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dpkg-split(1)                     dpkg suite                     dpkg-split(1)

NAME
       dpkg-split - Debian package archive split/join tool

SYNOPSIS
       dpkg-split [option...] command

DESCRIPTION
       dpkg-split splits Debian binary package files into smaller parts and
       reassembles them again, to support the storage of large package files
       on small media such as floppy disks.

       It can be operated manually using the --split, --join and --info
       options.

       It also has an automatic mode, invoked using the --auto option, where
       it maintains a queue of parts seen but not yet reassembled and
       reassembles a package file when it has seen all of its parts. The
       --listq and --discard options allow the management of the queue.

       All splitting, joining and queueing operations produce informative
       messages on standard output; these may safely be ignored.

COMMANDS
       -s, --split complete-archive [prefix]
           Splits a single Debian binary package into several parts.

           The parts are named prefix.NofM.deb where N is the part number,
           starting at 1, and M is the total number of parts (both in
           decimal).

           If no prefix is supplied then the complete-archive filename is
           taken, including directory, with any trailing .deb removed.

       -j, --join part...
           Joins the parts of a package file together, reassembling the
           original file as it was before it was split.

           The part files given as arguments must be all the parts of exactly
           the same original binary file. Each part must occur exactly once in
           the argument list, though the parts to not need to be listed in
           order.

           The parts must of course all have been generated with the same part
           size specified at split time, which means that they must usually
           have been generated by the same invocation of dpkg-split --split.

           The parts' filenames are not significant for the reassembly
           process.

           By default the output file is called package_version_arch.deb.

       -I, --info part...
           Prints information, in a human-readable format, about the part
           file(s) specified. Arguments which are not binary package parts
           produce a message saying so instead (but still on standard output).

       -a, --auto -o complete-output part
           Automatically queue parts and reassemble a package if possible.

           The part specified is examined, and compared with other parts of
           the same package (if any) in the queue of packages file parts.

           If all parts of the package file of which part is a part are
           available then the package is reassembled and written to complete-
           output (which should not usually already exist, though this is not
           an error).

           If not then the part is copied into the queue and complete-output
           is not created.

           If part is not a split binary package part then dpkg-split will
           exit with status 1; if some other trouble occurs then it will exit
           with status 2.

           The --output or -o option must be supplied when using --auto.  (If
           this were not mandatory the calling program would not know what
           output file to expect.)

       -l, --listq
           Lists the contents of the queue of packages to be reassembled.

           For each package file of which parts are in the queue the output
           gives the name of the package, the parts in the queue, and the
           total number of bytes stored in the queue.

       -d, --discard [package...]
           This discards parts from the queue of those waiting for the
           remaining parts of their packages.

           If no package is specified then the queue is cleared completely; if
           any are specified then only parts of the relevant package(s) are
           deleted.

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

       --version
           Show the version and exit.

OPTIONS
       --depotdir directory
           Specifies an alternative directory for the queue of parts awaiting
           automatic reassembly. The default is /var/lib/dpkg/parts.

       --admindir directory
           Set the administrative directory to directory (since dpkg 1.21.10).
           This is where the statoverride file is stored.  Defaults to
           «/var/lib/dpkg» if DPKG_ADMINDIR has not been set.

       --root directory
           Set the root directory to directory (since dpkg 1.21.10), which
           sets the installation directory to «directory» and the
           administrative directory to «directory/var/lib/dpkg» if DPKG_ROOT
           has not been set.

       -S, --partsize kibibytes
           Specifies the maximum part size when splitting, in kibibytes (1024
           bytes). The default is 450 KiB.

       -o, --output complete-output
           Specifies the output file name for a reassembly.

           This overrides the default for a manual reassembly (--join) and is
           mandatory for an automatic queue-or-reassemble (--auto).

       -Q, --npquiet
           When doing automatic queue-or-reassembly dpkg-split usually prints
           a message if it is given a part that is not a binary package part.
           This option suppresses this message, to allow programs such as dpkg
           to cope with both split and unsplit packages without producing
           spurious messages.

       --msdos
           Forces the output filenames generated by --split to be MSDOS-
           compatible.

           This mangles the prefix - either the default derived from the input
           filename or the one supplied as an argument: alphanumerics are
           lowercased, plus signs are replaced by x's and all other characters
           are discarded.

           The result is then truncated as much as is necessary, and filenames
           of the form prefixNofM.deb are generated.

EXIT STATUS
       0   The requested split, merge, or other command succeeded.  --info
           commands count as successful even if the files are not binary
           package parts.

       1   Only occurs with --auto and indicates that the part file was not a
           binary package part.

       2   Fatal or unrecoverable error due to invalid command-line usage, a
           file that looked like a package part file but was corrupted, or
           interactions with the system, such as accesses to the database,
           memory allocations, etc.

ENVIRONMENT
       DPKG_ROOT
           If set and --root option has not been specified, it will be used as
           the filesystem root directory (since dpkg 1.21.10).

       DPKG_ADMINDIR
           If set and the --admindir or --root options have not been
           specified, it will be used as the dpkg data directory (since dpkg
           1.21.10).

       DPKG_DEBUG
           Sets the debug mask (since dpkg 1.21.10) from an octal value.  The
           currently accepted flags are described in the dpkg --debug option,
           but not all these flags might have an effect on this program.

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

       SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
           If set, it will be used as the timestamp (as seconds since the
           epoch) in the deb-split(5)'s ar(5) container.

FILES
       /var/lib/dpkg/parts
           The default queue directory for part files awaiting automatic
           reassembly.

           The filenames used in this directory are in a format internal to
           dpkg-split and are unlikely to be useful to other programs, and in
           any case the filename format should not be relied upon.

BUGS
       Full details of the packages in the queue are impossible to get without
       digging into the queue directory yourself.

       There is no easy way to test whether a file that may be a binary
       package part is one.

SEE ALSO
       deb(5), deb-control(5), dpkg-deb(1), dpkg(1).

1.21.22                           2023-05-11                     dpkg-split(1)

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