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1.1 marc 21:
1.20 rohee 22: <h2><font color="#e00000">Building an OpenBSD port</font></h2>
1.1 marc 23:
24: So you've just compiled your favorite software package on your
25: OpenBSD machine and you want to share your effort by turning
26: it into a standard port. What to do?
27: <p>
1.25 espie 28: The most important thing you can is to <strong>communicate</strong>.
29: Ask people on <a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports@openbsd.org</a>
30: if they are working on the same port. <em>Tell the original software
31: author about it</em>, including problems you may find. If licensing
32: information appears incorrect tell him. If you had to jump through
33: loops to make the port build, tell him what he can fix. If they are
1.32 deraadt 34: only developing on Linux and feel like ignoring the rest of the Unix
1.25 espie 35: world, try to make them change their view.
36: <p>
37: <strong>COMMUNICATION</strong> makes the difference between a successful
1.34 jufi 38: port and a port that will slowly be abandoned by everyone.
1.25 espie 39: <p>
1.9 marc 40: First look at the porting information on this page. Then check
41: out the referenced documents, especially the OpenBSD porting
1.26 espie 42: <a href="checklist.html">checklist</a>.
1.1 marc 43: <p>
1.9 marc 44: Test, then re-test, and finally test again!
45: <p>
46: Submit the port. Create a gzipped tarball of the port directory.
47: You can then either place it on a public FTP or HTTP server, sending
1.20 rohee 48: its address to <a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports@openbsd.org</a>
1.9 marc 49: or send the port mime encoded to the same address. Pick whichever
50: method works best for you.
1.35 naddy 51:
52: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Index of Porting Documentation</font></h3>
53: <ul>
54: <li><a href="#Avail">Available Porting Information</a></li>
55: <li><a href="#Policy">OpenBSD Porting Policy</a></li>
56: <li><a href="#Security">Security Recommendations</a></li>
57: <li><a href="#Generic">Generic Porting Hints</a></li>
58: <li><a href="#Other">Other Helpful Hints</a></li>
59: </ul>
60:
61: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Avail">Available Porting Information</a></font></h3>
1.1 marc 62: <ul>
1.38 espie 63: <li>OpenBSD porting <a href="checklist.html">checklist</a>.
64: <li>The man page
1.41 rohee 65: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=bsd.port.mk&sektion=5">bsd.port.mk(5)</a>.
1.38 espie 66: This documents the ports infrastructure makefile that is
67: included at the end of each individual port makefile.
68: There are still a few comments at the start of
1.39 horacio 69: the file itself, but most of the useful information is now
1.38 espie 70: documented.
71: <li>Some differences from other BSD port systems, mostly a summary
72: of <a href="porting/diffs.html">infrastructure differences</a>.
73: <li><a href="porting/libraries.html">Using shared libraries
74: in OpenBSD Ports</a>. The rules there are <strong>very
1.51 ! espie 75: important</strong> as soon as you use shared libraries.
! 76: <li><a href="porting/autoconf.html">GNU autoconf specificities</a>,
! 77: how to deal with it in the context of OpenBSD ports.
! 78: <li><a href="porting/config.html">Configuration files</a>,
! 79: one frequent stumbling block for new developers, and the unique
! 80: tools the OpenBSD ports tree has to deal with these.
1.38 espie 81: <li><a href="audio-port.html">Porting audio applications to OpenBSD</a>.
1.1 marc 82: <li>The
1.13 art 83: <a href="http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/software/packages.html">
84: NetBSD Package System</a> documentation. This document describes
85: NetBSD's version of the FreeBSD ports system and is quite helpful.
1.33 naddy 86: <li>The
1.42 pvalchev 87: <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/porters-handbook/index.html">FreeBSD
1.33 naddy 88: Porter's Handbook</a>. This is the FreeBSD porting bible.
1.1 marc 89: <li>The OpenBSD ports mailing list,
1.50 alek 90: <a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports@openbsd.org</a>.
1.1 marc 91: </ul>
1.35 naddy 92: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Policy">OpenBSD Porting Policy</a></font></h3>
1.1 marc 93: <ul>
1.24 rohee 94: <li>OpenBSD does NOT use <code>/usr/local/etc/rc.d</code>.<br>
1.7 espie 95: <code>/usr/local</code> is often shared between several machines
1.15 espie 96: thanks to NFS. For this reason, configuration files that are specific
97: to a given machine can't be stored under <code>/usr/local</code>,
98: <code>/etc</code> is the central repository for per machine
99: configuration files. Moreover, OpenBSD policy is to never update
100: files under <code>/etc</code> automatically. Ports that need some
101: specific boot setup should advise the administrator about what to do
102: instead of blindly installing files.
1.1 marc 103: <li>OpenBSD does NOT compress man pages.
104: <li>OpenBSD does NOT require <code>-lcrypt</code>.<br>
105: DES encryption is part of the standard <code>libc</code>.
1.46 sturm 106: <li>OpenBSD has a separate namespace for users and groups created by ports.
107: See <code>/usr/ports/infrastructure/db/user.list</code> for details.
1.10 espie 108: <li>OpenBSD is strongly security-oriented. You should read and understand
1.42 pvalchev 109: this page's <a href="#Security">security section</a>.
1.24 rohee 110: <li>Be sure to add the <code>$OpenBSD$</code> CVS tag to
1.10 espie 111: the Makefile. If importing a port from another system be sure to
1.48 xsa 112: leave their tag in the Makefile, too.
1.10 espie 113: <li>The goal is to get all ported applications to support OpenBSD. To
114: achieve this goal you <strong>must</strong> feed any OpenBSD patches
115: back to the application maintainer.
116: </ul>
1.35 naddy 117: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Security">Security Recommendations</a></font></h3>
1.10 espie 118: There are many security problems to worry about. If
1.2 marc 119: you are not absolutely sure of what you are doing please request
1.1 marc 120: help from the <a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports</a> mailing
121: list.
1.10 espie 122:
123: <ul>
1.20 rohee 124: <li>Do <em>not</em> use alpha or beta code when preparing a port. Use the
1.10 espie 125: latest regular or patch release.
126:
1.1 marc 127: <li>Any software to be installed as a server should be scanned
128: for buffer overflows, especially unsafe use of
129: <code>strcat/strcpy/strcmp/sprintf</code>. In general,
130: <code>sprintf</code> should be replaced with <code>snprintf</code>.
1.10 espie 131:
1.17 espie 132: <li>Never use filenames instead of true security. There are numerous race
1.10 espie 133: conditions where you don't have proper control. For instance, an attacker
134: who already has user privileges on your machines may replace files in
135: <code>/tmp</code> with symbolic links to more strategic files, such as
1.19 rohee 136: <code>/etc/master.passwd</code>.
1.16 espie 137:
138: <li>For instance, both <code>fopen</code> and <code>freopen</code>
139: <strong>create a new file or open an existing file</strong> for
140: writing. An attacker may create a symbolic link from
1.19 rohee 141: <code>/etc/master.passwd</code> to <code>/tmp/addrpool_dump</code>. The
1.16 espie 142: instant you open it, your password file is hosed. Yes, even with
143: an <code>unlink</code> right before. You only narrow the window
144: of opportunity. Use <code>open</code> with
1.22 rohee 145: <code>O_CREAT|O_EXCL</code> and <code>fdopen</code> instead.
1.15 espie 146:
1.16 espie 147: <li>Another very common problem is the <code>mktemp</code>
1.17 espie 148: function. Heed the warnings of the bsd linker about its uses.
1.15 espie 149: <strong>These must be fixed</strong>.
150: This is not quite as simple as <code>s/mktemp/mkstemp/g</code>. <br>
151: Refer to the <code>mktemp(3)</code> man page of OpenBSD current
152: for more indications.
153: Correct code using <code>mkstemp</code> includes the source to
154: <code>ed</code> or <code>mail</code>.
155: A rare instance of code that uses <code>mktemp</code> correctly
156: can be found in the <code>rsync</code> port.
1.10 espie 157:
158: <li>Just because you can read it doesn't mean you should. A well-known hole
159: of this nature was the <code>startx</code> problem. As a setuid program,
160: you could launch startx with any file as a script. If the file was not
161: a valid shell script, a syntax error message would follow, along with the
162: first line of the offending file, without any further permission check.
163: Pretty handy to grab the first line of a shadow passwd file, considering
1.12 deraadt 164: these often start with root entry. Do not open your file, and then do
165: an <code>fstat</code> on the open descriptor to check if you should have
1.15 espie 166: been able to open it (or the attacker will play with /dev/rst0 and rewind
1.12 deraadt 167: your tape) -- open it with the correct uid/gid/grouplist set.
1.10 espie 168:
169: <li>Don't use anything that forks a shell in setuid programs before dropping
1.15 espie 170: your privileges. This includes <code>popen</code> and
171: <code>system</code>.
1.10 espie 172: Use <code>fork</code>, <code>pipe</code> and <code>execve</code> instead.
173:
1.15 espie 174: <li>Pass open descriptors instead of filenames to other programs to
175: avoid race conditions. Even if a program does not accept file
176: descriptors, you can still use <code>/dev/fd/0</code>.
1.10 espie 177:
1.15 espie 178: <li>Access rights are attached to file descriptors. If you need setuid rights
1.10 espie 179: to open a file, open that file, then drop your privileges. You can still
180: access the open descriptor, but you have less to worry about. This is
181: double-edged: even after dropping privileges, you should still watch out
182: for those descriptors.
183:
184: <li>Avoid root setuid as much as you can. Basically, root can do anything,
1.15 espie 185: but root rights are very rarely needed, except maybe to create
186: socket ports with a number under 1024. It is arguably better to
187: keep that under <code>inetd</code>
1.10 espie 188: control and just add the relevant entries to <code>inetd.conf</code>.
189: You must know the appropriate magic for writing daemons to achieve that.
1.15 espie 190: It could be argued that you have no business writing setuid programs
191: if you don't know how to do that.
1.10 espie 192:
1.15 espie 193: <li>Use setgid instead of setuid. Apart from those specific files needed
194: by setgid programs, most files are not group-writable. Hence, a
195: security problem in a setgid program won't compromise your system as
196: much: with only group rights, the worst an intruder will be able to
197: do is hack a games score table or some such.
1.10 espie 198: See the <code>xkobo</code> port for an instance of such a change.
199:
1.15 espie 200: <li>Don't trust group-writable files. Even though they are audited,
201: setgid programs are not perceived as important potential security
202: holes. Hence stuff they can tamper with shouldn't be considered
203: sensitive information.
204:
205: <li>Don't trust your environment ! This involves simple things such as
206: your <code>PATH</code> (never use <code>system</code> with an
207: unqualified name, avoid <code>execvp</code>), but also more subtle
208: items such as your locale, timezone, termcap, and so on.
209: Be aware of transitivity: even though you're taking full precautions,
210: programs you call directly won't necessarily. <strong>Never</strong>
211: use <code>system</code> in privileged programs, build your command
212: line, a controlled environment, and call <code>execve</code> directly.
213: The <code>perlsec</code> man page is a good tutorial on such problems.
214:
1.31 jufi 215: <li>Never use setuid shell-scripts. These are inherently insecure.
1.15 espie 216: Wrap them into some C code that ensures a proper environment.
217: On the other hand, OpenBSD features secure perl scripts.
218:
219: <li>Beware the dynamic loader. If you are running setuid, it will only
220: use trusted libraries that were scanned with ldconfig.
221: Setgid is not enough.
222:
223: <li>Dynamic libraries are tricky. C++ code sets a similar problem.
224: Basically, libraries may take some action based upon your environment
225: before your main program even gets to check its setuid status.
226: OpenBSD <code>issetugid</code> addresses this problem, from the
227: library writer point of view. Don't try to port libraries unless you
228: understand this issue thoroughly.
1.10 espie 229: </ul>
1.35 naddy 230: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Generic">Generic Porting Hints</a></font></h3>
1.10 espie 231: <ul>
232: <li><code>__OpenBSD__</code> should be used sparingly, if at all.
233: Constructs that look like
234: <pre>
235: #if defined(__NetBSD__) || defined(__FreeBSD__)
236: </pre>
237: are often inappropriate. Don't add blindly <code>__OpenBSD__</code>
238: to it. Instead, try to figure out what's going on, and what actual
239: feature is needed. Manual pages are often useful, as they include
240: historic comments, stating when a particular feature was incorporated
241: into BSD. Checking the numeric value of <code>BSD</code> against known
242: releases is often the right way. See
1.17 espie 243: <a href="ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/packages/pkgsrc/Packages.txt">the NetBSD package guide</a>
1.10 espie 244: for more information.
245: <li>Defining <code>BSD</code> is a bad idea. Try to include <code>sys/param.h</code>.
246: This not only defines <code>BSD</code>, it also gives it a proper value.
247: The right code fragment should look like:
248: <pre>
1.23 rohee 249: #if (defined(__unix__) || defined(unix)) && !defined(USG)
1.10 espie 250: #include <sys/param.h>
251: #endif
252: </pre>
253: <li>Test for features, not for specific OSes. In the long run, it is much
1.15 espie 254: better to test whether <code>tcgetattr</code> works than whether
255: you're running under BSD 4.3 or later, or SystemVR4. These kind of
256: tests just confuse the issue. The way to go about it is, for instance,
257: to test for one particular system, set up a slew of
258: <code>HAVE_TCGETATTR</code> defines, then proceed to the next system.
259: This technique separates features tests from specific OSes.
260: In a hurry, another porter can just add the whole set of
261: <code>-DHAVE_XXX</code> defines to the Makefile. One may also write
262: or add to a configure script to check for that feature and add it
263: automatically. As an example not to follow, check nethack 3.2.2
264: source: it assumes loads of things based on the system type. Most
265: of these assumptions are obsolete and no longer reflect reality:
266: POSIX functions are more useful than older BSD versus SystemV
267: differences, to the point that some traditional bsd functions are
1.10 espie 268: now only supported through compatibility libraries.
269:
270: <li>Avoid include files that include other includes that... First, because
1.15 espie 271: this is inefficient. Your project will end up including a file that
272: includes everything. Also, because it makes some problems difficult
273: to fix. It becomes harder to <em>not</em> include one particular file
274: at a given point.
1.10 espie 275:
276: <li>Avoid bizarre macro tricks. Undefining a macro that was defined by a
277: header file is a bad idea. Defining macros to get some specific behavior
1.15 espie 278: from an include file is also a bad idea: compilation modes should be
279: global. If you want POSIX behavior, say so, and
280: <code>#define POSIX_C_SOURCE</code>
1.10 espie 281: throughout the whole project, not when you feel like it.
282:
283: <li>Don't ever write system function prototypes. All modern systems,
284: OpenBSD included, have a standard location for these prototypes. Likely
1.15 espie 285: places include <code>unistd.h</code>, <code>fcntl.h</code> or
286: <code>termios.h</code>.
287: The man page frequently states where the prototype can be found.
288: You might need another slew of <code>HAVE_XXX</code> macros to
289: procure the right file. Don't worry about including the same file
290: twice, include files have guards that prevent all kinds of nastiness.<br>
1.10 espie 291: If some broken system needs you to write the prototype, don't impose
1.15 espie 292: on all other systems. Roll-your-own prototypes will break because they
293: may use types that are equivalent on your system, but are not portable
294: to other systems (<code>unsigned long</code> instead of
295: <code>size_t</code>), or get some <code>const</code> status wrong.
296: Also, some compilers, such as OpenBSD's own gcc,
1.10 espie 297: are able to do a better job with some very frequent functions such as
298: <code>strlen</code> if you include the right header file.
299:
300: <li>Don't use the name of a standard system function for anything else.
1.15 espie 301: If you want to write your own function, give it its own name, and
302: call that function everywhere. If you wish to revert to the
303: default system function, you just need to comment your code out,
304: and define your own name to the system function. Don't do it the
305: other way round. Code should look like this
1.10 espie 306: <pre>
307: /* prototype part */
308: #ifdef USE_OWN_GCVT
309: char *foo_gcvt(double number, size_t ndigit, char *buf);
310: #else
311: /* include correct file */
312: #include <stdlib.h>
313: /* use system function */
314: #define foo_gcvt gcvt
315: #endif
316:
317: /* definition part */
318: #ifdef USE_OWN_GCVT
319: char *foo_gcvt(double number, size_t ndigit, char *buf)
320: {
1.15 espie 321: /* proper definition */
322: }
1.10 espie 323:
324: /* typical use */
325: s = foo_gcvt(n, 15, b);
326: </pre>
1.1 marc 327: </ul>
1.35 naddy 328: <h3><font color="#0000e0"><a name="Other">Other Helpful Hints</a></font></h3>
1.1 marc 329: <ul>
1.15 espie 330: <li>Recent versions of <code>bsd.port.mk</code> set the installers
331: path. Specifically, they set <code>/usr/bin</code> and
332: <code>/bin</code> to be searched <em>before</em>
333: <code>/usr/local/bin</code> and <code>/usr/X11R6/bin</code>.
1.19 rohee 334: <li>Do <em>NOT</em> generate shared libraries if
1.49 espie 335: <code>${NO_SHARED_LIBS}</code> is set to yes (beware, it can be defined
1.21 rohee 336: only after inclusion of <code>bsd.port.mk</code>). If your port has
337: a GNU configure simply add the line
338: <code>CONFIGURE_ARGS += ${CONFIGURE_SHARED}</code> to the Makefile.
1.44 pvalchev 339: <li>It is OK to rely on a feature that appeared in a recent version of
340: <code>bsd.port.mk</code>, as people are supposed to update their
341: whole ports tree, including <code>bsd.port.mk</code>.
342: NEED_VERSION is now obsolete.
1.49 espie 343: <li>Prefer using <code>update-plist</code> to generate and update
344: packing-lists instead of doing things manually.
345: You can comment unwanted lines out.
346: <code>update-plist</code> can detect most file types and copy most
347: extra annotations correctly.
1.1 marc 348: <li>In OpenBSD <code>curses.h/libcurses/libtermlib</code> are the
349: ``new curses''. Change:<br>
1.15 espie 350: <code>ncurses.h ==> curses.h</code><br>
351: ``old (BSD) curses'' is available by defining
352: <code>_USE_OLD_CURSES_</code>
1.11 millert 353: before including <code>curses.h</code> (usually in a Makefile) and
1.15 espie 354: linking with <code>-locurses</code>.
1.11 millert 355: <li>In OpenBSD, terminal discipline has been upgraded from the older BSD
356: <code>sgtty</code> to the newer POSIX <code>tcgetattr</code> family.
1.15 espie 357: Avoid the older style in new code. Some code may define
358: <code>tcgetattr</code> to be a synonym for the older
359: <code>sgtty</code>, but this is at best a stopgap measure on OpenBSD.
360: The <code>xterm</code> source code is a very good example of
361: what not to do. Try to get your system functionality right: you
362: want a type that remembers the state of your terminal
363: (possible typedef), you want a function that extracts the current
364: state, and a function that sets the new state.
365: Functions that modify this state are more difficult, as they tend
366: to vary depending upon the system. Also, don't forget that you will
367: have to handle cases where you are not connected to a terminal,
368: and that you need to handle signals: not only termination, but
369: also background (<code>SIGTSTP</code>). You should always leave
370: the terminal in a sane state. Do your tests under an older shell,
371: such as sh, which does not reset the terminal in any way at
1.10 espie 372: program's termination.
1.15 espie 373: <li>The newer termcap/terminfo and curses, as included with OpenBSD,
374: include standard sequences for controlling color terminals. You
375: should use these if possible, reverting to standard ANSI color
376: sequences on other systems. However, some terminal descriptions
377: have not been updated yet, and you may need to be able to specify
378: these sequences manually. This is the way vim handles it. This is
379: not strictly necessary. Except for privileged programs, it is
380: generally possible to override a termcap definition through the
1.10 espie 381: <code>TERMCAP</code> variable and get it to work properly.
1.15 espie 382: <li>Signal semantics are tricky, and vary from one system to another.
383: Use <code>sigaction</code> to ensure a specific semantics, along
384: with other system calls referenced in the corresponding manpage.
1.1 marc 385: </ul>
386: <hr>
1.6 pauls 387: <a href="index.html"><img height=24 width=24 src=back.gif border=0 alt=OpenBSD></a>
1.20 rohee 388: <a href="mailto:www@openbsd.org">www@openbsd.org</a>
1.51 ! espie 389: <br><small>$OpenBSD: porting.html,v 1.50 2004/11/26 15:26:10 alek Exp $</small>
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