One-line format
Each line defines
one data source and contains at least 4 fields:
- Package format: The package format is either
deb (binary package) or deb-src (source package)
- Root URL of the archive
- Distribution name (either the suite name (
stable, testing …) or code name bullseye, bookworm …)
- The 4th and remaining fields is a list of valid archive area names in the archive
Thus, the one-line format for sources.list looks like
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main
deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian bullseye-backports main
Deb822 format
In the Deb822 format, data sources are specified in blocks which are separated by a blank line. The first line of the one-line format above would be represented in the following four lines in the Deb822 format:
Types: deb
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian
Suites: bullseye
Components: main
The # character at the start of a line comments it out.
An entire entry can be disable by adding adding Enabled: no.
Additionally, only the following characters are allowed in the filename:
- Letters (
a - z, A - Z)
- Digits (
0 - 9)
- Period (
.)
- Underscore (
_)
- Hyphen (
-)