APKBUILD(5)
APKBUILD - metadata and instructions to build a package
/usr/src/packages///APKBUILD
An APKBUILD file is used by tools such as abuild(1) to build a package for eventual installation by the apk(8) package manager. It defines metadata such as the name of the package, the version information, the source license, and contact information for the developer. It additionally contains the commands needed to build, test, and install the package.
The APKBUILD format is similar to a typical shell script; you set pre-defined variables and implement pre-defined functions, and the abuild(1) (or similar) utility will use them to create the package.
The following variables must be set in all APKBUILD files:
pkgname Specifies the name of the package. This is typically the name of the package upstream; however, note that all letters must be lowercased.
Libraries for scripting languages should have a prefix before the
library name describing the language. Such prefixes include _lua-_,
_perl-_, _py-_, and _rb-_. Not all languages use prefixes. For a
definitive list, consult the PREFIXES file in the root directory
of the repository you are using for packaging.pkgver Specifies the version of the software being packaged. The version of a package must consist of one or more numbers separated by the radix (decimal point). The final number may have a single letter following it, for upstreams that use such a versioning scheme (such as 1.5a, 1.5b, 1.5c).
After the final number (and optional single letter), a suffix may
be appended, which must be an underscore (\_) followed by one of
_alpha_, _beta_, _pre_, _rc_, _cvs_, _svn_, _git_, _hg_, or _p_,
optionally followed by another number. If the suffix is _alpha_,
_beta_, _pre_, or _rc_, it is considered to be earlier than the
version without a suffix; if the suffix is _cvs_, _svn, _git_, _hg_,
or _p_, it is considered to be later than the version without a
suffix. All of the following examples are valid versions, in order
from lowest to highest:
1.0, 1.1_alpha2, 1.1.3_pre, 1.1.3, 1.1.3_hg, 1.2, 1.2a, 1.2bpkgrel Specifies the package release number of this particular package version. This indicates when a package has changed without a corresponding change in version. Always increment pkgrel when you change the contents, dependencies, or metadata of a package. The first release of a package is always 0.
pkgdesc Specifies what the package contains. pkgdesc must be 128 characters or less, and should concisely describe what actions the software or items being package will allow the user to perform. For example, “Fully-featured word processor with spell check and plugins” would be a sufficient pkgdesc for AbiWord.
url Specifies the Web address of the package's upstream. This allows users and future maintainers to find documentation, release information, and contact information for the package. If no Web address is available for the package, you must set url to an empty string ("").
arch Specifies the architectures for which the package may be built. It is highly recommended that you set this variable to "all" if the package is portable.
You may use "_noarch_" if the package does not contain any
architecture-specific binary files - that is, any files that are
compiled for the target only. Such packages may include pure Python
packages, shell script packages, and JARs. If you are not sure what
this means, using "_all_" is safe.license Specifies the license under which the package is distributed. The value provided must match a SPDX license identifier.
source Specifies the location of both local and remote source files used to build the package. Typically, the remote source file(s) or archive(s) is specified, followed by any local patches, install scripts, configuration files, or other necessary files.
The following variables are not required, but may be set in any APKBUILD file.
checkdepends Specifies test-time dependencies of the package. Common packages that are used for testing include check, dejagnu, and perl-test-command.
depends Specifies the run-time dependencies of the package. The abuild(1) utility will automatically scan the resultant package for shared library (.so) dependencies; do not specify them here.
install Specifies install scripts for the package, if any. See Install Scripts for more information about install scripts.
install_if Specifies a condition when apk(8) should automatically install the package (or subpackage). For instance, the OpenRC subpackages set
```
install_if="openrc ${subpkgname%-openrc}=$pkgver-r$pkgrel"
```
which means that the OpenRC subpackage will be automatically
installed if both OpenRC and the origin package are installed on
the same computer.makedepends Specifies build dependencies for the package.
pkggroups Specifies a space-separated list of login groups to create during build-time. Note that you will need to create the login groups in a pre-install script as well; see Install Scripts for more information about install scripts.
pkgusers Specifies a space-separated list of user logins to create during build-time. Note that you will need to create the user logins in a pre-install install script as well; see Install Scripts for more information about install scripts.
provides Specifies that the package "provides" the same contents as another package. There are two formats that you may use for provides: a provider name, and a provider name with version.
Specifying a provider name with version such as _foobar=1.2_ will
cause the package to be an "alias" of _foobar_ version _1.2_. It
will be automatically installed if a user then runs `apk add foobar`
or similar, and it will conflict with a package named _foobar_.
Specifying a provider name without a version such as _baz_ will
cause the package to provide a "virtual" called _baz_. Multiple
packages with the same virtual provider can be installed on a system;
however, if a user runs \`apk add baz` they will be provided a list
of packages that provide _baz_ and must select one and install it.provider_priority Specifies the numeric value for apk(8) to use for the package when considering which provider should be installed for the same provides virtual provider.
replaces Specifies packages that the package replaces. This is typically used for packages renamed by upstream.
replaces_priority Specifies the numeric value that is used by apk(8) when multiple packages with replaces include the same file. It is also used to decide which package should define the permissions of a directory even without replaces set.
subpackages Specifies subpackages or split packages built with this package. Typically, this will include $pkgname-dev for development files (such as /usr/include and static library files) and $pkgname-doc for documentation (such as /usr/share/doc and /usr/share/man).
Each subpackage may be specified using three different methods. The
first, and most common, is _$pkgname-foo_ where _foo_ is the name
of the split function specified later in the file. Similar to the
*package* function, the _foo_ function must move files from _$pkgdir_
or _$srcdir_ to _$subpkgdir_ after creating _$subpkgdir_.
The second method is to simply call the subpackage _foo_ which will
create a package called _foo_ instead of _$pkgname-foo_.
However, _foo_ in both of these examples cannot contain an hyphen,
as shell function names cannot have hyphens in them. In this case,
the third method may be used: _foo:funcname_ where _foo_ is the name
of the subpackage and _funcname_ is the name of the shell function
in the *APKBUILD* that creates it.triggers Specifies a trigger script used by the package. A trigger script is a shell script that is called whenever monitored files or directories are modified. You may specify the paths to monitor using the triggers variable as follows:
```
$pkgname.trigger=/usr/share/man:/usr/local/share/man
```
This will run the package trigger script whenever files in
_/usr/share/man_ or _/usr/local/share/man_ are created, modified,
or removed.options The options variable allows you to set parameters for the package at build time. There are a number of valid options you may set, and you may set multiple options by writing a space between each one.
*!archcheck*
Specifies that the package contains binaries that cannot
run on the target architecture. This is primarily used for
packages containing firmware, and should typically never
be needed.
*bigdocs*
Specifies that this packages intentionally has a large -doc subpackage.
Thereby suppressing a warning to be emitted if the -doc subpackage
exceeds a certain package size threshold (currently 2 MiB).
*charset.alias*
Specifies that the package ships a _/usr/lib/charset.alias_
file and that it should be installed on the user's
system. This is almost never the case. Do not use this option.
*!check*
Specifies that the package will not run a test suite. The
reason for disabling the check phase should be noted in
a comment.
*checkroot*
Specifies that this package's test suite will be run in
fakeroot(8). This is necessary for some test suites which
fail when run as non-root.
*!dbg*
Specifies that the package should not be built with a debug
information package. This is the default unless DEFAULT_DBG
is set in the environment or abuild.conf(5). It is typically
used on packages that do not generate debug information
(such as pure Python packages) or packages that do not
support debug information packages.
*!fhs*
Specifies that the package violates FHS and installs to a
location such as _/usr/local_, _/opt_, or _/srv_.
*ldpath-recursive*
Specifies that abuild(1) should use the *--recursive* argument
to scanelf(1) when attempting to find shared library (.so)
dependencies for the package.
*lib64*
Specifies that the package installs files under _/lib64_
or _/usr/lib64_ and that the test for those directories
should be skipped. This is discouraged and should only be
used for packages providing compatibility for GNU libc.
*libtool*
Specifies that the package requires its libtool (.la)
files. They will not be automatically removed by abuild(1).
*net*
Specifies that the package build system requires access
to a network. This is discouraged and an issue should be
filed with the package's authors.
*!strip*
Specifies that strip(1) should not be run on any of the
package's binaries. This is automatically implying if the
_-dbg_ subpackage is enabled, or if you are using DEFAULT_DBG.
*suid*
Specifies that binaries in the package may be installed
set-uid. This is a security risk and it is highly recommended
to use capabilities or process separation instead of set-uid
where available.
*setcap*
Specifies that binaries in the package may be installed
with extra setcap(8) capabilities. If this option is enabled,
it is highly recommended to only make these binaries executable
by root and users of a specific group, not by others.
*textrels*
Specifies that the package's binaries are known to contain
relocations against text segments. By default, abuild(1)
will refuse to create such a package because this is a
security concern.
*toolchain*
Specifies that the package is part of the base toolchain
set and may depend on packages like _g++_.
*!tracedeps*
Specifies that abuild(1) should not automatically populate
*depends* with shared library (.so) or symlink target
dependencies.The following variables are defined for you by abuild(1), but may be overridden if necessary.
builddir Specifies the directory where the source code of the package will be built. The default value is $srcdir/$pkgname-$pkgver which is appropriate for most source distributions. If the source tarball does not create a $pkgname-$pkgver directory when it is unpacked, you must override builddir.
pkgdir
Specifies the directory where the built files will be
installed. Typically, you will call make DESTDIR="$pkgdir" install
or similar to install the files. The default value is $startdir/pkg
and you should not modify this variable.
srcdir Specifies the directory where the files specified in source are downloaded and unpacked. The default value is $startdir/src and you should not need to modify this.
startdir Specifies the directory where the APKBUILD file resides.
subpkgdir Specifies the directory where the subpackage's files should be placed. This variable is only set inside subpackage functions.
The following variables are used only in special circumstances, and may be required or optional depending on their usage and the contents of other variables.
depends_dev Specifies the run-time dependencies of the -dev subpackage.
depends_doc Specifies the run-time dependencies of the -doc subpackage.
depends_libs Specifies the run-time dependencies of the -libs subpackage.
depends_openrc Specifies the run-time dependencies of the -openrc subpackage.
depends_static Specifies the run-time dependencies of the -static subpackage.
giturl
Specifies the URL of the Git repository to use with abuild snapshot. If the default branch of the repository is not desired,
a different one may be specified by appending -b branch where
branch is the branch to checkout.
Functions specified here may be present in any APKBUILD file, but with the exception of package, are not strictly required.
fetch This function is called to download the remote files in source.
unpack This function unpacks any archives in source to srcdir.
prepare Prepares the source in srcdir to be built. The default prepare function ensures the build directories are set up correctly and applies any *.patch files specified in source. You must call default_prepare if you write a custom prepare function.
build Compiles the source in builddir. You must implement this function yourself. If no compilation is required, you may omit it.
check Runs the package's test suite. This function must implemented unless !check was specified in options.
package
Installs the package into pkgdir. Note that pkgdir is not
created for you; if this package installs no files (for example,
a metapackage), you must use mkdir -p "$pkgdir" to skip the
package phase.
An install script is run when an action is taken on a package by apk(8). An install script must be written in shell and must have a #!/bin/sh interpreter declaration as the first line. The install variable must contain the install scripts needed by the package.
The install script will be run inside the root filesystem where the package is being installed. A single argument will be passed to call scripts, which is the version of the package being currently installed (or deinstalled). The pre-upgrade and post-upgrade scripts will have an additional second argument, which specifies the version of the package before the upgrade process.
The different actions that may have install scripts specified are as follows:
$pkgname.pre-install Executed before the package is installed. If this script exits with an error (non-zero exit code), apk(8) will halt the installation and the package will not be installed. This install script is typically used to create any users or groups needed as described in pkggroups and pkgusers.
$pkgname.post-install
Executed after the package is installed. If this script exits
with an error (non-zero exit code), apk(8) will mark the package as
broken. The apk fix command will attempt to re-run the post-install
script if this occurs.
$pkgname.pre-upgrade Executed before the package is upgraded. If this script exits with an error (non-zero exit code), apk(8) will mark the package as broken.
$pkgname.post-upgrade
Executed after the package is upgraded. If this script exits with
an error (non-zero exit code), apk(8) will mark the package as
broken. The apk fix command will attempt to re-run the post-upgrade
script if this occurs.
$pkgname.pre-deinstall Executed before the package is removed from the system. If this script exits with an error (non-zero exit code), apk(8) will not remove the package from the system.
$pkgname.post-deinstall Executed after the package is removed from the system. Exiting with an error will have no effect.
Currently, APKBUILD files are sourced as normal shells scripts. This may change at a later date.
The abuild(1) utility as distributed by Alpine Linux uses the BusyBox Almquist shell, a part of busybox(1) that is currently undocumented. It is mostly compliant with IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”), with some bash-like extensions. The abuild(1) utility as distributed by Adélie uses the user's preferred /bin/sh, which is typically bash(1).
SPDX license reference (on the Web at https://spdx.org/licenses/), abuild(1), newapkbuild(1), apk(8), buildrepo(1).
The APKBUILD format and abuild(1) utility first appeared in Alpine Linux 1.9.
Timo Teräs <timo.teras@iki.fi>++ Natanael Copa <ncopa@alpinelinux.org>
Documentation:++ A. Wilcox <awilfox@adelielinux.org>