Debian Repository

This guide explains:

  1. A basic overview of how Debian packages are structured
  2. What package managers, clients, and tools are used to manage Debian packages
  3. How the GitLab Debian repository functions

Debian package basics

There are two types of Debian packages: binary and source.

  • Binary - These are usually .deb files and contain executables, config files, and other data. A binary package must match your OS or architecture since it is already compiled. These are usually installed using dpkg. Dependencies must already exist on the system when installing a binary package.
  • Source - These are usual made up of .dsc files and .gz files. A source package is compiled on your system. These are fetched and installed with apt, which then uses dpkg after the package is compiled. When you use apt, it will fetch and install the necessary dependencies.

The .deb file follows the naming convention <PackageName>_<VersionNumber>-<DebianRevisionNumber>_<DebianArchitecture>.deb

It includes a control file that contains metadata about the package. You can view the control file by using dpkg --info <deb_file>

The .changes file is used to tell the Debian repository how to process updates to packages. It contains a variety of metadata for the package, including architecture, distribution, and version. In addition to the metadata, they contain three lists of checksums: sha1, sha256, and md5 in the Files section. Refer to sample_1.2.3~alpha2_amd64.changes for an example of how these files are structured.

How do people get Debian packages?

While you can download a single .deb file and install it with dpkg, most users consume Debian packages with apt using apt-get. apt wraps dpkg, adding dependency management and compilation.

How do people publish Debian packages?

It is not uncommon to use curl to publish packages depending on the type of Debian repository you are working with. However, dput-ng is the best tool to use as it will upload the relevant files based on the .changes file.

What is all this distribution business?

When it comes to Debian, packages don’t exist on their own. They belong to a distribution. This can mean many things, but the main thing to note is users are used to having to specify the distribution.

What does a Debian Repository look like?

  • A Debian repository is made up of many releases.
  • Each release is given a codename. For the public Debian repository, these are things like “bullseye” and “jesse”.
    • There is also the concept of suites which are essentially aliases of codenames synonymous with release channels like “stable” and “edge”.
  • Each release has many components. In the public repository, these are “main”, “contrib”, and “non-free”.
  • Each release has many architectures such as “amd64”, “arm64”, or “i386”.
  • Each release has a signed Release file (see below about GPG signing)

A standard directory-based Debian repository would be organized as: 

dists\
      |--jessie/
      |--bullseye\
                  |Changelog
                  |Release
                  |InRelease
                  |Release.gpg
                  |--main\
                          |--amd64\
                          |--arm64\
                  |--contrib\
                  |--non-free\
pool\
     |--this is where the .deb files for all releases live

You can explore a mirror of the public Debian repository here: http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/

In the public Debian repository, the entire directory structure, release files, GPG keys, and other files are all generated by a series of scripts called the Debian Archive Kit, or dak.

In the GitLab Debian repository, we don’t deal with specific file directories. Instead, we use code and an underlying PostgreSQL database to organize the relationships between these different pieces.

What does a Debian Repository do?

The Debian community created many package repository systems before things like object storage existed, and they used FTP to upload artifacts to a remote server. Most current package repositories and registries are just directories on a server somewhere. Packages added to the official Debian distribution exist in a central public repository that a group of open source maintainers curates. The package maintainers use the Debian Archive Kit, or dak scripts to generate release files and do other maintenance tasks. So, in addition to storing and serving files, a complete Debian repository needs to accomplish the same behavior that dak provides. This behavior is what the GitLab Debian registry aims to do.

What are GPG keys, and what are signed releases

A GPG key is a public/private key pair for secure data transmission. Similar to an SSH key, there is a private and public key. Whoever has the public key can encrypt data, and whoever has the private key can decrypt data that was encrypted using the public key. You can also use GPG keys to sign data. Whoever has the private key can sign data or a file, and whoever has the public key can then check the signature and trust it came from the person with the matching private key.

We use GPG to sign the release file for the Debian packages. The release file is an index of all packages within a given distribution and their respective digests.

In the GitLab Debian registry, a background process generates a new release file whenever a user publishes a new package to their Debian repository. A GPG key is created for each distribution. If a user requests a release for that distribution, they can request the signed version and the public GPG key to verify the authenticity of that release file.

GitLab repository internals

When a file upload occurs:

  1. A new “incoming” package record is found or created. All new files are assigned to the “incoming” package. It is a holding area used until we know what package the file is actually associated with.
  2. A new “unknown” file is stored. It is unknown because we do not yet know if this file belongs to an existing package or not.

Once we know which package the file belongs to, it is associated with that package, and the “incoming” package is removed if no more files remain. The “unknown” status of the file is updated to the correct file type.

Next, if the file is a .changes format:

  1. The .changes file is parsed and any files listed within it are updated. All uploaded non-.changes files are correctly associated with various distributions and packages.
  2. The ::Packages::Debian::GenerateDistributionWorker and thus ::Packages::Debian::GenerateDistributionService are run.
    1. Component files are created or updated. Since we just updated package files that were listed in the .changes file, we now check the component/architecture files based on the changed checksum values.
    2. A new release is generated:
      1. A new GPG key is generated if one does not already exist for the distribution
      2. A Release file is written, signed by the GPG key, and then stored.
    3. Old component files are destroyed.

This diagram shows the path taken after a file is uploaded to the Debian API:

sequenceDiagram Client->>+DebianProjectPackages: PUT projects/:id/packages/debian/:file_name DebianProjectPackages->>+FindOrCreateIncomingService: Create "incoming" package DebianProjectPackages->>+CreatePackageFileService: Create "unknown" file Note over DebianProjectPackages: If `.changes` file DebianProjectPackages->>+ProcessChangesWorker: Schedule worker to process the file DebianProjectPackages->>+Client: 202 Created ProcessChangesWorker->>+ProcessChangesService: Start service ProcessChangesService->>+ExtractChangesMetadataService: Extract changesmetadata ExtractChangesMetadataService->>+ExtractMetadataService: Extract file metadata ExtractMetadataService->>+ParseDebian822Service: run `dpkg --field` to get control file ExtractMetadataService->>+ExtractDebMetadataService: If .deb or .udeb ExtractDebMetadataService->>+ParseDebian822Service: run `dpkg --field` to get control file ParseDebian822Service-->>-ExtractDebMetadataService: Parse String as Debian RFC822 control data format ExtractDebMetadataService-->>-ExtractMetadataService: Return the parsed control file ExtractMetadataService->>+ParseDebian822Service: if .dsc, .changes, or buildinfo ParseDebian822Service-->>-ExtractMetadataService: Parse String as Debian RFC822 control data format ExtractMetadataService-->>-ExtractChangesMetadataService: Parse Metadata file ExtractChangesMetadataService-->>-ProcessChangesService: Return list of files and hashes from the .changes file loop process files listed in .changes ProcessChangesService->>+ExtractMetadataService: Process file ExtractMetadataService->>+ParseDebian822Service: run `dpkg --field` to get control file ExtractMetadataService->>+ExtractDebMetadataService: If .deb or .udeb ExtractDebMetadataService->>+ParseDebian822Service: run `dpkg --field` to get control file ParseDebian822Service-->>-ExtractDebMetadataService: Parse String as Debian RFC822 control data format ExtractDebMetadataService-->>-ExtractMetadataService: Return the parsed control file ExtractMetadataService->>+ParseDebian822Service: if .dsc, .changes, or buildinfo ParseDebian822Service-->>-ExtractMetadataService: Parse String as Debian RFC822 control data format ExtractMetadataService-->>-ProcessChangesService: Use parsed metadata to update "unknown" (or known) file end ProcessChangesService->>+GenerateDistributionWorker: Find distribution and start service GenerateDistributionWorker->>+GenerateDistributionService: Generate distribution GenerateDistributionService->>+GenerateDistributionService: generate component files based on new archs and updates from .changes GenerateDistributionService->>+GenerateDistributionKeyService: generate GPG key for distribution GenerateDistributionKeyService-->>-GenerateDistributionService: GPG key GenerateDistributionService-->>-GenerateDistributionService: Generate distribution file GenerateDistributionService->>+SignDistributionService: Sign release file with GPG key SignDistributionService-->>-GenerateDistributionService: Save the signed release file GenerateDistributionWorker->>+GenerateDistributionService: destroy no longer used component files

Distributions

You must create a distribution before publishing a package to it. When you create or update a distribution using the project or group distribution API, in addition to creating the initial backing records in the database, the GenerateDistributionService run as shown in the above sequence diagram.