ubuntu-lint(1)

NAME
ubuntu-lint — packaging linter for Ubuntu uploads

SYNOPSIS
ubuntu-lint [--help] [--verbose] [--json] [--source-dir DIR] [--changelog FILE] [--changes-file FILE] [--all=(auto|off|warn|fail)] [--<linter>=(auto|off|warn|fail)]...

DESCRIPTION
ubuntu-lint is a packaging linter focused on Ubuntu-specific policies and conventions. It inspects Debian source package directories, changelogs, and .changes files and runs modular lint checks.

If run with no explicit context flags and a debian/ directory is present, ubuntu-lint will infer context from the changelog and the most recent .changes file. Context may be provided explicitly using the context options below.

Most lint checks have an associated dput-ng hook defined for easy linting at upload time.

OPTIONS

--help, -h
    Show help and exit.

--verbose
    Enable verbose output.

--json
    Print results as JSON.

CONTEXT OPTIONS

--source-dir DIR
    Path to Debian source package directory to use as context.

--changelog FILE
    Path to debian/changelog to use as context.

--changes-file FILE
    Path to a source .changes file to use as context.

LINTER OPTIONS
Each lint has a corresponding flag --<linter-name>= which accepts one of: auto, off, warn, fail.

•   auto — use the lint’s default behavior depending on whether the target is a development or stable release.

•   warn — treat detected issues as warnings.

•   fail — treat detected issues as failures.

•   off — disable the check.

--all= sets the default level for all linters. Any linter-specific flags that come after take precedence.

AVAILABLE LINTERS

  distribution-invalid
Detects invalid or unsupported distribution field, such as incorrect distribution names.

  missing-bug-references
Detects when the upload is missing Launchpad bug references in the changelog.

  missing-launchpad-bugs-fixed
Detects when the upload is missing Launchpad bug references (i.e. the Launchpad-Bugs-Fixed field) in the .changes file.

  missing-git-ubuntu-references
Detects when changes file is missing git-ubuntu metadata (i.e. the Vcs-Git, Vcs-Git-Commit, Vcs-Git-Ref fields).

  git-ubuntu-references-mismatch
Checks that if present, the git-ubuntu metadata in the changes file is consistent with the remote.

  missing-pending-changelog-entry
Detects when an upload’s changelog is missing the entry of a pending change, for example an upload that is still in -proposed.

  missing-ubuntu-maintainer
Detects when the changes file has not set the Maintainer field to Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>.

  sru-bug-missing-template
For SRU uploads, checks if the associated bugs have filled out the SRU template.

  sru-bug-missing-release-tasks
For SRU uploads, checks if the associated bugs have the correct release tasks set.

  sru-version-string-breaks-upgrades
For SRU uploads, checks if the version string could break upgrade paths.

  sru-version-string-convention
For SRU uploads, checks if the version string follows Ubuntu and SRU conventions.

  release-mismatch
Attempts to detect inconsistencies in the version string and series name, e.g. 1.2.3-0ubuntu1~22.04.1 and noble (because the ~22.04.1 looks like it is meant for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS “Jammy Jellyfish”, and noble refers to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS “Noble Numbat”).

  missing-version-suffix
Detects when an upload for Ubuntu is missing an appropriate version string suffix, e.g. “ubuntuX” or “buildX”.

  merge-missing-new-debian-changelog
For package merge uploads, checks that the changes file includes the new Debian changelog entries. In other words, this check ensures that the source package was built with -v<previous_ubuntu_version>.

See ubuntu-lint --help for the complete list.

DPUT-NG HOOKS
Most lint checks have an associated dput-ng hook which is shipped in /etc/dput.d/hooks/<linter>.json. If installed alongside dpug-ng, these hooks will be invoked with dput-ng’s context at upload time.

EXAMPLES
Run in current directory (auto-detect context):

$ ubuntu-lint

Run against an explicit source directory:

$ ubuntu-lint –source-dir=/path/to/src

Disable a specific linter:

$ ubuntu-lint –missing-git-ubuntu-references=off

Force all checks to be warnings:

$ ubuntu-lint –all=warn

AUTHOR
Canonical Ltd. — see project files for contributors.

BUGS
Report issues to the project’s issue tracker: https://github.com/ubuntu/ubuntu-lint/issues.

AUTHORS
Canonical Ltd..