FreeBSD: Handling Ports and Binary Packages

FreeBSD has several options how to install software and manage it…

Binary Packages

Pretty straightforward usage of pkgng is as follows:

# pkg update
# pkg upgrade
# pkg search PACKAGE
# pkg install PACKAGE
# pkg remove PACKAGE

Very useful is using the info parameter:

# pkg info PACKAGE

which displays, for instance, Options and Shared Libs required that was the package compiled with.

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Manually

The elementary way to install software is to go to:

# cd /usr/ports

In the very first “round”, in order to download and extract the whole tree of ports, the following needs to be run:

# portsnap fetch extract

In order to update the ports tree, the following needs to be run:

# portsnap fetch update

In order to find a desired package (containing a SEARCHSTRING), the following needs to be run:

# cd /usr/ports
# make search name="SEARCHSTRING"

And finally to install a desired PACKAGE, the following needs to be run:

# cd /usr/ports/PATH-TO/PACKAGE
# make config
# make all install clean

More information can be found in the FreeBSD’s Handbook.

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Portmaster

Portmaster is a tool to manage ports (packages) without external databases or languages. It can be installed as follows:

# cd /usr/ports
# make search name="portmaster"
# cd /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portmaster
# make all install clean

In order to install a selected port (package), the following needs to be run:

# portmaster PATH-TO/PACKAGE

In order to update ports with “interactive” response (-i), the following needs to be run:

# portmaster -ai

More information can be found in the unix.stackexchange.com.

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Mixing Packages and Ports (pkg lock)

In order to prevent pkg from clobbering an installed port, the following needs to be run:

# pkg lock PACKAGE
lock this package? [Y/n] Y
package locked.

Now, the binary packages can be upgraded without touching the locked binary package:

# pkg upgrade

In order to see locked packages, the following needs to be run:

# pkg lock -l
Currently locked packages: ...

Note: FreeBSD versions earlier than 10.X require the following line in /etc/make.conf (reference:

WITH_PKGNG=yes

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Issues

If the package repository seems to be updated, but it is not possible to search any package in it (like the following example):

# pkg update
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up-to-date.
All repositories are up-to-date.
# pkg search curl
# THIS SEARCH RESULT IS EMPTY

It is necessary to force the update by:

# pkg update -f