everoddandeven · Oct 30, 2026 · Oct 30, 2026
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-deb.yml b/.github/workflows/build-deb.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 name: Build Debian Packages
 
+# Builds the package from debian/ with dpkg-buildpackage in a container of each release.
+# Pull requests build amd64 on trixie and bookworm. Main also builds amd64 on noble and jammy
+# and arm64 on trixie and bookworm. The release (called by release.yml) and the manual runs with
+# full build all of them. arm64 and armhf are built natively on arm runners, which run 32 bit
+# arm containers.
 on:
   push:
     branches: [ main ]
@@ -8,10 +13,19 @@ on:
     paths:
       - '.github/workflows/build-deb.yml'
       - 'debian/**'
-      - 'docker/**'
-      - 'Dockerfile.linux'
+      - 'bin/build_monero_cpp.sh'
   workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      full:
+        description: Build every release and architecture
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
   workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      full:
+        description: Build every release and architecture
+        type: boolean
+        default: false
 
 # A new push to a pull request cancels the previous run. Other events get their own
 # group so they are never cancelled or replaced.
@@ -25,61 +39,18 @@ permissions:
 
 jobs:
   build:
-    name: ${{ matrix.distro_name }} (${{ matrix.name }} / ${{ matrix.arch }})
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    name: ${{ contains('noble jammy', matrix.name) && 'ubuntu' || 'debian' }} (${{ matrix.name }} / ${{ matrix.arch }})
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.arch == 'amd64' && 'ubuntu-latest' || 'ubuntu-24.04-arm' }}
+    timeout-minutes: 360
 
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        include:
-          - name: noble
-            distro_name: ubuntu
-            base_image: ubuntu:24.04
-            arch: amd64
-          - name: noble
-            distro_name: ubuntu
-            base_image: ubuntu:24.04
-            arch: arm64
-          - name: noble
-            distro_name: ubuntu
-            base_image: ubuntu:24.04
-            arch: armhf
-          - name: jammy
-            distro_name: ubuntu
-            base_image: ubuntu:22.04
-            arch: amd64
-          - name: jammy
-            distro_name: ubuntu
-            base_image: ubuntu:22.04
-            arch: arm64
-          - name: jammy
-            distro_name: ubuntu
-            base_image: ubuntu:22.04
-            arch: armhf
-          - name: trixie
-            distro_name: debian
-            base_image: debian:trixie
-            arch: amd64
-          - name: trixie
-            distro_name: debian
-            base_image: debian:trixie
-            arch: arm64
-          - name: trixie
-            distro_name: debian
-            base_image: debian:trixie
-            arch: armhf
-          - name: bookworm
-            distro_name: debian
-            base_image: debian:bookworm
-            arch: amd64
-          - name: bookworm
-            distro_name: debian
-            base_image: debian:bookworm
-            arch: arm64
-          - name: bookworm
-            distro_name: debian
-            base_image: debian:bookworm
-            arch: armhf
+        name: [noble, jammy, trixie, bookworm]
+        arch: [amd64, arm64, armhf]
+        # pull requests build amd64 on trixie and bookworm, main adds amd64 on the Ubuntu releases and
+        # arm64 on the Debian ones, the tags and the manual runs with full build everything
+        exclude: ${{ fromJSON((github.ref_type == 'tag' || inputs.full) && '[]' || (github.event_name == 'pull_request' && '[{"arch":"armhf"},{"arch":"arm64"},{"name":"noble"},{"name":"jammy"}]' || '[{"arch":"armhf"},{"arch":"arm64","name":"noble"},{"arch":"arm64","name":"jammy"}]')) }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
@@ -90,43 +61,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Determine package version
         id: version
         run: |
-          VERSION=$(grep -m1 '^version' pyproject.toml | sed -E 's/version = "(.*)"/\1/')
+          VERSION=$(sed -n 's/^version = "\(.*\)"$/\1/p' pyproject.toml | head -n 1)
           echo "version=${VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
-      - name: Setup qemu
-        if: matrix.arch == 'arm64' || matrix.arch == 'armhf'
-        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@96fe6ef7f33517b61c61be40b68a1882f3264fb8 # v4.2.0
-
-      - name: Setup docker buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@bb05f3f5519dd87d3ba754cc423b652a5edd6d2c # v4.2.0
-
       - name: Free up disk space
         run: |
           sudo rm -rf /usr/share/dotnet /usr/local/lib/android /opt/ghc || true
           docker system prune -af || true
 
-      - name: Prepare build environment
-        uses: nick-fields/retry@ad984534de44a9489a53aefd81eb77f87c70dc60 # v4.0.0
-        with:
-          timeout_minutes: 60
-          max_attempts: 3
-          retry_wait_seconds: 15
-          command: |
-            PLATFORM=${{ matrix.arch == 'amd64' && 'linux/amd64' ||
-                        matrix.arch == 'armhf' && 'linux/arm/v7' ||
-                        'linux/arm64' }}
-
-            docker buildx build \
-              --platform $PLATFORM \
-              --build-arg BASE_IMAGE=${{ matrix.base_image }} \
-              --build-arg THREADS=3 \
-              -t monero-python:${{ matrix.name }}-${{ matrix.arch }} \
-              -f Dockerfile.linux \
-              --cache-from type=gha,scope=${{ matrix.name }}-${{ matrix.arch }} \
-              --cache-to type=gha,mode=max,scope=${{ matrix.name }}-${{ matrix.arch }} \
-              --load \
-              .
-
       - name: Restore ccache
         uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
         with:
@@ -135,26 +77,21 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: |
             ccache-deb-${{ matrix.name }}-${{ matrix.arch }}_
 
-      - name: Build monero-python
-        uses: nick-fields/retry@ad984534de44a9489a53aefd81eb77f87c70dc60 # v4.0.0
+      # Installs the Build-Depends of debian/control in the container, sets the version of
+      # debian/changelog from pyproject.toml and runs dpkg-buildpackage. The workspace is
+      # mounted at /github/workspace in the container.
+      - name: Build package
+        uses: jtdor/build-deb-action@473136f14a42a231124c1f7cefaedfe941203c38 # v1.9.1
+        env:
+          CCACHE_DIR: /github/workspace/.ccache
+          CCACHE_MAXSIZE: 500M
         with:
-          timeout_minutes: 240
-          max_attempts: 3
-          retry_wait_seconds: 15
-          command: |
-            PLATFORM=${{ matrix.arch == 'amd64' && 'linux/amd64' ||
-                        matrix.arch == 'armhf' && 'linux/arm/v7' ||
-                        'linux/arm64' }}
-            PACKAGE_NAME="python3-monero_${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}-1${{ matrix.name }}1_${{ matrix.arch }}"
-
-            docker run --rm \
-              --platform $PLATFORM \
-              -v $PWD:/monero-python -w /monero-python \
-              -e PACKAGE_NAME="${PACKAGE_NAME}" \
-              -e CCACHE_DIR=/monero-python/.ccache \
-              -e CCACHE_MAXSIZE=500M \
-              monero-python:${{ matrix.name }}-${{ matrix.arch }} \
-              bash -euxc "./docker/build.sh"
+          # the image is not in the matrix: an include entry of a release left out by exclude
+          # would be a job of its own
+          docker-image: ${{ fromJSON('{"noble":"ubuntu:24.04","jammy":"ubuntu:22.04","trixie":"debian:trixie-slim","bookworm":"debian:bookworm-slim"}')[matrix.name] }}
+          extra-docker-args: --platform ${{ matrix.arch == 'armhf' && 'linux/arm/v7' || format('linux/{0}', matrix.arch) }}
+          before-build-hook: sh debian/set-version.sh ${{ matrix.name }}
+          buildpackage-opts: --build=binary --no-sign --jobs=auto
 
       - name: Save ccache
         # Pull requests only read the cache, pushes to main and manual runs replace it.
@@ -167,4 +104,4 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
         with:
           name: python3-monero_${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}-1${{ matrix.name }}1_${{ matrix.arch }}
-          path: build/*.deb
+          path: debian/artifacts/python3-monero_*.deb
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -10,12 +10,14 @@ permissions:
   actions: read
 
 jobs:
-  release:
-    name: Publish draft release
+  # the macos and windows builds and the tests are those of main, the deb ones are built here
+  check:
+    name: Check the tag and the builds of main
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    permissions:
-      contents: write
-      actions: read
+    outputs:
+      build_macos_run_id: ${{ steps.find_runs.outputs.build_macos_run_id }}
+      build_windows_run_id: ${{ steps.find_runs.outputs.build_windows_run_id }}
+      test_run_id: ${{ steps.find_runs.outputs.test_run_id }}
 
     steps:
       - name: Check the tag against the version in pyproject.toml
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
         run: |
-          for wf in build-deb.yml build-macos.yml build-windows.yml test.yml; do
+          for wf in build-macos.yml build-windows.yml test.yml; do
             key=$(echo "${wf%.*}" | tr '-' '_')
             run_id=$(gh run list --repo "${{ github.repository }}" --workflow "$wf" \
               --branch main --status success --json databaseId,headSha \
@@ -52,11 +54,29 @@ jobs:
             echo "${key}_run_id=${run_id}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           done
 
+  # every release and architecture, the builds of main only have some of them
+  deb:
+    name: Build the deb packages
+    needs: check
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/build-deb.yml
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
+      actions: write # build-deb.yml replaces its ccache entries
+    with:
+      full: true
+
+  release:
+    name: Publish draft release
+    needs: [check, deb]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      actions: read
+
+    steps:
       - name: Download deb packages
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
-          github-token: ${{ github.token }}
-          run-id: ${{ steps.find_runs.outputs.build_deb_run_id }}
           pattern: python3-monero_*
           path: release-assets
           merge-multiple: true
@@ -65,7 +85,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           github-token: ${{ github.token }}
-          run-id: ${{ steps.find_runs.outputs.build_macos_run_id }}
+          run-id: ${{ needs.check.outputs.build_macos_run_id }}
           pattern: monero-macos-*
           path: release-assets
           merge-multiple: true
@@ -74,7 +94,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           github-token: ${{ github.token }}
-          run-id: ${{ steps.find_runs.outputs.build_windows_run_id }}
+          run-id: ${{ needs.check.outputs.build_windows_run_id }}
           name: monero-python-win-amd64
           path: release-assets
           merge-multiple: true
@@ -83,7 +103,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
         with:
           github-token: ${{ github.token }}
-          run-id: ${{ steps.find_runs.outputs.test_run_id }}
+          run-id: ${{ needs.check.outputs.test_run_id }}
           name: coverage-reports-linux
           path: coverage-report
 

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
@@ -17,3 +17,11 @@ coverage*
 monero.log
 monero_tests_*.log
 .ccache
+# left by dpkg-buildpackage
+debian/artifacts
+debian/python3-monero
+debian/.debhelper
+debian/debhelper-build-stamp
+debian/files
+debian/*.substvars
+debian/*.log
diff --git a/Dockerfile.linux b/Dockerfile.linux
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -146,32 +146,30 @@ On anything else, build it from source.
 
 > **Faster rebuilds:** if [ccache](https://ccache.dev/) is installed it is used automatically for monero and monero-python (pass `-DUSE_CCACHE=OFF` to cmake to disable it). To use it for monero-cpp as well, build that with `-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache`.
 
-### Linux Docker Build
+### Debian package
+
+The package is built from [debian/](debian) with `dpkg-buildpackage`, the way CI does it. It installs the build dependencies and some static libraries system wide, so build it in a container of the release you want it for (`ubuntu:24.04`, `ubuntu:22.04`, `debian:trixie` or `debian:bookworm`).
 
 1. Install [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
 2. Clone the repository
     ```sh
     git clone --recursive https://github.com/libmonero/monero-python.git
     ```
-3. Prepare build environment
-    ```sh
-    cd monero-python
-    docker build --tag monero-python:build-linux --file Dockerfile.linux .
-    ```
-4. (Optional) Specify build image
-    ```sh
-    cd monero-python
-    docker build --tag monero-python:build-linux --build-arg BASE_IMAGE="ubuntu:22.04" --file Dockerfile.linux .
-    ```
-
-5. Build
+3. Build, replacing `ubuntu:24.04` with the release you want
     ```sh
-    docker run --rm -it -v <MONERO_PYTHON_DIR_FULL_PATH>:/monero-python -w /monero-python monero-python:build-linux bash ./docker/build.sh
+    docker run --rm -it -v <MONERO_PYTHON_DIR_FULL_PATH>:/monero-python -w /monero-python ubuntu:24.04 bash -c '
+      apt-get update && apt-get install -y dpkg-dev &&
+      apt-get build-dep -y ./ &&
+      debian/set-version.sh &&
+      dpkg-buildpackage --build=binary --no-sign &&
+      mkdir -p debian/artifacts && mv ../python3-monero_* debian/artifacts/'
     ```
 
     * `MONERO_PYTHON_DIR_FULL_PATH` - full path to `monero-python` directory
+    * `debian/set-version.sh` adds an entry for the version of `pyproject.toml` to `debian/changelog`, there is no need to commit it
+    * add `--jobs=4` to `dpkg-buildpackage` to build faster, each compiler needs 1 to 2 GB of memory
 
-6. Library build will be placed in `monero-python/build` directory
+4. The package is placed in `monero-python/debian/artifacts`
 
 ### Windows