backward-cpp 1.6 wasn't compatible with the latest version of binutils
(which we are using). This is now fixed upstream, but it forces us to
build with the latest commit and not a published version.
Serenity has software patched to run on it.
These shell scripts will allow you to build that sort of software, easily.
Note that you must have already built Serenity, and be in a Serenity build
environment.
Third party ports might need additional dependencies from another location.
In this case, you can point the SERENITY_PORT_DIRS variable to a local ports directory.
Each port has a script called package.sh which defines a name and version,
its dependencies, the required files that will be downloaded as well as
configuration/compilation options, and some other things (see
Writing ports scripts for details).
To install a certain port, cd into its directory and run ./package.sh
To install all available ports, run the build_all.sh script in this
directory. Pass clean as first argument to remove old build files
beforehand.
To reinstall all currently installed ports, run the build_installed.sh
script in this directory. This is sometimes required when LibC changes, for
example. Pass clean as first argument to remove old build files beforehand.
Installed ports are being tracked in Build/x86_64/Root/usr/Ports/packages.db (a simple text file).
You can delete this file at any time, in fact it must be edited or removed
when clearing the build directory as port dependencies may not be installed
again otherwise.
Not giving an option is equivalent to installdepends, fetch, patch,
configure, build and install, in that order. This is recommended for a
regular install.
Options
The following options are available:
fetch
By default, download, verify, and extract the port's files.
patch
Apply the port's patches (patches/*.patch). A file .foo_applied is created
in workdir upon success to ensure a certain patch is only
applied once.
Remove the port's files from the Serenity build directory, if it has a plist
file.
dev
Start a development session with guided patch importing.
This mode has a bunch of nice features:
Drops the user in a git repository backed by another (local) git repository
that acts as the "clean", patched version of the port that is ready to be built
The "remote" repository can be pushed to, pulled from and generally anything that
you'd want to do with a remote repo.
After leaving the dev shell, all patches are updated and the user will be prompted
whether they wish to generate a new patch readme file.
This mode takes an extra --no-depends option, that if given, will cause the dependency
fetch and build steps to be skipped.
This mode can also assist in migrating old patches to new versions through a guided
semi-automated process.
--auto
Same as no option, but mark the port as having been installed automatically.
This is used for dependencies.
Writing ports scripts
The package.sh file is a simple Bash script that's required for each port.
Patches and other files are optional. The most basic version of such a port
script simply defines some well-known variables and looks like this:
Most ports use sig as .asc files are widely available.
This has to be specified in order for lint-ports to pass.
If no signature or hash is provided by the author of the files, just create the
hash yourself by calling sha256sum on the downloaded file and specifying the
hash along with the files.
configopts
Options passed to the port's configscript in the default
configure function.
--host=x86_64-pc-serenity is always passed, override the configure function
if that's undesirable.
use_fresh_config_sub
Boolean option (false by default), will replace the config.sub pointed to by
config_sub_path as part of the patching process if set to true.
config_sub_paths
Paths to the config.sub files used by autoconf, starting at $workdir.
This is set to (config.sub) by default.
configscript
Name of the script that will be run in the default configure function when
useconfigure is true.
Defaults to configure.
depends
An array of other SerenityOS ports the port depends on and which will be
installed during the installdepends step.
For example:
depends=("ncurses""gettext")
files
A list of external files required by the port, one per line. The format of each
line is as follows:
URL NAME HASH
Where URL is the URL from where the file will be downloaded (using curl),
NAME is the output name of the downloaded file, and HASH is an optional
MD5, SHA1, or SHA256 hash that will be used for verification when
auth_type is set to either of those hash functions.
If a file is a compressed tar archive, a gzip compressed file or a zip
compressed file, it will be extracted.
If a file is an .asc file (PGP signature) it will be imported into gpg's
keyring and can later be used for verification using auth_opts.
icon_file
The file to use for the port launcher icon. The icon file is assumed to have a
16x16 as well as a 32x32 layer.
installopts
Options passed to make install in the default install function.
DESTDIR="${SERENITY_INSTALL_ROOT}" ("${SERENITY_SOURCE_DIR}/Build/${SERENITY_ARCH}/Root")
is always passed, override the install function if that's undesirable.
makeopts
Options passed to make in the default build function.
Defaults to -j$(nproc).
patchlevel
The value for patch's -p / --strip option, see man patch for details.
Defaults to 1.
port
The "package name" of the port, usually the same as the directory this script
is placed in.
prefix
The location of the ports directory, only used for the package.db file for
now. Don't override this in ports contributed to Serenity.
Defaults to $SERENITY_SOURCE_DIR/Ports.
useconfigure
The configure step will run pre_configure and configure when this is set
to true, and simply skip them otherwise.
Defaults to false.
version
The version of the port. Written to package.db, and usually used with
variable interpolation in files where the version is part of the
filename.
workdir
The working directory used for executing other commands via run as well as
cleanup. Usually the directory name of the unpacked source archive.
Defaults to $port-$version.
Functions
The various steps of the port installation process are split into individual
Bash functions, some of which can be overridden to provide custom behavior,
like this:
build(){
run mybuildtool --foo --bar
}
The following can be overridden, the names should be self-explanatory as they
mostly match the available options:
pre_fetch
post_fetch
pre_patch
pre_configure
configure
post_configure
build
pre_install
install
post_install
clean
clean_dist
clean_all
A few (non-overridable) util functions are available as well:
Add new ports - just get the software to build and add the necessary patches
and package.sh script
Update an existing port: bumping its version, getting functionality to work
that wasn't available so far etc. Make sure to update the patches
accordingly.
Some videos of Andreas adding new ports can be found on YouTube, they might
help you understand how this usually works: