13.13. Marking a Port Not Installable with BROKEN, FORBIDDEN, or IGNORE

In certain cases, users must be prevented from installing a port. There are several variables that can be used in a port's Makefile to tell the user that the port cannot be installed. The value of these make variables will be the reason that is shown to users for why the port refuses to install itself. Please use the correct make variable. Each variable conveys radically different meanings, both to users and to automated systems that depend on Makefiles, such as the ports build cluster, FreshPorts, and portsmon.

13.13.1. Variables

  • BROKEN is reserved for ports that currently do not compile, install, deinstall, or run correctly. Use it for ports where the problem is believed to be temporary.

    If instructed, the build cluster will still attempt to try to build them to see if the underlying problem has been resolved. (However, in general, the cluster is run without this.)

    For instance, use BROKEN when a port:

    • does not compile

    • fails its configuration or installation process

    • installs files outside of ${PREFIX}

    • does not remove all its files cleanly upon deinstall (however, it may be acceptable, and desirable, for the port to leave user-modified files behind)

    • has runtime issues on systems where it is supposed to run fine.

  • FORBIDDEN is used for ports that contain a security vulnerability or induce grave concern regarding the security of a FreeBSD system with a given port installed (for example, a reputably insecure program or a program that provides easily exploitable services). Mark ports as FORBIDDEN as soon as a particular piece of software has a vulnerability and there is no released upgrade. Ideally upgrade ports as soon as possible when a security vulnerability is discovered so as to reduce the number of vulnerable FreeBSD hosts (we like being known for being secure), however sometimes there is a noticeable time gap between disclosure of a vulnerability and an updated release of the vulnerable software. Do not mark a port FORBIDDEN for any reason other than security.

  • IGNORE is reserved for ports that must not be built for some other reason. Use it for ports where the problem is believed to be structural. The build cluster will not, under any circumstances, build ports marked as IGNORE. For instance, use IGNORE when a port:

    • does not work on the installed version of FreeBSD

    • has a distfile which may not be automatically fetched due to licensing restrictions

    • does not work with some other currently installed port (for instance, the port depends on www/apache20 but www/apache22 is installed)

    Note:

    If a port would conflict with a currently installed port (for example, if they install a file in the same place that performs a different function), use CONFLICTS instead. CONFLICTS will set IGNORE by itself.

13.13.2. Implementation Notes

Do not quote the values of BROKEN, IGNORE, and related variables. Due to the way the information is shown to the user, the wording of messages for each variable differ:

BROKEN=	fails to link with base -lcrypto
IGNORE=	unsupported on recent versions

resulting in this output from make describe:

===>  foobar-0.1 is marked as broken: fails to link with base -lcrypto.
===>  foobar-0.1 is unsupported on recent versions.

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