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PORTS(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual PORTS(7) NAME ports -- contributed applications DESCRIPTION The FreeBSD Ports Collection offers a simple way to compile and install third party applications. It is also used to build packages, to be in- stalled using pkg(8). The ports tree, typically located at /usr/ports, consists of subdirecto- ries, one for each category; those in turn contain individual ports. Each port is a directory with metadata and patches necessary to make the origi- nal application source code compile and run on FreeBSD. Compiling an ap- plication is as simple as typing "make build" in the port directory. The Makefile automatically fetches the application source code, either from a local disk or the network, unpacks it, applies the patches, and compiles it. It also recursively handles dependencies -- other pieces of software the port depends on in order to build and work. Afterwards, "make install" installs the application. The FreeBSD Ports Collection is maintained in several branches, which dif- fer mostly by versions of software provided: the main branch contains all the latest changes and corresponds to the latest package set, while the quarterly branches only provide critical fixes. The main branch can be cloned and updated from the Git repository located at: https://git.FreeBSD.org/ports.git so eg: git clone https://git.FreeBSD.org/ports.git The quarterly branches can be found in Git as branches like yyyyQn , where yyyy indicates the year and n indicates the quarter (1 to 4), eg: git clone -b 2021Q2 https://git.FreeBSD.org/ports.git It is generally a good idea to use the ports branch that matches the pkg(8) repository being used. By default, for FreeBSD CURRENT the pkg(8) is con- figured to install packages built from the main branch, while for FreeBSD STABLE or RELEASE versions it is configured to install packages built from the latest quarterly branch. Currently configured pkg(8) repos- itory can be verified by looking at the url field in pkg -vv output. For more information about using ports, see the "Packages and Ports section" in The FreeBSD Handbook: https://docs.FreeBSD.org/en/books/handbook/ports/ For information about creating new ports, see The Porter's Handbook: https://docs.FreeBSD.org/en/books/porters-handbook/ TARGETS Some of the make(1) targets work recursively through subdirectories. This lets you, for example, install all of the "biology" ports with one command. The targets that do this are build, checksum, clean, configure, depends, extract, fetch, install, and package. The following targets will be run automatically by each proceeding target in order. That is, build will be run (if necessary) by install, and so on all the way to fetch. Usually, you will only use the install target. config Configure OPTIONS for this port using portconfig(1)(ports/ports-mgmt/portconfig). fetch Fetch all of the files needed to build this port from the sites listed in MASTER_SITES and PATCH_SITES. See FETCH_CMD, MASTER_SITE_OVERRIDE and MASTER_SITE_BACKUP. checksum Verify that the fetched distfile's checksum matches the one the port was tested against. If the distfile's checksum does not match, it also fetches the distfiles which are missing or failed the checksum calculation. Defining NO_CHECKSUM will skip this step. depends Install (or compile if only compilation is necessary) any depen- dencies of the current port. When called by the extract or fetch targets, this is run in piecemeal as fetch-depends, build-depends, etc. Defining NO_DEPENDS will skip this step. extract Expand the distfile into a work directory. patch Apply any patches that are necessary for the port. configure Configure the port. Some ports will ask you questions during this stage. See INTERACTIVE and BATCH. build Build the port. This is the same as calling the all target. install Install the port and register it with the package system. This is all you really need to do. install-missing-packages Install missing dependencies from packages instead of building them. The following targets are not run during the normal install process. showconfig Display OPTIONS config for this port. showconfig-recursive Display OPTIONS config for this port and all its dependen- cies. rmconfig Remove OPTIONS config for this port. rmconfig-recursive Remove OPTIONS config for this port and all its dependen- cies. config-conditional Skip the ports which have already had their OPTIONS con- figured. config-recursive Configure OPTIONS for this port and all its dependencies using portconfig(1)(ports/ports-mgmt/portconfig). fetch-list Show the list of files to fetch in order to build the port (but not its dependencies). fetch-recursive Fetch the distfiles of the port and all its dependencies. fetch-recursive-list Show list of files that would be retrieved by fetch-recursive. build-depends-list, run-depends-list Print a list of all the direct compile or run dependencies for this port. all-depends-list Print a list of all recursive dependencies for this port. pretty-print-build-depends-list, pretty-print-run-depends-list Print a list of all the recursive compile or run dependen- cies for this port by port name and version. missing Print a list of missing dependencies to be installed for the port. clean Remove the expanded source code. This recurses to depen- dencies unless NOCLEANDEPENDS is defined. distclean Remove the port's distfiles and perform the clean target. The clean portion recurses to dependencies unless NOCLEANDEPENDS is defined, but the distclean portion never recurses (this is perhaps a bug). reinstall Use this to restore a port after using pkg-delete(8) when you should have used deinstall. deinstall Remove an installed port from the system, similar to pkg- delete(8). deinstall-all Remove all installed ports with the same PKGORIGIN from the system. package Make a binary package for the port. The port will be in- stalled if it has not already been. The package is a .pkg file that you can use to install the port on other ma- chines with pkg-add(8). If the directory specified by PACKAGES does not exist, the package will be put in /usr/ports/category/port/work/pkg. See PKGREPOSITORY and PKGFILE for more information. package-recursive Like package, but makes a package for each depending port as well. package-name Prints the name with version of the port. readmes Create a port's README.html. This can be used from /usr/ports to create a browsable web of all ports on your system! search Search the INDEX file for the pattern specified by the key (searches the port name, comment, and dependencies), name (searches the port name only), path (searches the port path), info (searches the port info), maint (searches the port maintainer), cat (searches the port category), bdeps (searches the port build-time dependency), rdeps (searches the port run-time dependency), www (searches the port web site) make(1) variables, and their exclusion counterparts: xname, xkey etc. For example, one would type: cd /usr/ports && make search name=query to find all ports whose name matches "query". Results in- clude the matching ports' path, comment, maintainer, build dependencies, and run dependencies. cd /usr/ports && make search name=pear- \ xbdeps=apache To find all ports whose names contain "pear-" and which do not have apache listed in build-time dependencies. cd /usr/ports && make search name=pear- \ xname='ht(tp|ml)' To find all ports whose names contain "pear-", but not "html" or "http". make search key=apache display=name,path,info keylim=1 To find ports that contain "apache" in either of the name, path, info fields, ignore the rest of the record. By default the search is not case-sensitive. In order to make it case-sensitive you can use the icase variable: make search name=p5-R icase=0 quicksearch Reduced search output. Only display name, path and info. describe Generate a one-line description of each port for use in the INDEX file. maintainer Display the port maintainer's email address. index Create /usr/ports/INDEX, which is used by the pretty-print-* and search targets. Running the index tar- get will ensure your INDEX file is up to date with your ports tree. fetchindex Fetch the INDEX file from the FreeBSD cluster. ENVIRONMENT You can change all of these. PORTSDIR Location of the ports tree. This is /usr/ports by default. WRKDIRPREFIX Where to create any temporary files. Useful if PORTSDIR is read-only (perhaps mounted from a CD-ROM). DISTDIR Where to find/put distfiles, normally distfiles/ in PORTSDIR. SU_CMD Command used to elevate privilege to configure and install a port. The unprivileged user must have write access to WRKDIRPREFIX and DISTDIR. The default is `/usr/bin/su root -c'. Many users set it to `/usr/local/bin/sudo -E sh -c' for convenience. PACKAGES Used only for the package target; the base directory for the packages tree, normally packages/ in PORTSDIR. If this di- rectory exists, the package tree will be (partially) con- structed. This directory does not have to exist; if it does not, packages will be placed into the current directory, or you can define one of PKGREPOSITORY Directory to put the package in. PKGFILE The full path to the package. LOCALBASE Where existing things are installed and where to search for files when resolving dependencies (usually /usr/local). PREFIX Where to install this port (usually set to the same as LOCALBASE). MASTER_SITES Primary sites for distribution files if not found locally. PATCH_SITES Primary locations for distribution patch files if not found locally. MASTER_SITE_FREEBSD If set, go to the master FreeBSD site for all files. MASTER_SITE_OVERRIDE Try going to these sites for all files and patches, first. MASTER_SITE_BACKUP Try going to these sites for all files and patches, last. RANDOMIZE_MASTER_SITES Try the download locations in a random order. MASTER_SORT Sort the download locations according to user supplied pat- tern. Example: .dk .sunet.se .se dk.php.net .no .de heanet.dl.sourceforge.net MASTER_SITE_INDEX Where to get INDEX source built on FreeBSD cluster (for fetchindex target). Defaults to https://download.FreeBSD.org/ports/index/. FETCHINDEX Command to get INDEX (for fetchindex target). Defaults to "fetch -am". NOCLEANDEPENDS If defined, do not let clean recurse to dependencies. FETCH_CMD Command to use to fetch files. Normally fetch(1). FORCE_PKG_REGISTER If set, overwrite any existing package registration on the system. INTERACTIVE If defined, only operate on a port if it requires interac- tion. BATCH If defined, only operate on a port if it can be installed 100% automatically. DISABLE_VULNERABILITIES If defined, disable check for security vulnerabilities using pkg-audit(8) when installing new ports. NO_IGNORE If defined, allow installation of ports marked as <FORBIDDEN>. The default behavior of the Ports framework is to abort when the installation of a forbidden port is at- tempted. Of course, these ports may not work as expected, but if you really know what you are doing and are sure about installing a forbidden port, then NO_IGNORE lets you do it. NO_CHECKSUM If defined, skip verifying the port's checksum. TRYBROKEN If defined, attempt to build a port even if it is marked as <BROKEN>. PORT_DBDIR Directory where the results of configuring OPTIONS are stored. Defaults to /var/db/ports. Each port where OPTIONS have been configured will have a uniquely named sub-direc- tory, containing a single file options. MAKE VARIABLES The following list provides a name and short description for many of the variables that are used when building ports. More information on these and other related variables may be found in ${PORTSDIR}/Mk/* and the FreeBSD Porter's Handbook. WITH_DEBUG (bool) If set, debugging symbols are installed for ports binaries. WITH_DEBUG_PORTS A list of origins for which to set WITH_DEBUG. DEBUG_FLAGS (Default: `-g') Additional CFLAGS to set when WITH_DEBUG is set. DEFAULT_VERSIONS Override the default variant used for ports with multi- ple concurrent versions in the tree, such as database or compiler versions. WITH_CCACHE_BUILD (bool) If set, enables the use of ccache(1) for building ports. CCACHE_DIR Which directory to use for the ccache(1) data. FILES ports/CHANGES BREAKING NEWS to read before creating ports! ports/CONTRIBUTING.md Instructions for contributing to the ports tree. ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk The inner workings of the ports framework. ports/Tools/scripts/ Grab bag of tools for maintaining ports. ports/UPDATING BREAKING NEWS to read before upgrading ports! ports/distfiles/ Directory where fetched files are stored. ${PORT}/Makefile Specification for building the port. ${PORT}/distinfo Checksums generated with `make makesum'. ${PORT}/files/ Directory for patches or any additional files. ${PORT}/pkg-descr Long description of the port. ${PORT}/pkg-plist List of all files installed by the port. ${PORT}/work/ The port's building and staging directory. /etc/make.conf Settings for the port-building framework. /usr/ports/ Canonical ports tree location. /var/db/ports/ Directory for storing configured OPTIONS. EXAMPLES Example 1: Building and Installing a Port The following command builds and installs Emacs. # cd /usr/ports/editors/emacs # make install Example 2: Installing Dependencies with pkg(8) The following example shows how to build and install a port without hav- ing to build its dependencies. Instead, the dependencies are downloaded via pkg(8). # make install-missing-packages # make install It is especially useful, when the dependencies are costly in time and re- sources to build (like lang/rust). The drawback is that pkg(8) offers only packages built with the default set of OPTIONS. Example 3: Building a Non-Default Flavor of a Port The following command builds a non-default flavor of a port. (In this case devel/py-pip is going to be built with Python 3.7 support.) # cd /usr/ports/devel/py-pip # env FLAVOR=py37 make build Example 4: Setting Ports Options via make.conf(5) The following lines present various ways of configuring ports options via make.conf(5) (as an alternative to, e.g., running "make config"): # Enable NLS for all ports unless configured otherwise # using the options dialog. OPTIONS_SET= NLS # Disable DOCS for all ports overriding the options set # via the options dialog. OPTIONS_UNSET_FORCE= DOCS # Disable DOCS and EXAMPLES for the shells/zsh port. shells_zsh_UNSET= DOCS EXAMPLES These and other options-related variables are documented in /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.options.mk. Example 5: Setting make(1)Variables for Specific Ports via make.conf(5) The following example shows how to set arbitrary make(1) variables only specific ports: # Set DISABLE_MAKE_JOBS for the lang/rust port: .if ${.CURDIR:M*/lang/rust} DISABLE_MAKE_JOBS= yes TRYBROKEN= yes .endif Example 6: Debugging Ports By default ports are built and packaged without debugging support (e.g., debugging symbols are stripped from binaries, optimization flags are used for compiling, verbose logging is disabled). Whether ports are built with debugging symbols can be controlled by the settings in make.conf(5), e.g., # Enable debugging for all ports. WITH_DEBUG= yes # Enable debugging for selected ports. WITH_DEBUG_PORTS= mail/dovecot security/krb5 It is also possible to use the debug variables on the command line: # make WITH_DEBUG DEBUG_FLAGS="-g -O0" build See the "MAKE VARIABLES" section to learn more about the debug variables. To understand the details of what happens when the debug variables are set it is best to consult the files located at ${PORTSDIR}/Mk/* (bsd.port.mk in particular). If debugging is enabled for a specific port, the ports framework will: * Add DEBUG_FLAGS (defaults to `-g') to CFLAGS. * Try to prevent the binaries from being stripped (including checking the install target to replace `install-strip' with `install'). Whether a binary has been stripped can be checked with file(1). * Try to enable other debugging features like debug build type or ver- bose logging. However, this is port-specific and the ports framework might not be aware of each supported debugging feature a given piece of software has to offer). SEE ALSO make(1), make.conf(5), development(7), pkg(7) Additional developer documentation: - portlint(1) - /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk Additional user documentation: - pkg(8) - Searchable index of all ports HISTORY The Ports Collection appeared in FreeBSD 1.0. It has since spread to NetBSD, OpenBSD, and macOS. AUTHORS This manual page was originated by David O'Brien. BUGS Ports documentation is split over four places -- /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk, The Porter's Handbook, the "Packages and Ports" chapter of The FreeBSD Handbook, and this manual page. FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly February 24, 2026 PORTS(7)
NAME | DESCRIPTION | TARGETS | ENVIRONMENT | MAKE VARIABLES | FILES | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS | BUGS
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