Notes - FreeBSD Tips

Redirecting or deleting port/package dependencies

This assumes you are managing your ports with one of the tools that reads /usr/local/etc/pkgtools.conf (e.g. portupgrade).

This won't prevent make from pulling independencies unless you define NO_DEPENDS (e.g. in /etc/make.conf).

Inside the ALT_PKGDEP section, map each port you want redirected to it's target. To delete dependencies, use :delete as the target. For example:

  ALT_PKGDEP = {
        'textproc/libxml' => 'textproc/libxml2',
        'devel/ORBit' => 'devel/ORBit2',
        'graphics/imlib' => 'graphics/imlib2',
        'textproc/ispell' => 'textproc/aspell',
        'media/gnome-media' => :delete, #gnome meta-ports won't pull this in
        'media/gstreamer' => :delete,
  }

Some libraries can't be redirected like this - for example, some GTK1.x programs will not build with GTK2.x. Remember, this only redirects the dependencies that portupgrade (et al) use when installing or upgrading ports. It won't remove existing ports or prevent you from installing the old ones directly.

Cutting down the buildkernel (and modules) time

First of all, create a custom kernel config and get rid of stuff you won't be using. I recommend building a GENERIC kernel as well as your custom one just in case.

Removing items from the kernel config won't stop make buildkernel from creating them as modules though. To stop the modules from being made.

• ls -l /boot/kernel/*.ko | sort +4
• Starting with the largest files, check what they are in the man pages (e.g. "man nve" for "if_nve.ko") to see if you need them.
• The largest modules are usually the ones which take the longest to build. They are almost all drivers for wireless interfaces you don't have or scsi cards you don't have. Occasionally they will be ethernet cards you don't have.
• Add the modules you don't need to WITHOUT_MODULES in /etc/make.conf or whatever is included when you build your kernel. If in doubt about a particular module, don't add it to the list. In particular, don't add the base wireless or ethernet modules to the list, even if you don't have a wireless or ethernet card to use.

Keeping the locate database sane

Put any directories which you DON'T want scanned for locate(1) in the PRUNEPATHS var in /etc/locate.rc - for example:

PRUNEPATHS="/tmp /usr/tmp /var/tmp /var/db/portsnap /scratch"

Filesystems which are not of the type specified in /etc/locate.rc will not be scanned either.

Quick guide to tracking/updating FreeBSD-STABLE

# csup stable-supfile
# cd /usr/src
# rm -rf /usr/opt/*
# make buildworld
# make buildkernel KERNCONF=MYKERNEL
# make installkernel KERNCONF=MYKERNEL
   - (must reboot into single user mode with new kernel)
# mergemaster -p
# make installworld
# mergemaster
   - (get rid of /var/run/temproot when done merging)
   - (reboot into multi-user mode)

• You *must* complete the mergemaster steps before moving on. If you skip any files you must rerun mergemaster or merge manually before proceeding to the next step in the process.
• When you reboot into single user, remember you may need to fsck, mount -a, turn swapping on if it will be needed, etc.
• If using an option to buildworld you must give it to installworld too. For example:

      make -DNOPROFILE buildworld
      ...
      make -DNOPROFILE installworld
        

• Check the mailing lists, usr/src/updating, etc for any potential issues
• If building across version boundaries (e.g. -PRERELEASE tags), you may need to mergemaster -p before building world. Check UPDATING.

Saving dump (backup) space: You won't need to dump /usr/src (unless you have modified source, in which case you should have it in version control anyway) and you won't need /usr/obj at all, since it's built from src. On my system they take up more than the rest of /usr including home directories, so setting "chflags nodump" makes a big difference to the number of backup volumes I need.

Once-off Live FileSystem Dumps

 dump -0 -L -a [-f file or -p pipe] fsmountpoint

Random Hints for port authors/maintainers

• If a daemon is part of the port, install it but make it *DISABLED* by default. You could even put a foobard_enable="no" at the bottom of /etc/rc.conf.
• If you have many build options, or some pretty important ones, stop and tell the user *BEFORE* the start of build (with a pause so they can abort and restart)
• Make (pun!) use of the config/showconfig targets.

Most importantly, TELL THE USER ABOUT IT. And not somewhere in the middle of the build process where it's going to be missed. Do it at the start with a pause for config/build options, and at the end for defaults and post-install configuration.

Getting apache/php/perl slave ports to work