Jan 14, 2015  FreeBSD is a powerful operating system capable of functioning in a variety of roles. Part of what makes this operating system an ideal choice in many scenarios is its reputation for flexibility. A large contribution to this reputation comes from FreeBSD’s supported method for installing software.

• Freebsd Update Ports Tree
• Freebsd Install Ports Tree
• Freebsd Install Ports From Source
• Freebsd Install Ports-mgmt/pkg

The Ports Collection is a set of Makefiles, patches, and description files. Each set of these files is used to compile and install an individual application on FreeBSD, and is called a port.

FreshPorts has everything you want to know about FreeBSD software, ports, packages, applications, whatever term you want to use. Rubygem-native-package-installer 1.0.7 devel Helper to install native packages on 'gem install' Fix LICENSEFILE. 8 vulnerabilities affecting 50 ports have been reported in the past 14 days. modified, not new. Apr 22, 2014  gcc is still available in FreeBSD, under the ports. To install the latest version (as of this writing, 4.9) as a port, do the following: To install the latest version (as of this writing, 4.9) as a port. The Ports Collection is a set of Makefiles, patches, and description files.Each set of these files is used to compile and install an individual application on FreeBSD, and is called a port. By default, the Ports Collection itself is stored as a subdirectory of /usr/ports. Before an application can be compiled using a port, the Ports Collection must first be installed. Jan 26, 2017  H ow do I install ports in FreeBSD operating systems using the command line options? The FreeBSD operating systems offers Ports Collection as a simple way to install various applications. Each port contains any patches necessary to make the original application source code compile and run on FreeBSD based system. Sep 19, 2019  Installing and maintaining the FreeBSD Ports Collection or FreeBSD Packages (i.e. Third party software).

By default, the Ports Collection itself is stored as a subdirectory of /usr/ports.

Before an application can be compiled using a port, the Ports Collection must first be installed. If it was not installed during the installation of FreeBSD, use one of the following methods to install it:

The base system of FreeBSD includes Portsnap. This is a fast and user-friendly tool for retrieving the Ports Collection and is the recommended choice for most users. This utility connects to a FreeBSD site, verifies the secure key, and downloads a new copy of the Ports Collection. The key is used to verify the integrity of all downloaded files.

1. To download a compressed snapshot of the Ports Collection into /var/db/portsnap:

2. When running Portsnap for the first time, extract the snapshot into /usr/ports:

3. After the first use of Portsnap has been completed as shown above, /usr/ports can be updated as needed by running:

   When using fetch, the extract or the update operation may be run consecutively, like so:

If more control over the ports tree is needed or if local changes need to be maintained, Subversion can be used to obtain the Ports Collection. Refer to the Subversion Primer for a detailed description of Subversion.

1. Subversion must be installed before it can be used to check out the ports tree. If a copy of the ports tree is already present, install Subversion like this:

   If the ports tree is not available, or pkg is being used to manage packages, Subversion can be installed as a package:

2. Check out a copy of the ports tree:

3. As needed, update /usr/ports after the initial Subversion checkout:

The Ports Collection contains directories for software categories. Inside each category are subdirectories for individual applications. Each application subdirectory contains a set of files that tells FreeBSD how to compile and install that program, called a ports skeleton. Each port skeleton includes these files and directories:

• Makefile: contains statements that specify how the application should be compiled and where its components should be installed.

• distinfo: contains the names and checksums of the files that must be downloaded to build the port.

• files/: this directory contains any patches needed for the program to compile and install on FreeBSD. This directory may also contain other files used to build the port.

• pkg-descr: provides a more detailed description of the program.

• pkg-plist: a list of all the files that will be installed by the port. It also tells the ports system which files to remove upon deinstallation.

Some ports include pkg-message or other files to handle special situations. For more details on these files, and on ports in general, refer to the FreeBSD Porter's Handbook.

The port does not include the actual source code, also known as a distfile. The extract portion of building a port will automatically save the downloaded source to /usr/ports/distfiles.

This section provides basic instructions on using the Ports Collection to install or remove software. The detailed description of available make targets and environment variables is available in ports(7).

Warning:

Before compiling any port, be sure to update the Ports Collection as described in the previous section. Since the installation of any third-party software can introduce security vulnerabilities, it is recommended to first check https://vuxml.freebsd.org/ for known security issues related to the port. Alternately, run pkg audit -F before installing a new port. This command can be configured to automatically perform a security audit and an update of the vulnerability database during the daily security system check. For more information, refer to pkg-audit(8) and periodic(8).

Using the Ports Collection assumes a working Internet connection. It also requires superuser privilege.

To compile and install the port, change to the directory of the port to be installed, then type make install at the prompt. Messages will indicate the progress:

Since lsof is a program that runs with increased privileges, a security warning is displayed as it is installed. Once the installation is complete, the prompt will be returned.

Some shells keep a cache of the commands that are available in the directories listed in the PATH environment variable, to speed up lookup operations for the executable file of these commands. Users of the tcsh shell should type rehash so that a newly installed command can be used without specifying its full path. Use hash -r instead for the sh shell. Refer to the documentation for the shell for more information.

During installation, a working subdirectory is created which contains all the temporary files used during compilation. Removing this directory saves disk space and minimizes the chance of problems later when upgrading to the newer version of the port:

Note:

To save this extra step, instead use make install clean when compiling the port.

Some ports provide build options which can be used to enable or disable application components, provide security options, or allow for other customizations. Examples include www/firefox, security/gpgme, and mail/sylpheed-claws. If the port depends upon other ports which have configurable options, it may pause several times for user interaction as the default behavior is to prompt the user to select options from a menu. To avoid this and do all of the configuration in one batch, run make config-recursive within the port skeleton. Then, run make install [clean] to compile and install the port.

Tip:

When using config-recursive, the list of ports to configure are gathered by the all-depends-list target. It is recommended to run make config-recursive until all dependent ports options have been defined, and ports options screens no longer appear, to be certain that all dependency options have been configured.

There are several ways to revisit a port's build options menu in order to add, remove, or change these options after a port has been built. One method is to cd into the directory containing the port and type make config. Another option is to use make showconfig. Another option is to execute make rmconfig which will remove all selected options and allow you to start over. All of these options, and others, are explained in great detail in ports(7).

The ports system uses fetch(1) to download the source files, which supports various environment variables. The FTP_PASSIVE_MODE, FTP_PROXY, and FTP_PASSWORD variables may need to be set if the FreeBSD system is behind a firewall or FTP/HTTP proxy. See fetch(3) for the complete list of supported variables.

For users who cannot be connected to the Internet all the time, make fetch can be run within /usr/ports, to fetch all distfiles, or within a category, such as /usr/ports/net, or within the specific port skeleton. Note that if a port has any dependencies, running this command in a category or ports skeleton will not fetch the distfiles of ports from another category. Instead, use make fetch-recursive to also fetch the distfiles for all the dependencies of a port.

In rare cases, such as when an organization has a local distfiles repository, the MASTER_SITES variable can be used to override the download locations specified in the Makefile. When using, specify the alternate location:

The WRKDIRPREFIX and PREFIX variables can override the default working and target directories. For example:

will compile the port in /usr/home/example/ports and install everything under /usr/local.

will compile the port in /usr/ports and install it in /usr/home/example/local. And:

will combine the two.

These can also be set as environmental variables. Refer to the manual page for your shell for instructions on how to set an environmental variable.

Installed ports can be uninstalled using pkg delete. Examples for using this command can be found in the pkg-delete(8) manual page.

Alternately, make deinstall can be run in the port's directory:

It is recommended to read the messages as the port is uninstalled. If the port has any applications that depend upon it, this information will be displayed but the uninstallation will proceed. In such cases, it may be better to reinstall the application in order to prevent broken dependencies.

Over time, newer versions of software become available in the Ports Collection. This section describes how to determine which software can be upgraded and how to perform the upgrade.

To determine if newer versions of installed ports are available, ensure that the latest version of the ports tree is installed, using the updating command described in either Procedure 4.1, “Portsnap Method” or Procedure 4.2, “Subversion Method”. On FreeBSD 10 and later, or if the system has been converted to pkg, the following command will list the installed ports which are out of date:

For FreeBSD 9.X and lower, the following command will list the installed ports that are out of date:

Important:

Before attempting an upgrade, read /usr/ports/UPDATING from the top of the file to the date closest to the last time ports were upgraded or the system was installed. This file describes various issues and additional steps users may encounter and need to perform when updating a port, including such things as file format changes, changes in locations of configuration files, or any incompatibilities with previous versions. Make note of any instructions which match any of the ports that need upgrading and follow these instructions when performing the upgrade.

The Ports Collection contains several utilities to perform the actual upgrade. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.

Historically, most installations used either Portmaster or Portupgrade. Synth is a newer alternative.

Note:

The choice of which tool is best for a particular system is up to the system administrator. It is recommended practice to back up your data before using any of these tools.

ports-mgmt/portmaster is a very small utility for upgrading installed ports. It is designed to use the tools installed with the FreeBSD base system without depending on other ports or databases. To install this utility as a port:

Portmaster defines four categories of ports:

• Root port: has no dependencies and is not a dependency of any other ports.

• Trunk port: has no dependencies, but other ports depend upon it.

• Branch port: has dependencies and other ports depend upon it.

• Leaf port: has dependencies but no other ports depend upon it.

To list these categories and search for updates:

This command is used to upgrade all outdated ports:

Note:

By default, Portmaster makes a backup package before deleting the existing port. If the installation of the new version is successful, Portmaster deletes the backup. Using -b instructs Portmaster not to automatically delete the backup. Adding -i starts Portmaster in interactive mode, prompting for confirmation before upgrading each port. Many other options are available. Read through the manual page for portmaster(8) for details regarding their usage.

If errors are encountered during the upgrade process, add -f to upgrade and rebuild all ports:

Portmaster can also be used to install new ports on the system, upgrading all dependencies before building and installing the new port. To use this function, specify the location of the port in the Ports Collection:

More information about ports-mgmt/portmaster may be found in its pkg-descr.

ports-mgmt/portupgrade is another utility that can be used to upgrade ports. It installs a suite of applications which can be used to manage ports. However, it is dependent upon Ruby. To install the port:

Before performing an upgrade using this utility, it is recommended to scan the list of installed ports using pkgdb -F and to fix all the inconsistencies it reports.

To upgrade all the outdated ports installed on the system, use portupgrade -a. Alternately, include -i to be asked for confirmation of every individual upgrade:

Freebsd Update Ports Tree

To upgrade only a specified application instead of all available ports, use portupgrade pkgname. It is very important to include -R to first upgrade all the ports required by the given application:

If -P is included, Portupgrade searches for available packages in the local directories listed in PKG_PATH. If none are available locally, it then fetches packages from a remote site. If packages can not be found locally or fetched remotely, Portupgrade will use ports. To avoid using ports entirely, specify -PP. This last set of options tells Portupgrade to abort if no packages are available:

To just fetch the port distfiles, or packages, if -P is specified, without building or installing anything, use -F. For further information on all of the available switches, refer to the manual page for portupgrade.

More information about ports-mgmt/portupgrade may be found in its pkg-descr.

Freebsd Install Ports Tree

Using the Ports Collection will use up disk space over time. After building and installing a port, running make clean within the ports skeleton will clean up the temporary work directory. If Portmaster is used to install a port, it will automatically remove this directory unless -K is specified. If Portupgrade is installed, this command will remove all work directories found within the local copy of the Ports Collection:

In addition, outdated source distribution files accumulate in /usr/ports/distfiles over time. To use Portupgrade to delete all the distfiles that are no longer referenced by any ports:

Portupgrade can remove all distfiles not referenced by any port currently installed on the system:

If Portmaster is installed, use:

By default, this command is interactive and prompts the user to confirm if a distfile should be deleted.

In addition to these commands, ports-mgmt/pkg_cutleaves automates the task of removing installed ports that are no longer needed.

On my server with FreeBSD 10.0 I get the following error:

/usr/bin/g++ doesn't exist, how do I install it/fix this?

2 Answers

gcc is still available in FreeBSD, under the ports. To install the latest version (as of this writing, 4.9) as a port, do the following:

cd /usr/ports/lang/gcc49/ && make install clean

If you want to install it as a package, do the following:

pkg install lang/gcc49

This will install the C, C++, Fortran and Java front ends as gcc49, g++49,gfortran49, and gcj49, respectively.

It was renamed in FreeBSD 10. Fixed by creating symlink in /usr/bin:

Freebsd Install Ports From Source

Freebsd Install Ports-mgmt/pkg

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