diff --git a/debian/README.md b/debian/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..74eb351cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# How to build a GTSAM debian package
+
+To use the ``debuild`` command, install the ``devscripts`` package
+
+    sudo apt install devscripts
+
+Change into the gtsam directory, then run:
+
+    debuild -us -uc -j4
+
+Adjust the ``-j4`` depending on how many CPUs you want to build on in
+parallel. 
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ef5d5ab97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+gtsam (4.0.0-1berndpfrommer) bionic; urgency=medium
+
+  * initial release
+
+ -- Bernd Pfrommer <bernd.pfrommer@gmail.com>  Wed, 18 Jul 2018 20:36:44 -0400
diff --git a/debian/compat b/debian/compat
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ec635144f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/compat
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+9
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a37e4377
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+Source: gtsam
+Section: libs
+Priority: optional
+Maintainer: Frank Dellaert <frank@cc.gatech.edu>
+Uploaders: Jose Luis Blanco Claraco <joseluisblancoc@gmail.com>, Bernd Pfrommer <bernd.pfrommer@gmail.com>
+Build-Depends: cmake, libboost-all-dev (>= 1.58), libeigen3-dev, libtbb-dev, debhelper (>=9)
+Standards-Version: 3.9.7
+Homepage: https://github.com/borglab/gtsam
+Vcs-Browser: https://github.com/borglab/gtsam
+
+Package: libgtsam-dev
+Architecture: any
+Depends: ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
+Description: Georgia Tech Smoothing and Mapping Library
+ gtsam: Georgia Tech Smoothing and Mapping library for SLAM type applications
diff --git a/debian/copyright b/debian/copyright
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c2f41d83d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/copyright
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/
+Upstream-Name: gtsam
+Source: https://bitbucket.org/gtborg/gtsam.git
+
+Files: *
+Copyright: 2017, Frank Dellaert
+License: BSD
+
+Files: gtsam/3rdparty/CCOLAMD/*
+Copyright: 2005-2011, Univ. of Florida.  Authors: Timothy A. Davis, Sivasankaran Rajamanickam, and Stefan Larimore.  Closely based on COLAMD by Davis, Stefan Larimore, in collaboration with Esmond Ng, and John Gilbert. http://www.cise.ufl.edu/research/sparse
+License: GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
+
+Files: gtsam/3rdparty/Eigen/*
+Copyright: 2017, Multiple Authors
+License: MPL2
diff --git a/debian/gtsam-docs.docs b/debian/gtsam-docs.docs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..6a8d21c00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/usr/bin/make -f
+# See debhelper(7) (uncomment to enable)
+# output every command that modifies files on the build system.
+export DH_VERBOSE = 1
+
+
+# see FEATURE AREAS in dpkg-buildflags(1)
+#export DEB_BUILD_MAINT_OPTIONS = hardening=+all
+
+# see ENVIRONMENT in dpkg-buildflags(1)
+# package maintainers to append CFLAGS
+#export DEB_CFLAGS_MAINT_APPEND  = -Wall -pedantic
+# package maintainers to append LDFLAGS
+#export DEB_LDFLAGS_MAINT_APPEND = -Wl,--as-needed
+
+
+%:
+	dh $@ --parallel
+
+
+# dh_make generated override targets
+# This is example for Cmake (See https://bugs.debian.org/641051 )
+override_dh_auto_configure:
+	dh_auto_configure -- -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DGTSAM_BUILD_EXAMPLES_ALWAYS=OFF -DGTSAM_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DGTSAM_BUILD_WRAP=OFF -DGTSAM_BUILD_DOCS=OFF -DGTSAM_INSTALL_CPPUNITLITE=OFF -DGTSAM_INSTALL_GEOGRAPHICLIB=OFF -DGTSAM_BUILD_TYPE_POSTFIXES=OFF
+
diff --git a/debian/source/format b/debian/source/format
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..163aaf8d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/debian/source/format
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+3.0 (quilt)
diff --git a/package_scripts/README.md b/package_scripts/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1e33369aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package_scripts/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+
+# How to generate Debian packages
+
+    cd [GTSAM_SOURCE_ROOT]
+    bash package_scripts/prepare_debian.sh
+
+
+# How to generate Ubuntu packages for a PPA
+
+    cd [GTSAM_SOURCE_ROOT]
+    bash package_scripts/prepare_ubuntu_pkgs_for_ppa.sh
+    cd ~/gtsam_ubuntu
+    bash [GTSAM_SOURCE_ROOT]/upload_all_gtsam_ppa.sh
+
diff --git a/package_scripts/prepare_debian.sh b/package_scripts/prepare_debian.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7b083d8bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package_scripts/prepare_debian.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Prepare to build a Debian package.
+# Jose Luis Blanco Claraco, 2019 (for GTSAM)
+# Jose Luis Blanco Claraco, 2008-2018 (for MRPT)
+
+set -e   # end on error
+#set -x  # for debugging
+
+APPEND_SNAPSHOT_NUM=0
+IS_FOR_UBUNTU=0
+APPEND_LINUX_DISTRO=""
+VALUE_EXTRA_CMAKE_PARAMS=""
+while getopts "sud:c:" OPTION
+do
+     case $OPTION in
+         s)
+             APPEND_SNAPSHOT_NUM=1
+             ;;
+         u)
+             IS_FOR_UBUNTU=1
+             ;;
+         d)
+             APPEND_LINUX_DISTRO=$OPTARG
+             ;;
+         c)
+             VALUE_EXTRA_CMAKE_PARAMS=$OPTARG
+             ;;
+         ?)
+             echo "Unknown command line argument!"
+             exit 1
+             ;;
+     esac
+done
+
+if [ -f CMakeLists.txt ];
+then
+  source package_scripts/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh
+else
+	echo "Error: cannot find CMakeList.txt. This script is intended to be run from the root of the source tree."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+# Append snapshot?
+if [ $APPEND_SNAPSHOT_NUM == "1" ];
+then
+        CUR_SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+        source $CUR_SCRIPT_DIR/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh  # populate GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION
+
+        GTSAM_VERSION_STR="${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}~snapshot${GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION}${APPEND_LINUX_DISTRO}"
+else
+        GTSAM_VERSION_STR="${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}${APPEND_LINUX_DISTRO}"
+fi
+
+# Call prepare_release
+GTSAMSRC=`pwd`
+
+if [ -f $HOME/gtsam_release/gtsam*.tar.gz ];
+then
+  echo "## release file already exists. Reusing it."
+else
+  source package_scripts/prepare_release.sh
+  echo
+  echo "## Done prepare_release.sh"
+fi
+
+echo "=========== Generating GTSAM ${GTSAM_VER_MMP} Debian package =============="
+cd $GTSAMSRC
+
+set -x
+if [ -z "$GTSAM_DEB_DIR" ]; then
+        GTSAM_DEB_DIR="$HOME/gtsam_debian"
+fi
+GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR="$GTSAMSRC/debian/"
+GTSAM_EXTERN_UBUNTU_PPA_DIR="$GTSAMSRC/debian/"
+
+if [ -f ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}/control ];
+then
+	echo "Using debian dir: ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}"
+else
+	echo "ERROR: Cannot find ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}"
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR=$GTSAM_DEB_DIR/gtsam-${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}
+
+echo "GTSAM_VERSION_STR: ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}"
+echo "GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR: ${GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR}"
+
+# Prepare a directory for building the debian package:
+#
+rm -fR $GTSAM_DEB_DIR || true
+mkdir -p $GTSAM_DEB_DIR  || true
+
+# Orig tarball:
+echo "Copying orig tarball: gtsam_${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}.orig.tar.gz"
+cp $HOME/gtsam_release/gtsam*.tar.gz $GTSAM_DEB_DIR/gtsam_${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}.orig.tar.gz
+cd ${GTSAM_DEB_DIR}
+tar -xf gtsam_${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}.orig.tar.gz
+
+if [ ! -d "${GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR}" ];
+then
+  mv gtsam-* ${GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR}  # fix different dir names for Ubuntu PPA packages
+fi
+
+if [ ! -f "${GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR}/CMakeLists.txt" ];
+then
+	echo "*ERROR*: Seems there was a problem copying sources to ${GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR}... aborting script."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+cd ${GTSAM_DEBSRC_DIR}
+
+# Copy debian directory:
+#mkdir debian
+cp -r ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}/* debian
+
+# Use modified control & rules files for Ubuntu PPA packages:
+#if [ $IS_FOR_UBUNTU == "1" ];
+#then
+	# already done: cp ${GTSAM_EXTERN_UBUNTU_PPA_DIR}/control.in debian/
+  # Ubuntu: force use of gcc-7:
+  #sed -i '9i\export CXX=/usr/bin/g++-7\' debian/rules
+  #sed -i '9i\export CC=/usr/bin/gcc-7\' debian/rules7
+#fi
+
+# Export signing pub key:
+mkdir debian/upstream/
+gpg --export --export-options export-minimal --armor > debian/upstream/signing-key.asc
+
+# Parse debian/ control.in --> control
+#mv debian/control.in debian/control
+#sed -i "s/@GTSAM_VER_MM@/${GTSAM_VER_MM}/g" debian/control
+
+# Replace the text "REPLACE_HERE_EXTRA_CMAKE_PARAMS" in the "debian/rules" file
+# with: ${${VALUE_EXTRA_CMAKE_PARAMS}}
+RULES_FILE=debian/rules
+sed -i -e "s/REPLACE_HERE_EXTRA_CMAKE_PARAMS/${VALUE_EXTRA_CMAKE_PARAMS}/g" $RULES_FILE
+echo "Using these extra parameters for CMake: '${VALUE_EXTRA_CMAKE_PARAMS}'"
+
+# Strip my custom files...
+rm debian/*.new || true
+
+
+# Figure out the next Debian version number:
+echo "Detecting next Debian version number..."
+
+CHANGELOG_UPSTREAM_VER=$( dpkg-parsechangelog | sed -n 's/Version:.*\([0-9]\.[0-9]*\.[0-9]*.*snapshot.*\)-.*/\1/p' )
+CHANGELOG_LAST_DEBIAN_VER=$( dpkg-parsechangelog | sed -n 's/Version:.*\([0-9]\.[0-9]*\.[0-9]*\).*-\([0-9]*\).*/\2/p' )
+
+echo " -> PREVIOUS UPSTREAM: $CHANGELOG_UPSTREAM_VER -> New: ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}"
+echo " -> PREVIOUS DEBIAN VERSION: $CHANGELOG_LAST_DEBIAN_VER"
+
+# If we have the same upstream versions, increase the Debian version, otherwise create a new entry:
+if [ "$CHANGELOG_UPSTREAM_VER" = "$GTSAM_VERSION_STR" ];
+then
+	NEW_DEBIAN_VER=$[$CHANGELOG_LAST_DEBIAN_VER + 1]
+	echo "Changing to a new Debian version: ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}-${NEW_DEBIAN_VER}"
+	DEBCHANGE_CMD="--newversion ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}-${NEW_DEBIAN_VER}"
+else
+	DEBCHANGE_CMD="--newversion ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}-1"
+fi
+
+echo "Adding a new entry to debian/changelog..."
+
+DEBEMAIL="Jose Luis Blanco Claraco <joseluisblancoc@gmail.com>" debchange $DEBCHANGE_CMD -b --distribution unstable --force-distribution New version of upstream sources.
+
+echo "Copying back the new changelog to a temporary file in: ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}changelog.new"
+cp debian/changelog ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}changelog.new
+
+set +x
+
+echo "=============================================================="
+echo "Now, you can build the source Deb package with 'debuild -S -sa'"
+echo "=============================================================="
+
+cd ..
+ls -lh
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/package_scripts/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh b/package_scripts/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..589d422fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package_scripts/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# See https://reproducible-builds.org/specs/source-date-epoch/
+# get SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH with UNIX time_t
+if [ -d ".git" ];
+then
+  SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(git log -1 --pretty=%ct)
+else
+  echo "Error: intended for use from within a git repository"
+  exit 1
+fi
+GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION=$(date -d @$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH +%Y%m%d-%H%M)
+
+GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION+="-git-"
+GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION+=`git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD`
+GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION+="-"
+
+# x.y.z version components:
+GTSAM_VERSION_MAJOR=$(grep "(GTSAM_VERSION_MAJOR" CMakeLists.txt | sed -r 's/^.*GTSAM_VERSION_MAJOR\s*([0-9])*.*$/\1/g')
+GTSAM_VERSION_MINOR=$(grep "(GTSAM_VERSION_MINOR" CMakeLists.txt | sed -r 's/^.*GTSAM_VERSION_MINOR\s*([0-9])*.*$/\1/g')
+GTSAM_VERSION_PATCH=$(grep "(GTSAM_VERSION_PATCH" CMakeLists.txt | sed -r 's/^.*GTSAM_VERSION_PATCH\s*([0-9])*.*$/\1/g')
+
+GTSAM_VER_MM="${GTSAM_VERSION_MAJOR}.${GTSAM_VERSION_MINOR}"
+GTSAM_VER_MMP="${GTSAM_VERSION_MAJOR}.${GTSAM_VERSION_MINOR}.${GTSAM_VERSION_PATCH}"
+GTSAM_VERSION_STR=$GTSAM_VER_MMP
diff --git a/package_scripts/prepare_release.sh b/package_scripts/prepare_release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..750fc27b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package_scripts/prepare_release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Export sources from a git tree and prepare it for a public release.
+# Jose Luis Blanco Claraco, 2019 (for GTSAM)
+# Jose Luis Blanco Claraco, 2008-2018 (for MRPT)
+
+set -e  # exit on error
+#set -x  # for debugging
+
+# Checks
+# --------------------------------
+if [ -f version_prefix.txt ];
+then
+	if [ -z ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR+x} ];
+	then
+		source package_scripts/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh
+	fi
+	echo "ERROR: Run this script from the GTSAM source tree root directory."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+GTSAM_SRC=`pwd`
+OUT_RELEASES_DIR="$HOME/gtsam_release"
+
+OUT_DIR=$OUT_RELEASES_DIR/gtsam-${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}
+
+echo "=========== Generating GTSAM release ${GTSAM_VER_MMP} =================="
+echo "GTSAM_VERSION_STR   : ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}"
+echo "OUT_DIR            : ${OUT_DIR}"
+echo "============================================================"
+echo
+
+# Prepare output directory:
+rm -fR $OUT_RELEASES_DIR  || true
+mkdir -p ${OUT_DIR}
+
+# Export / copy sources to target dir:
+if [ -d "$GTSAM_SRC/.git" ];
+then
+	echo "# Exporting git source tree to ${OUT_DIR}"
+	git archive --format=tar HEAD | tar -x -C ${OUT_DIR}
+
+	# Remove VCS control files:
+	find ${OUT_DIR} -name '.gitignore' | xargs rm
+
+	# Generate ./SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH with UNIX time_t
+	SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(git log -1 --pretty=%ct)
+else
+	echo "# Copying sources to ${OUT_DIR}"
+	cp -R . ${OUT_DIR}
+
+	# Generate ./SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH with UNIX time_t
+	SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(date +%s)
+fi
+
+# See https://reproducible-builds.org/specs/source-date-epoch/
+echo $SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH > ${OUT_DIR}/SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
+
+cd ${OUT_DIR}
+
+# Dont include Debian files in releases:
+rm -fR package_scripts
+
+# Orig tarball:
+cd ..
+echo "# Creating orig tarball: gtsam-${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}.tar.gz"
+tar czf gtsam-${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}.tar.gz gtsam-${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}
+
+rm -fr gtsam-${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}
+
+# GPG signature:
+gpg --armor --detach-sign gtsam-${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}.tar.gz
diff --git a/package_scripts/prepare_ubuntu_pkgs_for_ppa.sh b/package_scripts/prepare_ubuntu_pkgs_for_ppa.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..40eeb1641
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package_scripts/prepare_ubuntu_pkgs_for_ppa.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Creates a set of packages for each different Ubuntu distribution, with the
+# intention of uploading them to:
+#   https://launchpad.net/~joseluisblancoc/
+#
+# JLBC, 2010
+# [Addition 2012:]
+#
+# You can declare a variable (in the caller shell) with extra flags for the
+# CMake in the final ./configure like:
+#  GTSAM_PKG_CUSTOM_CMAKE_PARAMS="\"-DDISABLE_SSE3=ON\""
+#
+
+set -e
+
+# List of distributions to create PPA packages for:
+LST_DISTROS=(xenial bionic cosmic disco)
+
+# Checks
+# --------------------------------
+if [ -f CMakeLists.txt ];
+then
+	source package_scripts/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh
+	echo "GTSAM version: ${GTSAM_VER_MMP}"
+else
+	echo "ERROR: Run this script from the GTSAM root directory."
+	exit 1
+fi
+
+if [ -z "${gtsam_ubuntu_OUT_DIR}" ]; then
+       export gtsam_ubuntu_OUT_DIR="$HOME/gtsam_ubuntu"
+fi
+GTSAMSRC=`pwd`
+if [ -z "${GTSAM_DEB_DIR}" ]; then
+       export GTSAM_DEB_DIR="$HOME/gtsam_debian"
+fi
+GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR="$GTSAMSRC/debian/"
+EMAIL4DEB="Jose Luis Blanco (University of Malaga) <joseluisblancoc@gmail.com>"
+
+# Clean out dirs:
+rm -fr $gtsam_ubuntu_OUT_DIR/
+
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------
+# And now create the custom packages for each Ubuntu distribution:
+# -------------------------------------------------------------------
+count=${#LST_DISTROS[@]}
+IDXS=$(seq 0 $(expr $count - 1))
+
+cp ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}/changelog /tmp/my_changelog
+
+for IDX in ${IDXS};
+do
+	DEBIAN_DIST=${LST_DISTROS[$IDX]}
+
+	# -------------------------------------------------------------------
+	# Call the standard "prepare_debian.sh" script:
+	# -------------------------------------------------------------------
+	cd ${GTSAMSRC}
+	bash package_scripts/prepare_debian.sh -s -u -d ${DEBIAN_DIST}   -c "${GTSAM_PKG_CUSTOM_CMAKE_PARAMS}"
+
+	CUR_SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+	source $CUR_SCRIPT_DIR/prepare_debian_gen_snapshot_version.sh # populate GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION
+
+	echo "===== Distribution: ${DEBIAN_DIST}  ========="
+	cd ${GTSAM_DEB_DIR}/gtsam-${GTSAM_VER_MMP}~snapshot${GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION}${DEBIAN_DIST}/debian
+	#cp ${GTSAM_EXTERN_DEBIAN_DIR}/changelog changelog
+	cp /tmp/my_changelog changelog
+	DEBCHANGE_CMD="--newversion ${GTSAM_VERSION_STR}~snapshot${GTSAM_SNAPSHOT_VERSION}${DEBIAN_DIST}-1"
+	echo "Changing to a new Debian version: ${DEBCHANGE_CMD}"
+	echo "Adding a new entry to debian/changelog for distribution ${DEBIAN_DIST}"
+	DEBEMAIL="Jose Luis Blanco Claraco <joseluisblancoc@gmail.com>" debchange $DEBCHANGE_CMD -b --distribution ${DEBIAN_DIST} --force-distribution New version of upstream sources.
+
+	cp changelog /tmp/my_changelog
+
+	echo "Now, let's build the source Deb package with 'debuild -S -sa':"
+	cd ..
+	# -S: source package
+	# -sa: force inclusion of sources
+	# -d: don't check dependencies in this system
+	debuild -S -sa -d
+
+	# Make a copy of all these packages:
+	cd ..
+	mkdir -p $gtsam_ubuntu_OUT_DIR/$DEBIAN_DIST
+	cp gtsam_* $gtsam_ubuntu_OUT_DIR/${DEBIAN_DIST}/
+	echo ">>>>>> Saving packages to: $gtsam_ubuntu_OUT_DIR/$DEBIAN_DIST/"
+done
+
+
+exit 0
diff --git a/package_scripts/upload_all_gtsam_ppa.sh b/package_scripts/upload_all_gtsam_ppa.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..c9d113f00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/package_scripts/upload_all_gtsam_ppa.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+find . -name '*.changes' | xargs -I FIL dput ppa:joseluisblancoc/gtsam-develop FIL