Launchpad Help > Packaging > Personal Package Archives

Overview

Using a Personal Package Archive (PPA), you can distribute software and updates directly to Ubuntu users. Create your source package, upload it and Launchpad will build binaries and then host them in your own apt repository.

That means Ubuntu users can install your packages in just the same way they install standard Ubuntu packages and they'll automatically receive updates as and when you make them.

Every individual and team in Launchpad can have one or more PPAs, each with its own URL.

Packages you publish in your PPA will remain there until you remove them, they're superseded by another package that you upload or the version of Ubuntu against which they're built becomes obsolete.

Note: speak to us about our beta of private PPAs for commercial subscribers.

Size and transfer limits

Each PPA gets 2 GiB of disk space. If you need more space for a particular PPA, ask us.

While we don't enforce a strict limit on data transfer, we will get in touch with you if your data transfer looks unusually high.

Supported architectures

When Launchpad builds a source package in a PPA, it creates binaries for:

• x86

• AMD64

• For Ubuntu versions prior to 10.04 (Lucid): LPIA.

We use the Xen virtualization system for security during the build process, ensuring that each build has a clean build environment and different developers cannot impact on one another's builds accidentally. This technology is only available for these architectures.

Supported series

When building a source package you can specify one of the following series in your changelog file:

• dapper
• hardy
• jaunty
• karmic
• lucid
• maverick

If you specify a different series the build will fail.

Activating a PPA

Before you can start using a PPA, whether it's your own or it belongs to a team, you need to activate it on your profile page or the team's overview page. If you already have one or more PPAs, this is also where you'll be able to create additional archives.

Note: You can only activate a PPA if you have signed the Ubuntu code of conduct.

Your PPA's key

Launchpad generates a unique key for each PPA and uses it to sign any packages built in that PPA.

This means that people downloading/installing packages from your PPA can verify their source. After you've activated your PPA, it can take a couple of hours for Launchpad to generate your key.

Your key, and instructions for adding it to Ubuntu, are shown on the PPA's overview page.

Deleting a PPA

When you no longer need your PPA, you can delete it. This deletes the repo area and all the packages in the PPA, but currently does not actually delete the PPA. It is also not possible to rename or reactivate a deleted PPA.

Next steps

You can familiarise yourself with how PPAs work by installing a package from an existing PPA. You can also jump straight into uploading your source packages.