Compiling source into a DEB package

checkinstall does what you want to achieve: it will monitor which files get installed and put them into a .deb package, which can then be installed and removed

Install it with

apt-get install checkinstall

then you do the normal install from source procedure, replacing 'sudo make install' with 'sudo checkinstall':

  ./configure
  make
  sudo checkinstall

Reference: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CheckInstall

We have a really good Packaging Guide that has a section on the topic of new packages.

I have used the make checkinstall command on several occasions to create a .deb package on one machine to be installed on my other servers. It is a fast way to install a Beta version. It works, but should be used with caution. There are pitfalls for the user who does not understand the many functions of the .deb package.

I have twenty-some servers that use the same home grown apps. Adding the build support and compiler to each host is not that difficult.

Entering the commands to download and compile a new version twenty times is time consuming. The alternative is to upload a script to do the task and then execute the script. But it is often easier to update applications using the .deb file created with checkinstall.