APT Package Release Process

This guide documents the process for publishing NoETL CLI releases as Debian packages via APT repository.

Overview

NoETL provides .deb packages for Ubuntu/Debian distributions, hosted via GitHub Pages as an APT repository. The process involves building packages, creating repository metadata, and publishing to GitHub.

Prerequisites

Debian build tools: dpkg-dev, dpkg-deb
Rust toolchain for building binary
Push access to noetl/noetl or noetl/apt repository
Linux system for building (can use Podman/GitHub Actions)

Repository Architecture

Two hosting options:

Option 1: GitHub Pages on Main Repository

Branch: apt in noetl/noetl
URL: https://noetl.github.io/noetl
Pros: Single repository, simpler management
Cons: Larger main repo size

Option 2: Separate APT Repository

Repository: noetl/apt (dedicated)
URL: https://noetl.github.io/apt
Pros: Cleaner separation, smaller main repo
Cons: Additional repository to manage

Build Process

1. Build Debian Package

Option A: Podman Build (Recommended for macOS)

Build using Podman to avoid needing Linux system:

./docker/release/build-deb-docker.sh 2.5.3

This script:

Builds Ubuntu 22.04 container with Rust toolchain
Compiles Rust binary with cargo
Creates debian package structure
Generates .deb file with proper control metadata
Extracts package and SHA256 checksum to build/deb/

Output:

build/deb/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb
build/deb/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb.sha256

Podman Build Details:

Container: Ubuntu 22.04 with build-essential, dpkg-dev, Rust
Location: docker/release/Dockerfile.deb
Uses current branch code (not git clone)
Publishes the maintained Rust CLI binary from noetl/cli as the noetl Debian package.

Option B: Native Linux Build

Run the build script on a Linux system:

./scripts/build_deb.sh 2.5.3

This script:

Clones repository at the specified version
Builds Rust binary with cargo
Creates debian package structure
Generates .deb file with proper control metadata
Creates SHA256 checksum

Output:

build/deb/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb
build/deb/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb.sha256

2. Create APT Repository

Generate repository metadata:

./scripts/publish_apt.sh 2.5.3 amd64

This creates:

apt-repo/
├── dists/
│   ├── jammy/      # Ubuntu 22.04
│   ├── focal/      # Ubuntu 20.04
│   └── noble/      # Ubuntu 24.04
│       └── main/
│           └── binary-amd64/
│               ├── Packages
│               ├── Packages.gz
│               └── Release
└── pool/
    └── main/
        └── noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb

3. Publish to GitHub Pages

For Main Repository (`noetl/noetl`)

# Create apt branch if doesn't exist
git checkout --orphan apt
git rm -rf .

# Copy repository files
cp -r apt-repo/* .

# Commit and push
git add .
git commit -m "Add NoETL v2.5.3 package"
git push origin apt

# Enable GitHub Pages
# Go to Settings > Pages > Source: apt branch

For Separate Repository (`noetl/apt`)

# Clone apt repository
git clone [email protected]:noetl/apt.git
cd apt

# Copy repository files
cp -r ../noetl/apt-repo/* .

# Commit and push
git add .
git commit -m "Add NoETL v2.5.3 package"
git push origin main

# Enable GitHub Pages if not already
# Settings > Pages > Source: main branch

4. Upload to GitHub Releases

Upload .deb and checksum to GitHub releases:

# Create release (or use GitHub web interface)
gh release create v2.5.3 \
  build/deb/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb \
  build/deb/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb.sha256 \
  --title "NoETL v2.5.3" \
  --notes "Release notes here"

Podman Build Details

The Podman-based builder is located at docker/release/:

Files:

Dockerfile.deb - Ubuntu 22.04 image with Rust and dpkg-dev
build-deb-docker.sh - Build script that extracts .deb to host
README.md - Usage documentation

Process:

Builds Podman image with Ubuntu 22.04 + Rust toolchain
Copies current repository code into container
Runs ./scripts/build_deb.sh inside container
Extracts built .deb and SHA256 files to build/deb/
Cleans up container

Testing Package:

# Test installation in clean Ubuntu container
podman run --rm -v $(pwd)/build/deb:/packages ubuntu:22.04 bash -c '
  apt-get update && 
  dpkg -i /packages/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb && 
  noetl --version'

GitHub Actions Automation

Create .github/workflows/build-deb.yml:

name: Build Debian Package

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  build-deb:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install -y dpkg-dev
      
      - name: Setup Rust
        uses: actions-rs/toolchain@v1
        with:
          toolchain: stable
      
      - name: Build package
        run: ./scripts/build_deb.sh ${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/v}
      
      - name: Create APT repository
        run: ./scripts/publish_apt.sh ${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/v}
      
      - name: Upload to release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        with:
          files: |
            build/deb/*.deb
            build/deb/*.sha256
      
      - name: Deploy to apt branch
        run: |
          git config user.name "GitHub Actions"
          git config user.email "[email protected]"
          git checkout --orphan apt-temp
          git rm -rf .
          cp -r apt-repo/* .
          git add .
          git commit -m "Release ${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
          git branch -D apt || true
          git branch -m apt
          git push -f origin apt

Package Structure

Control File (`debian/control`)

Defines package metadata and dependencies:

Package: noetl
Version: 2.5.3-1
Architecture: amd64
Maintainer: NoETL Team <[email protected]>
Description: NoETL workflow automation CLI
Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}

Build Rules (`debian/rules`)

Makefile for building:

#!/usr/bin/make -f

override_dh_auto_build:
	cd repos/cli && cargo build --release

override_dh_auto_install:
	install -D -m 0755 target/release/noetl debian/noetl/usr/bin/noetl

Testing

Test Local Installation

# Install locally
sudo dpkg -i build/deb/noetl_2.5.3-1_amd64.deb

# Verify
noetl --version

# Test execution
noetl run examples/hello.yaml

# Remove
sudo dpkg -r noetl

Test APT Repository

# Add local repository
echo "deb [trusted=yes] file://$(pwd)/apt-repo jammy main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/noetl-test.list

# Update and install
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install noetl

# Verify
noetl --version

# Cleanup
sudo apt-get remove noetl
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/noetl-test.list

Multi-Architecture Support

Build for ARM64:

# Setup cross-compilation
rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
sudo apt-get install gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu

# Build with cargo
export CARGO_TARGET_AARCH64_UNKNOWN_LINUX_GNU_LINKER=aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc
	cargo build --release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --bins

# Build .deb for arm64
./scripts/build_deb.sh 2.5.3 arm64

Troubleshooting

Build fails with cargo errors

Ensure Rust is up to date:

rustup update stable
cargo clean

dpkg-deb not found

Install debian build tools:

sudo apt-get install dpkg-dev

Repository metadata errors

Regenerate Packages file:

cd apt-repo
dpkg-scanpackages --arch amd64 pool/ > dists/jammy/main/binary-amd64/Packages
gzip -k -f dists/jammy/main/binary-amd64/Packages

Overview​

Prerequisites​

Repository Architecture​

Option 1: GitHub Pages on Main Repository​

Option 2: Separate APT Repository​

Build Process​

1. Build Debian Package​

Option A: Podman Build (Recommended for macOS)​

Option B: Native Linux Build​

2. Create APT Repository​

3. Publish to GitHub Pages​

For Main Repository (noetl/noetl)​

For Separate Repository (noetl/apt)​

4. Upload to GitHub Releases​

Podman Build Details​

GitHub Actions Automation​

Package Structure​

Control File (debian/control)​

Build Rules (debian/rules)​

Testing​

Test Local Installation​

Test APT Repository​

Multi-Architecture Support​

Troubleshooting​

Build fails with cargo errors​

dpkg-deb not found​

Repository metadata errors​

Related Documentation​