Annotation of www/ports.html, Revision 1.50
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1.27 brad 10: <title>OpenBSD Ports and Packages</title>
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1.30 espie 17:
1.47 naddy 18: <h2><font color="#e00000">The Ports & Packages collection</font></h2>
1.25 deraadt 19:
1.47 naddy 20: <hr>
21:
22: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Motivation</font></h3>
1.25 deraadt 23:
24: OpenBSD is a fairly complete system of its own, but still there is a lot
25: of software that one might want see added. However there is the problem
26: on where to draw the line as to what to include, as well as the occasional
27: licensing and export restriction problems. As OpenBSD is supposed to be
28: a small stand-alone UNIX-like operating system, some things just can't be
29: shipped with the system.
30:
31: <p>
1.47 naddy 32: <strong><font color="#e00000">
1.31 espie 33: The ports & packages collection does NOT go through the thorough security audit that OpenBSD follows.
34: Although we strive to keep the quality of the packages collection high, we just do not have enough human
35: resources to ensure the same level of robustness and security.
36: </font></strong>
1.25 deraadt 37:
38: <p>
1.31 espie 39: The port collection, originally borrowed from
40: <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a>, fills this gap.
41: The concept is to have, for each third-party software, a Makefile that
1.25 deraadt 42: controls
43: <ul>
44: <li>where to fetch it,
45: <li>how to do the fetch,
46: <li>what it depends upon (if anything),
47: <li>how to alter the sources (if needed),
48: <li>and how to configure, build and install it.
49: </ul>
50: This information is kept in a directory hierarchy under the
51: /usr/ports directory.
1.31 espie 52:
53: <p>
54: Packages are the binary equivalent of ports. A compiled port becomes
55: a package that can be registered into the system using pkg_add(1).
56:
57: <p>
1.47 naddy 58: <strong><font color="#e00000">
1.36 brad 59: Packages look like simple <code>.tgz</code> bundles, but they should
1.33 espie 60: always be added using
1.47 naddy 61: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_add(1)</a>,
1.33 espie 62: as there might be some extra information that only
1.47 naddy 63: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_add(1)</a>
1.33 espie 64: knows how to handle.</font></strong>
1.36 brad 65: Tip: you can distinguish between packages and <strong>.tgz</strong> bundles
1.33 espie 66: using
1.47 naddy 67: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_info&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_info(1)</a>.
1.31 espie 68:
1.47 naddy 69: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Getting packages</font></h3>
1.31 espie 70:
71: A large collection of pre-compiled packages is available for most common
72: architectures.
73: <ul>
1.34 jufi 74: <li>On the CD-Rom (that you can order <a href="orders.html">here</a>),
1.31 espie 75: <li>On the <a href=ftp.html>ftp mirror sites</a>.
1.40 beck 76: <li>Browsed and retrieved from the web package lists:
77: <ul>
1.44 espie 78: <li><a href="http://www.openbsd.org/2.8_packages/">Packages for OpenBSD 2.8</a>
1.42 jufi 79: <li><a href="http://www.openbsd.org/2.7_packages/">Packages for OpenBSD 2.7</a>
1.40 beck 80: </ul>
1.31 espie 81: </ul>
82:
1.44 espie 83:
1.31 espie 84: Adding a package is as easy as
1.36 brad 85: <code>pkg_add pkgname.tgz</code>.
1.31 espie 86: If you are grabbing packages off a single source (a package repository),
1.39 espie 87: set PKG_PATH to that repository URL, in order to grab dependencies.
1.31 espie 88:
89: <p>
1.45 espie 90: For instance, to install the gimp package for the 2.8 release on an i386
1.31 espie 91: machine off the ftp site (including dependencies), do:
92:
93: <pre>
1.45 espie 94: # setenv PKG_PATH ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/2.8/packages/i386/
95: # pkg_add ${PKG_PATH}gimp-1.1.27.tgz
1.31 espie 96: </pre>
97:
1.47 naddy 98: <h3><a name="stable"><font color="#0000e0">Ports and packages update for an OpenBSD release</font></a></h3>
1.45 espie 99: <p>
100: The 2.7 release saw the introduction of a stable branch for the ports tree.
101: <p>
102: For instance, to grab the stable branch for the 2.8 release:
103: <pre>
104: $ cd /usr/ports
105: $ cvs -q -d anoncvs@some.anon.server:/cvs up -r OPENBSD_2_8 -Pd
106: </pre>
107: <p>
108: Starting with the 2.8 release, selected binary packages are also made
1.46 espie 109: available. Thanks to
110: <a href="mailto:naddy@openbsd.org">Christian Weisgerber</a> for
111: handling the hard work of coordinating the stable branch changes.
112: Please refer to the
1.45 espie 113: <a href="pkg-stable.html">stable packages page</a> to find out about
114: updated packages and important updates to the stable branch.
115: </p>
116: <p>
117: Package names are <strong>always</strong> changed in case of a package
118: update, to avoid any risk of confusion between a package from the release
119: and a bug-fixed package.
120: </p>
121:
1.47 naddy 122: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Managing installed packages</font></h3>
1.31 espie 123:
1.47 naddy 124: The <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=packages&sektion=7&format=html">packages(7)</a>
1.31 espie 125: manual page holds useful information about ways to manage
126: installed packages, solve conflicts (files that already exist) and handle
127: dependencies.
128: <p>
1.45 espie 129: As of OpenBSD 2.8, to update a package you must:
1.31 espie 130: <ul>
1.33 espie 131: <li>Remove the old package using
1.47 naddy 132: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_delete&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_delete(1)</a>
1.33 espie 133: <li>Add the new package using
1.47 naddy 134: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_add&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_add(1)</a>
1.31 espie 135: </ul>
136: This is slightly inconvenient, as packages may trigger dependencies, and
137: you may have to remove a large subset of packages for an update.
138:
1.47 naddy 139: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Using ports</font></h3>
1.31 espie 140:
141: If a given package does not exist for your architecture, you may still
142: be able to compile the port. Besides, some users will want to compile
143: everything from source for various reasons.
144:
1.25 deraadt 145: <p>
1.27 brad 146: You can ftp the release version from the pub/OpenBSD/[version] (where
147: [version] is the release number) directory on any of the
148: <a href=ftp.html>ftp mirror sites</a>.
149: The release versions are the ones we ship on our CDROM, and have gone
150: through more testing than any snapshot.
1.30 espie 151: Further information is available in the
1.47 naddy 152: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=ports&sektion=7&format=html">ports(7)</a> man page.
1.30 espie 153:
1.47 naddy 154: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Life cycle of the ports tree</font></h3>
1.27 brad 155:
156: <p>
1.31 espie 157: The ports tree, like the rest of OpenBSD, is constantly changing.
1.30 espie 158: The normal life cycle of the ports tree is as follows:
159: <ul>
160: <li>Track the latest release of OpenBSD for a few months after the release
161: comes out.
162: <li>Switch to tracking OpenBSD-current about two months before the next
163: release.
164: </ul>
165: The change of status will be widely publicized on the
1.47 naddy 166: <a href=mail.html>mailing lists</a>.
1.30 espie 167:
1.37 marc 168: <p>
169: The current ports tree <strong>may not</strong> be used with the previous
170: release once the switch to tracking OpenBSD-current occurs. This is due
171: to changes, typically with the port make process, that require code
1.45 espie 172: based upon the OpenBSD-current source tree.
1.30 espie 173: <p>The ports tree works as a single entity. Updating a single directory is
174: not guaranteed to work, as package dependencies may force you to update
175: and recompile vast portions of the ports tree.
1.31 espie 176: It is strongly suggested that people don't track ports-current unless
1.30 espie 177: they're prepared to deal with various problems.
1.33 espie 178: <a href=mail.html>Mailing lists</a> such as
1.47 naddy 179: <code>ports-changes@openbsd.org</code> or
1.33 espie 180: <code>tech@openbsd.org</code> will probably be invaluable.
1.27 brad 181:
1.48 naddy 182: <p>A list of <a href="portsplus/index.html">daily changes</a> to ports
1.47 naddy 183: and ports-current is available.
184:
1.27 brad 185: <p>
1.29 espie 186: The ports-current tree can be retrieved via:
1.25 deraadt 187: <ul>
188: <li><a href=anoncvs.html>Anonymous CVS</a> (see link). The command is
189: essentially <strong>cvs get ports</strong>.
190: <li>Anonymous ftp from
191: <a href="ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/ports.tar.gz">
192: ftp://ftp.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/ports.tar.gz</a>.
1.19 marc 193: This archive is updated nightly.
1.32 naddy 194: <li><a href="cvsup.html">CVSup</a>. See the example for using CVSup in
195: <a href="cvsup.html#checkout">checkout mode</a>.
1.25 deraadt 196: <li>Your web browser using the
197: <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/ports/">CVS
1.20 marc 198: web interface</a>.
1.25 deraadt 199: </ul>
200:
1.47 naddy 201: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Ports and XFree</font></h3>
1.35 espie 202: There is some special magic in the OpenBSD XFree configuration files
203: that allows the ports tree to install imake-based applications under
204: /usr/local.
205:
1.49 espie 206: <p>As of 2.9, OpenBSD ships with XFree 4.0.3.
207: If you are using a previous distribution, together with XFree binaries
208: from the XFree project, you may need to apply the patch in
1.35 espie 209: <code>/usr/ports/infrastructure/patches/patch-xfree-4.0</code>
210: to a default binary XFree 4.0.x distribution for it to work with the OpenBSD
211: ports tree.
212:
1.47 naddy 213: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Example use of the Ports tree</font></h3>
1.25 deraadt 214:
215: <p>
216: Let's say you managed to get a ports tree and you want to compile and
1.33 espie 217: install the archiving utility <strong>unzip</strong>. You should be able to
1.23 espie 218: do something like this:
1.31 espie 219:
1.11 deraadt 220: <pre>
1.31 espie 221: % cd /usr/ports/archivers/unzip
222: % su
223: # make
224: # make install
225: # exit
1.11 deraadt 226: </pre>
1.25 deraadt 227:
1.31 espie 228: Easy, huh ? Especially considering all that happened in the background:
229: <ul>
230: <li>Fetch unzip sources from an ftp site,
231: <li>Check the source archive integrity,
232: <li>Extract the unzip source,
233: <li>Apply OpenBSD specific patches,
234: <li>Configure and build the program,
235: <li>Create a binary package under /usr/ports/packages,
236: <li>Install that package.
237: </ul>
1.25 deraadt 238:
239: <p>
1.45 espie 240: With OpenBSD 2.8, almost all ports automatically build
1.31 espie 241: packages when installing.
242:
243: <p>
244: As ports get built, the /usr/ports/distfiles directory gets filled with
245: program sources, and /usr/ports/packages gets filled with binary packages.
246: Users with low connectivity may refer to mirror-distfiles(7) for
1.45 espie 247: an efficient way to grab all distfiles at once. In OpenBSD-current, you
1.46 espie 248: can use the script /usr/ports/infrastructure/fetch/clean-old to track
249: old distfiles.
1.31 espie 250: Note that the OpenBSD CD only include the ports tree and selected packages.
251: If you wish to have the distfiles, you will have to get them through an
252: independent way.
1.25 deraadt 253:
1.47 naddy 254: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Creating new ports</font></h3>
1.25 deraadt 255: <p>
256: If you are interested in helping to expand the OpenBSD ports tree
257: you should first read <a href="porting.html">porting.html</a>.
1.50 ! naddy 258: That page references the
! 259: <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/porters-handbook/">FreeBSD Porter's Handbook</a>
1.25 deraadt 260: as well as OpenBSD specific policies and hints.
261:
1.47 naddy 262: <h3><font color="#0000e0">Problems and contacts</font></h3>
1.25 deraadt 263:
264: <p>
1.31 espie 265: If you have trouble with existing ports, or need information about creating new ports,
266: please send e-mail to the OpenBSD
1.27 brad 267: ports mailing list, <a href="mailto:ports@openbsd.org">ports@openbsd.org</a>.
1.25 deraadt 268: Corrections are always welcome, but in any case do please provide:
269: <ul>
270: <li>The output of <code>uname -a</code>,
271: <li>Your OpenBSD version, including any patches you may have applied,
272: <li>A complete description of the problem.
1.45 espie 273: </ul>
274: For ports that don't build correctly, a complete build transcript is almost
275: always required. Some ports may have configuration issues linked to what
276: is already on your machine.
277: <ul>
1.47 naddy 278: <li>Use <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=script&sektion=1&format=html">script(1)</a> to create a complete build transcript. Don't remove the configure information.
279: <li>Attach the output of <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=pkg_info&sektion=1&format=html">pkg_info(1)</a> if it seems even remotely relevant.
280: <li><a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=gcc&sektion=1&format=html">gcc(1)</a> internal compiler errors do ask you to report the bug to
1.45 espie 281: the gcc mailing-list. It does save time if you follow their direction, and
282: provide at least the various files produced by <tt>gcc -save-temps</tt>.
1.25 deraadt 283: </ul>
284:
285: <hr>
286: <a href="index.html"><img height=24 width=24 src=back.gif border=0 alt=OpenBSD></a>
1.47 naddy 287: <a href="mailto:www@openbsd.org">www@openbsd.org</a>
1.50 ! naddy 288: <br><small>$OpenBSD: ports.html,v 1.49 2001/05/03 15:29:27 espie Exp $</small>
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