diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS.md b/CONTRIBUTORS.md
index 617227e34..486433821 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS.md
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 - philipcristiano
 - Jianchen Zhao (bolu61)
 - Allan Zhang (allan2)
+- Jinna Kiisuo (jinnatar)
 
 ## Acknowledgements
 
diff --git a/book/src/packaging_debs.md b/book/src/packaging_debs.md
index 5ba80e472..a035b231b 100644
--- a/book/src/packaging_debs.md
+++ b/book/src/packaging_debs.md
@@ -6,12 +6,11 @@ This happens in Docker currently, and here's some instructions for doing it for
 
 1. Start in the root directory of the repository.
 2. Run `./platform/debian/ubuntu_docker_builder.sh` This'll start a container, mounting the
-   repository in `~/kanidm/`.
-3. Install the required dependencies by running `./scripts/install_ubuntu_dependencies.sh`.
-4. Building packages uses make, get a list by running `make -f ./platform/debian/Makefile help`
-5. So if you wanted to build the package for the Kanidm CLI, run
+   repository in `~/kanidm/` and installing dependencies via `./scripts/install_ubuntu_dependencies.sh`.
+3. Building packages uses make, get a list by running `make -f ./platform/debian/Makefile help`
+4. So if you wanted to build the package for the Kanidm CLI, run
    `make -f ./platform/debian/Makefile debs/kanidm`.
-6. The package will be copied into the `target` directory of the repository on the docker host - not
+5. The package will be copied into the `target` directory of the repository on the docker host - not
    just in the container.
 
 ## Adding a package
diff --git a/platform/debian/build_kanidm.sh b/platform/debian/build_kanidm.sh
index 111f42625..04460c630 100755
--- a/platform/debian/build_kanidm.sh
+++ b/platform/debian/build_kanidm.sh
@@ -67,7 +67,9 @@ if [ "$(which cargo | wc -l)" -eq 0 ]; then
 fi
 
 # this assumes the versions are in lock-step, which is fine at the moment.
-KANIDM_VERSION="$(grep -ioE 'version.*' Cargo.toml | head -n1 | awk '{print $NF}' | tr -d '"')"
+# Debian is picky abour dashes in version strings, so a bit of conversion
+# is needed for the first one to prevent interference.
+KANIDM_VERSION="$(grep -ioE 'version.*' Cargo.toml | head -n1 | awk '{print $NF}' | tr -d '"' | sed -e 's/-/~/')"
 
 # if we're in a github action, then it's easy to get the commit
 if [ -n "${GITHUB_SHA}" ]; then
@@ -80,8 +82,17 @@ fi
 GIT_COMMIT="${GIT_HEAD:0:7}"
 DATESTR="$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M)"
 
-PACKAGE_VERSION="${KANIDM_VERSION}-${DATESTR}${GIT_COMMIT}"
-echo "Package Version: ${PACKAGE_VERSION}"
+
+# Due to previous version schemes we need to increment epoch above the default 0,
+# to supercede old versions before the change.
+EPOCH=1
+
+# GitHub Actions forces NTFS compatibility which disallows colons in filenames
+# ergo, we do not include the epoch in the filename.
+FILENAME="${KANIDM_VERSION}~${DATESTR}+${GIT_COMMIT}"
+PACKAGE_VERSION="${EPOCH}:${FILENAME}"
+
+echo "Deb package Version: ${PACKAGE_VERSION}"
 
 echo "Updating package dir"
 rm -rf "${BUILD_DIR:?}/*"
diff --git a/platform/debian/interactive_entrypoint.sh b/platform/debian/interactive_entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..434e5ee81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform/debian/interactive_entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Install dependencies, for example make!
+scripts/install_ubuntu_dependencies.sh
+
+# Make git happy
+git config --global --add safe.directory /root/kanidm
+
+echo "To launch a deb build, try:"
+echo "make -f ./platform/debian/Makefile debs/kanidm"
+
+# Launch shell
+exec /bin/bash "$@"
diff --git a/platform/debian/kanidm-unixd/rules b/platform/debian/kanidm-unixd/rules
index f07858d5b..774b35778 100755
--- a/platform/debian/kanidm-unixd/rules
+++ b/platform/debian/kanidm-unixd/rules
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ PAMDIR=${PKGDIR}/usr/share/pam-configs/
 DISTRIBUTOR_ID=$(shell lsb_release -is)
 DISTRIBUTOR_RELEASE=$(shell lsb_release -rs)
 DISTRIBUTOR=$(DISTRIBUTOR_ID)_$(DISTRIBUTOR_RELEASE)
-DEB_VERSION_FULL=$(shell dpkg-parsechangelog --show-field Version)
+
+# GitHub enforces NTFS compatible filenames for artifacts so we need to drop the EPOCH field
+DEB_VERSION_FULL=$(shell dpkg-parsechangelog --show-field Version | sed -E 's/^[0-9]+://')
 
 %:
 	dh $@ --with systemd
diff --git a/platform/debian/kanidm/rules b/platform/debian/kanidm/rules
index ee0c3f6b7..e6f7c769b 100755
--- a/platform/debian/kanidm/rules
+++ b/platform/debian/kanidm/rules
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ SHARED_DIR=${PKGDIR}/usr/share/${PACKAGE}
 DISTRIBUTOR_ID=$(shell lsb_release -is)
 DISTRIBUTOR_RELEASE=$(shell lsb_release -rs)
 DISTRIBUTOR=$(DISTRIBUTOR_ID)_$(DISTRIBUTOR_RELEASE)
-DEB_VERSION_FULL=$(shell dpkg-parsechangelog --show-field Version)
+
+#GitHub enforces NTFS compatible filenames for artifacts so we need to drop the EPOCH field
+DEB_VERSION_FULL=$(shell dpkg-parsechangelog --show-field Version | sed -E 's/^[0-9]+://')
 
 %:
 	dh $@
diff --git a/platform/debian/kanidmd/rules b/platform/debian/kanidmd/rules
index 364e881ca..6fe8d3048 100755
--- a/platform/debian/kanidmd/rules
+++ b/platform/debian/kanidmd/rules
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ SHARED_DIR=${PKGDIR}/usr/share/${PACKAGE}
 DISTRIBUTOR_ID=$(shell lsb_release -is)
 DISTRIBUTOR_RELEASE=$(shell lsb_release -rs)
 DISTRIBUTOR=$(DISTRIBUTOR_ID)_$(DISTRIBUTOR_RELEASE)
-DEB_VERSION_FULL=$(shell dpkg-parsechangelog --show-field Version)
+
+#GitHub enforces NTFS compatible filenames for artifacts so we need to drop the EPOCH field
+DEB_VERSION_FULL=$(shell dpkg-parsechangelog --show-field Version | sed -E 's/^[0-9]+://')
 
 %:
 	dh $@ --with systemd
diff --git a/platform/debian/ubuntu_docker_builder.sh b/platform/debian/ubuntu_docker_builder.sh
index 4cfcd92e4..ee13c94c5 100755
--- a/platform/debian/ubuntu_docker_builder.sh
+++ b/platform/debian/ubuntu_docker_builder.sh
@@ -14,4 +14,5 @@ docker run --rm -it \
     -e "PACKAGING=1" \
     -v "$(pwd):/root/kanidm/" \
     --workdir "/root/kanidm/" \
+    --entrypoint "/root/kanidm/platform/debian/interactive_entrypoint.sh" \
     ubuntu:latest "$@"