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+<!--
+title: "Netdata contrib"
+custom_edit_url: https://github.com/netdata/netdata/edit/master/contrib/README.md
+sidebar_label: "Netdata contrib"
+learn_status: "Published"
+learn_topic_type: "References"
+learn_rel_path: "Developers"
+-->
+
+# Netdata contrib
+
+## Building .deb packages
+
+The `contrib/debian/` directory contains basic rules to build a
+Debian package.  It has been tested on Debian Jessie and Wheezy,
+but should work, possibly with minor changes, if you have other
+dpkg-based systems such as Ubuntu or Mint.
+
+To build Netdata for a Debian Jessie system, the debian directory
+has to be available in the root of the Netdata source. The easiest
+way to do this is with a symlink:
+
+```sh
+ln -s contrib/debian
+```
+
+Edit the `debian/changelog` file to reflect the package version and
+the build time:
+
+```sh
+netdata (1.21.0) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Initial Release
+
+ -- Netdata Builder <bot@netdata.cloud>   Tue, 12 May 2020 10:36:52 +0200
+```
+
+Then build the debian package:
+
+```sh
+dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -rfakeroot
+```
+
+This should give a package that can be installed in the parent
+directory, which you can install manually with dpkg.
+
+```sh
+ls -1 ../*.deb
+../netdata_1.21.0_amd64.deb
+../netdata-dbgsym_1.21.0_amd64.deb
+../netdata-plugin-cups_1.21.0_amd64.deb
+../netdata-plugin-cups-dbgsym_1.21.0_amd64.deb
+../netdata-plugin-freeipmi_1.21.0_amd64.deb
+../netdata-plugin-freeipmi-dbgsym_1.21.0_amd64.deb
+sudo dpkg -i ../netdata_1.21.0_amd64.deb
+```
+
+### Reinstalling Netdata
+
+The recommended way to upgrade Netdata packages built from this
+source is to remove the current package from your system, then
+install the new package. Upgrading on wheezy is known to not
+work cleanly; Jessie may behave as expected.
+
+