Launchpad itself

uploading packages from other distributions

Asked by Rolf Leggewie on 2008-11-16

From https://help.launchpad.net/Packaging/PPA#Using%20packages%20from%20other%20distributions I have learned that I should be able to upload sources unchanged to my PPA. I wonder how this should work in detail. Published sources usually are the orig.tar.gz, the dsc and the diff.gz files. For uploading with dput, the .changes file is necessary. To sign the changes file, I need to change the changelog so that the latest entry corresponds to my GPG key. Is there some kind of shortcut that I am unaware of?

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Launchpad itself Edit question
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Solved by:
Rolf Leggewie
Solved:
2008-11-16
Last query:
2008-11-16
Last reply:
Rolf Leggewie (r0lf) said : #1

got a superfast answer in IRC

(17.11.2008 00:11:31) Laibsch: Anybody have an answer for https://answers.launchpad.net/soyuz/+question/51583 ?
(00:12:14) Laibsch: I'm supposed to be able to upload unchanged sources to the PPA, but I don't see how that can be done since I usually don't have the GPG key for the latest entry in the changelog.
(00:12:59) RAOF: Laibsch: You don't have to sign with the changelog's key.
(00:13:13) Laibsch: OK
(00:13:19) Laibsch: I know about -uc -us
(00:13:28) Laibsch: But I don't think that is what you mean
(00:13:31) RAOF: Laibsch: The '-k' option to dpkg-buildpackage/debuild allows you to use your own keyid, or you can debsign.
(00:13:32) ***Laibsch studies man page
(00:13:39) Laibsch: Oh, I see
(00:13:40) Laibsch: Thanks

Rolf Leggewie (r0lf) said : #2

I now think the best and quickest way to deal with this might be to combine dpkg-genchanges and debsign before calling dput

dpkg-genchanges -S -sa > ../tmp.changes
debsign -k $GPGkeyid ../tmp.changes
dput $target ../tmp.changes

Rolf Leggewie (r0lf) said : #3

apparently, the -k argument needs to come after the file name

Rolf Leggewie (r0lf) said : #4

Actually, the error was that I had a space between -k and the GPGkeyid

Rolf Leggewie (r0lf) said : #5

Somebody thought it was a good idea to disallow random names. This has made this all the more complicated :-( But fret not, together with Max Bowsher (who did all the hard bits) I prepared a script which you can get from http://oss.leggewie.org/ppa-upload-hardy

Now it is as easy as "dsc-upload-hardy http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/a/apt-cacher-ng/apt-cacher-ng_0.2.2-2.dsc" to recompile a package from Debian for hardy with your PPA.