PKGBUILD - Package build description file
This manual page describes general rules about PKGBUILDs. Once a
PKGBUILD is written, the actual package is built using makepkg and installed
with pacman.
Note
An example PKGBUILD, useful for reference, is located in
/usr/share/pacman along with other example files such as an install
script. You can copy the provided PKGBUILD.proto file to a new package build
directory and make customizations to suit your needs.
The following is a list of standard options and directives
available for use in a PKGBUILD. These are all understood and interpreted by
makepkg, and most of them will be directly transferred to the built package.
The mandatory fields for a minimally functional PKGBUILD are pkgname,
pkgver, pkgrel and arch.
If you need to create any custom variables for use in your build
process, it is recommended to prefix their name with an _
(underscore). This will prevent any possible name clashes with internal
makepkg variables. For example, to store the base kernel version in a
variable, use something similar to $_basekernver.
pkgname (array)
Either the name of the package or an array of names for
split packages. Valid characters for members of this array are alphanumerics,
and any of the following characters: “@ . _ + -”. Additionally,
names are not allowed to start with hyphens or dots.
pkgver
The version of the software as released from the author
(e.g.,
2.7.1). The variable is not allowed to contain colons, forward
slashes, hyphens or whitespace.
The pkgver variable can be automatically updated by providing a
pkgver() function in the PKGBUILD that outputs the new package version. This
is run after downloading and extracting the sources and running the
prepare() function (if present), so it can use those files in determining
the new pkgver. This is most useful when used with sources from version
control systems (see below).
pkgrel
This is the release number specific to the distribution.
This allows package maintainers to make updates to the package’s
configure flags, for example. This is typically set to 1 for each new
upstream software release and incremented for intermediate PKGBUILD updates.
The variable is a positive integer, with an optional subrelease level
specified by adding another positive integer separated by a period (i.e. in
the form x.y).
epoch
Used to force the package to be seen as newer than any
previous versions with a lower epoch, even if the version number would
normally not trigger such an upgrade. This value is required to be a positive
integer; the default value if left unspecified is
0. This is useful
when the version numbering scheme of a package changes (or is alphanumeric),
breaking normal version comparison logic. See
pacman(8) for more
information on version comparisons.
pkgdesc
This should be a brief description of the package and its
functionality. Try to keep the description to one line of text and to not use
the package’s name.
url
This field contains a URL that is associated with the
software being packaged. This is typically the project’s web
site.
license (array)
This field specifies the license(s) that apply to the
package. If multiple licenses are applicable, list all of them: license=('GPL'
'FDL').
install
Specifies a special install script that is to be included
in the package. This file should reside in the same directory as the PKGBUILD
and will be copied into the package by makepkg. It does not need to be
included in the source array (e.g., install=$pkgname.install).
changelog
Specifies a changelog file that is to be included in the
package. The changelog file should end in a single newline. This file should
reside in the same directory as the PKGBUILD and will be copied into the
package by makepkg. It does not need to be included in the source array (e.g.,
changelog=$pkgname.changelog).
source (array)
An array of source files required to build the package.
Source files must either reside in the same directory as the PKGBUILD, or be a
fully-qualified URL that makepkg can use to download the file. To simplify the
maintenance of PKGBUILDs, use the $pkgname and $pkgver variables when
specifying the download location, if possible. Compressed files will be
extracted automatically unless found in the noextract array described below.
Additional architecture-specific sources can be added by appending
an underscore and the architecture name e.g., source_x86_64=(). There
must be a corresponding integrity array with checksums, e.g.
cksums_x86_64=().
It is also possible to change the name of the downloaded file,
which is helpful with weird URLs and for handling multiple source files with
the same name. The syntax is: source=('filename::url').
makepkg also supports building developmental versions of packages
using sources downloaded from version control systems (VCS). For more
information, see Using VCS Sources below.
Files in the source array with extensions .sig, .sign or, .asc are
recognized by makepkg as PGP signatures and will be automatically used to
verify the integrity of the corresponding source file.
validpgpkeys (array)
An array of PGP fingerprints. If this array is non-empty,
makepkg will only accept signatures from the keys listed here and will ignore
the trust values from the keyring. If the source file was signed with a
subkey, makepkg will still use the primary key for comparison.
Only full fingerprints are accepted. They must be uppercase and
must not contain whitespace characters.
noextract (array)
An array of file names corresponding to those from the
source array. Files listed here will not be extracted with the rest of the
source files. This is useful for packages that use compressed data
directly.
cksums (array)
This array contains CRC checksums for every source file
specified in the source array (in the same order). makepkg will use this to
verify source file integrity during subsequent builds. If SKIP is put
in the array in place of a normal hash, the integrity check for that source
file will be skipped. To easily generate cksums, run “makepkg -g
>> PKGBUILD”. If desired, move the cksums line to an appropriate
location. Note that checksums generated by "makepkg -g" should be
verified using checksum values provided by the software developer.
md5sums, sha1sums, sha224sums, sha256sums, sha384sums,
sha512sums, b2sums (arrays)
Alternative integrity checks that makepkg supports; these
all behave similar to the cksums option described above. To enable use and
generation of these checksums, be sure to set up the INTEGRITY_CHECK option in
makepkg.conf(5).
groups (array)
An array of symbolic names that represent groups of
packages, allowing you to install multiple packages by requesting a single
target. For example, one could install all KDE packages by installing the
kde group.
arch (array)
Defines on which architectures the given package is
available (e.g., arch=('i686' 'x86_64')). Packages that contain no
architecture specific files should use arch=('any'). Valid characters for
members of this array are alphanumerics and “_”.
backup (array)
An array of file names, without preceding slashes, that
should be backed up if the package is removed or upgraded. This is commonly
used for packages placing configuration files in
/etc. See
"Handling Config Files" in
pacman(8) for more
information.
depends (array)
An array of packages this package depends on to run.
Entries in this list should be surrounded with single quotes and contain at
least the package name. Entries can also include a version requirement of the
form
name<>version, where <> is one of five comparisons:
>= (greater than or equal to), <= (less than or equal to), = (equal to),
> (greater than), or < (less than).
Additional architecture-specific depends can be added by appending
an underscore and the architecture name e.g., depends_x86_64=().
makedepends (array)
An array of packages this package depends on to build but
are not needed at runtime. Packages in this list follow the same format as
depends.
Additional architecture-specific makedepends can be added by
appending an underscore and the architecture name e.g.,
makedepends_x86_64=().
checkdepends (array)
An array of packages this package depends on to run its
test suite but are not needed at runtime. Packages in this list follow the
same format as depends. These dependencies are only considered when the
check() function is present and is to be run by makepkg.
Additional architecture-specific checkdepends can be added by
appending an underscore and the architecture name e.g.,
checkdepends_x86_64=().
optdepends (array)
An array of packages (and accompanying reasons) that are
not essential for base functionality, but may be necessary to make full use of
the contents of this package. optdepends are currently for informational
purposes only and are not utilized by pacman during dependency resolution.
Packages in this list follow the same format as depends, with an optional
description appended. The format for specifying optdepends descriptions is:
optdepends=('python: for library bindings')
Additional architecture-specific optdepends can be added by
appending an underscore and the architecture name e.g.,
optdepends_x86_64=().
conflicts (array)
An array of packages that will conflict with this package
(i.e. they cannot both be installed at the same time). This directive follows
the same format as depends. Versioned conflicts are supported using the
operators as described in depends.
Additional architecture-specific conflicts can be added by
appending an underscore and the architecture name e.g.,
conflicts_x86_64=().
provides (array)
An array of “virtual provisions” this
package provides. This allows a package to provide dependencies other than its
own package name. For example, the dcron package can provide
cron,
which allows packages to depend on
cron rather than
dcron OR
fcron.
Versioned provisions are also possible, in the name=version
format. For example, dcron can provide cron=2.0 to satisfy the
cron>=2.0 dependency of other packages. Provisions involving the
> and < operators are invalid as only specific versions of a package
may be provided.
Additional architecture-specific provides can be added by
appending an underscore and the architecture name e.g.,
provides_x86_64=().
replaces (array)
An array of packages this package should replace. This
can be used to handle renamed/combined packages. For example, if the
j2re package is renamed to
jre, this directive allows future
upgrades to continue as expected even though the package has moved. Versioned
replaces are supported using the operators as described in depends.
Sysupgrade is currently the only pacman operation that utilizes
this field. A normal sync or upgrade will not use its value.
Additional architecture-specific replaces can be added by
appending an underscore and the architecture name e.g.,
replaces_x86_64=().
options (array)
This array allows you to override some of
makepkg’s default behavior when building packages. To set an option,
just include the option name in the options array. To reverse the default
behavior, place an “!” at the front of the option. Only specify
the options you specifically want to override, the rest will be taken from
makepkg.conf(5).
NOTE: force is a now-removed option in
favor of the top level
epoch variable.
strip
Strip symbols from binaries and libraries. If you
frequently use a debugger on programs or libraries, it may be helpful to
disable this option.
docs
Save doc directories. If you wish to delete doc
directories, specify !docs in the array.
libtool
Leave libtool (.la) files in packages. Specify !libtool
to remove them.
staticlibs
Leave static library (.a) files in packages. Specify
!staticlibs to remove them (if they have a shared counterpart).
emptydirs
Leave empty directories in packages.
zipman
Compress man and info pages with gzip.
ccache
Allow the use of ccache during build(). More useful in
its negative form !ccache with select packages that have problems building
with ccache.
distcc
Allow the use of distcc during build(). More useful in
its negative form !distcc with select packages that have problems building
with distcc.
buildflags
Allow the use of user-specific buildflags (CPPFLAGS,
CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, LDFLAGS) during build() as specified in
makepkg.conf(5). More useful in its negative form !buildflags with
select packages that have problems building with custom buildflags.
makeflags
Allow the use of user-specific makeflags during build()
as specified in
makepkg.conf(5). More useful in its negative form
!makeflags with select packages that have problems building with custom
makeflags such as -j2 (or higher).
debug
Add the user-specified debug flags (DEBUG_CFLAGS,
DEBUG_CXXFLAGS) to their counterpart buildflags as specified in
makepkg.conf(5). When used in combination with the
‘strip’ option, a separate package containing the debug symbols
is created.
lto
Enable building packages using link time optimization.
Adds -flto to both CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS.
In addition to the above directives, PKGBUILDs require a set of
functions that provide instructions to build and install the package. As a
minimum, the PKGBUILD must contain a package() function which installs all
the package’s files into the packaging directory, with optional
prepare(), build(), and check() functions being used to create those files
from source.
This is directly sourced and executed by makepkg, so anything that
Bash or the system has available is available for use here. Be sure any
exotic commands used are covered by the makedepends array.
If you create any variables of your own in any of these functions,
it is recommended to use the Bash local keyword to scope the variable to
inside the function.
package() Function
The package() function is used to install files into the
directory that will become the root directory of the built package and is run
after all the optional functions listed below. The packaging stage is run
using fakeroot to ensure correct file permissions in the resulting package.
All other functions will be run as the user calling makepkg. This function is
run inside $srcdir.
verify() Function
An optional verify() function can be specified to
implement arbitrary source authentication. The function should return a
non-zero exit code when verification fails. This function is run before
sources are extracted. This function is run inside $startdir.
prepare() Function
An optional prepare() function can be specified in which
operations to prepare the sources for building, such as patching, are
performed. This function is run after the source extraction and before the
build() function. The prepare() function is skipped when source extraction is
skipped. This function is run inside $srcdir.
build() Function
The optional build() function is used to compile and/or
adjust the source files in preparation to be installed by the package()
function. This function is run inside $srcdir.
check() Function
An optional check() function can be specified in which a
package’s test-suite may be run. This function is run between the
build() and package() functions. Be sure any exotic commands used are covered
by the checkdepends array. This function is run inside $srcdir.
All of the above variables such as $pkgname and $pkgver are
available for use in the packaging functions. In addition, makepkg defines
the following variables:
srcdir
This contains the directory where makepkg extracts, or
copies, all source files.
pkgdir
This contains the directory where makepkg bundles the
installed package. This directory will become the root directory of your built
package. This variable should only be used in the package() function.
startdir
This contains the absolute path to the directory where
the PKGBUILD is located, which is usually the output of $(pwd) when makepkg is
started. Use of this variable is deprecated and strongly discouraged.
makepkg supports building multiple packages from a single
PKGBUILD. This is achieved by assigning an array of package names to the
pkgname directive. Each split package uses a corresponding packaging
function with name package_foo(), where foo is the name of the split
package.
All options and directives for the split packages default to the
global values given in the PKGBUILD. Nevertheless, the following ones can be
overridden within each split package’s packaging function: pkgdesc,
arch, url, license, groups, depends, optdepends, provides, conflicts,
replaces, backup, options, install, and changelog.
Note that makepkg does not consider split package depends when
checking if dependencies are installed before package building and with
--syncdeps. All packages required to make the package are required to be
specified in the global depends and makedepends arrays.
An optional global directive is available when building a split
package:
pkgbase
The name used to refer to the group of packages in the
output of makepkg and in the naming of source-only tarballs. If not specified,
the first element in the pkgname array is used. Valid characters for this
variable are alphanumerics, and any of the following characters: “@ . _
+ -”. Additionally, the variable is not allowed to start with hyphens
or dots.
Pacman has the ability to store and execute a package-specific
script when it installs, removes, or upgrades a package. This allows a
package to configure itself after installation and perform an opposite
action upon removal.
The exact time the script is run varies with each operation, and
should be self-explanatory. Note that during an upgrade operation, none of
the install or remove functions will be called.
Scripts are passed either one or two “full version
strings”, where a full version string is either pkgver-pkgrel
or epoch:pkgver-pkgrel, if epoch is non-zero.
pre_install
Run right before files are extracted. One argument is
passed: new package full version string.
post_install
Run right after files are extracted. One argument is
passed: new package full version string.
pre_upgrade
Run right before files are extracted. Two arguments are
passed in this order: new package full version string, old package full
version string.
post_upgrade
Run after files are extracted. Two arguments are passed
in this order: new package full version string, old package full version
string.
pre_remove
Run right before files are removed. One argument is
passed: old package full version string.
post_remove
Run right after files are removed. One argument is
passed: old package full version string.
To use this feature, create a file such as pkgname.install
and put it in the same directory as the PKGBUILD script. Then use the
install directive:
The install script does not need to be specified in the source
array. A template install file is available in /usr/share/pacman as
proto.install for reference with all of the available functions
defined.
Building a developmental version of a package using sources from a
version control system (VCS) is enabled by specifying the source in the
form:
source=('directory::url#fragment?query')
Currently makepkg supports the Bazaar, Git, Subversion, Fossil and
Mercurial version control systems. For other version control systems, manual
cloning of upstream repositories must be done in the prepare() function.
Some VCS Sources like Git support pinning the checkout by a
checksum of its content using deterministic export functionality like
“git archive”.
The source URL is divided into four components:
directory
(optional) Specifies an alternate directory name for
makepkg to download the VCS source into.
url
The URL to the VCS repository. This must include the VCS
in the URL protocol for makepkg to recognize this as a VCS source. If the
protocol does not include the VCS name, it can be added by prefixing the URL
with vcs+. For example, using a Git repository over HTTPS would have a source
URL in the form: git+https://....
fragment
(optional) Allows specifying a revision number or branch
for makepkg to checkout from the VCS. A fragment has the form type=value, for
example to checkout a given revision the source line would be
source=(url#revision=123). The available types depends on the VCS being used:
bzr
revision (see 'bzr help revisionspec' for details)
fossil
branch, commit, tag
git
branch, commit, tag
hg
branch, revision, tag
svn
revision
query
(optional) Allows specifying whether a VCS checkout
should be checked for PGP-signed revisions. The source line should have the
format source=(url#fragment?signed) or source=(url?signed#fragment). Currently
only supported by Git.
The following is an example PKGBUILD for the patch package.
For more examples, look through the build files of your
distribution’s packages.
# Maintainer: Joe User <joe.user@example.com>
pkgname=patch
pkgver=2.7.1
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="A utility to apply patch files to original sources"
arch=('i686' 'x86_64')
url="https://www.gnu.org/software/patch/patch.html"
license=('GPL')
groups=('base-devel')
depends=('glibc')
makedepends=('ed')
optdepends=('ed: for "patch -e" functionality')
source=("ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/$pkgname/$pkgname-$pkgver.tar.xz"{,.sig})
sha256sums=('9124ba46db0abd873d0995c2ca880e81252676bb6c03e0a37dfc5f608a9b0ceb'
'SKIP')
build() {
cd "$srcdir/$pkgname-$pkgver"
./configure --prefix=/usr
make
}
package() {
cd "$srcdir/$pkgname-$pkgver"
make DESTDIR="$pkgdir/" install
}
Bugs? You must be kidding; there are no bugs in this software. But
if we happen to be wrong, please report them to the issue tracker at
https://gitlab.archlinux.org/pacman/pacman/-/issues with specific
information such as your command-line, the nature of the bug, and even the
package database if it helps.
Current maintainers:
•Allan McRae <allan@archlinux.org>
•Andrew Gregory
<andrew.gregory.8@gmail.com>
•Morgan Adamiec
<morganamilo@archlinux.org>
Past major contributors:
•Judd Vinet <jvinet@zeroflux.org>
•Aurelien Foret
<aurelien@archlinux.org>
•Aaron Griffin <aaron@archlinux.org>
•Dan McGee <dan@archlinux.org>
•Xavier Chantry <shiningxc@gmail.com>
•Nagy Gabor <ngaba@bibl.u-szeged.hu>
•Dave Reisner <dreisner@archlinux.org>
•Eli Schwartz
<eschwartz@archlinux.org>
For additional contributors, use git shortlog -s on the pacman.git
repository.