Step 1: Prepare a Simple Program

Create hello.c:

// hello.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello, RPM World!\n");
    return 0;
}

Compile it:

gcc -o hello hello.c

This generates an executable named hello.

Step 2: Install Packaging Tools

On Debian based distributions:

sudo apt update -y && sudo apt upgrade -y 
sudo apt install build-essential devscripts dh-make

Explanation:

  • build-essential: Include gcc and make.
  • devscripts: Provides helpful tools like debuild.
  • dh-make: Initializes Debian packaging files.

Step 3: Prepare Source Directory

Create a folder <package-name>-<version> and move the source code into it:

mkdir hello-1.0/
mv hello.c hello-1.0 && cd hello-1.0/

Ensure that you follow the naming conventions of the directory.

Step 4: Initialize Debian Package Directory

Run this command to create Debian packaging directory within the hello-1.0/:

dh_make --createorig -s -y -p hello-1.0

Explanation:

  • --createorig: Creates original tarball(.orig.tar.gz) in directory above the current directory.
  • -s: Single binary package.
  • -y: Assume “yes” for prompts.
  • -p hello_1.0: Package name and version/

This create

Step 5: Modify debian/ Files

A debian/ folder is created when executing dh_make command:

cd debian
rm *.ex #.ex are example files and can be removed

Edit control file

nano control

Source: hello-1.0
Section: utils
Priority: optional
Maintainer: Yashwanth Rathakrishnan <iamyaash@unknown>
Rules-Requires-Root: no
Build-Depends:
 debhelper-compat (= 13), gcc
Standards-Version: 4.6.2
#Vcs-Browser: https://salsa.debian.org/debian/hello-1.0
#Vcs-Git: https://salsa.debian.org/debian/hello-1.0.git

Package: hello-1.0
Architecture: any
Depends:
 ${shlibs:Depends},
 ${misc:Depends},
Description: Simple Hello World Program in C
 A simple beginner program that display "Hello World" text.

Edit rules

#!/usr/bin/make -f

%:
    dh $@

chmod +x rules

Create debian/install file and add:

nvim debian/install

hello /usr/bin #copies hello to /usr/bin directory

Step 6: Build the Package

Go back to one directory from debian/ (one level above debian/)"

cd ..
debuild -us -uc

Step 7: Install and Test

The packages are built and stored one level above the */debian/:

iamyaash@pi5:~/testBuild/hello-1.0 $ ll
total 8.0K
drwxr-xr-x 6 iamyaash iamyaash 4.0K Jul  4 14:13 debian
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash   91 Jul  4 12:04 hello.c
iamyaash@pi5:~/testBuild/hello-1.0 $ ll ..
total 36K
drwxr-xr-x 3 iamyaash iamyaash 4.0K Jul  4 12:13 hello-1.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 3.1K Jul  4 14:13 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.build
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 5.2K Jul  4 14:13 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.buildinfo
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 1.8K Jul  4 14:13 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.changes
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 2.3K Jul  4 14:13 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.deb
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 2.4K Jul  4 14:13 hello-1.0_1.0-1.debian.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  786 Jul  4 14:13 hello-1.0_1.0-1.dsc
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  292 Jul  4 12:13 hello-1.0_1.0.orig.tar.xz

Install the .deb package:

sudo dpkg -i hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.deb

Run:

hello

Remove/Uninstall:

dpkg -r hello-1.0

Directory Structure (For Reference)

iamyaash@pi5:~/testBuild $ ll -R .
.:
total 40K
drwxr-xr-x 3 iamyaash iamyaash 4.0K Jul  4 14:30 hello-1.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 3.4K Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.build
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 5.5K Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.buildinfo
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 2.0K Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.changes
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 3.9K Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0_1.0-1_arm64.deb
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 2.5K Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0_1.0-1.debian.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  789 Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0_1.0-1.dsc
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 2.4K Jul  4 14:30 hello-1.0_1.0.orig.tar.xz
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 2.3K Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0-dbgsym_1.0-1_arm64.deb

./hello-1.0:
total 24K
drwxr-xr-x 6 iamyaash iamyaash 4.0K Jul  4 14:32 debian
-rwxr-xr-x 1 iamyaash iamyaash  69K Jul  4 14:28 hello
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash   91 Jul  4 12:04 hello.c

./hello-1.0/debian:
total 56K
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  186 Jul  4 14:30 changelog
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  503 Jul  4 14:31 control
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash 1.9K Jul  4 14:30 copyright
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash   10 Jul  4 14:32 debhelper-build-stamp
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  150 Jul  4 14:32 files
drwxr-xr-x 4 iamyaash iamyaash 4.0K Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash   28 Jul  4 14:30 hello-1.0-docs.docs
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash   63 Jul  4 14:32 hello-1.0.substvars
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash   15 Jul  4 14:32 install
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  176 Jul  4 14:30 README.Debian
-rw-r--r-- 1 iamyaash iamyaash  261 Jul  4 14:30 README.source
-rwxr-xr-x 1 iamyaash iamyaash  690 Jul  4 14:30 rules
drwxr-xr-x 2 iamyaash iamyaash 4.0K Jul  4 14:30 source
drwxr-xr-x 2 iamyaash iamyaash 4.0K Jul  4 14:30 upstream

Extract Contents Of Debian Pacakge

I think the only way to easily extract the debian package is by using ar. You can use mc in case you want to take a look inside the package.

ar x packageName.deb

ar is pre-installed in Debian based distro, and it will extract the contents in current directory.