This is a longer description of the port. One to a few paragraphs concisely explaining what the port does is sufficient.

A well-written pkg-descr describes the port completely enough that users would not have to consult the documentation or visit the website to understand what the software does, how it can be useful, or what particularly nice features it has. Mentioning certain requirements like a graphical toolkit, heavy dependencies, runtime environment, or implementation languages help users decide whether this port will work for them.

Include a URL to the official WWW homepage. Prepend one of the websites (pick the most common one) with WWW: (followed by single space) so that automated tools will work correctly. If the URI is the root of the website or directory, it must be terminated with a slash.

This example shows how pkg-descr looks:

This is a port of oneko, in which a cat chases a poor mouse all over
the screen.
 :
(etc.)

WWW: http://www.oneko.org/

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).

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(8) manual page for details on the packing list.

There is only one case when pkg-plist can be omitted from a port. If the port installs just a handful of files, list them in PLIST_FILES, within the port's Makefile. For instance, we could get along without pkg-plist in the above oneko port by adding these lines to the Makefile:

PLIST_FILES=	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

The price for this way of listing a port's files and directories is that the keywords described in pkg-create(8) and Section 7.6, “Expanding Package List with Keywords” cannot be used. Therefore, it is suitable only for simple ports and makes them even simpler. At the same time, it has the advantage of reducing the number of files in the ports collection. Please consider using this technique before resorting to pkg-plist.

Later we will see how pkg-plist and PLIST_FILES can be used to fulfill more sophisticated tasks.

Patch files are stored in PATCHDIR, usually files/, from where they will be automatically applied. All patches must be relative to WRKSRC. Typically WRKSRC is a subdirectory of WRKDIR, the directory where the distfile is extracted. Use make -V WRKSRC to see the actual path. The patch names are to follow these rules:

Minimize the amount of non-functional whitespace changes in patches. It is common in the Open Source world for projects to share large amounts of a code base, but obey different style and indenting rules. When taking a working piece of functionality from one project to fix similar areas in another, please be careful: the resulting patch may be full of non-functional changes. It not only increases the size of the ports repository but makes it hard to find out what exactly caused the problem and what was changed at all.

If a file must be deleted, do it in the post-extract target rather than as part of the patch.

Patches are saved into files named patch-* where * indicates the pathname of the file that is patched, such as patch-Imakefile or patch-src-config.h.

After the file has been modified, diff(1) is used to record the differences between the original and the modified version. -u causes diff(1) to produce “unified” diffs, the preferred form.

% diff -u file.orig file > patch-pathname-file

When generating patches for new, added files, -N is used to tell diff(1) to treat the non-existent original file as if it existed but was empty:

% diff -u -N newfile.orig newfile > patch-pathname-newfile

Do not add $FreeBSD$ RCS strings in patches. When patches are added to the Subversion repository with svn add, the fbsd:nokeywords property is set to yes automatically so keywords in the patch are not modified when committed. The property can be added manually with svn propset fbsd:nokeywords yes files....

Using the recurse (-r) option to diff(1) to generate patches is fine, but please look at the resulting patches to make sure there is no unnecessary junk in there. In particular, diffs between two backup files, Makefiles when the port uses Imake or GNU configure, etc., are unnecessary and have to be deleted. If it was necessary to edit configure.in and run autoconf to regenerate configure, do not take the diffs of configure (it often grows to a few thousand lines!). Instead, define USE_AUTOTOOLS=autoconf:261 and take the diffs of configure.in.

Simple replacements can be performed directly from the port Makefile using the in-place mode of sed(1). This is useful when changes use the value of a variable:

post-patch:
	@${REINPLACE_CMD} -e 's|for Linux|for FreeBSD|g' ${WRKSRC}/README

Quite often, software being ported uses the CR/LF convention in source files. This may cause problems with further patching, compiler warnings, or script execution (like /bin/sh^M not found.) To quickly convert all files from CR/LF to just LF, add this entry to the port Makefile:

USES=	dos2unix

A list of specific files to convert can be given:

USES=	dos2unix
DOS2UNIX_FILES=	util.c util.h

Use DOS2UNIX_REGEX to convert a group of files across subdirectories. Its argument is a find(1)-compatible regular expression. More on the format is in re_format(7). This option is useful for converting all files of a given extension. For example, convert all source code files, leaving binary files intact:

USES=	dos2unix
DOS2UNIX_REGEX=	.*\.([ch]|cpp)

A similar option is DOS2UNIX_GLOB, which runs find for each element listed in it.

USES=	dos2unix
DOS2UNIX_GLOB=	*.c *.cpp *.h

The base directory for the conversion can be set. This is useful when there are multiple distfiles and several contain files which require line-ending conversion.

USES=	dos2unix
DOS2UNIX_WRKSRC=	${WRKDIR}

Some ports need patches that are only applied for specific FreeBSD versions or when a particular option is enabled or disabled. Conditional patches are specified by placing the full paths to the patch files in EXTRA_PATCHES.

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

# Patch in the iconv const qualifier before this
.if ${OPSYS} == FreeBSD && ${OSVERSION} < 1100069
EXTRA_PATCHES=	${PATCHDIR}/extra-patch-fbsd10
.endif

.include <bsd.port.mk>

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	  FOO BAR
FOO_EXTRA_PATCHES=  ${PATCHDIR}/extra-patch-foo
BAR_EXTRA_PATCHES_OFF=	${PATCHDIR}/extra-patch-bar.c \
		${PATCHDIR}/extra-patch-bar.h

Set PORTNAME to the base name of the software. It is used as the base for the FreeBSD package, and for DISTNAME.

Set DISTVERSION to the version number of the software.

PORTVERSION is the version used for the FreeBSD package. It will be automatically derived from DISTVERSION to be compatible with FreeBSD's package versioning scheme. If the version contains letters, it might be needed to set PORTVERSION and not DISTVERSION.

From time to time, some software will use a version scheme that is not compatible with how DISTVERSION translates in PORTVERSION.

% pkg version -t 1.2 1.3
< 
% pkg version -t 1.2 1.2
= 
% pkg version -t 1.2 1.2.0
= 
% pkg version -t 1.2 1.2.p1
> 
% pkg version -t 1.2.a1 1.2.b1
< 
% pkg version -t 1.2 1.2p1
< 

PORTNAME=   nekoto
DISTVERSION=	1.2-4

PORTNAME=   nekoto
DISTVERSIONPREFIX=  v
DISTVERSION=	1_2_4

PORTNAME=   nekoto
DISTVERSIONPREFIX=  nekoto-
DISTVERSION=	1.2_4

PORTNAME=   nekoto
DISTVERSION=	1.2-4
DISTVERSIONSUFFIX=  _RELEASE

PORTNAME=   nekoto
DISTVERSIONPREFIX=  nekoto-
DISTVERSION=	1.2-4
DISTVERSIONSUFFIX=  _RELEASE

PORTNAME=   nekoto
DISTVERSION=	1.2-pre4

PORTNAME=   nekoto
DISTVERSION=	1.2p4

PORTNAME=   nekoto
PORTVERSION=	1.2p4

For some more advanced examples of setting PORTVERSION, when the software's versioning is really not compatible with FreeBSD's, or DISTNAME when the distribution file does not contain the version itself, see Section 5.4.1, “DISTNAME”.

Two optional variables, PKGNAMEPREFIX and PKGNAMESUFFIX, are combined with PORTNAME and PORTVERSION to form PKGNAME as ${PKGNAMEPREFIX}${PORTNAME}${PKGNAMESUFFIX}-${PORTVERSION}. Make sure this conforms to our guidelines for a good package name. In particular, the use of a hyphen (-) in PORTVERSION is not allowed. Also, if the package name has the language- or the -compiled.specifics part (see below), use PKGNAMEPREFIX and PKGNAMESUFFIX, respectively. Do not make them part of PORTNAME.

These are the conventions to follow when naming packages. This is to make the package directory easy to scan, as there are already thousands of packages and users are going to turn away if they hurt their eyes!

Package names take the form of language_region-name-compiled.specifics-version.numbers.

The package name is defined as ${PKGNAMEPREFIX}${PORTNAME}${PKGNAMESUFFIX}-${PORTVERSION}. Make sure to set the variables to conform to that format.

Here are some (real) examples on how to convert the name as called by the software authors to a suitable package name, for each line, only one of DISTVERSION or PORTVERSION is set in, depending on which would be used in the port's Makefile:

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 the source file was released on (0.0.yyyy.mm.dd) as the version.

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 CDROM. Please take a look at the current list of categories and pick the ones that are suitable for the port.

This list also determines where in the ports tree the port is imported. If there is more than one category here, the port files must be put in the subdirectory with the name of the first category. See below for more discussion about how to pick the right categories.

Here is the current list of port categories. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are virtual categories—those that do not have a corresponding subdirectory in the ports tree. They are only used as secondary categories, and only for search purposes.

As many of the categories overlap, choosing which of the categories will be the primary category of the port can be tedious. There are several rules that govern this issue. Here is the list of priorities, in decreasing order of precedence:

If the category is not clearly defined, please put a comment to that effect in the port submission in the bug database so we can discuss it before we import it. As a committer, send a note to the FreeBSD ports mailing list so we can discuss it first. Too often, new ports are imported to the wrong category only to be moved right away.

As the Ports Collection has grown over time, various new categories have been introduced. New categories can either be virtual categories—those that do not have a corresponding subdirectory in the ports tree— or physical categories—those that do. This section discusses the issues involved in creating a new physical category. Read it thouroughly before proposing a new one.

Our existing practice has been to avoid creating a new physical category unless either a large number of ports would logically belong to it, or the ports that would belong to it are a logically distinct group that is of limited general interest (for instance, categories related to spoken human languages), or preferably both.

The rationale for this is that such a change creates a fair amount of work for both the committers and also for all users who track changes to the Ports Collection. In addition, proposed category changes just naturally seem to attract controversy. (Perhaps this is because there is no clear consensus on when a category is “too big”, nor whether categories should lend themselves to browsing (and thus what number of categories would be an ideal number), and so forth.)

Here is the procedure:

Proposing a new virtual category is similar to the above but much less involved, since no ports will actually have to move. In this case, the only patches to include in the PR would be those to add the new category to CATEGORIES of the affected ports.

Occasionally someone proposes reorganizing the categories with either a 2-level structure, or some other kind of keyword structure. To date, nothing has come of any of these proposals because, while they are very easy to make, the effort involved to retrofit the entire existing ports collection with any kind of reorganization is daunting to say the very least. Please read the history of these proposals in the mailing list archives before posting this idea. Furthermore, be prepared to be challenged to offer a working prototype.

DISTNAME is the name of the port as called by the authors of the software. DISTNAME defaults to ${PORTNAME}-${DISTVERSIONPREFIX}${DISTVERSION}${DISTVERSIONSUFFIX}, and if not set, DISTVERSION defaults to ${PORTVERSION} so override DISTNAME only if necessary. DISTNAME is only used in two places. First, the distribution file list (DISTFILES) defaults to ${DISTNAME}${EXTRACT_SUFX}. Second, the distribution file is expected to extract into a subdirectory named WRKSRC, which defaults to work/${DISTNAME}.

Some vendor's distribution names which do not fit into the ${PORTNAME}-${PORTVERSION}-scheme can be handled automatically by setting DISTVERSIONPREFIX, DISTVERSION, and DISTVERSIONSUFFIX. PORTVERSION will be derived from DISTVERSION automatically.

If the upstream version scheme can be derived into a ports-compatible version scheme, set some variable to the upstream version, do not use DISTVERSION as the variable name. Set PORTVERSION to the computed version based on the variable you created, and set DISTNAME accordingly.

If the upstream version scheme cannot easily be coerced into a ports-compatible value, set PORTVERSION to a sensible value, and set DISTNAME with PORTNAME with the verbatim upstream version.

% pkg version -t 9.9.9 9.9.9.p1
> 
% pkg version -t 9.9.9 9.9.9p1
< 

PORTNAME=	bind
PORTVERSION=	${ISCVERSION:S/-P/P/:S/b/.b/:S/a/.a/:S/rc/.rc/} 
CATEGORIES=	dns net ipv6
MASTER_SITES=	ISC/bind9/${ISCVERSION} 
PKGNAMESUFFIX=	99
DISTNAME=	${PORTNAME}-${ISCVERSION} 

MAINTAINER=	mat@FreeBSD.org
COMMENT=	BIND DNS suite with updated DNSSEC and DNS64

LICENSE=	ISCL

# ISC releases things like 9.8.0-P1 or 9.8.1rc1, which our versioning does not like
ISCVERSION=	9.9.9-P6 

PORTNAME=	kermit
PORTVERSION=	9.0.304
CATEGORIES=	comms ftp net
MASTER_SITES=	ftp://ftp.kermitproject.org/kermit/test/tar/
DISTNAME=	cku${PORTVERSION:E}-dev20 

PORTNAME=       libworkman
PORTVERSION=    1.4
CATEGORIES=     audio
MASTER_SITES=   LOCAL/jim
DISTNAME=       ${PORTNAME}-1999-06-20

PORTNAME=       librs232
PORTVERSION=    20160710
CATEGORIES=     comms
MASTER_SITES=   http://www.teuniz.net/RS-232/
DISTNAME=       RS-232
DIST_SUBDIR=	${PORTNAME}-${PORTVERSION}

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 multiple sites are included on this list, preferably from different continents. This will safeguard against wide-area network problems.

MASTER_SITES=	GNU/make

MASTER_SITES=		${MASTER_SITE_GNU}
MASTER_SITE_SUBDIR=	make

MASTER_SITES=	FOO

MASTER_SITES=	FOO/bar

MASTER_SITES=	SF

MASTER_SITES=	SF/stardict/WyabdcRealPeopleTTS/${PORTVERSION}

MASTER_SITES=	SF
MASTER_SITE_SUBDIR=	stardict/WyabdcRealPeopleTTS/${PORTVERSION}

If the distribution file comes from a specific commit or tag on GitHub for which there is no officially released file, there is an easy way to set the right DISTNAME and MASTER_SITES automatically. These variables are available:

PORTNAME=	pkg
DISTVERSION=	1.2.7

USE_GITHUB=	yes
GH_ACCOUNT=	freebsd

PORTNAME=	pkg-devel
DISTVERSION=	1.3.0.a.20140411

USE_GITHUB=	yes
GH_ACCOUNT=	freebsd
GH_PROJECT=	pkg
GH_TAGNAME=	6dbb17b

PORTNAME=	foo
DISTVERSIONPREFIX=	v
DISTVERSION=	1.0.2

USE_GITHUB=	yes

PORTNAME=	bar
DISTVERSION=	g20140411

USE_GITHUB=	yes
GH_TAGNAME=	c472d66b

% pkg version -t g20140411 0
<

% git describe --tags f0038b1
v0.7.3-14-gf0038b1

PORTNAME=	bar
DISTVERSIONPREFIX=  v
DISTVERSION=	0.7.3-14
DISTVERSIONSUFFIX=  -gf0038b1

USE_GITHUB=	yes

% pkg version -t 0.7.3 0.7.3.14
<
% pkg version -t 0.7.3.14 0.7.4
<

% git describe --tags c66c71d
v0.7.3
% git describe --tags --long c66c71d
v0.7.3-0-gc66c71d

USE_GITHUB=	nodefault

PORTNAME=	foo
DISTVERSION=	1.0.2

USE_GITHUB=	yes
GH_ACCOUNT=	bar:icons,contrib
GH_PROJECT=	foo-icons:icons foo-contrib:contrib
GH_TAGNAME=	1.0:icons fa579bc:contrib
GH_SUBDIR=	ext/icons:icons

CONFIGURE_ARGS=	--with-contrib=${WRKSRC_contrib}

post-extract:
      @${MV} ${WRKSRC_icons} ${WRKSRC}/ext/icons

PORTNAME=	foo
DISTVERSION=	1.0.2

USE_GITHUB=	yes
GH_TUPLE=	bar:foo-icons:1.0:icons/ext/icons \
		bar:foo-contrib:fa579bc:contrib

CONFIGURE_ARGS=	--with-contrib=${WRKSRC_contrib}

[submodule "lib/wxsqlite3"]
	path = lib/wxsqlite3
	url = https://github.com/utelle/wxsqlite3.git
[submodule "3rd/mongoose"]
	path = 3rd/mongoose
	url = https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose.git
[submodule "3rd/LuaGlue"]
	path = 3rd/LuaGlue
	url = https://github.com/moneymanagerex/LuaGlue.git
[submodule "3rd/cgitemplate"]
	path = 3rd/cgitemplate
	url = https://github.com/moneymanagerex/html-template.git
[...]

% git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/moneymanagerex/moneymanagerex.git
Cloning into 'moneymanagerex'...
remote: Counting objects: 32387, done.
[...]
Submodule '3rd/LuaGlue' (https://github.com/moneymanagerex/LuaGlue.git) registered for path '3rd/LuaGlue'
Submodule '3rd/cgitemplate' (https://github.com/moneymanagerex/html-template.git) registered for path '3rd/cgitemplate'
Submodule '3rd/mongoose' (https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose.git) registered for path '3rd/mongoose'
Submodule 'lib/wxsqlite3' (https://github.com/utelle/wxsqlite3.git) registered for path 'lib/wxsqlite3'
[...]
Cloning into '/home/mat/work/freebsd/ports/finance/moneymanagerex/moneymanagerex/3rd/LuaGlue'...
Cloning into '/home/mat/work/freebsd/ports/finance/moneymanagerex/moneymanagerex/3rd/cgitemplate'...
Cloning into '/home/mat/work/freebsd/ports/finance/moneymanagerex/moneymanagerex/3rd/mongoose'...
Cloning into '/home/mat/work/freebsd/ports/finance/moneymanagerex/moneymanagerex/lib/wxsqlite3'...
[...]
Submodule path '3rd/LuaGlue': checked out 'c51d11a247ee4d1e9817dfa2a8da8d9e2f97ae3b'
Submodule path '3rd/cgitemplate': checked out 'cd434eeeb35904ebcd3d718ba29c281a649b192c'
Submodule path '3rd/mongoose': checked out '2140e5992ab9a3a9a34ce9a281abf57f00f95cda'
Submodule path 'lib/wxsqlite3': checked out 'fb66eb230d8aed21dec273b38c7c054dcb7d6b51'
[...]
% cd moneymanagerex
% git submodule status
 c51d11a247ee4d1e9817dfa2a8da8d9e2f97ae3b 3rd/LuaGlue (heads/master)
 cd434eeeb35904ebcd3d718ba29c281a649b192c 3rd/cgitemplate (cd434ee)
 2140e5992ab9a3a9a34ce9a281abf57f00f95cda 3rd/mongoose (6.2-138-g2140e59)
 fb66eb230d8aed21dec273b38c7c054dcb7d6b51 lib/wxsqlite3 (v3.4.0)
[...]

PORTNAME=	moneymanagerex
DISTVERSIONPREFIX=	v
DISTVERSION=	1.3.0

USE_GITHUB=	yes
GH_TUPLE=	utelle:wxsqlite3:v3.4.0:wxsqlite3/lib/wxsqlite3 \
		moneymanagerex:LuaGlue:c51d11a:lua_glue/3rd/LuaGlue \
		moneymanagerex:html-template:cd434ee:html_template/3rd/cgitemplate \
		cesanta:mongoose:2140e59:mongoose/3rd/mongoose \
		[...]

If there is one distribution file, and it uses an odd suffix to indicate the compression mechanism, set EXTRACT_SUFX.

For example, if the distribution file was named foo.tar.gzip instead of the more normal foo.tar.gz, write:

DISTNAME=	foo
EXTRACT_SUFX=	.tar.gzip

The USES=tar[:xxx], USES=lha or USES=zip automatically set EXTRACT_SUFX to the most common archives extensions as necessary, see Chapter 16, Using USES Macros for more details. If neither of these are set then EXTRACT_SUFX defaults to .tar.gz.

Sometimes the names of the files to be downloaded have no resemblance to the name of the port. For example, it might be called source.tar.gz or similar. In other cases the application's source code might be in several different archives, all of which must be downloaded.

If this is the case, set DISTFILES to be a space separated list of all the files that must be downloaded.

DISTFILES=	source1.tar.gz source2.tar.gz

If not explicitly set, DISTFILES defaults to ${DISTNAME}${EXTRACT_SUFX}.

If only some of the DISTFILES must be extracted—for example, one of them is the source code, while another is an uncompressed document—list the filenames that must be extracted in EXTRACT_ONLY.

DISTFILES=	source.tar.gz manual.html
EXTRACT_ONLY=	source.tar.gz

When none of the DISTFILES need to be uncompressed, set EXTRACT_ONLY to the empty string.

EXTRACT_ONLY=

If the 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 (that is, WRKSRC) because it contains some extra pathnames, set PATCH_DIST_STRIP accordingly. For instance, if all the pathnames in the patch have 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 .Z, .gz, .bz2 or .xz.

If the patch is distributed with some other files, such as documentation, in a compressed tarball, using PATCHFILES is not possible. If that is the case, add the name and the location of the patch tarball to DISTFILES and MASTER_SITES. Then, use EXTRA_PATCHES to point to those files and bsd.port.mk will automatically apply them. In particular, do not copy patch files into ${PATCHDIR}. That directory may not be writable.

PATCHFILES=	patch1 patch2:-p1

PATCHFILES=	patch2:-p1:source2

(Consider this to be a somewhat “advanced topic”; those new to this document may wish to skip this section at first).

This section has information on the fetching mechanism known as both MASTER_SITES:n and MASTER_SITES_NN. We will refer to this mechanism as MASTER_SITES:n.

A little background first. OpenBSD has a neat feature inside DISTFILES and PATCHFILES which allows files and patches to be postfixed with :n identifiers. Here, n can be any word containing [0-9a-zA-Z_] and denote a group designation. For example:

DISTFILES=	alpha:0 beta:1

In OpenBSD, distribution file alpha will be associated with variable MASTER_SITES0 instead of our common MASTER_SITES and beta with MASTER_SITES1.

This is a very interesting feature which can decrease that endless search for the correct download site.

Just picture 2 files in DISTFILES and 20 sites in MASTER_SITES, the sites slow as hell where beta is carried by all sites in MASTER_SITES, and alpha can only be found in the 20th site. It would be such a waste to check all of them if the maintainer knew this beforehand, would it not? Not a good start for that lovely weekend!

Now that you have the idea, just imagine more DISTFILES and more MASTER_SITES. Surely our “distfiles survey meister” would appreciate the relief to network strain that this would bring.

In the next sections, information will follow on the FreeBSD implementation of this idea. We improved a bit on OpenBSD's concept.

MASTER_SITES=	ftp://ftp1.example.com/:source1 \
		http://www.example.com/:source2
DISTFILES=	source1.tar.gz:source1 \
		source2.tar.gz:source2

MASTER_SITES=	ftp://ftp.example.com/:source1 \
		http://www.example.com/:source2
DISTFILES=	source1.tar.gz:source1 \
		source2.tar.gz:source2 \
		source3.tar.gz:source2

Do not let the port clutter /usr/ports/distfiles. If the port requires a lot of files to be fetched, or contains a file that has a name that might conflict with other ports (for example, Makefile), set DIST_SUBDIR to the name of the port (${PORTNAME} or ${PKGNAMEPREFIX}${PORTNAME} are 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 the port into that subdirectory.

It will also look at the subdirectory with the same name on the backup master site at http://distcache.FreeBSD.org (Setting DISTDIR explicitly in Makefile will not accomplish this, so please use DIST_SUBDIR.)

A short name for the license or licenses if more than one license apply.

If it is one of the licenses listed in Table 5.6, “Predefined License List”, only LICENSE_FILE and LICENSE_DISTFILES variables can be set.

If this is a license that has not been defined in the ports framework (see Table 5.6, “Predefined License List”), the LICENSE_PERMS and LICENSE_NAME must be set, along with either LICENSE_FILE or LICENSE_TEXT. LICENSE_DISTFILES and LICENSE_GROUPS can also be set, but are not required.

The predefined licenses are shown in Table 5.6, “Predefined License List”. The current list is always available in Mk/bsd.licenses.db.mk.

LICENSE=	LGPL21+

LICENSE=	LGPL21+
LICENSE_FILE=	${WRKSRC}/COPYING

For the predefined licenses, the default permissions are dist-mirror dist-sell pkg-mirror pkg-sell auto-accept.

Permissions. use none if empty.

When both permission and no-permission is present the no-permission will cancel permission.

When permission is not present, it is considered to be a no-permission.

LICENSE=        UNKNOWN
LICENSE_NAME=   unknown
LICENSE_TEXT=   This program is NOT in public domain.\
                It can be freely distributed for non-commercial purposes only.
LICENSE_PERMS=  dist-mirror no-dist-sell pkg-mirror no-pkg-sell auto-accept

LICENSE=        WARSOW GPLv2
LICENSE_COMB=   multi
LICENSE_NAME_WARSOW=    Warsow Content License
LICENSE_FILE_WARSOW=    ${WRKSRC}/docs/license.txt
LICENSE_PERMS_WARSOW=   dist-mirror pkg-mirror auto-accept

Groups the license belongs.

Full name of the license.

LICENSE=        UNRAR
LICENSE_NAME=   UnRAR License
LICENSE_FILE=   ${WRKSRC}/license.txt
LICENSE_PERMS=  dist-mirror dist-sell pkg-mirror pkg-sell auto-accept

Full path to the file containing the license text, usually ${WRKSRC}/some/file. If the file is not in the distfile, and its content is too long to be put in LICENSE_TEXT, put it in a new file in ${FILESDIR}.

LICENSE=	GPLv3+
LICENSE_FILE=	${WRKSRC}/COPYING

Text to use as a license. Useful when the license is not in the distribution files and its text is short.

LICENSE=        UNKNOWN
LICENSE_NAME=   unknown
LICENSE_TEXT=   This program is NOT in public domain.\
                It can be freely distributed for non-commercial purposes only,\
                and THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THIS PROGRAM.
LICENSE_PERMS=  dist-mirror no-dist-sell pkg-mirror no-pkg-sell auto-accept

The distribution files to which the licenses apply. Defaults to all the distribution files.

MASTER_SITES=   SF/some-game
DISTFILES=      ${DISTNAME}${EXTRACT_SUFX} artwork.zip

LICENSE=        BSD3CLAUSE ARTWORK
LICENSE_COMB=   dual
LICENSE_NAME_ARTWORK=      The game artwork license
LICENSE_TEXT_ARTWORK=      The README says that the files cannot be redistributed
LICENSE_PERMS_ARTWORK=     pkg-mirror pkg-sell auto-accept
LICENSE_DISTFILES_BSD3CLAUSE=   ${DISTNAME}${EXTRACT_SUFX}
LICENSE_DISTFILES_ARTWORK= artwork.zip

Set to multi if all licenses apply. Set to dual if any license applies. Defaults to single.

LICENSE=	ART10 GPLv1
LICENSE_COMB=   dual

LICENSE=	ART10 GPLv1
LICENSE_COMB=   dual
LICENSE_FILE_ART10=     ${WRKSRC}/Artistic
LICENSE_FILE_GPLv1=     ${WRKSRC}/Copying

LICENSE=	GPLv2 LGPL21+
LICENSE_COMB=	multi

This variable specifies the shared libraries this port depends on. It is a list of lib:dir tuples where lib is the name of the shared library, dir is the directory in which to find it in case it is not available. For example,

LIB_DEPENDS=   libjpeg.so:graphics/jpeg

will check for a shared jpeg library with any version, and descend into the graphics/jpeg subdirectory of the ports tree to build and install it if it is not found.

The dependency is checked twice, once from within the build target and then from within the install target. Also, the name of the dependency is put into the package so that pkg install (see pkg-install(8)) will automatically install it if it is not on the user's system.

This variable specifies executables or files this port depends on during run-time. It is a list of path:dir[:target] tuples where path is the name of the executable or file, dir is the directory in which to find it in case it is not available, and target is the target to call in that directory. 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 search path.

For example,

RUN_DEPENDS=	${LOCALBASE}/news/bin/innd:news/inn \
		xmlcatmgr:textproc/xmlcatmgr

will check if the file or directory /usr/local/news/bin/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 xmlcatmgr is in the search path, and descend into textproc/xmlcatmgr to build and install it if it is not found.

/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin

The dependency is checked from within the install target. Also, the name of the dependency is put into the package so that pkg install (see pkg-install(8)) will automatically install it if it is not on the user's system. The target part can be omitted if it is the same as DEPENDS_TARGET.

A quite common situation is when RUN_DEPENDS is literally the same as BUILD_DEPENDS, especially if ported software is written in a scripted language or if it requires the same build and run-time environment. In this case, it is both tempting and intuitive to directly assign one to the other:

RUN_DEPENDS=	${BUILD_DEPENDS}

However, such assignment can pollute run-time dependencies with entries not defined in the port's original BUILD_DEPENDS. This happens because of make(1)'s lazy evaluation of variable assignment. Consider a Makefile with USE_*, which are processed by ports/Mk/bsd.*.mk to augment initial build dependencies. For example, USES= gmake adds devel/gmake to BUILD_DEPENDS. To prevent such additional dependencies from polluting RUN_DEPENDS, create another variable with the current content of BUILD_DEPENDS and assign it to both BUILD_DEPENDS and RUN_DEPENDS:

MY_DEPENDS=	some:devel/some \
		other:lang/other
BUILD_DEPENDS=	${MY_DEPENDS}
RUN_DEPENDS=	${MY_DEPENDS}

This variable specifies executables or files this port requires to build. Like RUN_DEPENDS, it is a list of path:dir[:target] tuples. For example,

BUILD_DEPENDS=	unzip:archivers/unzip

will check for an executable called unzip, and descend into the archivers/unzip subdirectory of the ports tree to build and install it if it is not found.

This variable specifies executables or files this port requires to fetch. Like the previous two, it is a list of path:dir[:target] tuples. For example,

FETCH_DEPENDS=	ncftp2:net/ncftp2

will check for an executable called ncftp2, and descend into the net/ncftp2 subdirectory of the ports tree to build and install it if it is not found.

The dependency is checked from within the fetch target. The target part can be omitted if it is the same as DEPENDS_TARGET.

This variable specifies executables or files this port requires for extraction. Like the previous, it is a list of path:dir[:target] tuples. For example,

EXTRACT_DEPENDS=	unzip:archivers/unzip

will check for an executable called unzip, and descend into the archivers/unzip subdirectory of the ports tree to build and install it if it is not found.

The dependency is checked from within the extract target. The target part can be omitted if it is the same as DEPENDS_TARGET.

This variable specifies executables or files this port requires to patch. Like the previous, it is a list of path:dir[:target] tuples. For example,

PATCH_DEPENDS=	${NONEXISTENT}:java/jfc:extract

will descend into the java/jfc subdirectory of the ports tree to extract it.

The dependency is checked from within the patch target. The target part can be omitted if it is the same as DEPENDS_TARGET.

Parameters can be added to define different features and dependencies used by the port. They are specified by adding this line to the Makefile:

USES= feature[:arguments]

For the complete list of values, please see Chapter 16, Using USES Macros.

Several variables exist to define common dependencies shared by many ports. Their use is optional, but helps to reduce the verbosity of the port Makefiles. Each of them is styled as USE_*. These variables may be used only in the port Makefiles and ports/Mk/bsd.*.mk. They are not meant for user-settable options — use PORT_OPTIONS for that purpose.

USE_GCC=X.Y

Variables related to gmake and configure are described in Section 6.5, “Building Mechanisms”, while autoconf, automake and libtool are described in Section 6.6, “Using GNU Autotools”. Perl related variables are described in Section 6.8, “Using Perl”. X11 variables are listed in Section 6.9, “Using X11”. Section 6.10, “Using GNOME” deals with GNOME and Section 6.13, “Using KDE” with KDE related variables. Section 6.15, “Using Java” documents Java variables, while Section 6.16, “Web Applications, Apache and PHP” contains information on Apache, PHP and PEAR modules. Python is discussed in Section 6.17, “Using Python”, while Ruby in Section 6.20, “Using Ruby”. Section 6.21, “Using SDL” provides variables used for SDL applications and finally, Section 6.25, “Using Xfce” contains information on Xfce.

A minimal version of a dependency can be specified in any *_DEPENDS except LIB_DEPENDS using this syntax:

p5-Spiffy>=0.26:devel/p5-Spiffy

The first field contains a dependent package name, which must match the entry in the package database, a comparison sign, and a package version. The dependency is satisfied if p5-Spiffy-0.26 or newer is installed on the machine.

As mentioned above, the default target to call when a dependency is required is DEPENDS_TARGET. It defaults to install. This is a user variable; it is never defined in a port's Makefile. If the port needs a special way to handle a dependency, use the :target part of *_DEPENDS instead of redefining DEPENDS_TARGET.

When running make clean, the port dependencies are automatically cleaned too. If this is not desirable, define NOCLEANDEPENDS in the environment. This may be particularly desirable if the port has something that takes a long time to rebuild in its dependency list, such as KDE, GNOME or Mozilla.

To depend on another port unconditionally, use the variable ${NONEXISTENT} as the first field of BUILD_DEPENDS or RUN_DEPENDS. Use this only when the source of the other port is needed. Compilation time can be saved by specifying the target too. For instance

BUILD_DEPENDS=	${NONEXISTENT}:graphics/jpeg:extract

will always descend to the jpeg port and extract it.

The ports building technology does not tolerate circular dependencies. If one is introduced, someone, somewhere in the world, will have their FreeBSD installation broken almost immediately, with many others quickly to follow. These can really be hard to detect. If in doubt, before making that change, make sure to run: cd /usr/ports; make index. That process can be quite slow on older machines, but it may be able to save a large number of people, including yourself, a lot of grief in the process.

Dependencies must be declared either explicitly or by using the OPTIONS framework. Using other methods like automatic detection complicates indexing, which causes problems for port and package management.

.include <bsd.port.pre.mk>

.if exists(${LOCALBASE}/bin/foo)
LIB_DEPENDS=	libbar.so:foo/bar
.endif

The problem with trying to automatically add dependencies is that files and settings outside an individual port can change at any time. For example: an index is built, then a batch of ports are installed. But one of the ports installs the tested file. The index is now incorrect, because an installed port unexpectedly has a new dependency. The index may still be wrong even after rebuilding if other ports also determine their need for dependencies based on the existence of other files.

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	BAR
BAR_DESC=	Calling cellphones via bar

BAR_LIB_DEPENDS=	libbar.so:foo/bar

Testing option variables is the correct method. It will not cause inconsistencies in the index of a batch of ports, provided the options were defined prior to the index build. Simple scripts can then be used to automate the building, installation, and updating of these ports and their packages.

USE_* are set by the port maintainer to define software on which this port depends. A port that needs Firefox would set

USE_FIREFOX=	yes

Some USE_* can accept version numbers or other parameters. For example, a port that requires Apache 2.2 would set

USE_APACHE=	22

For more control over dependencies in some cases, WANT_* are available to more precisely specify what is needed. For example, consider the mail/squirrelmail port. This port needs some PHP modules, which are listed in USE_PHP:

USE_PHP=	session mhash gettext mbstring pcre openssl xml

Those modules may be available in CLI or web versions, so the web version is selected with WANT_*:

WANT_PHP_WEB=	yes

Available USE_* and WANT_* are defined in the files in /usr/ports/Mk.

When using a GNU configure script, keep an eye on which optional features are activated by auto-detection. Explicitly disable optional features that are not needed by adding --without-xxx or --disable-xxx in CONFIGURE_ARGS.

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MFOO}
LIB_DEPENDS+=		libfoo.so:devel/foo
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--enable-foo
.endif

In the example above, imagine a library libfoo is installed on the system. The user does not want this application to use libfoo, so he toggled the option off in the make config dialog. But the application's configure script detects the library present in the system and includes its support in the resulting executable. Now when the user decides to remove libfoo from the system, the ports system does not protest (no dependency on libfoo was recorded) but the application breaks.

FOO_LIB_DEPENDS=		libfoo.so:devel/foo
# Will add --enable-foo / --disable-foo
FOO_CONFIGURE_ENABLE=	foo

.if !empty(VARIABLE:MVALUE)

.if ${VARIABLE:MVALUE}

There are some macros to help simplify conditional values which differ based on the options set.

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPTIONS_SUB=	yes

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
PLIST_SUB+=	OPT1="" NO_OPT1="@comment "
SUB_LIST+=	OPT1="" NO_OPT1="@comment "
.else
PLIST_SUB+=	OPT1="@comment " NO_OPT1=""
SUB_LIST+=	OPT1="@comment " NO_OPT1=""
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_USE=	mysql=yes xorg=x11,xextproto,xext,xrandr
OPT1_USE_OFF=	openssl=yes

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
USE_MYSQL=	yes
USE_XORG=	x11 xextproto xext xrandr
.else
USE_OPENSSL=	yes
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2
OPT1_CONFIGURE_ENABLE=	test1 test2
OPT2_CONFIGURE_ENABLE=	test2=exhaustive

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--enable-test1 --enable-test2
.else
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--disable-test1 --disable-test2
.endif

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT2}
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--enable-test2=exhaustive
.else
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--disable-test2
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2
OPT1_CONFIGURE_WITH=	test1
OPT2_CONFIGURE_WITH=	test2=exhaustive

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--with-test1
.else
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--without-test1
.endif

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT2}
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--with-test2=exhaustive
.else
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--without-test2
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_CONFIGURE_ON=	--add-test
OPT1_CONFIGURE_OFF=	--no-test

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--add-test
.else
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--no-test
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_CMAKE_ON=	-DTEST:BOOL=true -DDEBUG:BOOL=true
OPT1_CMAKE_OFF=	-DOPTIMIZE:BOOL=true

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-DTEST:BOOL=true -DDEBUG:BOOL=true
.else
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-DOPTIMIZE:BOOL=true
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_CMAKE_BOOL=	TEST DEBUG
OPT1_CMAKE_BOOL_OFF=	OPTIMIZE

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-DTEST:BOOL=true -DDEBUG:BOOL=true \
		-DOPTIMIZE:BOOL=false
.else
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-DTEST:BOOL=false -DDEBUG:BOOL=false \
		-DOPTIMIZE:BOOL=true
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_MESON_ON=	-Dopt=1
OPT1_MESON_OFF=	-Dopt=2

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
MESON_ARGS+=	-Dopt=1
.else
MESON_ARGS+=	-Dopt=2
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_MESON_TRUE=	test debug
OPT1_MESON_FALSE=	optimize

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-Dtest=true -Ddebug=true \
		-Doptimize=false
.else
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-Dtest=false -Ddebug=false \
		-Doptimize=true
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_MESON_YES=	test debug
OPT1_MESON_NO=	optimize

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-Dtest=yes -Ddebug=yes \
		-Doptimize=no
.else
CMAKE_ARGS+=	-Dtest=no -Ddebug=no \
		-Doptimize=yes
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_QMAKE_ON=	-DTEST:BOOL=true
OPT1_QMAKE_OFF=	-DPRODUCTION:BOOL=true

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
QMAKE_ARGS+=	-DTEST:BOOL=true
.else
QMAKE_ARGS+=	-DPRODUCTION:BOOL=true
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2
OPT1_IMPLIES=	OPT2

OPT1_CONFIGURE_ENABLE=	opt1
OPT2_CONFIGURE_ENABLE=	opt2

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--enable-opt1
.else
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--disable-opt1
.endif

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT2} || ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--enable-opt2
.else
CONFIGURE_ARGS+=	--disable-opt2
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	X11 GNOME
OPTIONS_DEFAULT=	X11

X11_USE=	xorg=xi,xextproto
GNOME_USE=	gnome=gtk30
GNOME_IMPLIES=	X11

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2
OPT1_PREVENTS=	OPT2
OPT1_PREVENTS_MSG=	OPT1 and OPT2 enable conflicting options

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT2} && ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
BROKEN=	Option OPT1 conflicts with OPT2 (select only one)
.endif

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	X509 SCTP

SCTP_PATCHFILES=	${PORTNAME}-6.8p1-sctp-2573.patch.gz:-p1
SCTP_CONFIGURE_WITH=	sctp

X509_PATCH_SITES=	http://www.roumenpetrov.info/openssh/x509/:x509
X509_PATCHFILES=	${PORTNAME}-7.0p1+x509-8.5.diff.gz:-p1:x509
X509_PREVENTS=		SCTP
X509_PREVENTS_MSG=	X509 and SCTP patches conflict

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2 OPT3
OPT1_VARS=	also_build+=bin1
OPT2_VARS=	also_build+=bin2
OPT3_VARS=	bin3_build=yes
OPT3_VARS_OFF=	bin3_build=no

MAKE_ARGS=	ALSO_BUILD="${ALSO_BUILD}" BIN3_BUILD="${BIN3_BUILD}"

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1 OPT2

MAKE_ARGS=	ALSO_BUILD="${ALSO_BUILD}" BIN3_BUILD="${BIN3_BUILD}"

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
ALSO_BUILD+=	bin1
.endif

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT2}
ALSO_BUILD+=	bin2
.endif

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT2}
BIN3_BUILD=	yes
.else
BIN3_BUILD=	no
.endif

OPT_VARS=	foo="bar baz"

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1
OPT1_LIB_DEPENDS=	liba.so:devel/a
OPT1_LIB_DEPENDS_OFF=	libb.so:devel/b

OPTIONS_DEFINE=	OPT1

.include <bsd.port.options.mk>

.if ${PORT_OPTIONS:MOPT1}
LIB_DEPENDS+=	liba.so:devel/a
.else
LIB_DEPENDS+=	libb.so:devel/b
.endif