Short debian package guide for dummies

As I always struggle with creating a debian so I decided to write the few steps down. Finally. This is more a kind of cheat sheet than a comprehensive guide.
In my example I will package h2o a very fast http/2 static file server capable to run as reverse proxy.

This is my environment: 

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS
Release:	14.04
Codename:	trusty

1. creating the basic structure

clone repository and change to newly created branch 
$ git clone git@github.com:lkwg82/h2o.git
$ git checkout tags/v1.1.1
$ git branch debian
$ git checkout debian
$ git branch --track origin/master
create the debian structure as directory debian/. 
$ export DEBEMAIL=lkwg82@gmx.de
$ export DEBFULLNAME="Lars K.W. Gohlke"
$ dh_make --single -p h2o-server_1.1.1 --createorig -y
DEBEMAIL and DEBFULLNAME should be the same as in your gpg keys, which you are using to sign the package.

Now fill the generated files under debian/ (control/changelog) and check with lintian until there are no more errors. Commit all changes!

$ lintian
Too late to run INIT block at /usr/local/lib/perl/5.18.2/Net/DNS.pm line 213.
W: h2o-server source: native-package-with-dash-version
W: h2o-server source: package-needs-versioned-debhelper-build-depends 9
W: h2o-server source: vcs-field-uses-unknown-uri-format vcs-git git@github.com:h2o/h2o.git
W: h2o-server source: syntax-error-in-dep5-copyright line 11: Continuation line outside a paragraph (maybe line 10 should be " .").
W: h2o-server source: out-of-date-standards-version 3.9.4 (current is 3.9.5)
W: h2o-server source: debian-watch-file-in-native-package

about preparation for publishing

I publish my packages on launchpad. For this I recommend to make sure every needed build dependency is met.

I struggled with pbuilder so I chose docker to have a clean build environment. For this I wrote docker-debian-build-env.

A single command runs a clean ubuntu instance and build everything: 

$ docker_debian_build_all

If you struggle with both ... loop until no errors left.


2. Finish

Finish your (initial) changes with these steps:

Build a binary package: 

$ dpkg-buildpackage -tc -B
or build a source package for publishing on launchpad: 
$ git-dch --release --git-author --commit --id-length=10 --distribution=trusty --debian-branch=debian
$ git-buildpackage -S -sa --git-tag --git-sign-tags --git-no-create-orig --git-debian-branch=debian
In both cases the result is in the parent directory.

3. Publish!

Share your package with the community. Make a pull request to the original authors and let everyone know you packaged that software for easy use (hopfully).

$ dput ppa:lkwg82/webperformance ../h2o-server_1.1.1-2_source.changes

My result is here ppa:lkwg82/webperformance.

Feedback is welcome!

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