jordansissel/fpm · error

Debian 'Version' field needs to start with a digit. I was pr

Error message

Debian 'Version' field needs to start with a digit. I was provided '#{@version}' which seems like it just has a 'v' prefix to an otherwise-valid Debian version, I'll remove the 'v' for you.

What it means

Error "Debian 'Version' field needs to start with a digit. I was provided '#{@version}' which seems like it just has a 'v' prefix to an otherwise-valid Debian version, I'll remove the 'v' for you." thrown in jordansissel/fpm.

Source

Thrown at lib/fpm/package/deb.rb:327

    end

    if @name.include?(" ")
      logger.info("Debian package names cannot include spaces; " \
                   "automatically converting to dashes", :name => @name)
      @name = @name.gsub(/[ ]/, "-")
    end

    return @name
  end # def name

  def prefix
    return (attributes[:prefix] or "/")
  end # def prefix

  def version
    if @version.kind_of?(String)
      if @version.start_with?("v") && @version.gsub(/^v/, "") =~ /^#{VERSION_FIELD_PATTERN}$/
        logger.warn("Debian 'Version' field needs to start with a digit. I was provided '#{@version}' which seems like it just has a 'v' prefix to an otherwise-valid Debian version, I'll remove the 'v' for you.")
        @version = @version.gsub(/^v/, "")
      end

      if @version !~ /^#{VERSION_FIELD_PATTERN}$/
        raise FPM::InvalidPackageConfiguration, "The version looks invalid for Debian packages. Debian version field must contain only alphanumerics and . (period), + (plus), - (hyphen) or ~ (tilde). I have '#{@version}' which which isn't valid."
      end
    end

    return @version
  end

  def input(input_path)
    extract_info(input_path)
    extract_files(input_path)
  end # def input

  def extract_info(package)
    compression = `#{ar_cmd[0]} t #{package}`.split("\n").grep(/control.tar/).first.split(".").last

View on GitHub (pinned to b6d77ba72a)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at lib/fpm/package/deb.rb:327 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of jordansissel/fpm@b6d77ba72a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2e72bf74d42199db. Report an issue: GitHub.