5.2. Overview of Software Installation

The typical steps for installing third-party software on a UNIX® system include:

  1. Find and download the software, which might be distributed in source code format or as a binary.

  2. Unpack the software from its distribution format. This is typically a tarball compressed with compress(1), gzip(1), or bzip2(1).

  3. Locate the documentation in INSTALL, README or some file in a doc/ subdirectory and read up on how to install the software.

  4. If the software was distributed in source format, compile it. This may involve editing a Makefile or running a configure script.

  5. Test and install the software.

If the software package was not deliberately ported, or tested to work, on FreeBSD, the source code may need editing in order for it to install and run properly. At the time of this writing, over 24,000 third-party applications have been ported to FreeBSD.

A FreeBSD package contains pre-compiled copies of all the commands for an application, as well as any configuration files and documentation. A package can be manipulated with the pkg commands, such as pkg install.

A FreeBSD port is a collection of files designed to automate the process of compiling an application from source code. The files that comprise a port contain all the necessary information to automatically download, extract, patch, compile, and install the application.

The ports system can also be used to generate packages which can be manipulated with the FreeBSD package management commands.

Both packages and ports understand dependencies. If a package or port is used to install an application and a dependent library is not already installed, the library will automatically be installed first.

While the two technologies are similar, packages and ports each have their own strengths. Select the technology that meets your requirements for installing a particular application.

Package Benefits
Port Benefits

To keep track of updated ports, subscribe to the FreeBSD ports mailing list and the FreeBSD ports bugs mailing list.

Warning:

Before installing any application, check http://vuxml.freebsd.org/ for security issues related to the application or type pkg audit -F to check all installed applications for known vulnerabilities.

The remainder of this chapter explains how to use packages and ports to install and manage third-party software on FreeBSD.

All FreeBSD documents are available for download at http://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/doc/

Questions that are not answered by the documentation may be sent to <[email protected]>.
Send questions about this document to <[email protected]>.