PKG_CREATE(1) BSD Reference Manual PKG_CREATE(1)NAMEpkg_create - create software package distributions
SYNOPSISpkg_create [-OZhv] [-P dpkgs] [-C cpkgs] [-e emulation] [-p prefix]
[-i iscript] [-k dscript] [-r rscript] [-s fake-prefix]
[-S fake-base] [-t template] [-X excludefile] [-D displayfile]
[-m mtreefile] -c comment -d description -f packlist pkg-name
DESCRIPTION
The pkg_create command is used to create packages that will subsequently
be fed to one of the package extraction/info utilities. The input
description and command line arguments for the creation of a package are
not really meant to be human-generated, though it is easy enough to do
so. It is more expected that you will use a front-end tool for the job
rather than muddling through it yourself. Nonetheless, a short descrip-
tion of the input syntax is included in this document.
The options are as follows:
-f packinglist
Fetch "packing list" for package from the file packinglist or
stdin if packinglist is a dash "-".
-c [-]desc
Fetch package "one line description" from file desc or, if pre-
ceded by "-", the argument itself. This string should also give
some idea of which version of the product (if any) the package
represents.
-d [-]desc
Fetch long description for package from file desc or, if preceded
by "-", the argument itself.
-Y Assume a default answer of "Yes" for any questions asked.
-N Assume a default answer of "No" for any questions asked.
-O Go into a "packing list only" mode. This is used to do "fake
pkg_add" operations when a package is installed. In such cases,
it is necessary to know what the final, adjusted packing list
will look like.
-v Turn on verbose output.
-h Force tar to follow symbolic links, so that the files they point
to are dumped, rather than the links themselves.
-i iscript
Set iscript to be the install procedure for the package. This can
be any executable program (or shell script). It will be invoked
automatically when the package is later installed.
-P dpkgs
Set the initial package dependency list to dpkgs. This is assumed
to be a whitespace separated list of package names and is meant
as a convenient shorthand for specifying multiple @pkgdep direc-
tives in the packing list (see PACKING LIST DETAILS section
below).
-C cpkgs
Set the initial package conflict list to cpkgs. This is assumed
to be a whitespace separated list of package names and is meant
as a convenient shorthand for specifying multiple @pkgcfl direc-
tives in the packing list (see PACKING LIST DETAILS section
below).
-e emulation
Set the initial list of required binary emulations to emulation.
This should be a whitespace separated list of emulations and is
meant as a shorthand to specifying one or more @emul directives
in the packing list.
-p prefix
Set prefix as the initial directory "base" to start from in
selecting files for the package, and to record as the base for
installing the package.
-s fake-prefix
Set fake-prefix as the real initial directory to start from in
selecting files for the package.
-S fake-base
Set fake-base as the prefix to prepend to any file to select for
the package.
-k dscript
Set dscript to be the de-install procedure for the package. This
can be any executable program (or shell script). It will be in-
voked automatically when the package is later (if ever) de-
installed.
-r rscript
Set rscript to be the "requirements" procedure for the package.
This can be any executable program (or shell script). It will be
invoked automatically at installation/deinstallation time to
determine whether or not installation/deinstallation should
proceed.
-t template
Use template as the input to mkstemp(3). By default, this is the
string /tmp/instmp.XXXXXX, but it may be necessary to override it
in the situation where space in your /tmp directory is limited.
Be sure to leave some number of "X" characters for mkstemp(3)
to fill in with a unique ID.
-X excludefile
Pass excludefile as a --exclude-from argument to tar when creat-
ing final package. See tar man page (or run tar with --help flag)
for further information on using this flag.
-D displayfile
Display the file (using more(1)) after installing the package.
Useful for things like legal notices on almost-free software,
etc.
-m mtreefile
Run mtree(8) with input from mtreefile before the package is in-
stalled. mtree is invoked as mtree -u -f mtreefile -d -e -p
prefix, where prefix is the name of the first directory named by
a @cwd directive.
-Z Do not try to create SV4CPIO archives.
PACKING LIST DETAILS
The "packing list" format (see -f) is fairly simple, being nothing more
than a single column of filenames to include in the package. Directories
(with a trailing slash) can also be added. They are then created at in-
stallation time and deleted in reverse order upon package deletion.
However, since absolute pathnames are generally a bad idea for a package
that could be installed potentially anywhere, there is another method of
specifying where things are supposed to go and, optionally, what owner-
ship and mode information they should be installed with. This is done by
embedding specialized command sequences in the packing list. Briefly
described, these sequences are:
@cwd directory
Set the internal directory pointer to point to directory. All
subsequent filenames will be assumed relative to this directory.
@src directory
Set the internal directory pointer for creation only to
directory. That is to say that it overrides @cwd for package
creation but not extraction.
@emul Binary emulation (kernel personality) the software needs. Only
necessary for binary-only software. If several binary emulations
are needed, each of them needs to be in a separate @emul command.
@arch, @endfake
Ignored, only exist for the sake of compatibility.
@ldcache value
Specifies whether ldconfig will be called for the directories
that contain libraries (@lib directives). value should be 0 on
static architectures, 1 otherwise. Deprecated, use @option
ldcache et al instead.
@info filename
Special version of the file entry for GNU info files. Automati-
cally includes chapter files (filename-*) and runs
install-info(1) as needed.
@man filename
Special version of the file entry for manpages. For now, no
differences to a normal file entry.
@shell filename
Special version of the file entry for shell binaries. For now, no
differences to a normal file entry.
@lib filename
Special version of the file entry for shared libraries. Automati-
cally adds ldconfig calls at installation and deinstallation time
if they are missing.
@exec command
Execute command as part of the unpacking process. If command con-
tains any of the following sequences somewhere in it, they will
be expanded inline. For the following examples, assume that @cwd
is set to /usr/local and the last extracted file was bin/emacs.
%F Expands to the last filename extracted (as specified); in
the example case, bin/emacs.
%D Expands to the current directory prefix, as set with
@cwd; in the example case /usr/local.
%B Expands to the "basename" of the fully qualified
filename, that is the current directory prefix, plus the
last filespec, minus the trailing filename. In the exam-
ple case, that would be /usr/local/bin.
%f Expands to the "filename" part of the fully qualified
name, or the converse of %B; in the example case, emacs.
@unexec command
Execute command as part of the deinstallation process. Expansion
of special % sequences is the same as for @exec. This command is
not executed during the package add, as @exec is, but rather when
the package is deleted. This is useful for deleting links and
other ancillary files that were created as a result of adding the
package, but not directly known to the package's table of con-
tents (and hence not automatically removable). The advantage of
using @unexec over a deinstallation script is that you can use
the "special sequence expansion" to get at files regardless of
where they've been potentially redirected (see -p).
@mode mode
Set default permission for all subsequently extracted files to
mode. Format is the same as that used by the chmod command (well,
considering that it's later handed off to it, that's no
surprise). Use without an arg to set back to default (extraction)
permissions.
@owner user
Set default ownership for all subsequently extracted files to
user. Use without an arg to set back to default (extraction) own-
ership.
@group group
Set default group ownership for all subsequently extracted files
to group. Use without an arg to set back to default (extraction)
group ownership.
@comment string
Imbed a comment in the packing list. Useful in trying to document
some particularly hairy sequence that may trip someone up later.
@ignore
Used internally to tell extraction to ignore the next file (don't
copy it anywhere), as it's used for some special purpose.
@name name
Set the name of the package. This is mandatory and is usually put
at the top. This name is potentially different than the name of
the file it came in, and is used when keeping track of the pack-
age for later deinstallation. Note that pkg_create will derive
this field from the package name and add it automatically if none
is given.
@dirrm name
Declare directory name to be deleted at deinstall time. By de-
fault, directories created by a package installation are not
deleted when the package is deinstalled; this provides an expli-
cit directory cleanup method. This directive should appear at the
end of the package list. If more than one @dirrm directive is
used, the directories are removed in the order specified. The
name directory will not be removed unless it is empty. If several
packages reference the same directory, it will only be removed
after the last of those packages has been removed.
@extra file
Declare extra file file to be deleted at deinstall time, if user
sets -c option. Those files are extra configuration files that
are normally not deleted. If file ends with a slash, it is a
directory.
@extraunexec command
Extra command to execute when removing extra files.
@sample filename
The preceding file entry is a sample configuration file. It is
copied to filename at pkg_add(1) time if filename does not al-
ready exist. If it exists and is different from the sample, a
warning is printed. If filename ends with a slash, it specifies a
directory to be created instead. At pkg_delete(1) time, the entry
is treated like @extra, i.e. it is only deleted if the -c option
is given to pkg_add.
@mtree name
Declare name as an mtree(8) input file to be used at install time
(see -m above). Only the first @mtree directive is honored.
@display name
Declare name as the file to be displayed at install time (see -D
above).
@pkgdep pkgname
Declare a dependency on the pkgname package. The pkgname package
must be installed before this package may be installed, and this
package must be deinstalled before the pkgname package is dein-
stalled. Multiple @pkgdep directives may be used if the package
depends on multiple other packages.
@pkgcfl pkgcflname
Declare a conflict to the pkgcflname package. The pkgcflname
package must not be installed if pkgname package gets installed
because they install the same files and thus conflict. pkgcflname
may use fnmatch(3) wildcards, csh-style alternates or the opera-
tors <, <=, >, and >=. As an example for the latter,
subversion<1.4 and subversion-<1.4.0-0 are equivalent.
@option name
Effects vary depending on name.
no-default-conflict
By default, a package conflicts with other versions of
the same package. With this option, the older package
version will still be noticed, but the installation will
proceed anyway.
base-package
This is a base package, i.e. one that is so important
that removing it will almost certainly break the system
(for example the pkgtools package). Base packages can
only be removed using the -f option to pkg_delete(1).
dylib Enable support for Darwin-style shared libraries. Shared
library names (@lib) are automatically converted into
dylib names. The links are also automatically added.
gnu-ld Enable support for GNU-style shared libraries, needed for
example under Interix. Automatically adds the library
links to the packing list and execute ldconfig according-
ly.
ldcache
Support for "OpenBSD-style" shared libraries. Automati-
cally execute ldconfig for the shared library directories
during install and uninstall.
static Don't support shared libraries. This is the default if
none of the other options are given.
SEE ALSOpkg_add(1), pkg_delete(1), pkg_info(1), sysconf(3)HISTORY
The pkg_create command first appeared in FreeBSD.
AUTHORS
Jordan Hubbard
most of the work
John Kohl
refined it for NetBSD
Thorsten Glaser
MirOS adaptions.
Benny Siegert
Effort to make the MirOS package tools compatible to the new
perlish OpenBSD package tools by Marc Espie.
BUGS
Hard links between files in a distribution must be bracketed by @cwd
directives in order to be preserved as hard links when the package is ex-
tracted. They additionally must not end up being split between tar invo-
cations due to exec argument-space limitations (this depends on the value
returned by sysconf(_SC_ARG_MAX)).
Sure to be others.
CAVEATS
Since MirOS #8, a patched paxtar is necessary because pkg_create creates
SysV4 CPIO archives with CRC by default, instead of POSIX ustar archives.
Use the -Z parameter to prevent pkg_create from adding -S to tar(1).
This version is mostly compatible with the new OpenBSD package tools.
Some of the new keywords are unsupported and will result in an error mes-
sage from pkg_create.
Using pathnames which contain spaces is unsupported.
MirOS BSD #10-current November 22, 2009 5
