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Submitted-by: Elliot Schwartz <elliot@mit.edu>
839 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
839 lines
30 KiB
Plaintext
<!-- $Id: ports.sgml,v 1.12 1996/06/26 03:28:51 jfieber Exp $ -->
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<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
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<sect><heading>The Ports collection<label id="ports"></heading>
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<p><em>Contributed by &a.jraynard;.</em>
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The FreeBSD Ports collection allows you to compile and install a very
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wide range of applications with a minimum of effort.
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<p> For all the hype about open standards, getting a program to work
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on different versions of Unix in the real world can be a tedious and
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tricky business, as anyone who's tried it will know. You may be lucky
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enough to find that the program you want will compile cleanly on your
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system, install itself in all the right places and run flawlessly
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``out of the box'', but this is unfortunately rather rare. With most
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programs, you will find yourself doing a fair bit of head-scratching,
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and there are quite a few programs that will result in premature
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greying, or even chronic alopecia...
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<p> Some software distributions have attacked this problem by
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providing configuration scripts. Some of these are very clever, but
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they have an unfortunate tendency to triumphantly announce that your
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system is something you've never heard of and then ask you lots of
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questions that sound like a final exam in system-level Unix
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programming (``Does your system's gethitlist function return a const
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pointer to a fromboz or a pointer to a const fromboz? Do you have
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Foonix style unacceptable exception handling? And if not, why not?'').
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<p> Fortunately, with the Ports collection, all the hard work involved
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has already been done, and you can just type 'make install' and get a
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working program.
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<sect1><heading>Why have a Ports Collection?</heading>
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<p>The base FreeBSD system comes with a very wide range of tools and
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system utilities, but a lot of popular programs aren't in the base
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system, for good reasons:-
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<enum>
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<item>``I can't live without x y and z on my system'' type programs
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(eg a certain Lisp-based editor, or the mtools set of programs for
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dealing with DOS floppy disks), because it's too subjective (many
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people can't stand Emacs and/or never use DOS floppies and seem none
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the worse for it).
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<item>Too specialised to put in the base system (CAD, databases).
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<item>Programs which fall into the ``I wouldn't mind having a look at
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that when I get a spare minute'' category, rather than system-critical
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ones (some languages, perhaps).
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<item>``Wow fab this is way cool'' fun type programs that couldn't
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possibly be supplied with a serious operating system like FreeBSD ;-)
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<item>However many programs you put in the base system, people will
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always want more, and a line has to be drawn somewhere (otherwise
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FreeBSD distributions would become absolutely enormous).
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</enum>
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<p> Obviously it would be unreasonable to expect everyone to port their
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favourite programs by hand (not to mention a tremendous amount of
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duplicated work), so the FreeBSD Project came up with an ingenious
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way of using standard tools that would automate the process.
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<p> Incidentally, this is an excellent illustration of how ``the Unix way''
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works in practice by combining a set of simple but very flexible tools
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into something very powerful.
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<sect1><heading> How does the Ports collection work?</heading>
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<p>
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Programs are typically distributed on the Internet as a
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<ref id="ports:tarball" name="tarball"> consisting of
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a Makefile and the source code for the program and usually
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some instructions (which are unfortunately not always as instructive
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as they could be), with perhaps a configuration script.
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<p>
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The standard scenario is that you FTP down the tarball, extract it
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somewhere, glance through the instructions, make any changes that seem
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necessary, run the configure script to set things up and use the standard
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`make' program to compile and install the program from the source.
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<p>
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FreeBSD ports still use the tarball mechanism, but use a
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<ref id="ports:skeleton" name="skeleton"> to hold the "knowledge"
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of how to get the program working on FreeBSD, rather than expecting the
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user to be able to work it out. They also supply their own customised
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<ref id="ports:makefile" name="Makefile">, so that almost every port
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can be built in the same way.
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<p>
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If you look at a port skeleton (either on <htmlurl
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url="file://localhost/usr/ports/shells/bash" name="your FreeBSD
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system"> or <htmlurl
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url="ftp://www.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/shells/bash" name="the
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FTP site">) and expect to find all sorts of pointy-headed rocket
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science lurking there, you may be disappointed by the one or two
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rather unexciting-looking files and directories you find there.
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(We'll discuss in a minute how to go about <ref id="ports:getting"
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name="Getting a port">).
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<p>``How on earth can this do anything?'' I hear you cry. ``There
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isn't even any source code there!''
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<p> Fear not, gentle reader, all will become clear (hopefully). Let's
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see what happens if we try and install a port. I've chose `bash', also
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known as the Bourne-Again Shell, as that seems fairly typical.
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<em /Note/ if you're trying this at home, you'll need to be root.
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<verb>
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# cd /usr/ports/shells/bash
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# make install
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Checksums OK.
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===> Extracting for bash-1.14.5
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===> Patching for bash-1.14.5
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===> Applying FreeBSD patches for bash-1.14.5
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===> Configuring for bash-1.14.5
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===> Building for bash-1.14.5
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[lots and lots of compiler output here...]
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===> Installing for bash-1.14.5
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make -f bash-Makefile bindir=/usr/local/bin prefix=/usr/local install
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(cd ./documentation/; make )
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rm -f builtins.txt
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nroff -man builtins.1 > builtins.txt
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install -c -o bin -g bin -m 555 bash /usr/local/bin/bash
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install -c -o bin -g bin -m 555 bashbug /usr/local/bin/bashbug
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( cd ./documentation/ ; make mandir=/usr/local/man/man1 man3dir=/usr/local/man/man3 infodir=/usr/local/info install )
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[ -d /usr/local/man/man1 ] || mkdir /usr/local/man/man1
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[ -d /usr/local/info ] || mkdir /usr/local/info
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../support/install.sh -c -m 644 bash.1 /usr/local/man/man1
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../support/install.sh -c -m 644 builtins.1 /usr/local/man/man1/bash_builtins.1
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../support/install.sh -c -m 644 features.info /usr/local/info/bash.info
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gzip -9nf /usr/local/man/man1/bash.1 /usr/local/man/man1/bash_builtins.1
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===> Registering installation for bash-1.14.5
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</verb>
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<p> To avoid confusing the issue, I've slightly pruned the install
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output, as well as completely removing the build output. If you tried
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this yourself, you may well have got something like this at the start:-
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<label id="ports:fetch">
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<verb>
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>> bash-1.14.5.tar.gz doesn't seem to exist on this system.
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>> Attempting to fetch from ftp://slc2.ins.cwru.edu/pub/dist/.
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</verb>
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<p> The `make' program has noticed that you didn't have a local copy
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of the source code and tried to FTP it down so it could get the job
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done (are you starting to feel impressed? 8-)). I already had the
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source handy in my example, so it didn't need to fetch it.
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<p> Let's go through this and see what the `make' program was doing.
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<enum>
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<item> Locate the source code <ref id="ports:tarball"
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name="tarball."> If it's not available locally, try to grab it from an
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FTP site.
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<item> Run a <ref id="ports:checksum" name="checksum"> test on the
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tarball to make sure it hasn't been tampered with, accidentally
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truncated, struck by neutrinos while in transit, etc.
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<item> Extract the tarball into a temporary work directory.
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<item> Apply any <ref id="ports:patch" name="patches"> needed to get
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the source to compile and run under FreeBSD.
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<item> Run any configuration script required by the build process and
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correctly answer any questions it asks.
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<item> (Finally!) Compile the code.
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<item> Install the program executable and other supporting files, man
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pages, etc. under the /usr/local hierarchy, where they won't get mixed
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up with system programs. This also makes sure that all the ports you
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install will go in the same place, instead of being flung all over
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your system.
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<item> Register the installation in a database. This means
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that, if you don't like the program, you can cleanly <ref
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id="ports:remove" name="remove"> all traces of it from your system.
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</enum>
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<p> See if you can match these steps to the make output. And if you
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weren't impressed before, you should be by now!
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<sect1><heading>Getting a FreeBSD Port<label id="ports:getting"></heading>
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<p>
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There are two ways of getting hold of the FreeBSD port for a
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program. One requires a <ref id="ports:cd" name="FreeBSD
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CDROM">, the other involves using an <ref id="ports:inet"
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name="Internet Connection.">
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<sect2><heading>Compiling ports from CDROM<label id="ports:cd"></heading>
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<p>
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If you answered yes to the question ``Do you want to link the ports
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collection to your CDROM'' during the FreeBSD installation, the initial
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setting up will already have been done for you.
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<p>
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If not, make sure the <em /FreeBSD/ CDROM is in the drive and mounted on,
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say, /cdrom. Then do
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<verb>
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# mkdir /usr/ports
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# cd /usr/ports
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# ln -s /cdrom/ports/distfiles distfiles
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</verb>
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to enable the ports make mechanism to find the tarballs (it expects to
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find them in /usr/ports/distfiles, which is why we sym-linked the
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CDROM's tarball directory to there).
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<p>
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Now, suppose you want to install the gnats program from the databases
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directory. Here's how to do it:-
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<verb>
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# cd /usr/ports
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# mkdir databases
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# cp -R /cdrom/ports/databases/gnats databases
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# cd databases/gnats
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# make install
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</verb>
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Or if you're a serious database user and you want to compare all the
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ones available in the Ports collection, do
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<verb>
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# cd /usr/ports
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# cp -R /cdrom/ports/databases .
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# cd databases
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# make install
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</verb>
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(yes, that really is a dot on its own after the cp command and not a
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mistake. It's Unix-ese for ``the current directory'')
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<p>
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and the ports make mechanism will automatically compile and install
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all the ports in the databases directory for you!
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<p>
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If you don't like this method, here's a completely different way of
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doing it:-
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<p>
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Create a "link tree" to it using the <tt>lndir(1)</tt> command that
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comes with the <em>XFree86</em> distribution. Find a location with
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some free space and create a directory there, and make a symbolic link
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from <tt>/usr/ports</tt> to that directory. Then invoke the
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<tt>lndir(1)</tt> command with the full pathname of the ``ports''
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directory on the CDROM as an argument (this might be, for example,
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something like: <tt>lndir /cdrom/ports</tt>). Then you can build
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ports directly off the CDROM by building them in the link tree you
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have created.
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<p>
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Note that there are some ports for which we cannot provide the original
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source in the CDROM due to licensing limitations. In that case,
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you will need to look at the section on <ref id="ports:inet"
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name="Compiling ports using an Internet connection.">
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<sect2><heading>Compiling ports from the Internet<label
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id="ports:inet"></heading>
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<p>
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If you don't have a CDROM, or you want to make sure you get the very
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latest version of the port you want, you'll need to download the
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<ref id="ports:skeleton" name="skeleton"> for the port. Now this
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might sound like rather a fiddly job
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full of pitfalls, like downloading the patches into the pkg
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sub-directory by mistake, but it's actually very easy.
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<p>
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The key to it is that the FreeBSD FTP server can create on-the-fly
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<ref id="ports:tarball" name="tarballs"> for you. Here's how it works,
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with the gnats program in the databases directory as an example (the
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bits in square brackets are comments, don't type them in if you're
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trying this yourself!):-
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<verb>
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# cd /usr/ports
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# mkdir databases
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# cd databases
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# ftp ftp.freebsd.org
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[log in as `ftp' and give your email address when asked for a
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password. Remember to use binary (aka image) mode!]
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> cd /pub/FreeBSD/ports/databases
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> get gnats.tar.gz [tarballs up the gnats skeleton for us]
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> quit
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# tar xzf gnats.tar.gz [extract the gnats skeleton]
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# cd gnats
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# make install [build and install gnats]
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</verb>
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What happened here? We connected to the FTP server in the usual way
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and went to its databases sub-directory. When we gave it the command
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`get gnats.tar.gz', the FTP server <ref id="ports:tarball"
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name="tarballed"> up the gnats directory for us and even went to the
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trouble of compressing it before sending it so we could get our hands
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on it a little quicker.
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<p>
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We then extracted the gnats skeleton and went into the gnats directory
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to build the port. As we explained <ref id="ports:fetch"
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name="earlier">, the make process noticed we didn't have a copy of the
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source locally, so it fetched one before extracting, patching and
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building it.
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<p>
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Let's try something more ambitious now. Instead of getting a single
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port skeleton, let's get a whole sub-directory, for example all the
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database skeletons in the ports collection. It looks almost the same:-
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<verb>
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# cd /usr/ports
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# ftp ftp.freebsd.org
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[log in as `ftp' and give your email address when asked for a
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password. Remember to use binary (aka image) mode!]
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> cd /pub/FreeBSD/ports
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> get databases.tar.gz [tarballs up the databases directory for us]
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> quit
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# tar xzf databases.tar.gz [extract all the database skeletons]
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# cd databases
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# make install [build and install all the database ports]
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</verb>
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With half a dozen straightforward commands, we have now got a set of
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database programs on our FreeBSD machine! All we did that was
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different from getting a single port skeleton and building it was that
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we got a whole directory at once, and compiled everything in it at
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once. Pretty impressive, no?
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<p>
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If you expect to be installing more than one or two ports, it's
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probably worth downloading all the ports directories - this involves
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downloading 2 or 3MB, when they're compressed. However, don't get
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carried away and type 'get ports.tar.gz' unless you're prepared to
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download the distfiles directory as well - this contains the source
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code for every single port and will take a very long time to download!
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<sect1><heading>Skeletons<label id="ports:skeleton"></heading>
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<p>
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A team of compulsive hackers who've forgotten to eat in a frantic
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attempt to make a deadline? Something unpleasant lurking in the FreeBSD
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attic? No, a skeleton here is a minimal framework that supplies everything
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needed to make the ports magic work.
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<sect2><heading>Makefile<label id="ports:makefile"></heading>
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<p>
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The most important component of a skeleton is the Makefile. This contains
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various statements that specify how the port should be compiled and
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installed. Here's the Makefile for bash:-
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<verb>
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# New ports collection makefile for: bash
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# Version required: 1.14.5
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# Date created: 21 August 1994
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# Whom: jkh
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#
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# Makefile,v 1.13 1995/10/04 14:45:01 asami Exp
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#
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DISTNAME= bash-1.14.5
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CATEGORIES+= shells
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MASTER_SITES= ftp://slc2.ins.cwru.edu/pub/dist/
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MAINTAINER= ache@FreeBSD.ORG
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post-install:
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.if !defined(NOMANCOMPRESS)
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gzip -9nf ${PREFIX}/man/man1/bash.1 ${PREFIX}/man/man1/bash_builtins.1
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.endif
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.include <bsd.port.mk>
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</verb>
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The lines beginning with a "#" sign are comments for the benefit
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of human readers (as in most Unix script files).
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<p>
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`DISTNAME" specifies the name of the <ref id="ports:tarball"
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name="tarball">, but without the extension.
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<p>
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`CATEGORIES" states what kind of program this is.
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<p>
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`MASTER_SITES" is the URL(s) of the master FTP site, which is
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used to retrieve the <ref id="ports:tarball" name="tarball"> if it is not
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available on the local system. This is a site which is regarded as
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reputable, and is normally the one from which the program is officially
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distributed (in so far as any software is "officially" distributed
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on the Internet).
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<p>
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`MAINTAINER" is the email address of the person who is
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responsible for updating the skeleton if, for example a new version
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of the program comes out. (Note: The title of "maintainer"
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is mainly an administrative one; it does <em /not/ mean the person
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concerned is responsible for supporting the program. If you have any
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<ref id="ports:kaput" name="problems with a port,"> please mail
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&a.ports; and <em /not/ the maintainer. Thank you!)
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<p>
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Skipping over the next few lines for a minute, the line
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<verb>
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.include <bsd.port.mk>
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</verb>
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says that the other statements and commmands
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needed for this port are in a standard file called
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`bsd.port.mk". As these are the same for all ports, there is
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no point in duplicating them all over the place, so they are kept in a
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single standard file.
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<p>
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This is probably not the place to go into a detailed examination of
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how Makefiles work; suffice it to say that the lines starting with
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`post-install" over-ride the instructions in bsd.port.mk
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about what to do after installing the program, so that the man pages
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can be compressed after they have been put in their final destination.
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<sect2><heading>The files directory</heading>
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<p>
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The file containing the <ref id="ports:checksum" name="checksum"> for
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the port is called "md5", after the MD5 algorithm
|
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used for ports checksums. It lives in a directory with the slightly
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confusing name of "files".
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<p>
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This directory can also contain other miscellaneous files that are required
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by the port and don't belong anywhere else.
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<sect2><heading>The patches directory</heading>
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<p>
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This directory contains the <ref id="ports:patch" name="patches"> needed
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to make everything work properly under FreeBSD.
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<sect2><heading>The pkg directory</heading>
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<p>
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This program contains three quite useful files:-
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<itemize>
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<item>
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COMMENT - a one-line description of the program.
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<item>
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DESCR - a more detailed description.
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<item>
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PLIST - a list of all the files that will be created when the program is installed.
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</itemize>
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<sect1><heading>It does not work?!<label id="ports:kaput"></heading>
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<p>Oh. You can do one of four (4) things :
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<enum>
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<item> Fix it yourself. Technical details can be found in
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<ref id="porting" name="Porting applications.">
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<item> Gripe. This is done by e-mail *ONLY*! The people at Walnut Creek are
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in no way responsible for the functionality (or lack thereof) of the
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FreeBSD system as a whole, and especially the ports system, which
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|
is mainly contributed by 3rd parties. (If you do not believe me, check
|
|
the catalogue, especially the line saying "We cannot offer tech-support
|
|
on this product")
|
|
|
|
The e-mail address is the &a.ports;. Please include
|
|
details of the port, where you got both the port source &
|
|
distfile(s) from, and what the error was.
|
|
|
|
Note: At time of writing, lang/Sather does not seem to work on Pentium
|
|
machines due to the Intel Curse (aka the Floating Point Division Bug).
|
|
Please do not tell us about this - gripe to Intel instead - it is their
|
|
bug!
|
|
|
|
<item> Forget it. This is the easiest for most - very few of the programs in
|
|
ports can be classified as `essential'!
|
|
|
|
<item> Grab the pre-compiled package from a ftp server. The ``master'' package
|
|
collection is on FreeBSD's FTP server in the <htmlurl
|
|
url="ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/packages/"
|
|
name="packages directory.">
|
|
|
|
though check your local mirror first, please!
|
|
|
|
These are more likely to work (on the whole) than trying to compile from
|
|
source, and a lot faster! Use the <tt>pkg_add(1)</tt> or
|
|
<tt>pkg_manage(1)</tt> program to install them to your system.
|
|
|
|
</enum>
|
|
|
|
<sect1><heading>I've got this program I'd like to make into a port...</heading>
|
|
|
|
<p>Great! Please see the <ref id="porting:starting" name="guidelines">
|
|
for detailed instructions on how to do this.
|
|
|
|
<sect1><heading>Some Questions and Answers</heading>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<itemize>
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I thought this was going to be a discussion about modems??!
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Ah. You must be thinking of the serial ports on the back of your
|
|
computer. We're using `port' here to mean the result of `porting' a
|
|
program from one version of Unix to another. (It's an unfortunate bad
|
|
habit of computer people to use the same word to refer to several
|
|
completely different things).
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I thought you were supposed to use packages to install extra
|
|
programs?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Yes, that's usually the quickest and easiest way of doing it.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. So why bother with ports then?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Several reasons:-
|
|
|
|
<enum>
|
|
<item> The licensing conditions on some software distributions
|
|
require that they be distributed as source code, not binaries.
|
|
|
|
<item> Some people don't trust binary distributions. At least with
|
|
source code you can (in theory) read through it and look for potential
|
|
problems yourself.
|
|
|
|
<item> If you've got some local patches, you'll need the source to add
|
|
them yourself.
|
|
|
|
<item> You might have opinions on how a program should be compiled
|
|
that differ from the person who did the package - some people have
|
|
strong views on what optimisation setting should be used, whether to
|
|
build debug versions and then strip them or not, etc. etc.
|
|
|
|
<item> Some people like having code around, so they can read it if
|
|
they get bored, hack around with it, borrow from it (licence terms
|
|
permitting, of course!) and so on.
|
|
|
|
<item> If you ain't got the source, it ain't software! ;-)
|
|
</enum>
|
|
|
|
<item><label id="ports:patch">
|
|
Q. What's a patch?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. A patch is a small (usually) file that specifies how to go from one
|
|
version of a file to another. It contains text that says, in effect,
|
|
things like ``delete line 23'', ``add these two lines after line 468''
|
|
or ``change line 197 to this''. Also known as a `diff', since it's
|
|
generated by a program of that name.
|
|
|
|
<item><label id="ports:tarball">
|
|
Q. What's all this about tarballs?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. It's a file ending in .tar.gz (with variations like .tar.Z, or
|
|
even .tgz if you're trying to squeeze the names into a DOS filesystem).
|
|
<p>
|
|
Basically, it's a directory tree that's been archived into a single
|
|
file (.tar) and then compressed (.gz). This technique was originally
|
|
used for <em /T/ape <em /AR/chives (hence the name `tar'), but it's a
|
|
widely used way of distributing program source code around the
|
|
Internet.
|
|
<p>
|
|
You can see what files are in them, or even extract them yourself, by
|
|
using the standard Unix tar program, which comes with the base FreeBSD
|
|
system, like this:-
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
tar tvzf foobar.tar.gz # View contents of foobar.tar.gz
|
|
tar xzvf foobar.tar.gz # Extract contents into the current directory
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
<item><label id="ports:checksum">
|
|
Q. And a checksum?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. It's a number generated by adding up all the data in the file you
|
|
want to check. If any of the characters change, the checksum will no
|
|
longer be equal to the total, so a simple comparison will allow you to
|
|
spot the difference. (In practice, it's done in a more complicated way
|
|
to spot problems like position-swapping, which won't show up with a
|
|
simplistic addition).
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I did what you said for <ref id="ports:cd" name="compiling ports
|
|
from a CDROM"> and it worked great until I tried to install the kermit
|
|
port:-
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# make install
|
|
>> cku190.tar.gz doesn't seem to exist on this system.
|
|
>> Attempting to fetch from ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit/archives/.
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
Why can't it find it? Have I got a dud CDROM?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. The licensing terms for kermit don't allow us to put the tarball
|
|
for it on the CDROM, so you'll have to fetch it by hand - sorry!
|
|
The reason why you got all those error messages was because you
|
|
weren't connected to the Internet at the time. Once you've downloaded
|
|
it from any of the sites above, you can re-start the process (try and
|
|
choose the nearest site to you, though, to save your time and the
|
|
Internet's bandwidth).
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I did that, but when I tried to put it into /usr/ports/distfiles I
|
|
got some error about not having permission.
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. The ports mechanism looks for the tarball in /usr/ports/distfiles,
|
|
but you won't be able to copy anything there because it's sym-linked
|
|
to the CDROM, which is read-only. You can tell it to look somewhere
|
|
else by doing
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
DISTDIR=/where/you/put/it make install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. Does the ports scheme only work if you have everything in
|
|
/usr/ports? My system administrator says I must put everything under
|
|
/u/people/guests/wurzburger, but it doesn't seem to work.
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. You can use the PORTSDIR and PREFIX variables to tell the ports
|
|
mechanism to use different directories. For instance,
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
PORTSDIR=/u/people/guests/wurzburger/ports make install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
will compile the port in /u/people/guests/wurzburger/ports and install
|
|
everything under /usr/local.
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
PREFIX=/u/people/guests/wurzburger/local make install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
will compile it in /usr/ports and install it in
|
|
/u/people/guests/wurzburger/local.
|
|
|
|
And of course
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
PORTSDIR=.../ports PREFIX=.../local make install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
will combine the two (it's too long to fit on the page if I write it
|
|
in full, but I'm sure you get the idea).
|
|
<p>
|
|
If you don't fancy typing all that in every time you install a port
|
|
(and to be honest, who would?), it's a good idea to put these variables
|
|
into your environment.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I don't have a FreeBSD CDROM, but I'd like to have all the tarballs
|
|
handy on my system so I don't have to wait for a download every time I
|
|
install a port. Is there an easy way to get them all at once?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. To get every single tarball for the ports collection, do
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# cd /usr/ports
|
|
# make fetch
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
For all the tarballs for a single ports directory, do
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# cd /usr/ports/directory
|
|
# make fetch
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
and for just one port - well, I think you've guessed already.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I want to know what files make is going to need before it tries to
|
|
pull them down.
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. 'make fetch-list' will display a list of the files needed for a port.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. Is there any way to stop the port from compiling? I want to do some
|
|
hacking on the source before I install it, but it's a bit tiresome having
|
|
to watch it and hit control-C every time.
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Doing 'make extract' will stop it after it has fetched and
|
|
extracted the source code.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I'm trying to make my own port and I want to be able to stop it
|
|
compiling until I've had a chance to see if my patches worked properly.
|
|
Is there something like 'make extract', but for patches?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Yep, 'make patch' is what you want. And by the way, thank you for
|
|
your efforts!
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I've heard that some compiler options can cause bugs. Is this true?
|
|
How can I make sure that I compile ports with the right settings?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Yes, with version 2.6.3 of gcc (the version shipped with FreeBSD
|
|
2.1.0 and 2.1.5), the -O2 option could result in buggy code unless you
|
|
used the -fno-strength-reduce option as well. (Most of the ports don't
|
|
use -O2). You <em /should/ be able to specify the compiler options
|
|
used by something like
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# CFLAGS='-O2 -fno-strength-reduce' make install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
or by editing /etc/make.conf, but this doesn't always seem to get
|
|
picked up. The surest way is to do 'make configure', then go into the
|
|
source directory and inspect the Makefiles by hand, but this can get
|
|
tedious if the source has lots of sub-directories, each with their own
|
|
Makefiles.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. There's so many ports it's hard to find the one I want. Is there a
|
|
list anywhere of what ports are available?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Look in the INDEX file in /usr/ports.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I went to install the 'foo' port but the system suddenly stopped
|
|
and starting compiling the 'bar' port. What's going on?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. The 'foo' port needs something that's supplied with 'bar' - for
|
|
instance, if 'foo' uses graphics, 'bar' might have a library with
|
|
useful graphics processing routines. Or 'bar' might be a tool that's
|
|
needed to compile the 'foo' port.
|
|
|
|
<item><label id="ports:remove">
|
|
Q. I installed the grizzle program from the ports and frankly it's a
|
|
complete waste of disk space. I want to delete it but I don't know
|
|
where it put all the files. Any clues?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. No problem, just do
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
pkg_delete grizzle-6.5
|
|
</verb>
|
|
<item>
|
|
|
|
Q. Hang on a minute, you have to know the version number to use that
|
|
command. You don't seriously expect me to remember that, do you??
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Not at all, you can find it out by doing
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
pkg_info -a | grep grizzle
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
And it'll tell you:-
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
Information for grizzle-6.5:
|
|
grizzle-6.5 - the combined piano tutorial, LOGO interpreter and shoot 'em up arcade game.
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. Nope, that's still too complicated.
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Do 'pkg_manage' to get a friendly front-end to the package manager.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. Talking of disk space, the ports directory seems to be taking up
|
|
an awful lot of room. Is it safe to go in there and delete things?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Yes, if you've installed the program and are fairly certain you
|
|
won't need the source again, there's no point in keeping it hanging
|
|
around. The best way to do this is
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# cd /usr/ports
|
|
# make clean
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
which will go through all the ports subdirectories and delete
|
|
everything except the skeletons for each port.
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I tried that and it still left all those tarballs or whatever you
|
|
called them in the distfiles directory. Can I delete those as well?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Yes, if you're sure you've finished with them, those can go as
|
|
well.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I like having lots and lots of programs to play with. Is there any
|
|
way of installing all the ports in one go?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Just do
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# cd /usr/ports
|
|
# make install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. OK, I tried that, but I thought it would take a very long time so I
|
|
went to bed and left it to get on with it. When I looked at the
|
|
computer this morning, it had only done three and a half ports. Did
|
|
something go wrong?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. No, the problem is that some of the ports need to ask you questions
|
|
that we can't answer for you (eg ``Do you want to print on A4 or US
|
|
letter sized paper?'') and they need to have someone on hand to answer
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. I really don't want to spend all day staring at the monitor. Any
|
|
better ideas?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. OK, do this before you go to bed/work/the local park:-
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# cd /usr/ports
|
|
# make -DBATCH install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
This will install every port that does <em /not/ require user
|
|
input. Then, when you come back, do
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# cd /usr/ports
|
|
# make -DIS_INTERACTIVE install
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
to finish the job.
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. At work, we're using frobble, which is in your ports collection,
|
|
but we've altered it quite a bit to get it to do what we need. Is
|
|
there any way of making our own packages, so we can distribute it more
|
|
easily around our sites?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. No problem, assuming you know how to make patches for your changes:-
|
|
|
|
<verb>
|
|
# cd /usr/ports/somewhere/frobble
|
|
# make extract
|
|
# cd work/frobble-2.8
|
|
[Apply your patches]
|
|
# cd ../..
|
|
# make package
|
|
</verb>
|
|
|
|
<item>
|
|
Q. This ports stuff is really clever. I'm desperate to find out how
|
|
you did it. What's the secret?
|
|
<p>
|
|
A. Nothing secret about it at all, just look at the bsd.ports.mk and
|
|
bsd.ports.subdir.mk files in your <htmlurl
|
|
url="file://localhost/usr/share/mk/" name="makefiles directory.">
|
|
(Note: readers with an aversion to intricate shell-scripts are advised
|
|
not to follow this link...)
|
|
</itemize>
|