How to update Ports Collection in FreeBSD 6.3 & Above

Here is the small tutorial on how to update our ports collection through csup. It would seem bit difficult but believe me its one easy setup.

We need to copy default ports-supfile to our “root” directory before we upgrade our ports with ‘csup’ command. To copy type:

# cp /usr/share/examples/cvsup/ports-supfile /root

Before updating we need to specify which server should our server look for while getting updated ports. There are various servers for FreeBSD updated ports like cvsup2.freebsd.org , cvsup3.freebsd.org and so the list goes on. Here can be found the list of csups around the world.
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/cvsup.html

Now to edit the file which we copied i.e. ports.supfile

# pico ports-supfile

The “*default host” declaration should appear as follows:

*default host=cvsup3.freebsd.org

Now Save and Exit the editor.

Now to update the ports collection with the help of cvsup command:

# csup -g -L 2 /root/ports-supfile

We will now install the Perl programming language so that we can build ports index file.

# cd /usr/ports/lang/perl5.8

# make install clean

# rehash

After installing Perl, update the ports index and README files.

# cd /usr/ports
# make readme && make index

Its done for the most part.

You would want to install port-audit and port-master applications as well.

Port Audit is used for checking vulnerabilities in softwares being installed which will prevent it from installing and will search for patched versions or new ones.

Port Master application is used for updating individual ports WITHOUT breaking dependencies or links to other programs.

For Installing Port-Audit:

# cd /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portaudit

# make install clean

# rehash

You can check for vulnerable softwares which are already installed in your system with the help of this command.

# portaudit -F -a

For Installing Port-Master:
# cd /usr/ports/ports-mgmt/portmaster
# make install clean
# rehash

Thats all for now. Meet you people later with another tutorial. Be sure to Post comments :)