xref: /freebsd/share/man/man7/ports.7 (revision 96190b4fef3b4a0cc3ca0606b0c4e3e69a5e6717)
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26.Dd September 24, 2023
27.Dt PORTS 7
28.Os
29.Sh NAME
30.Nm ports
31.Nd contributed applications
32.Sh DESCRIPTION
33The
34.Fx
35Ports Collection
36offers a simple way to compile and install third party applications.
37It is also used to build packages, to be installed using
38.Xr pkg 8 .
39.Pp
40The ports tree, typically located at
41.Pa /usr/ports ,
42consists of subdirectories, one for each category; those in turn contain
43individual ports.
44Each port is a directory with metadata and patches necessary to make
45the original application source code compile and run on
46.Fx .
47Compiling an application is as simple as typing
48.Dq Li "make build"
49in the port directory.
50The
51.Pa Makefile
52automatically fetches the
53application source code, either from a local disk or the network, unpacks it,
54applies the patches, and compiles it.
55It also recursively handles dependencies \(em other pieces of software
56the port depends on in order to build and work.
57Afterwards,
58.Dq Li "make install"
59installs the application.
60.Pp
61The
62.Fx
63Ports Collection is maintained in several branches, which differ mostly
64by versions of software provided: the
65.Em main
66branch contains all the latest changes and corresponds to the
67.Em latest
68package set, while the
69.Em quarterly
70branches only provide critical fixes.
71The
72.Em main
73branch can be cloned and updated from the Git repository located at:
74.Pp
75.Lk https://git.FreeBSD.org/ports.git
76.Pp
77so eg:
78.Pp
79.Cm git clone https://git.FreeBSD.org/ports.git
80.Pp
81The
82.Em quarterly
83branches can be found in Git as branches like
84.Pa yyyyQn
85, where
86.Em yyyy
87indicates the year and
88.Em n
89indicates the quarter
90.Po 1 to 4
91.Pc , eg:
92.Pp
93.Cm git clone -b 2021Q2 https://git.FreeBSD.org/ports.git
94.Pp
95It is generally a good idea to use the
96.Nm
97branch that matches the
98.Xr pkg 8
99repository being used.
100By default, for
101.Fx CURRENT
102the
103.Xr pkg 8
104is configured to install packages built from the
105.Em main
106branch, while for
107.Fx STABLE
108or RELEASE versions it is configured to install packages built from
109the latest
110.Em quarterly
111branch.
112Currently configured
113.Xr pkg 8
114repository can be verified by looking at the
115.Em url
116field in
117.Cm pkg -vv
118output.
119.Pp
120For more information about using ports, see the
121.Dq "Packages and Ports" section
122in
123.Sm off
124.%B "The FreeBSD Handbook"
125.No \&:
126.Sm on
127.Pp
128.Lk https://docs.FreeBSD.org/en/books/handbook/ports/
129.Pp
130For information about creating new ports, see
131.Sm off
132.%B "The Porter's Handbook"
133.No \&:
134.Sm on
135.Pp
136.Lk https://docs.FreeBSD.org/en/books/porters-handbook/
137.Sh TARGETS
138Some of the
139.Xr make 1
140targets work recursively through subdirectories.
141This lets you, for example, install all of the
142.Dq Li biology
143ports with one command.
144The targets that do this are
145.Cm build , checksum , clean , configure ,
146.Cm depends , extract , fetch , install ,
147and
148.Cm package .
149.Pp
150The following targets will be run automatically by each proceeding
151target in order.
152That is,
153.Cm build
154will be run (if necessary) by
155.Cm install ,
156and so on all the way to
157.Cm fetch .
158Usually, you will only use the
159.Cm install
160target.
161.Bl -tag -width ".Cm configure"
162.It Cm config
163Configure
164.Va OPTIONS
165for this port using
166.Xr dialog4ports 1 .
167.It Cm fetch
168Fetch all of the files needed to build this port from the sites
169listed in
170.Va MASTER_SITES
171and
172.Va PATCH_SITES .
173See
174.Va FETCH_CMD , MASTER_SITE_OVERRIDE
175and
176.Va MASTER_SITE_BACKUP .
177.It Cm checksum
178Verify that the fetched distfile's checksum matches the one the port was
179tested against.
180If the distfile's checksum does not match, it also fetches the distfiles
181which are missing or failed the checksum calculation.
182Defining
183.Va NO_CHECKSUM
184will skip this step.
185.It Cm depends
186Install
187(or compile if only compilation is necessary)
188any dependencies of the current port.
189When called by the
190.Cm extract
191or
192.Cm fetch
193targets, this is run in piecemeal as
194.Cm fetch-depends , build-depends ,
195etc.
196Defining
197.Va NO_DEPENDS
198will skip this step.
199.It Cm extract
200Expand the distfile into a work directory.
201.It Cm patch
202Apply any patches that are necessary for the port.
203.It Cm configure
204Configure the port.
205Some ports will ask you questions during this stage.
206See
207.Va INTERACTIVE
208and
209.Va BATCH .
210.It Cm build
211Build the port.
212This is the same as calling the
213.Cm all
214target.
215.It Cm install
216Install the port and register it with the package system.
217This is all you really need to do.
218.It Cm install-missing-packages
219Install missing dependencies from packages instead of building them.
220.El
221.Pp
222The following targets are not run during the normal install process.
223.Bl -tag -width ".Cm fetch-recursive"
224.It Cm showconfig
225Display
226.Va OPTIONS
227config for this port.
228.It Cm showconfig-recursive
229Display
230.Va OPTIONS
231config for this port and all its dependencies.
232.It Cm rmconfig
233Remove
234.Va OPTIONS
235config for this port.
236.It Cm rmconfig-recursive
237Remove
238.Va OPTIONS
239config for this port and all its dependencies.
240.It Cm config-conditional
241Skip the ports which have already had their
242.Va OPTIONS
243configured.
244.It Cm config-recursive
245Configure
246.Va OPTIONS
247for this port and all its dependencies using
248.Xr dialog4ports 1 .
249.It Cm fetch-list
250Show the list of files to fetch in order to build the port (but not its
251dependencies).
252.It Cm fetch-recursive
253Fetch the distfiles of the port and all its dependencies.
254.It Cm fetch-recursive-list
255Show list of files that would be retrieved by
256.Cm fetch-recursive .
257.It Cm build-depends-list , run-depends-list
258Print a list of all the direct compile or run dependencies for this port.
259.It Cm all-depends-list
260Print a list of all recursive dependencies for this port.
261.It Cm pretty-print-build-depends-list , pretty-print-run-depends-list
262Print a list of all the recursive compile or run dependencies for this port by
263port name and version.
264.It Cm missing
265Print a list of missing dependencies to be installed for the port.
266.It Cm clean
267Remove the expanded source code.
268This recurses to dependencies unless
269.Va NOCLEANDEPENDS
270is defined.
271.It Cm distclean
272Remove the port's distfiles and perform the
273.Cm clean
274target.
275The
276.Cm clean
277portion recurses to dependencies unless
278.Va NOCLEANDEPENDS
279is defined, but the
280.Cm distclean
281portion never recurses
282(this is perhaps a bug).
283.It Cm reinstall
284Use this to restore a port after using
285.Xr pkg-delete 8
286when you should have used
287.Cm deinstall .
288.It Cm deinstall
289Remove an installed port from the system, similar to
290.Xr pkg-delete 8 .
291.It Cm deinstall-all
292Remove all installed ports with the same
293.Va PKGORIGIN
294from the system.
295.It Cm package
296Make a binary package for the port.
297The port will be installed if it has not already been.
298The package is a
299.Pa .pkg
300file that you can use to
301install the port on other machines with
302.Xr pkg-add 8 .
303If the directory specified by
304.Va PACKAGES
305does not exist, the package will be put in
306.Pa /usr/ports/category/port/work/pkg .
307See
308.Va PKGREPOSITORY
309and
310.Va PKGFILE
311for more information.
312.It Cm package-recursive
313Like
314.Cm package ,
315but makes a package for each depending port as well.
316.It Cm package-name
317Prints the name with version of the port.
318.It Cm readmes
319Create a port's
320.Pa README.html .
321This can be used from
322.Pa /usr/ports
323to create a browsable web of all ports on your system!
324.It Cm search
325Search the
326.Pa INDEX
327file for the pattern specified by the
328.Va key
329(searches the port name, comment, and dependencies),
330.Va name
331(searches the port name only),
332.Va path
333(searches the port path),
334.Va info
335(searches the port info),
336.Va maint
337(searches the port maintainer),
338.Va cat
339(searches the port category),
340.Va bdeps
341(searches the port build-time dependency),
342.Va rdeps
343(searches the port run-time dependency),
344.Va www
345(searches the port web site)
346.Xr make 1
347variables, and their exclusion counterparts:
348.Va xname , xkey
349etc.
350For example, one would type:
351.Pp
352.Dl "cd /usr/ports && make search name=query"
353.Pp
354to find all ports whose
355name matches
356.Dq Li query .
357Results include the matching ports' path, comment, maintainer,
358build dependencies, and run dependencies.
359.Bd -literal -offset indent
360cd /usr/ports && make search name=pear- \e
361    xbdeps=apache
362.Ed
363.Pp
364To find all ports whose
365names contain
366.Dq Li pear-
367and which do not have apache
368listed in build-time dependencies.
369.Bd -literal -offset indent
370cd /usr/ports && make search name=pear- \e
371    xname='ht(tp|ml)'
372.Ed
373.Pp
374To find all ports whose names contain
375.Dq Li pear- ,
376but not
377.Dq Li html
378or
379.Dq Li http .
380.Bd -literal -offset indent
381make search key=apache display=name,path,info keylim=1
382.Ed
383.Pp
384To find ports that contain
385.Dq Li apache
386in either of the name, path, info
387fields, ignore the rest of the record.
388.Pp
389By default the search is not case-sensitive.
390In order to make it case-sensitive you can use the
391.Va icase
392variable:
393.Bd -literal -offset indent
394make search name=p5-R icase=0
395.Ed
396.It Cm quicksearch
397Reduced
398.Cm search
399output.
400Only display name, path and info.
401.It Cm describe
402Generate a one-line description of each port for use in the
403.Pa INDEX
404file.
405.It Cm maintainer
406Display the port maintainer's email address.
407.It Cm index
408Create
409.Pa /usr/ports/INDEX ,
410which is used by the
411.Cm pretty-print-*
412and
413.Cm search
414targets.
415Running the
416.Cm index
417target will ensure your
418.Pa INDEX
419file is up to date with your ports tree.
420.It Cm fetchindex
421Fetch the
422.Pa INDEX
423file from the
424.Fx
425cluster.
426.El
427.Sh ENVIRONMENT
428You can change all of these.
429.Bl -tag -width ".Va MASTER_SITES"
430.It Va PORTSDIR
431Location of the ports tree.
432This is
433.Pa /usr/ports
434by default.
435.It Va WRKDIRPREFIX
436Where to create any temporary files.
437Useful if
438.Va PORTSDIR
439is read-only (perhaps mounted from a CD-ROM).
440.It Va DISTDIR
441Where to find/put distfiles, normally
442.Pa distfiles/
443in
444.Va PORTSDIR .
445.It Va SU_CMD
446Command used to elevate privilege to configure and install a port.
447The unprivileged user must have write access to
448.Va WRKDIRPREFIX
449and
450.Va DISTDIR .
451The default is
452.Ql /usr/bin/su root -c .
453Many users set it to
454.Ql /usr/local/bin/sudo -E sh -c
455for convenience.
456.It Va PACKAGES
457Used only for the
458.Cm package
459target; the base directory for the packages tree, normally
460.Pa packages/
461in
462.Va PORTSDIR .
463If this directory exists, the package tree will be (partially) constructed.
464This directory does not have to exist; if it does not, packages will be
465placed into the current directory, or you can define one of
466.Bl -tag -width ".Va PKGREPOSITORY"
467.It Va PKGREPOSITORY
468Directory to put the package in.
469.It Va PKGFILE
470The full path to the package.
471.El
472.It Va LOCALBASE
473Where existing things are installed and where to search for files when
474resolving dependencies (usually
475.Pa /usr/local ) .
476.It Va PREFIX
477Where to install this port (usually set to the same as
478.Va LOCALBASE ) .
479.It Va MASTER_SITES
480Primary sites for distribution files if not found locally.
481.It Va PATCH_SITES
482Primary locations for distribution patch files if not found
483locally.
484.It Va MASTER_SITE_FREEBSD
485If set, go to the master
486.Fx
487site for all files.
488.It Va MASTER_SITE_OVERRIDE
489Try going to these sites for all files and patches, first.
490.It Va MASTER_SITE_BACKUP
491Try going to these sites for all files and patches, last.
492.It Va RANDOMIZE_MASTER_SITES
493Try the download locations in a random order.
494.It Va MASTER_SORT
495Sort the download locations according to user supplied pattern.
496Example:
497.Dl .dk .sunet.se .se dk.php.net .no .de heanet.dl.sourceforge.net
498.It Va MASTER_SITE_INDEX
499Where to get
500.Pa INDEX
501source built on
502.Fx
503cluster (for
504.Cm fetchindex
505target).
506Defaults to
507.Pa https://download.FreeBSD.org/ports/index/ .
508.It Va FETCHINDEX
509Command to get
510.Pa INDEX
511(for
512.Cm fetchindex
513target).
514Defaults to
515.Dq Li "fetch -am" .
516.It Va NOCLEANDEPENDS
517If defined, do not let
518.Cm clean
519recurse to dependencies.
520.It Va FETCH_CMD
521Command to use to fetch files.
522Normally
523.Xr fetch 1 .
524.It Va FORCE_PKG_REGISTER
525If set, overwrite any existing package registration on the system.
526.It Va INTERACTIVE
527If defined, only operate on a port if it requires interaction.
528.It Va BATCH
529If defined, only operate on a port if it can be installed 100% automatically.
530.It Va DISABLE_VULNERABILITIES
531If defined, disable check for security vulnerabilities using
532.Xr pkg-audit 8
533when installing new ports.
534.It Va NO_IGNORE
535If defined, allow installation of ports marked as
536.Aq Va FORBIDDEN .
537The default behavior of the Ports framework is to abort when the
538installation of a forbidden port is attempted.
539Of course, these ports may not work as expected, but if you really know
540what you are doing and are sure about installing a forbidden port, then
541.Va NO_IGNORE
542lets you do it.
543.It Va NO_CHECKSUM
544If defined, skip verifying the port's checksum.
545.It Va TRYBROKEN
546If defined, attempt to build a port even if it is marked as
547.Aq Va BROKEN .
548.It Va PORT_DBDIR
549Directory where the results of configuring
550.Va OPTIONS
551are stored.
552Defaults to
553.Pa /var/db/ports .
554Each port where
555.Va OPTIONS
556have been configured will have a uniquely named sub-directory, containing a
557single file
558.Pa options .
559.El
560.Sh MAKE VARIABLES
561The following list provides a name and short description for many of the
562variables that are used when building ports.
563More information on these and other related variables may be found in
564.Pa ${PORTSDIR}/Mk/*
565and the
566.Fx
567Porter's Handbook.
568.Bl -tag -width "WITH_CCACHE_BUILD"
569.It Va WITH_DEBUG
570.Pq Vt bool
571If set, debugging symbols are installed for ports binaries.
572.It Va WITH_DEBUG_PORTS
573A list of origins for which to set
574.Va WITH_DEBUG .
575.It Va DEBUG_FLAGS
576.Pq Default: Ql -g
577Additional
578.Va CFLAGS
579to set when
580.Va WITH_DEBUG
581is set.
582.It Va WITH_CCACHE_BUILD
583.Pq Vt bool
584If set, enables the use of
585.Xr ccache 1
586for building ports.
587.It Va CCACHE_DIR
588Which directory to use for the
589.Xr ccache 1
590data.
591.El
592.Sh FILES
593.Bl -tag -width ".Pa /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk" -compact
594.It Pa /usr/ports
595The default ports directory.
596.It Pa /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk
597The big Kahuna.
598.El
599.Sh EXAMPLES
600.Bl -tag -width 0n
601.It Sy Example 1\&: No Building and Installing a Port
602.Pp
603The following command builds and installs Emacs.
604.Bd -literal -offset 2n
605.Li # Ic cd /usr/ports/editors/emacs
606.Li # Ic make install
607.Ed
608.It Sy Example 2\&: No Installing Dependencies with Xr pkg 8
609.Pp
610The following example shows how to build and install a port without having to
611build its dependencies.
612Instead, the dependencies are downloaded via
613.Xr pkg 8 .
614.Bd -literal -offset 2n
615.Li # Ic make install-missing-packages
616.Li # Ic make install
617.Ed
618.Pp
619It is especially useful, when the dependencies are costly
620in time and resources to build
621.Pq like Pa lang/rust .
622The drawback is that
623.Xr pkg 8
624offers only packages built with the default set of
625.Va OPTIONS .
626.It Sy Example 3\&: No Building a Non-Default Flavor of a Port
627.Pp
628The following command builds a non-default flavor of a port.
629(In this case
630.Pa devel/py-pip
631is going to be built with Python 3.7 support.)
632.Bd -literal -offset 2n
633.Li # Ic cd /usr/ports/devel/py-pip
634.Li # Ic env FLAVOR=py37 make build
635.Ed
636.It Sy Example 4\&: No Setting Ports Options via Xr make.conf 5
637.Pp
638The following lines present various ways of configuring ports options via
639.Xr make.conf 5
640(as an alternative to, e.g., running
641.Dq Li make config ) :
642.Bd -literal -offset 2n
643# Enable NLS for all ports unless configured otherwise
644# using the options dialog.
645OPTIONS_SET=		NLS
646# Disable DOCS for all ports overriding the options set
647# via the options dialog.
648OPTIONS_UNSET_FORCE=	DOCS
649# Disable DOCS and EXAMPLES for the shells/zsh port.
650shells_zsh_UNSET=	DOCS EXAMPLES
651.Ed
652.Pp
653These and other options-related variables are documented in
654.Pa /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.options.mk .
655.It Sy Example 5\&: No Setting Xr make 1 Variables for Specific Ports via Xr make.conf 5
656.Pp
657The following example shows how to set arbitrary
658.Xr make 1
659variables only specific ports:
660.Bd -literal -offset 2n
661# Set DISABLE_MAKE_JOBS for the lang/rust port:
662\&.if ${.CURDIR:M*/lang/rust}
663DISABLE_MAKE_JOBS=	yes
664TRYBROKEN=		yes
665\&.endif
666.Ed
667.It Sy Example 6\&: No Debugging Ports
668By default ports are built and packaged without debugging support (e.g.,
669debugging symbols are stripped from binaries, optimization flags are used for
670compiling, verbose logging is disabled).
671Whether ports are built with debugging symbols can be controlled by the
672settings in
673.Xr make.conf 5 ,
674e.g.,
675.Bd -literal -offset 2n
676# Enable debugging for all ports.
677WITH_DEBUG=		yes
678# Enable debugging for selected ports.
679WITH_DEBUG_PORTS=	mail/dovecot security/krb5
680.Ed
681.Pp
682It is also possible to use the debug variables on the command line:
683.Bd -literal -offset 2n
684.Li # Ic make -DWITH_DEBUG DEBUG_FLAGS="-g -O0" build
685.Ed
686.Pp
687See the
688.Sx MAKE VARIABLES
689section to learn more about the debug variables.
690.Pp
691To understand the details of what happens when the debug variables are set it
692is best to consult the files located at
693.Pa ${PORTSDIR}/Mk/*
694.Po Pa bsd.port.mk
695in particular
696.Pc .
697.Pp
698If debugging is enabled for a specific port, the ports framework will:
699.Bl -bullet
700.It
701Add
702.Va DEBUG_FLAGS
703(defaults to
704.Ql -g )
705to
706.Va CFLAGS .
707.It
708Try to prevent the binaries from being stripped (including checking the install
709target to replace
710.Ql install-strip
711with
712.Ql install ) .
713Whether a binary has been stripped can be checked with
714.Xr file 1 .
715.It
716Try to enable other debugging features like debug build type or verbose logging.
717However, this is port-specific and the ports framework might not be aware of
718each supported debugging feature a given piece of software has to offer).
719.El
720.El
721.Sh SEE ALSO
722.Xr make 1 ,
723.Xr make.conf 5 ,
724.Xr development 7 ,
725.Xr pkg 7
726.Pp
727Additional developer documentation:
728.Bl -dash -width "" -offset indent
729.It
730.Xr portlint 1
731.It
732.Pa /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk
733.El
734.Pp
735Additional user documentation:
736.Bl -dash -width "" -offset indent
737.It
738.Xr pkg 8
739.It
740.Lk "https://ports.FreeBSD.org" "Searchable index of all ports"
741.El
742.Sh HISTORY
743The Ports Collection
744appeared in
745.Fx 1.0 .
746It has since spread to
747.Nx
748and
749.Ox .
750.Sh AUTHORS
751.An -nosplit
752This manual page was originated by
753.An David O'Brien .
754.Sh BUGS
755Ports documentation is split over four places \(em
756.Pa /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk ,
757.%B "The Porter's Handbook" ,
758the
759.Dq "Packages and Ports"
760chapter of
761.%B "The FreeBSD Handbook" ,
762and
763this manual page.
764