xdeb-update

Fetch .deb packages from APT repositories and install them on Void Linux via xdeb.

Rather than relying on manually downloading .deb files, xdeb-update reimplements APT repository metadata fetching to automatically track, download, verify, convert, and install packages — keeping everything up to date with a single command.

Features

• APT repositories — parse Packages.gz indices from standard APT repos (e.g. VS Code, Spotify, Mullvad)
• Flat repositories — support OBS-style repos with Packages.gz at the root (e.g. LibreWolf)
• GitHub Releases — download .deb assets from the latest release, with automatic architecture detection
• Direct downloads — handle direct URLs with version detection from redirects (e.g. Discord)
• SHA256 verification for packages from APT indices
• Architecture detection — automatically selects the right .deb for your system (amd64, arm64, armhf, i386)
• Desktop integration fixes — patches invalid .desktop files, refreshes icon/menu caches, and symlinks binaries into PATH
• Version tracking — only downloads when a new version is available

Dependencies

• curl, awk, xbps-create, xbps-rindex
• xdeb — the .deb to .xbps converter
• sudo or doas for installation

Installation

sudo ./install.sh

This installs xdeb-update to /usr/local/bin/, creates the system directories, and sets up bash completion.

Usage

xdeb-update [options] [command] [package]

Commands

Command	Description
update [pkg]	Check for updates and install (default)
check [pkg]	Check for updates without installing
uninstall <pkg>	Uninstall a package, its symlinks, and version state
list	List configured packages and stored versions
seed	Seed version state from existing binpkgs
clean	Clear cached index files

Options

Option	Description
-f, --force	Force re-download and reinstall even if up to date
-h, --help	Show help

Examples

xdeb-update                    # Update all packages
xdeb-update check              # Check for available updates
xdeb-update update discord     # Update only Discord
xdeb-update -f update code     # Force reinstall VS Code
xdeb-update seed               # Seed state from existing binpkgs

Configuration

On first run, a default config is created at /etc/xdeb-update/sources.conf. Edit it to add or remove packages.

Source types

# Standard APT repository
apt <name> <repo-url> <suite> <component> [deb-pkg-name] [xdeb-flags]

# Flat repository (e.g. OBS)
flat <name> <repo-url> [deb-pkg-name] [xdeb-flags]

# GitHub Releases
github <name> <owner/repo> [asset-pattern] [xdeb-flags]

# Direct download URL
direct <name> <url> [xdeb-flags]

Example sources.conf

# VS Code
apt  code  https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code  stable  main

# LibreWolf (OBS flat repo)
flat  librewolf  https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/bgstack15:/aftermozilla/Debian_12

# LocalSend from GitHub
github  localsend  localsend/localsend

# Discord (direct download)
direct  discord  https://discord.com/api/download?platform=linux&format=deb

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
XDEB_BIN	/usr/local/bin/xdeb	Path to xdeb binary
XDEB_PKGROOT	/var/cache/xdeb	xdeb working directory
DEB_DIR	/var/cache/xdeb-update/debs	Where .deb files are saved

File Locations

Path	Purpose
/etc/xdeb-update/sources.conf	Package source configuration
/var/lib/xdeb-update/versions	Tracked version state
/var/cache/xdeb-update/	Cached index files and downloaded .deb files

License

See LICENSE.