The ports collection does not go through the same thorough security audit that is performed on the OpenBSD base system. Although we strive to keep the quality of the packages high, we just do not have enough resources to ensure the same level of robustness and security.
The OpenBSD ports team considers packages to be the goal of their porting work, not the ports themselves. In general, you are advised to use packages over building an application from ports. Security updates are the exception to this rule, as they are only available via ports. Binary packages for -release and -stable are not updated.
Packages can be easily managed with the help of several utilities:
Packages look like simple .tgz bundles. Basically they are just that, but there is one crucial difference: they contain some extra packing information. This information is used by pkg_add(1) for several purposes:
An example /etc/installurl might look like this:
If you installed your sets via the internet, the mirror you chose will be set automatically and no further configuration is required. Otherwise, you can create it manually, or specify your preferred location by exporting the PKG_PATH variable as described in the pkg_add(1) manual.https://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD
Multiple mirrors can be specified in the PKG_PATH environment variable, separated by colons:
# export PKG_PATH=scp://user@company-build-server/usr/ports/packages/%a/all:https://trusted-public-server/%m:installpath
To search for any given package name, use the -Q flag of pkg_info(1).
Another way to find what you're looking for is with the pkglocate command, available from the pkglocatedb package.$ pkg_info -Q unzip lunzip-1.8 unzip-6.0p9 unzip-6.0p9-iconv
If you're looking for a specific filename, it can be used to find which package(s) contain that file.$ pkglocate mutool mupdf-1.11p1-js:textproc/mupdf,js:/usr/local/bin/mutool mupdf-1.11p1-js:textproc/mupdf,js:/usr/local/man/man1/mutool.1 mupdf-1.11p1:textproc/mupdf:/usr/local/bin/mutool mupdf-1.11p1:textproc/mupdf:/usr/local/man/man1/mutool.1
You will notice that certain packages are available in a few different varieties -- these are called flavors. The ports FAQ explains flavors in detail, but it basically means they're configured with different sets of options. For example, a package might have optional database support, support for systems without X11, etc. Some packages are also divided into subpackages that may be installed separately.
Not all possible packages are necessarily available on the mirror servers. Some applications simply don't work on all architectures. Some applications cannot be distributed via mirrors for licensing reasons.
# pkg_add rsync
Ambiguous: choose package for rsync
a 0: <None>
1: rsync-3.1.2p0
2: rsync-3.1.2p0-iconv
Your choice:
It is possible to specify multiple package names on one line, which then all get installed at once, along with their dependencies. You may also specify the absolute location of a package, be it a local file or remote URL. Supported URL prefixes are http, https, ftp and scp.
For some packages, important additional information will be given about the configuration or use of the application.
Additionally, some packages provide configuration and other information in a file located in /usr/local/share/doc/pkg-readmes.# pkg_add jove jove-4.16.0.73p0: ok --- +jove-4.16.0.73p0 ------------------- See /usr/local/share/jove/README about changes to /etc/rc or /etc/rc.local so that the system recovers jove files on reboot after a system crash
For your safety, if you are installing a package which you had installed earlier and removed, configuration files which have been modified will not be overwritten. The same is true for when you upgrade a package.
Sometimes you may encounter an error like the one in the following example:
The packing information bundled in the package includes information about shared libraries that the package expects to be installed. If one of the required libraries can't be found, the package is not installed because it would not function anyway.# pkg_add xv quirks-2.367 signed on 2017-10-03T11:21:28Z xv-3.10ap4:jpeg-6bp3: ok xv-3.10ap4:png-1.2.14p0: ok xv-3.10ap4:tiff-3.8.2p0: ok Can't install xv-3.10ap15 because of libraries |library X11.16.1 not found | not found anywhere Direct dependencies for xv-3.10ap15 resolve to png-1.6.31 jasper-1.900.1p5 tiff-4.0.8p1 jpeg-1.5.1p0v0 Full dependency tree is png-1.6.31 tiff-4.0.8p1 jasper-1.900.1p5 jpeg-1.5.1p0v0
There are several things to check:
When a package has dependencies, they are also examined for updates. Invoking pkg_add(1) with only the -u flag will try to update all installed packages. This is highly recommended over updating individual packages on their own. A mirror must be properly configured for this to work.# pkg_add -u unzip unzip-5.52->unzip-5.52p0: ok Read shared items: ok
Again, modified configuration files will not be removed. Unneeded dependencies can be trimmed by running pkg_delete -a at any time.# pkg_delete screen screen-4.0.3p6: ok Read shared items: ok
Copy the "list" file over to the other machine and run:$ pkg_info -mz | tee list abcde-- mpv-- python--%3.6 vim--no_x11
Every package specification has a flavor (-- being the default) appended to its name, and packages that co-exist in several versions also have branch information. In this case, subsequent pkg_add(1) commands will select the current python package of the 3.6 version branch.# pkg_add -l list
More dire system failures, such as file system issues, may lead to /var/db/pkg becoming corrupted or inconsistent.
The pkg_check(8) utility can help clean things up.