The clarified GNU system type of the host machine, used for
           filesystem paths (since dpkg 1.16.0).

       DEB_TARGET_ARCH
           The Debian architecture of the target machine (since dpkg
           1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_ARCH_ABI
           The Debian ABI name of the target machine (since dpkg
           1.18.11).

       DEB_TARGET_ARCH_LIBC
           The Debian libc name of the target machine (since dpkg
           1.18.11).

       DEB_TARGET_ARCH_OS
           The Debian system name of the target machine (since dpkg
           1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_ARCH_CPU
           The Debian CPU name of the target machine (since dpkg
           1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_ARCH_BITS
           The pointer size of the target machine (in bits; since dpkg
           1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_ARCH_ENDIAN
           The endianness of the target machine (little / big; since
           dpkg 1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_GNU_CPU
           The GNU CPU part of DEB_TARGET_GNU_TYPE (since dpkg 1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_GNU_SYSTEM
           The GNU system part of DEB_TARGET_GNU_TYPE (since dpkg
           1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_GNU_TYPE
           The GNU system type of the target machine (since dpkg
           1.17.14).

       DEB_TARGET_MULTIARCH
           The clarified GNU system type of the target machine, used for
           filesystem paths (since dpkg 1.17.14).

FILES         top

   Architecture tables
       All these files have to be present for dpkg-architecture to work.
       Their location can be overridden at runtime with the environment
       variable DPKG_DATADIR.  These tables contain a format Version
       pseudo-field on their first line to mark their format, so that
       parsers can check if they understand it, such as "# Version=1.0".

       /usr/local/share/dpkg/cputable
           Table of known CPU names and mapping to their GNU name.
           Format version 1.0 (since dpkg 1.13.2).

       /usr/local/share/dpkg/ostable
           Table of known operating system names and mapping to their
           GNU name.  Format version 2.0 (since dpkg 1.18.11).

       /usr/local/share/dpkg/tupletable
           Mapping between Debian architecture tuples and Debian
           architecture names.  Format version 1.0 (since dpkg 1.18.11).

       /usr/local/share/dpkg/abitable
           Table of Debian architecture ABI attribute overrides.  Format
           version 2.0 (since dpkg 1.18.11).

   Packaging support
       /usr/local/share/dpkg/architecture.mk
           Makefile snippet that properly sets and exports all the
           variables that dpkg-architecture outputs (since dpkg 1.16.1).

EXAMPLES         top

       dpkg-buildpackage accepts the -a option and passes it to dpkg-
       architecture. Other examples:

        CC=i386-gnu-gcc dpkg-architecture -c debian/rules build

        eval $(dpkg-architecture -u)

       Check if the current or specified host architecture is equal to
       an architecture:

        dpkg-architecture -elinux-alpha

        dpkg-architecture -amips -elinux-mips

       Check if the current or specified host architecture is a Linux
       system:

        dpkg-architecture -ilinux-any

        dpkg-architecture -ai386 -ilinux-any

   Usage in debian/rules
       The environment variables set by dpkg-architecture are passed to
       debian/rules as make variables (see make documentation). However,
       you should not rely on them, as this breaks manual invocation of
       the script. Instead, you should always initialize them using
       dpkg-architecture with the -q option. Here are some examples,
       which also show how you can improve the cross compilation support
       in your package:

       Retrieving the GNU system type and forwarding it to ./configure:

        DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE ?= $(shell dpkg-architecture -qDEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE)
        DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE ?= $(shell dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
        [...]
        ifeq ($(DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE), $(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE))
          confflags += --build=$(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
        else
          confflags += --build=$(DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE) \
                       --host=$(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
        endif
        [...]
        ./configure $(confflags)

       Doing something only for a specific architecture:

        DEB_HOST_ARCH ?= $(shell dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_ARCH)

        ifeq ($(DEB_HOST_ARCH),alpha)
          [...]
        endif

       or if you only need to check the CPU or OS type, use the
       DEB_HOST_ARCH_CPU or DEB_HOST_ARCH_OS variables.

       Note that you can also rely on an external Makefile snippet to
       properly set all the variables that dpkg-architecture can
       provide:

        include /usr/local/share/dpkg/architecture.mk

        ifeq ($(DEB_HOST_ARCH),alpha)
          [...]
        endif

       In any case, you should never use dpkg --print-architecture to
       get architecture information during a package build.

ENVIRONMENT         top

       DPKG_DATADIR
           If set, it will be used as the dpkg data directory, where the
           architecture tables are located (since dpkg 1.14.17).
           Defaults to «/usr/local/share/dpkg».

       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).

NOTES         top

       All long command and option names available only since dpkg
       1.17.17.

SEE ALSO         top

       dpkg-buildpackage(1).

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the dpkg (Debian Package Manager) project.
       Information about the project can be found at 
       ⟨https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Dpkg/⟩.  If you have a bug report
       for this manual page, see
       ⟨http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?src=dpkg⟩.  This
       page was obtained from the project's upstream Git repository ⟨git
       clone https://git.dpkg.org/git/dpkg/dpkg.git⟩ on 2023-12-22.  (At
       that time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in
       the repository was 2023-12-18.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there
       is a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       man-pages@man7.org

1.22.0-52-g1af0                2023-08-30           dpkg-architecture(1)

Pages that refer to this page: dh_installdeb(1)dh_installdebconf(1)dpkg-buildpackage(1)deb-src-control(5)deb-src-rules(5)debhelper(7)debhelper-compat-upgrade-checklist(7)