picax - apt repository media creator

picax [options] [repository-path] [\fIdistribution-name] [\fIcomponent-name]

This manual page documents briefly the picax command.

picax is a program that takes apt repositories and splits them apart, usually for the purpose of writing the repositories onto media such as a CD or DVD. It does not create media itself; instead, it sets up paths that are ready to be fed to a tool such as mkisofs.

Optionally, picax can write an installer on the media. This is done by passing a module name to the --installer option. This module is loaded, and code from this module is called at the appropriate times to write the installer.

These programs follow the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (`-'). A summary of options is included below.

In addition, if an installer is selected with --installer, options starting with --inst will be accepted. The exact options vary between installers; consult your installer documentation for a full list of options.

--read-config=file

Read configuration items from the named file. Options on the command line override options in the file.

--write-config=file

Write the configuration used in this run to the named file. The file is written in the same XML-based format used by --read-config. Since --read-config is overriden by the command line, the two options can be used to modify the configuration file via the command line.

--help

Show summary of options.

--version

Show version of program.

--debug

Run in debug mode. Some more information is provided when there are problems, and the debugger is invoked immediately after the options are parsed.

--order=order-file

When packing packages onto media, place the packages mentioned in the order file first (as well as their dependencies).

--arch=architecture-name

Build media for a different architecture. This defaults to the current system architecture.

--num-parts=number

Split the repository into the requested number of parts, sizing the parts appropriately. Either this option or the --part-size option are required.

--part-size=size

Split the repository into enough parts so each is the requested number of bytes in size. Either this option or the --num-parts option are required.

--cd-label=string

Set the label, as recognized by apt, to the requested string. It may be necessary to enclose this option in quotes, or quote all whitespace in the string.

--installer=component-name

Set the installer to write to the media. This name is used as the name of the installer module to load.

--source=source-type

Create source media as well as binary media. There are four possible settings: none (don't create source media), separate (put source on completely separate media), immediate (put source on media immediately after putting binaries on, so one of the media has both binary and source on it), or mixed (each of the media has the source for its binaries on the same medium). The default value, if not specified, is "separate".

--media=component-name

Set the media type to use (CD, DVD, etc.). The component name corresponds to a module which, when loaded, provides information about the media size, and also allows the creation of images. The --part-size and --num-parts should not be used with this option.

--apt-repo-path=apt-repository

Specify an apt repository that can override the main one. Useful to fix temporary bugs in packages or provide missing ones.

--short-package-list

Only include packages on the media that are referenced by either the manual order list or the installer's order list.

--no-debootstrap

Do not ask debootstrap for its list of important packages to prioritize in the package order.

\fIrepository-path

The path to the apt repository we're going to pack.

\fIdistribution-name

The name of the distribution we're going to pack.

\fIcomponent-name

The component of the distribution we're going to pack.

This manual page was written by Jeff Licquia <licquia@progeny.com> for the Debian system (but may be used by others). Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.