| PORTS(7) | Miscellaneous Information Manual | PORTS(7) |
ports —
contributed applications
The OpenBSD Ports Collection is the infrastructure used to create binary packages for third party applications.
For normal usage refer to packages(7), as most ports produce binary packages which are available from the official HTTP mirrors.
Each port contains any patches necessary to make the original
application source code compile and run on OpenBSD.
Compiling an application is as simple as typing make
in the port directory! The Makefile automatically
fetches the application source code, either from a local disk or via HTTP,
unpacks it on the local system, applies the patches, and compiles it. If all
goes well, simply type doas make install to install
the application.
For more information about using ports, see Working with Ports. For information about creating new ports, see The OpenBSD Porter's Handbook.
For a detailed description of the build process, see bsd.port.mk(5).
The ports master Makefile, normally located in
/usr/ports/Makefile (but see
PORTSDIR below) offers a few useful targets.
print-indexsearchmake search key=foo,
retrieve information relevant to a given port (obsolescent).Starting in OpenBSD 4.0, there is a port, databases/sqlports that builds an sqlite database containing most information relevant to every port in the ports tree. This database can be searched using any tool able to manipulate such databases, for instance sqlitebrowser, or a script language with an sqlite interface, e.g., perl, python, ocaml, lua, php5.
All static index generating information has now been superseded by the sqlports, portslist or pkglocatedb packages, which contain similar information to the old INDEX file, but are more frequently updated.
One can define SUBDIRLIST to point to a
file that contains a list of FULLPKGPATHs, one per
line, to build stuff only in some directories.
If portslist is up to date, it is possible to select subsets by setting the following variables on the command line:
For instance, to invoke clean on all ports
in the x11 category, one can say:
$ make category=x11 clean
The index search is done by a perl script, so all regular expressions from perlre(1) apply.
Individual ports are controlled through a few documented targets. Some of these targets work recursively through subdirectories, so that someone can, for example, install all of the net ports.
The variable SKIPDIR can hold a set of
package directories to avoid during recursion. These are always specified
relative to the root of the ports tree, and can contain a flavor or
subpackage part (see
packages-specs(7)).
SKIPDIR is handled by a case
statement, and so can contain simple wildcards (see
sh(1) “File name
patterns”), e.g., SKIPDIR='editors/openoffice*'.
The variable STARTDIR can hold the path to
a starting directory. The recursion will skip all directories up to that
package path. This can be used to resume a full build at some specific point
without having to go through thousands of directories first.
The variable STARTAFTER can hold the path
to a starting directory. The recursion will skip all directories up to and
including that package path. This can be used to resume a full build after
some specific point without having to go through thousands of directories
first.
In case of failure in a subdirectory, the shell fragment held in
REPORT_PROBLEM is executed. Default behavior is to
call exit, but this can be overridden on the command line, e.g., to avoid
stopping after each problem.
$ make REPORT_PROBLEM=true
If REPORT_PROBLEM_LOGFILE is non empty,
then REPORT_PROBLEM will default to:
echo $$subdir ($@) >>$${REPORT_PROBLEM_LOGFILE}
That is, any failure will append the faulty directory name together with the target that failed to ${REPORT_PROBLEM_LOGFILE} and proceed.
Some targets that do this are all,
build, checksum,
clean, configure,
extract, fake,
fetch, install,
distclean, deinstall,
reinstall, package,
prepare, link-categories,
unlink-categories, describe,
show, regress,
lib-depends-check,
homepage-links,
manpages-check,
license-check,
all-dir-depends,
build-dir-depends,
run-dir-depends and
readmes.
Target names starting with ‘_’ are private to the ports infrastructure, should not be invoked directly, and are liable to change without notice.
In the following list, each target will run the preceding targets
in order automatically. That is, build will be run
(if necessary) by install, and so on all the way to
fetch. In typical use, one will only run
install explicitly (as normal user, with
SUDO defined in
/etc/mk.conf), or build (as
user), then install (as root).
fetchMASTER_SITES. See
FETCH_CMD. Use
dpb(1) with option
-F to quickly fetch distfiles for a subtree.checksumNO_CHECKSUM to
Yes will skip this step. Sometimes, distfiles
change without warning. The main OpenBSD mirror
should still hold a copy of old distfiles, indexed by checksum. Using
$ make checksum REFETCH=true
will try to get a set of distfiles that match the recorded checksum.
prepareNO_DEPENDS to Yes will
skip this step.extractpatchgenconfigureINTERACTIVE and
BATCH.buildall target.fakegenerate-readmespackageinstallThe following targets are not run during the normal install
process (exception clean is run for dependencies
with the default settings of
BULK=Auto).
print-build-depends,
print-run-dependscleanCLEANDEPENDS is defined to
Yes.distcleanregressreinstallupdateinstall. Does not install
new packages, but updates existing ones.link-categoriesunlink-categorieslink-categories.homepage-linksHOMEPAGE.The ports tree can be used concurrently for building several ports
at the same time, thanks to a locking mechanism. By default, locks are
stored under /tmp/portslocks. Defining
LOCKDIR will point them elsewhere, or disable the
mechanism if set to an empty value.
All locks will be stored in ${LOCKDIR}.
LOCK_CMD should be used to acquire a lock, and
UNLOCK_CMD should be used to release it.
Locks are named ${LOCKDIR}/${FULLPKGNAME}.lock, or ${LOCKDIR}/${DISTFILE}.lock for distfiles fetching.
The default values of LOCK_CMD and
UNLOCK_CMD are appropriate for most uses.
The locking protocol follows a big-lock model: each top-level target in a port directory will acquire the corresponding lock, complete its job, then release the lock, e.g., running
$ make build
will acquire the lock, run the port through
fetch, checksum,
extract, patch,
configure, build, then
release the lock. If dependencies are involved, they will invoke top-level
targets in other directories, and thus acquire some other locks as well.
The infrastructure contains some protection against acquiring the
same lock twice, thus recursive locking is not needed for
LOCK_CMD.
Starting with OpenBSD 4.3, the
infrastructure supports manual locking: the targets
lock and unlock can be used
to acquire and release individual locks. Both these targets output a shell
command that must be used to update environment variables. Manual locking
can be used to protect a directory against interference by an automated
build job, while the user is looking at or modifying a given port.
Instead of deinstalling each package and rebuilding from scratch,
the ports tree can be used to update installed packages. The
update target will replace an installed package
using pkg_add(1) in
replacement mode. If FORCE_UPDATE is set to
Yes, dependencies will also be updated first, and
packages will always be updated, even if there is no difference between the
old and the new packages.
Updates use a mechanism similar to bulk cookies and deposit
cookies in the UPDATE_COOKIES_DIR. See the next
section for more details, since most of the fine points of bulk package
building also apply to updates.
There are bugs in the ports tree, most related to libtool, which make some updates prefer the already installed libraries instead of the newly built ones. This shows up as undefined references in libraries, in which case there is no choice but to proceed the old way: deinstall the offending package and everything built on top of it, build and install new packages.
Building any significant number of packages from the ports tree should use dpb(1), a tool located inside the ports tree proper (normally as /usr/ports/infrastructure/bin/dpb). In particular, it can take advantage of machine clusters (same architecture and same installation), and of multi-core machines.
For more detailed information, see bulk(8).
The OpenBSD ports tree comes with a
mechanism called FLAVORS. Thanks to this mechanism,
users can select specific options provided by a given port.
If a port is "flavored", there should be a terse description of available flavors in the pkg/DESCR file.
For example, the misc/screen port comes
with a flavor called static. This changes the
building process so a statically compiled version of the program will be
built. To avoid confusion with other packages or flavors, the package name
will be extended with a dash-separated list of the selected flavors.
In this instance, the corresponding package will be called
screen-4.0.2-static.
To see the flavors of a port, use the show
target:
$ make show=FLAVORS
To build a port with a specific flavor, just pass
FLAVOR in the environment of the
make(1) command:
$ env FLAVOR="static" make package
and of course, use the same settings for the subsequent invocations of make:
$ env FLAVOR="static" make install $ env FLAVOR="static" make clean
More than one flavor may be specified:
$ cd /usr/ports/mail/exim $ env FLAVOR="mysql ldap" make package
Specifying a flavor that does not exist is an error. Additionally, some ports impose some further restrictions on flavor combinations, when such combinations do not make sense.
Lots of ports can be built without X11 requirement and accordingly
have a no_x11 flavor.
Flavor settings are not propagated to dependencies. If a specific combination is needed, careful hand-building of the required set of packages is still necessary.
The OpenBSD ports tree comes with a
mechanism called MULTI_PACKAGES. This mechanism is
used when a larger package is broken down into several smaller components
referred to as subpackages.
If a port is "subpackaged", each subpackage will have a corresponding description in the pkg/DESCR-subpackage file.
For example, the databases/mariadb port
comes with subpackages called -main,
-tests and -server.
In this instance, the build will yield multiple packages, one
corresponding to each subpackage. In the case of our mariadb example, the
packages will be called
mariadb-client-<version>,
mariadb-tests-<version>, and
mariadb-server-<version>.
To install/deinstall a specific subpackage of a port, you may
pkg_add(1) them manually, or
alternatively, you may set SUBPACKAGE in the
environment of the make(1)
command during the install/deinstall phase:
$ env SUBPACKAGE="-server" make install $ env SUBPACKAGE="-server" make deinstall
These can be changed in the environment, or in
/etc/mk.conf for persistence. They can also be set
on make's command line, e.g., make
VAR_FOO=foo
Boolean variables should be set to Yes
instead of simply being defined, for uniformity and future
compatibility.
Variable names starting with ‘_’ are private to the ports infrastructure, should not be changed by the user, and are liable to change without notice.
PORTS_PRIVSEPPORTSDIRDISTDIRPACKAGE_REPOSITORYpackage target; the base
directory for the packages tree, normally
${PORTSDIR}/packages. If this directory exists,
the package tree will be (partially) constructed.BULK_COOKIES_DIRUPDATE_COOKIES_DIRLOCALBASEMASTER_SITESCLEANDEPENDSYes, let clean
recurse to dependencies.FETCH_CMDFETCH_PACKAGESPKG_PATH. For instance:
make FETCH_PACKAGES=
PATCH_DEBUGINTERACTIVEBATCHSelect read-write partition(s) that can accommodate working
directories, the distfiles repository, and the built packages. Set
WRKOBJDIR,
PACKAGE_REPOSITORY,
BULK_COOKIES_DIR,
UPDATE_COOKIES_DIR, DISTDIR,
and PLIST_DB in /etc/mk.conf
accordingly.
wxallowed
mount(8) option.dpb(1), make(1), pkg_add(1), pkg_create(1), pkg_delete(1), pkg_info(1), bsd.port.mk(5), port-modules(5), mirroring-ports(7), packages(7)
The OpenBSD Ports System: https://www.openbsd.org/faq/ports/ports.html
The OpenBSD Porter's Handbook: https://www.openbsd.org/faq/ports/
The Ports Collection appeared in
FreeBSD 1.0. It was introduced in
OpenBSD by Ejovi Nuwere, with much initial effort by
Angelos D. Keromytis. Maintenance passed then to Marco S. Hyman, and then to
Christopher Turan. It is currently managed by Marc Espie, Christian
Weisgerber, along with a host of others found at
ports@openbsd.org.
This man page was originated by David O'Brien, from the FreeBSD project.
| March 10, 2019 | OpenBSD-6.5 |