pkg_create(1)
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PKG_CREATE(1) NetBSD General Commands Manual PKG_CREATE(1)
NAME
pkg_create -- a utility for creating software package distributions
SYNOPSIS
pkg_create [-EhlORUVv] [-B build-info-file] [-b build-version-file]
[-C cpkgs] [-D displayfile] [-I realprefix] [-i iscript]
[-K pkg_dbdir] [-k dscript] [-L SrcDir] [-m mtreefile]
[-n preserve-file] [-P dpkgs] [-p prefix] [-r rscript]
[-S size-all-file] [-s size-pkg-file] [-t template]
[-X excludefile] -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.
OPTIONS
The following command line options are supported:
-B build-info-file
Install the file build-info-file so that users of binary packages
can see what make(1) definitions were used to control the build
when creating the binary package. This allows various build def-
initions to be retained in a binary package and viewed wherever
it is installed, using pkg_info(1).
-b build-version-file
Install the file build-version-file so that users of binary pack-
ages can see what versions of the files used to control the build
were used when creating the binary package. This allows some
fine-grained version control information to be retained in a
binary package and viewed wherever it is installed, using
pkg_info(1).
-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).
-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 displayfile
Display the file after installing the package. Useful for things
like legal notices on almost-free software, etc.
-d [-]desc
Fetch long description for package from file desc or, if preceded
by -, the argument itself.
-E Add an empty views file to the package.
-f packlist
Fetch (packing list) for package from the file packlist or stdin
if packlist is a - (dash).
-h Force tar to follow symbolic links, so that the files they point
to are dumped, rather than the links themselves.
-I realprefix
Provide the real prefix, as opposed to the staging prefix, for
use in staged installations of packages.
-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.
-K pkg_dbdir
Set pkg_dbdir as the package database directory. If this option
isn't specified, then the package database directory is taken
from the value of the environment variable PKG_DBDIR if it's set,
otherwise it defaults to /var/db/pkg.
-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
invoked automatically when the package is later (if ever) de-
installed.
-L SrcDir
This sets the package's @src directive; see below for a descrip-
tion of what this does.
-l Check that any symbolic links which are to be placed in the pack-
age are relative to the current prefix. This means using
unlink(2) and symlink(2) to remove and re-link any symbolic links
which are targeted at full path names.
-m mtreefile
Run mtree(8) with input from mtreefile before the package is
installed. 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.
-n preserve-file
The file is used to denote that the package should not be
deleted. This is intended for use where the deletion of packages
may present a bootstrap problem.
-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.
-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
directives in the packing list (see PACKING LIST DETAILS section
below). In addition, the exact versions of the packages referred
to in the dpkgs list will be added to the packing list in the
form of @blddep directives.
-p prefix
Set prefix as the initial directory (base) to start from in
selecting files for the package.
-R Re-order any directories in the pkg/PLIST file into reverse
alphabetic order, so that child directories will automatically be
removed before parent directories.
-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 pro-
ceed.
-S size-all-file
Store the given file for later querying with the pkg_info(1) -S
flag. The file is expected to contain the size (in bytes) of all
files of this package plus any required packages added up and
stored as a ASCII string, terminated by a newline.
-s size-pkg-file
Store the given file for later querying with the pkg_info(1) -s
flag. The file is expected to contain the size (in bytes) of all
files of this package added up and stored as a ASCII string, ter-
minated by a newline.
-t template
Use template as the input to mktemp(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 mktemp(3) to
fill in with a unique ID.
-U Do not update the package file database with any file informa-
tion.
-V Print version number and exit.
-v Turn on verbose output.
-X excludefile
Pass excludefile as a --exclude-from argument to tar when creat-
ing final package. See tar(1) for further information on using
this flag.
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. However,
since absolute pathnames are generally a bad idea for a package that
could be installed potentially anywhere, there is another method of spec-
ifying where things are supposed to go and, optionally, what ownership
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.
Note: @cd is also an alias for this command.
@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.
@exec command
Execute command as part of the unpacking process. If command
contains 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 Expand to the current directory prefix, as set with @cwd,
in the example case /usr/local.
%B Expand to the (basename) of the fully qualified filename,
that is the current directory prefix, plus the last file-
spec, minus the trailing filename. In the example case,
that would be /usr/local/bin.
%f Expand to the (filename) part of the fully qualified
name, or the converse of %B, being 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 (extrac-
tion) permissions.
@option option
Set internal package options, the only two currently supported
ones being extract-in-place, which tells the pkg_add command not
to extract the package's tarball into a staging area but rather
directly into the target hierarchy (this is typically meant to be
used only by distributions or other special package types), and
preserve, which tells pkg_add to move any existing files out of
the way, preserving the previous contents (which are also resur-
rected on pkg_delete, so caveat emptor).
@owner user
Set default ownership for all subsequently extracted files to
user. Use without an arg to set back to default (extraction)
ownership.
@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 docu-
ment 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.
@ignore_inst
Similar to @ignore, but the ignoring of the next file is delayed
one evaluation cycle. This makes it possible to use this direc-
tive in the packinglist file, so you can pack a specialized
datafile in with a distribution for your install script (or some-
thing) yet have the installer ignore it.
@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
package 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
default, directories created by a package installation are not
deleted when the package is deinstalled; this provides an
explicit directory cleanup method. This directive should appear
at the end of the package list. If more than one @dirrm direc-
tives are used, the directories are removed in the order speci-
fied. The name directory will not be removed unless it is empty.
@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.
@blddep pkgname
Declare that this package was built with the exact version of
pkgname (since the @pkgdep directive may contain wildcards or
relational package version information).
@pkgcfl pkgcflname
Declare a conflict with the pkgcflname package, as the two pack-
ages contain references to the same files, and so cannot co-exist
on the same system.
SEE ALSO
pkg_add(1), pkg_admin(1), pkg_delete(1), pkg_info(1), sysconf(3),
packages(7)
HISTORY
The pkg_create command first appeared in FreeBSD.
AUTHORS
Jordan Hubbard
most of the work
John Kohl
refined it for NetBSD
Hubert Feyrer
NetBSD wildcard dependency processing, pkgdb, pkg size recording
etc.
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
extracted. They additionally must not end up being split between tar
invocations due to exec argument-space limitations (this depends on the
value returned by sysconf(_SC_ARG_MAX)).
NetBSD 4.0 September 2, 2003 NetBSD 4.0
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