Contributed by &a.jkh;, &a.gpalmer; and
&a.asami;.28 August 1996.
The porting of freely available software, while perhaps not as
gratifying as developing your own from scratch, is still a vital part
of FreeBSD's growth and of great usefulness to those who would not
otherwise know where to turn for it. All ported software is organized
into a carefully organized hierarchy know as ``the ports collection''.
The collection enables a new user to get a quick and complete overview
of what is available for FreeBSD in an easy-to-compile form. It also
saves considerable space by not actually containing the majority
of the sources being ported, but merely those differences required for
running under FreeBSD.
What follows are some guidelines for creating a new port for
FreeBSD 2.x. The bulk of the work is done by
/usr/share/mk/bsd.port.mk, which all port Makefiles include.
Please refer to that file for more details on the inner workings of
the ports collection.
Before Starting the Port
Note: Only a fraction of the overridable variables
(${..}) are mentioned in this document. Most
(if not all) are documented at the start of
bsd.port.mk. This file uses a non-standard tab
setting. Emacs should recognize the setting on
loading the file. vi or ex can be set to
using the correct value by typing `:set tabstop=4'
once the file has been loaded.
You may come across code that needs modifications or
conditional compilation based upon what version of UNIX it is
running under. If you need to make such changes to the code
for conditional compilation, make sure you make the changes as
general as possible so that we can back-port code to FreeBSD
1.x systems and cross-port to other BSD systems such as 4.4BSD
from CSRG, BSD/386, 386BSD and NetBSD.
The preferred way to tell 4.3BSD/Reno and newer versions of
the BSD code apart is by using the `BSD' macro
defined in <sys/param.h>. Hopefully that file
is already included; if not, add the code:
#ifdef (defined(__unix__) || defined(unix)) && !defined(USG)
#include
#endif
to the proper place in the .c file. We believe that every
system that defines these to symbols has sys/param.h. If you find
a system that doesn't, we would like to know. Please send mail to
.
Or you can use the GNU Autoconf style of doing this:
#ifdef HAVE_SYS_PARAM_H
#include
#endif
Don't forget to add -DHAVE_SYS_PARAM_H to the CFLAGS
in the Makefile for this method.
Once you have <sys/param.h> included, you may use:
#if (defined(BSD) && (BSD >= 199103))
to detect if the code is being compiled on a 4.3 Net2 code
base or newer (e.g. FreeBSD 1.x, 4.3/Reno, NetBSD 0.9, 386BSD,
BSD/386 1.1 and below).
Use:
#if (defined(BSD) && (BSD >= 199306))
to detect if the code is being compiled on a 4.4 code base or
newer (e.g. FreeBSD 2.x, 4.4, NetBSD 1.0, BSD/386 2.0 or
above).
The value of the BSD macro is 199506 for the 4.4BSD-Lite2 code
base. This is stated for informational purposes only. It should
not be used to distinguish between version of FreeBSD based only
on 4.4-Lite vs. versions that have merged in changes from 4.4-Lite2.
The __FreeBSD__ macro should be used instead.
Use sparingly:
__FreeBSD__ is defined in all versions of
FreeBSD. Use it if the change you are making ONLY affects
FreeBSD. Porting gotchas like the use of
sys_errlist[] vs strerror() are
Berkeleyisms, not FreeBSD changes.
In FreeBSD 2.x, __FreeBSD__ is defined to be
2. In earlier versions, it is 1.
If you need to tell the difference between a FreeBSD 1.x
system and a FreeBSD 2.x system, usually the right answer is
to use the BSD macros described above. If there
actually is a FreeBSD specific change (such as special
shared library options when using `ld') then it is
OK to use __FreeBSD__ and `#if __FreeBSD__ >
1' to detect a FreeBSD 2.x system.
If you need more granularity in detecting FreeBSD systems since
2.0-RELEASE you can use the following:
#if __FreeBSD__ >= 2
#include
# if __FreeBSD_version >= 199504
/* 2.0.5+ release specific code here */
# endif
#endif
__FreeBSD_version values:
2.0-RELEASE: 199411
2.1-current's: 199501, 199503
2.0.5-RELEASE: 199504
2.2-current before 2.1: 199508
2.1.0-RELEASE: 199511
2.2-current before 2.1.5: 199512
2.1.5-RELEASE: 199607
2.2-current before 2.1.6: 199608
2.1.6-RELEASE: 199612
2.1.7-RELEASE: 199612
2.2-RELEASE: 220000
2.2.1-RELEASE: 220000 (yes, no change)
2.2-STABLE after 2.2.1-RELEASE: 220000 (yes, still no change)
2.2-STABLE after texinfo-3.9: 221001
2.2-STABLE after top: 221002
2.2.2-RELEASE: 222000
3.0-current as of May 1997: 300000
The pattern used to be year followed by the month, but we
decided to change it to a more straightforward major/minor
system starting from 2.2. This is because the parallel
development on several branches made it infeasible to
classify the releases simply by their real release dates.
(Note that if you are making a port now, you don't have to
worry about old -current's; they are listed here just for
your reference.)
In the hundreds of ports that have been done, there have
only been one or two cases where __FreeBSD__
should have been used. Just because an earlier port
screwed up and used it in the wrong place does not mean
you should do so too.
Quick Porting
This section tells you how to do a quick port. In many
cases, it is not enough, but we will see.
First, get the original tarball and put it into
${DISTDIR}, which defaults to
/usr/ports/distfiles.
Note: The following assumes that the software compiled
out-of-the-box, i.e., there was absolutely no change required
for the port to work on your FreeBSD box. If you needed to
change something, you will have to refer to the next section
too.
Writing the Makefile
The minimal Makefile would look something like this:
# New ports collection makefile for: oneko
# Version required: 1.1b
# Date created: 5 December 1994
# Whom: asami
#
# $Id$
#
DISTNAME= oneko-1.1b
CATEGORIES= games
MASTER_SITES= ftp://ftp.cs.columbia.edu/archives/X11R5/contrib/
MAINTAINER= asami@FreeBSD.ORG
USE_IMAKE= yes
.include
See if you can figure it out. Do not worry about the contents
of the $Id$ line, it will be filled in
automatically by CVS when the port is imported to our main
ports tree. You can find a more detailed example in the section.
Writing the description files
There are three required description files that are
required for any port, whether they actually package or not.
They are COMMENT, DESCR, and
PLIST, and reside in the pkg subdirectory.
COMMENT
This is the one-line description of the port. PLEASE
do not include the package name (or version number of the
software) in the comment.
Here is an example:
A cat chasing a mouse all over the screen.
DESCR
This is a longer description of the port. One to a few
paragraphs concisely explaining what the port does is
sufficient. Note: This is not a manual nor an
in-depth description on how to use or compile the port.
In particular, please do not just copy the README
file here, unless, of course, it is a concise description
of the port.
It is recommended that you sign the name at the end of
this file, as in:
This is a port of oneko, in which a cat chases a poor mouse all over
the screen.
:
(etc.)
- Satoshi
asami@cs.berkeley.edu
PLIST
This file lists all the files installed by the port. It
is also called the `packing list' because the package is
generated by packing the files listed here. The pathnames
are relative to the installation prefix (usually
/usr/local or /usr/X11R6).
Here is a small example:
bin/oneko
man/man1/oneko.1.gz
lib/X11/app-defaults/Oneko
lib/X11/oneko/cat1.xpm
lib/X11/oneko/cat2.xpm
lib/X11/oneko/mouse.xpm
Refer to the pkg_create(1) man page for details
on the packing list.
Creating the checksum file
Just type `make makesum'. The ports make rules
will automatically generate the file files/md5.
Testing the port
You should make sure that the port rules do exactly what
you want it to do, including packaging up the port. Try
doing `make install', `make package' and
then `pkg_delete -d <pkgname>' and see if all
the files are correctly deleted. Then do a `pkg_add
<pkgname>.tgz' and see if everything re-appears
and works correctly.
Submitting the port
Now that you are happy with your port, the only thing
remaining is to put it in the main FreeBSD ports tree and
make everybody else happy about it too. To accomplish this,
pack the necessary files (everything described in this
section -- in particular do not include the
original source tarball, the `work' subdirectory or
the package) into a .tar.gz file, stick it in the
directory
ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/incoming/
and send mail to us using send-pr(1) (please
classify it as category `ports' and class `change-request').
We will take a look, get back to you if necessary, and put
it in the tree. Your name will also appear in the list of
`Additional FreeBSD contributors' on the FreeBSD Handbook
and other files. Isn't that great?!? :)Slow Porting
Ok, so it was not that simple, and the port required some
modifications to get it to work. In this section, we will
explain, step by step, how to modify it to get it to work with
the ports paradigm.
How things work
First, this is the sequence of events which occurs when the
user first types `make' in your port's directory,
and you may find that having bsd.port.mk in another
window while you read this really helps to understand it.
But do not worry if you do not really understand what
bsd.port.mk is doing, not many people
do... :>The fetch target is run. The fetch target is
responsible for making sure that the tarball exists
locally in ${DISTDIR}. If fetch cannot
find the required files in ${DISTDIR} it
will look up the URL ${MASTER_SITES},
which is set in the Makefile, as well as our main ftp
site at
where we put sanctioned distfiles as backup. It will then
attempt to
fetch the named distribution file with
${FETCH}, assuming that the requesting
site has direct access to the Internet. If that succeeds,
it will save the file in ${DISTDIR} for
future use and proceed.
The extract target is run. It looks for your ports'
distribution file in ${DISTDIR} (typically
a gzip'd tarball) and unpacks it into a temporary
subdirectory specified by ${WRKDIR}
(defaults to work).
The patch target is run. First, any patches defined
in ${PATCHFILES} are applied. Second, if
any patches are found in ${PATCHDIR}
(defaults to the patches subdirectory), they are
applied at this time in alphabetical order.
The configure target is run. This can do any one of
many different things.
If it exists, scripts/configure is run.
If ${HAS_CONFIGURE} or
${GNU_CONFIGURE} is set,
${WRKSRC}/configure is run.
If ${USE_IMAKE} is set,
${XMKMF} (default: `xmkmf
-a') is run.
The build target is run. This is responsible for
descending into the ports' private working directory
(${WRKSRC}) and building it. If
${USE_GMAKE} is set, GNU make
will be used, otherwise the system make will be
used.
The above are the default actions. In addition, you can
define targets `pre-<something>' or
`post-<something>', or put scripts with those
names, in the scripts subdirectory, and they will
be run before or after the default actions are done.
For example, if you have a post-extract target
defined in your Makefile, and a file pre-build in
the scripts subdirectory, the
post-extract target will be called after the
regular extraction actions, and the pre-build
script will be executed before the default build rules are
done. It is recommended that you use Makefile targets if
the actions are simple enough, because it will be easier for
someone to figure out what kind of non-default action the
port requires.
The default actions are done by the bsd.port.mk
targets `do-<something>'. For example, the
commands to extract a port are in the target
`do-extract'. If you are not happy with the
default target, you can fix it by redefining the
`do-<something>' target in your Makefile.
Note that the `main' targets (e.g., extract,
configure, etc.) do nothing more than make sure all
the stages up to that one is completed and call the real
targets or scripts, and they are not intended to be
changed. If you want to fix the extraction, fix
do-extract, but never ever touch extract!
Now that you understand what goes on when the user types
`make', let us go through the recommended steps to
create the perfect port.
Getting the original sources
Get the original sources (normally) as a compressed tarball
(<foo>.tar.gz or <foo>.tar.Z)
and copy it into ${DISTDIR}. Always use
mainstream sources when and where you can.
If you cannot find a ftp/http site that is well-connected
to the net, or can only find sites that have irritatingly
non-standard formats, we can `house' it ourselves by putting
it on
ftp://freefall.FreeBSD.ORG/pub/FreeBSD/LOCAL_PORTS/
as the last resort. Send mail to the &a.ports
if you are not sure what to do.
If your port requires some additional `patches' that are
available on the Internet, fetch them too and put them in
${DISTDIR}. Do not worry if they come from
site other than where you got the main source tarball,
we have a way to handle these situations (see the
description of below).
Modifying the port
Unpack a copy of the tarball in a private directory and
make whatever changes are necessary to get the port to
compile properly under the current version of FreeBSD. Keep
careful track of everything you do, as you will be
automating the process shortly. Everything, including the
deletion, addition or modification of files should be doable
using an automated script or patch file when your port is
finished.
If your port requires significant user
interaction/customization to compile or install, you should
take a look at one of Larry Wall's classic Configure scripts
and perhaps do something similar yourself. The goal of the
new ports collection is to make each port as `plug-and-play'
as possible for the end-user while using a minimum of disk
space.
Note: Unless explicitly stated, patch files, scripts, and
other files you have created and contributed to the FreeBSD
ports collection are assumed to be covered by the standard
BSD copyright conditions.
Patching
In the preparation of the port, files that have been added
or changed can be picked up with a recursive diff for later
feeding to patch. Each set of patches you wish to apply
should be collected into a file named
`patch-<xx>' where <xx>
denotes the sequence in which the patches will be applied --
these are done in alphabetical order, thus
`aa' first, `ab' second and so on. These
files should be stored in ${PATCHDIR}, from
where they will be automatically applied. All patches
should be relative to ${WRKSRC} (generally
the directory your port's tarball unpacks itself into, that
being where the make is done). To make fixes and upgrades
easier you should avoid having more than one patch fix the
same file (e.g., patch-aa and patch-ab both changing
${WRKSRC}/foobar.c).
Configuring
Include any additional customization commands to your
configure script and save it in the
`scripts' subdirectory. As mentioned above, you
can also do this as Makefile targets and/or scripts with the
name pre-configure or post-configure.
Handling user input
If your port requires user input to build, configure or
install, then set IS_INTERACTIVE in your Makefile.
This will allow `overnight builds' to skip your port if the
user sets the variable BATCH in his environment
(and if the user sets the variable INTERACTIVE,
then only those ports requiring interaction are
built).
Configuring the Makefile
Configuring the Makefile is pretty simple, and again we
suggest that you look at existing examples before starting.
Also, there is a in this handbook, so take a look and please follow
the ordering of variables and sections in that template to
make your port easier for others to read.
Now, consider the following problems in sequence as you
design your new Makefile:
The original source
Does it live in ${DISTDIR} as a standard
gzip'd tarball? If so, you can go on to the next step. If
not, you should look at overriding any of the
${EXTRACT_CMD},
${EXTRACT_BEFORE_ARGS},
${EXTRACT_AFTER_ARGS},
${EXTRACT_SUFX}, or
${DISTFILES} variables, depending on how
alien a format your port's distribution file is. (The most
common case is `EXTRACT_SUFX=.tar.Z', when the
tarball is condensed by regular compress, not gzip.)
In the worst case, you can simply create your own
`do-extract' target to override the default, though
this should be rarely, if ever, necessary.
DISTNAME
You should set ${DISTNAME} to be the base
name of your port. The default rules expect the
distribution file list (${DISTFILES}) to be
named
${DISTNAME}${EXTRACT_SUFX}
by default which, if it is a normal tarball, is going to be
something like:
foozolix-1.0.tar.gz
for a setting of `DISTNAME=foozolix-1.0'.
The default rules also expect the tarball(s) to extract into
a subdirectory called work/${DISTNAME}, e.g.
work/foozolix-1.0/
All this behavior can be overridden, of course, it simply
represents the most common time-saving defaults. For a port
requiring multiple distribution files, simply set
${DISTFILES} explicitly. If only a subset
of ${DISTFILES} are actual extractable
archives, then set them up in
${EXTRACT_ONLY}, which will override the
${DISTFILES} list when it comes to
extraction, and the rest will be just left in
${DISTDIR} for later use.
CATEGORIES
When a package is created, it is put under
/usr/ports/packages/All and links are made from one
or more subdirectories of /usr/ports/packages. The
names of these subdirectories are specified by the variable
${CATEGORIES}. It is intended to make life
easier for the user when he is wading through the pile of
packages on the ftp site or the CD-ROM. Please take a look
at the existing categories (you can find them in ) and pick the ones that are suitable for your port.
If your port truly belongs to something that is different
from all the existing ones, you can even create a new
category name.
MASTER_SITES
Record the directory part of the ftp/http-URL pointing at
the original tarball in ${MASTER_SITES}.
Do not forget the trailing slash (/)!
The make macros will try to use this specification for
grabbing the distribution file with ${FETCH}
if they cannot find it already on the system.
It is recommended that you put multiple sites on this list,
preferably from different continents. This will safeguard
against wide-area network problems, and we are even planning
to add support for automatically determining the closest
master site and fetching from there!
If the original tarball is part of one of the following
popular archives: X-contrib, GNU, Perl CPAN, TeX CTAN, or
Linux Sunsite, you refer to those sites in an easy compact
form using MASTER_SITE_XCONTRIB, MASTER_SITE_GNU,
MASTER_SITE_PERL_CPAN, MASTER_SITE_TEX_CTAN, and
MASTER_SITE_SUNSITE. Simply set MASTER_SITE_SUBDIR to the path
with in the archive. Here is an example:
MASTER_SITES= ${MASTER_SITE_XCONTRIB}
MASTER_SITE_SUBDIR= applications
The user can also set the MASTER_SITE_* variables in
/etc/make.conf to override our choices, and use their
favorite mirrors of these popular archives instead.
PATCHFILES
If your port requires some additional patches that are
available by ftp or http, set ${PATCHFILES}
to the names of the files and ${PATCH_SITES}
to the URL of the directory that contains them (the format
is the same as ${MASTER_SITES}).
If the patch is not relative to the top of the source tree
(i.e., ${WKRSRC}) because it contains some
extra pathnames, set ${PATCH_DIST_STRIP}
accordingly. For instance, if all the pathnames in the
patch has an extra `foozolix-1.0/' in front of the
filenames, then set `PATCH_DIST_STRIP=-p1'.
Do not worry if the patches are compressed, they will be
decompressed automatically if the filenames end with
`.gz' or `.Z'.
If the patch is distributed with some other files, such as
documentation, in a gzip'd tarball, you can't just use
${PATCHFILES}. If that is the case, add the
name and the location of the patch tarball to
${DISTFILES} and
${MASTER_SITES}. Then, from the
pre-patch target, apply the patch either by running
the patch command from there, or copying the patch file into
the ${PATCHDIR} directory and calling it
patch-<xx>. (Note the tarball will have been
extracted alongside the regular source by then, so there is
no need to explicitly extract it if it is a regular gzip'd
or compress'd tarball.) If you do the latter, take extra
care not to overwrite something that already exists in that
directory. Also do not forget to add a command to remove
the copied patch in the pre-clean target.
MAINTAINER
Set your mail-address here. Please. :)
For detailed description of the responsibility of maintainers,
refer to section.
Dependencies
Many ports depend on other ports. There are five
variables that you can use to ensure that all the required
bits will be on the user's machine.
LIB_DEPENDS
This variable specifies the shared libraries this port
depends on. It is a list of `lib:dir' pairs
where lib is the name of the shared library, and
dir is the directory in which to find it in case
it is not available. For example,
LIB_DEPENDS= jpeg\\.6\\.:${PORTSDIR}/graphics/jpeg
will check for a shared jpeg library with major version 6,
and descend into the graphics/jpeg subdirectory
of your ports tree to build and install it if it is not
found.
Note that the lib part is just an argument given
to `ldconfig -r | grep', so periods should be
escaped by two backslashes like in the example above.
The dependency is checked from within the extract
target. Also, the name of the dependency is put in to the
package so that pkg_add will automatically
install it if it is not on the user's system.
RUN_DEPENDS
This variable specifies executables or files this port
depends on during run-time. It is a list of
`path:dir' pairs where path is the name
of the executable or file, and dir is the
directory in which to find it in case it is not
available. If path starts with a slash
(/), it is treated as a file and its existence is
tested with `test -e'; otherwise, it is assumed
to be an executable, and `which -s' is used to
determine if the program exists in the user's search path.
For example,
RUN_DEPENDS= ${PREFIX}/etc/innd:${PORTSDIR}/news/inn \
wish:${PORTSDIR}/x11/tk
will check if the file `/usr/local/etc/innd'
exists, and build and install it from the
news/inn subdirectory of the ports tree if it is
not found. It will also see if an executable called
`wish' is in your search path, and descend into
the x11/tk subdirectory of your ports tree to
build and install it if it is not found. (Note that in
this case, `innd' is actually an executable; if
an executable is in a place that is not expected to be in
a normal user's search path, you should use the full
pathname.)
The dependency is checked from within the install
target. Also, the name of the dependency is put in to the
package so that pkg_add will automatically
install it if it is not on the user's system.
BUILD_DEPENDS
This variable specifies executables or files this port
requires to build. Like RUN_DEPENDS, it is a
list of `path:dir' pairs. For example,
BUILD_DEPENDS= unzip:${PORTSDIR}/archivers/unzip
will check for an executable called `unzip', and
descend into the archivers/unzip subdirectory of
your ports tree to build and install it if it is not found.
Note that `build' here means everything from extracting to
compilation. The dependency is checked from within the
extract target.
FETCH_DEPENDS
This variable specifies executables or files this port
requires to fetch. Like the previous two, it is a list of
`path:dir' pairs. For example,
FETCH_DEPENDS= ncftp2:${PORTSDIR}/net/ncftp2
will check for an executable called `ncftp2', and
descend into the net/ncftp2 subdirectory of
your ports tree to build and install it if it is not found.
The dependency is checked from within the fetch
target.
DEPENDS
If there is a dependency that does not fall into either of
the above four categories, or your port requires to have
the source of the other port extracted (i.e., having them
installed is not enough), then use this variable. This is
just a list of directories, as there is nothing to check,
unlike the previous four.
Building mechanisms
If your package uses GNU make, set
`USE_GMAKE=yes'. If your package uses GNU
configure, set `GNU_CONFIGURE=yes'. If
you want to give some extra arguments to GNU
configure (other than the default
`--prefix=${PREFIX}'),
set those extra arguments in
${CONFIGURE_ARGS}.
If your package is an X application that creates Makefiles
from Imakefiles using imake, then set
`USE_IMAKE=yes'. This will cause the configure
stage to automatically do an xmkmf -a. If the
`-a' flag is a problem for your port, set
`XMKMF=xmkmf'.
If your port's source Makefile has something else than
`all' as the main build target, set
${ALL_TARGET} accordingly. Same goes for
`install' and ${INSTALL_TARGET}.
NO_INSTALL_MANPAGES
If the port uses imake but does not understand the
`install.man' target,
`NO_INSTALL_MANPAGES=yes' should be set. In
addition, the author of the original port should be
shot. :>Ports that require Motif
There are many programs that require a Motif library
(available from several commercial vendors, while there is (at
least) one effort to create a free clone) to compile. Since
it is a popular toolkit and their licenses usually permit
redistribution of statically linked binaries, we have made
special provisions for handling ports that require Motif in a
way that we can easily compile binaries linked either
dynamically or statically.
REQUIRES_MOTIF
If your port requires Motif, define this variable in the
Makefile. This will prevent people who don't own a copy of
Motif from even attempting to build it.
${MOTIFLIB}
This variable will be set by bsd.port.mk to be the
appropriate reference to the Motif library. Please patch
the source to use this wherever the Motif library is
referenced in the Makefile or Imakefile.
There are two common cases:
If the port refers to the Motif library as
`-lXm' in its Makefile or Imakefile, simply
substitute `${MOTIFLIB}' for it.
If the port uses `XmClientLibs' in its
Imakefile, change it to `${MOTIFLIB}
${XTOOLLIB} ${XLIB}'.
Note that ${MOTIFLIB} (usually) expands to
`-L/usr/X11R6/lib -lXm' or
`/usr/X11R6/lib/libXm.a', so there is no need to
add `-L' or `-l' in front.
Licensing Problems
Some software packages have restrictive licenses or are in
violation to the law (PKP's patent on public key crypto,
ITAR (export of crypto software) to name just two of them).
What we can do with them vary a lot, depending on the exact
wordings of the respective licenses.
Note that it is your responsibility as a porter to read the
licensing terms of the software and make sure that the FreeBSD
project will not be held accountable of violating them by
redistributing the source or compiled binaries either via ftp
or CD-ROM. If in doubt, please contact the &a.ports;.
There are two variables you can set in the Makefile to handle
the situations that arise frequently:
If the port has a `do not sell for profit' type of
license, set the variable NO_CDROM. We will make
sure such ports won't go into the CD-ROM come release time.
The distfile and package will still be available via ftp.
If the resulting package needs to be built uniquely for
each site, or the resulting binary package can't be distributed
due to licensing; set the variable NO_PACKAGE.
We will make sure such packages won't go on the ftp site, nor
into the CD-ROM come release time. The distfile will still be
included on both however.
If the port has legal restrictions on who can use it
(e.g., crypto stuff) or has a `no commercial use' license,
set the variable RESTRICTED to be the string
describing the reason why. For such ports, the
distfiles/packages will not be available even from our ftp
sites.
Note: The GNU General Public License (GPL), both version 1
and 2, should not be a problem for ports.
Note: If you are a committer, make sure you update the
ports/LEGAL file too.
Upgrading
When you notice that a port is out of date compared to the
latest version from the original authors, first make sure you
have the latest port. You can find them in the
ports-current directory of the ftp mirror sites.
The next step is to send a mail to the maintainer, if one is
listed in the port's Makefile. That person may already be
working on an upgrade, or have a reason to not upgrade the
port right now (because of, for example, stability problems
of the new version).
If the maintainer asks you to do the upgrade or there isn't
any such person to begin with, please make the upgrade and
send the recursive diff of the new and old ports directories
to us (i.e., if your modified ports directory is called
`superedit' and the original as in our tree is
`superedit.bak', then send us the result of `diff
-ru superedit.bak superedit'). Please examine the output
to make sure all the changes make sense. The best way to send
us the diff is by including it to send-pr(1). Please
mention any added or deleted files in the message, as they
have to be explicitly specified to CVS when doing a commit.
Do's and Dont's
Here is a list of common do's and dont's that you encounter
during the porting process.
WRKDIR
Do not leave anything valuable lying around in the
work subdirectory, `make clean' will
nuke it completely! If you need auxiliary files
that are not scripts or patches, put them in the subdirectory
files and use the post-extract target to
copy them to the work subdirectory.
Package information
Do install package information, i.e., the three files in
pkg. Note that these files are not used only for
packaging anymore, and are mandatory now, even if
${NO_PACKAGE} is set.
Compress manpages, strip binaries
Do compress manpages and strip binaries. If the original
source already strips the binary, fine; otherwise, you can add a
post-install rule to do it yourself. Here is an example:
post-install:
strip ${PREFIX}/bin/xdl
Use the file command on the installed executable
to check whether the binary is stripped or not. If it
does not say `not stripped', it is stripped.
To automagically compress the manpages, use the MAN[1-9LN]
variables. They will check the variable
NOMANCOMPRESS that the user can set in
/etc/make.conf to disable man page compression.
Place them last in the section below the
MAINTAINER variable. Here is an example:
MAN1= foo.1 bar.1
MAN5= foo.conf.5
MAN8= baz.8
Note that this is not usually necessary with ports that are X
applications and use Imake to build.
If your port anchors its man tree somewhere other than
PREFIX, you can use the MANPREFIX to set it.
Also, if only manpages in certain section go in a
non-standard place, such as many Perl modules ports, you
can set individual man paths using
MANsectPREFIX (where sect is one
of 1-9, L or N).
INSTALL_* macros
Do use the macros provided in bsd.port.mk to
ensure correct modes and ownership of files in your own
*-install targets. They are:
${INSTALL_PROGRAM} is a command to install
binary executables.
${INSTALL_SCRIPT} is a command to install
executable scripts.
${INSTALL_DATA} is a command to install
sharable data.
${INSTALL_MAN} is a command to install
manpages (it doesn't do compression).
These are basically the install command with all
the appropriate flags. See below for an example on how to
use them.
INSTALL package script
If your port needs execute commands when the binary package
is installed with pkg_add you can do with via the pkg/INSTALL
script. This script will automatically be added to the
package, and will be run twice by pkg_add. The first time
will as `INSTALL ${PKGNAME} PRE-INSTALL'
and the second time as `INSTALL ${PKGNAME} POST-INSTALL'.
`$2' can be tested to determine which mode
the script is being run in.
The `PKG_PREFIX' environmental variable will be set to
the package installation directory. See man pkg_add(1)
for additional information.
Note, that this script is not run automatically if you install
the port with `make install'. If you are depending
on it being run, you will have to explicitly call it on your
port's Makefile.
REQ package script
If your needs to determine if it should install or not, you
can create a pkg/REQ ``requirements'' script. It will be invoked
automatically at installation/deinstallation time to determine
whether or not installation/deinstallation should proceed.
See man pkg_create(1) and man pkg_add(1) for
more information.
Install additional documentation
If your software has some documentation other than the
standard man and info pages that you think is useful for the
user, install it under ${PREFIX}/share/doc.
This can be done, like the previous item, in the
post-install target.
Create a new directory for your port. The directory name
should reflect what the port is. This usually means
${PKGNAME} minus the version part. However,
if you think the user might want different versions of the
port to be installed at the same time, you
can use the whole ${PKGNAME}.
Make the installation dependent to the variable
NOPORTDOCS so that users can disable it in
/etc/make.conf, like this:
post-install:
.if !defined(NOPORTDOCS)
${MKDIR} ${PREFIX}/share/doc/xv
${INSTALL_DATA} ${WRKSRC}/docs/xvdocs.ps ${PREFIX}/share/doc/xv
.endif
Do not forget to add them to pkg/PLIST too! (Do not
worry about NOPORTDOCS here; there is currently no
way for the packages to read variables from
/etc/make.conf.)
If you need to display a message to the installer, you may
place the message in pkg/MESSAGE. This capibility
is often useful to display additional installation steps to
be taken after a pkg_add, or to display licensing information.
(note: the MESSAGE file does not need to be added to pkg/PLIST).
DIST_SUBDIR
Do not let your port clutter /usr/ports/distfiles. If
your port requires a lot of files to be
fetched, or contains a file that has a name that might conflict
with other ports (e.g., `Makefile'), set
${DIST_SUBDIR} to the name of the port
(${PKGNAME} without the version part should work
fine). This will change ${DISTDIR} from the
default /usr/ports/distfiles to
/usr/ports/distfiles/${DIST_SUBDIR}, and in
effect puts everything that is required for your port into that
subdirectory.
It will also look at the subdirectory with the same name on the
backup master site at ftp.freebsd.org. (Setting
${DISTDIR} explicitly in your Makefile will not
accomplish this, so please use ${DIST_SUBDIR}.)
Note this does not affect the ${MASTER_SITES}
you define in your Makefile.
Feedback
Do send applicable changes/patches to the original
author/maintainer for inclusion in next release of the code.
This will only make your job that much easier for the next
release.
RCS strings
Do not put RCS strings in patches. CVS will mangle them
when we put the files into the ports tree, and when we check
them out again, they will come out different and the patch
will fail. RCS strings are surrounded by dollar
(`$') signs, and typically start with
`$Id' or `$RCS'.
Recursive diff
Using the recurse (`-r') option to diff
to generate patches is fine, but please take a look at the
resulting patches to make sure you don't have any
unnecessary junk in there. In particular, diffs between two
backup files, Makefiles when the port uses imake or GNU
configure, etc., are unnecessary and should be deleted.
Also, if you had to delete a file, then you can do it in the
post-extract target rather than as part of the
patch.
PREFIX
Do try to make your port install relative to
${PREFIX}. (The value of this variable will be
set to ${LOCALBASE} (default
/usr/local), unless ${USE_IMAKE} or
${USE_X11} is set, in which case it will be
${X11BASE} (default /usr/X11R6).)
Not hard-coding `/usr/local' or `/usr/X11R6'
anywhere in the source will make the port much more flexible and
able to cater to the needs of other sites. For X ports that use
imake, this is automatic; otherwise, this can often be done by
simply replacing the occurrences of `/usr/local' (or
`/usr/X11R6' for X ports that do not use imake) in the
various scripts/Makefiles in the port to read
`${PREFIX}', as this variable is automatically
passed down to every stage of the build and install processes.
The variable ${PREFIX} can be reassigned in your
Makefile or in the user's environment. However, it is strongly
discouraged for individual ports to set this variable explicitly
in the Makefiles. (If your port is an X port but does not use
imake, set USE_X11=yes; this is quite different from
setting PREFIX=/usr/X11R6.)
Also, refer to programs/files from other ports with the
variables mentioned above, not explicit pathnames. For instance,
if your port requires a macro PAGER to be the full
pathname of less, use the compiler flag:
-DPAGER=\"${PREFIX}/bin/less\" or
-DPAGER=\"${LOCALBASE}/bin/less\" if this is an
X port, instead of -DPAGER=\"/usr/local/bin/less\".
This way it will have a better chance of working if the system
administrator has moved the whole `/usr/local' tree somewhere
else.
Subdirectories
Try to let the port put things in the right subdirectories
of ${PREFIX}. Some ports lump everything
and put it in the subdirectory with the port's name, which is
incorrect. Also, many ports put everything except binaries,
header files and manual pages in the a subdirectory of
`lib', which does not bode well with the BSD
paradigm. Many of the files should me moved to one of the
following: `etc' (setup/configuration files),
`libexec' (executables started internally),
`sbin' (executables for superusers/managers),
`info' (documentation for info browser) or
`share' (architecture independent files). See man
hier(7) for details, the rule governing
/usr pretty much applies to /usr/local
too.
ldconfig
If your port installs a shared library, add a
post-install target to your Makefile that runs
`/sbin/ldconfig -m' on the directory where the new
library is installed (usually ${PREFIX}/lib)
to register it into the shared library cache.
Also, add an @exec line to your pkg/PLIST
file so that a user who installed the package can start
using the shared library immediately. This line should
immediately follow the line for the shared library itself,
as in:
lib/libtcl.so.7.3
@exec /sbin/ldconfig -m %D/lib
Never, ever, ever add a line that says
`ldconfig' without any arguments to your Makefile
or pkg/PLIST. This will reset the shared library cache to
the contents of /usr/lib only, and will royally
screw up the user's machine ("Help, xinit does not run
anymore after I install this port!"). Anybody who does this
will be shot and cut into 65,536 pieces by a rusty knife and
have his liver chopped out by a bunch of crows and will
eternally rot to death in the deepest bowels of hell (not
necessarily in that order)....
If you are stuck....
Do look at existing examples and the bsd.port.mk
file before asking us questions! ;)
Do ask us questions if you have any trouble! Do not just
beat your head against a wall! :)A Sample Makefile
Here is a sample Makefile that you can use to create a new
port. Make sure you remove all the extra comments (ones
between brackets)!
It is recommended that you follow this format (ordering of
variables, empty lines between sections, etc.). Not all of
the existing Makefiles are in this format (mostly old ones),
but we are trying to uniformize how they look. This format is
designed so that the most important information is easy to
locate.
[the header...just to make it easier for us to identify the ports]
# New ports collection makefile for: xdvi
# Version required: pl18 [things like "1.5alpha" are fine here too]
# Date created: 26 May 1995
[this is the person who did the original port to FreeBSD, in particular, the
person who wrote this Makefile]
# Whom: Satoshi Asami
#
# $Id$
[ ^^^^ This will be automatically replaced with RCS ID string by CVS
when it is committed to our repository.]
#
[section to describe the port itself and the master site - DISTNAME
is always first, followed by PKGNAME (if necessary), CATEGORIES,
and then MASTER_SITES, which can be followed by MASTER_SITE_SUBDIR.
After those, one of EXTRACT_SUFX or DISTFILES can be specified too.]
DISTNAME= xdvi
PKGNAME= xdvi-pl18
CATEGORIES= print
[do not forget the trailing slash ("/")!]
MASTER_SITES= ${MASTER_SITE_XCONTRIB}
MASTER_SITE_SUBDIR= applications
[set this if the source is not in the standard ".tar.gz" form]
EXTRACT_SUFX= .tar.Z
[section for distributed patches -- can be empty]
PATCH_SITES= ftp://ftp.sra.co.jp/pub/X11/japanese/
PATCHFILES= xdvi-18.patch1.gz xdvi-18.patch2.gz
[maintainer; *mandatory*! This is the person (preferably with commit
privileges) who a user can contact for questions and bug reports - this
person should be the porter or someone who can forward questions to the
original porter reasonably promptly. If you really do not want to have your
address here, set it to "ports@FreeBSD.ORG".]
MAINTAINER= asami@FreeBSD.ORG
[dependencies -- can be empty]
RUN_DEPENDS= gs:${PORTSDIR}/print/ghostscript
LIB_DEPENDS= Xpm\\.4\\.:${PORTSDIR}/graphics/xpm
[this section is for other standard bsd.port.mk variables that do not belong
to any of the above]
[If it asks questions during configure, build, install...]
IS_INTERACTIVE= yes
[If it extracts to a directory other than ${DISTNAME}...]
WRKSRC= ${WRKDIR}/xdvi-new
[If the distributed patches were not made relative to ${WRKSRC}, you may need
to tweak this]
PATCH_DIST_STRIP= -p1
[If it requires a "configure" script generated by GNU autoconf to be run...]
GNU_CONFIGURE= yes
[If it requires GNU make, not /usr/bin/make, to build...]
USE_GMAKE= yes
[If it is an X application and requires "xmkmf -a" to be run...]
USE_IMAKE= yes
[et cetera.]
[non-standard variables to be used in the rules below]
MY_FAVORITE_RESPONSE= "yeah, right"
[then the special rules, in the order they are called]
pre-fetch:
i go fetch something, yeah
post-patch:
i need to do something after patch, great
pre-install:
and then some more stuff before installing, wow
[and then the epilogue]
.include Package Names
The following are the conventions you should follow in
naming your packages. This is to have our package directory
easy to scan, as there are already lots and lots of packages
and users are going to turn away if they hurt their eyes!
The package name should look like
[-][[-]]-;
If your ${DISTNAME} doesn't look like that,
set ${PKGNAME} to something in that format.
FreeBSD strives to support the native language of its
users. The `<language>' part should be a two letter
abbreviation of the natural language if the port is specific
to a certain language. Examples are `jp' for Japanese and
`ru' for Russian.
The `<name>' part should be all
lowercases, except for a really large package (with lots of
programs in it). Things like XFree86 (yes there really is a
package of it, check it out) and ImageMagick fall into this
category. Otherwise, convert the name (or at least the
first letter) to lowercase. If the software in question
really is called that way, you can have numbers, hyphens and
underscores in the name too (like `kinput2').
If the port can be built with different hardcoded
defaults (usually specified as environment variables or on
the make command line), the
`<compiled.specifics>' part should state the
compiled-in defaults (the hyphen is optional). Examples are
papersize and font units.
The version string should be a period-separated list of
integers and single lowercase alphabets. The only exception
is the string `pl' (meaning `patchlevel'), which can be used
only when there are no major and minor version
numbers in the software.
Here are some (real) examples on how to convert a
${DISTNAME} into a suitable
${PKGNAME}:
DISTNAME PKGNAME Reason
mule-2.2.2 mule-2.2.2 no prob at all
XFree86-3.1.2 XFree86-3.1.2 ditto
EmiClock-1.0.2 emiclock-1.0.2 no uppercase names for single programs
gmod1.4 gmod-1.4 need hyphen after `'
xmris.4.02 xmris-4.02 ditto
rdist-1.3alpha rdist-1.3a no strings like `alpha' allowed
es-0.9-beta1 es-0.9b1 ditto
v3.3beta021.src tiff-3.3 what the heck was that anyway? ;)
tvtwm tvtwm-pl11 version string always required
piewm piewm-1.0 ditto
xvgr-2.10pl1 xvgr-2.10.1 `pl' allowed only when no maj/minor numbers
gawk-2.15.6 jp-gawk-2.15.6 Japanese language version
psutils-1.13 psutils-letter-1.13 papersize hardcoded at package build time
pkfonts pkfonts300-1.0 package for 300dpi fonts
If there is absolutely no trace of version information in the
original source and it is unlikely that the original author
will ever release another version, just set the version string
to `1.0' (like the piewm example above). Otherwise, ask the
original author or use the date string (`yy.mm.dd') as the
version.
That is It, Folks!
Boy, this sure was a long tutorial, wasn't it? Thanks for
following us to here, really.
Well, now that you know how to do a port, let us go at it and
convert everything in the world into ports! That is the
easiest way to start contributing to the FreeBSD Project!
:)