knowledge/technology/applications/package managers/arch-linux/PKGBUILD.md

arch-wiki	obj	rev
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PKGBUILD	concept	2024-12-19

PKGBUILD

A PKGBUILD is a shell script containing the build information required by Arch Linux packages. Arch Wiki

Packages in Arch Linux are built using the makepkg utility. When makepkg is run, it searches for a PKGBUILD file in the current directory and follows the instructions therein to either compile or otherwise acquire the files to build a package archive (pkgname.pkg.tar.zst). The resulting package contains binary files and installation instructions, readily installable with pacman.

Mandatory variables are pkgname, pkgver, pkgrel, and arch. license is not strictly necessary to build a package, but is recommended for any PKGBUILD shared with others, as makepkg will produce a warning if not present.

Example

PKGBUILD:

# Maintainer: User <mail>
pkgname=NAME
pkgver=VERSION
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="DESCRIPTION"
arch=('x86_64')
url=URL
license=("MIT")
depends=("git")
makedepends=("git")
source=("FILE_NAME::FILE_URL")
sha256sums=("SKIP")

prepare() {

}

pkver() {

}

build() {
	cd "$pkgname"
	make
}

check() {

}

package() {
	cd "$pkgname"
	install -Dm755 ./app "$pkgdir/usr/bin/app"
}

Directives

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.

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.

Name and Version

pkgname

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.

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.

Generic

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').

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 _.

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.

Dependencies

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).

If the dependency name appears to be a library (ends with .so), makepkg will try to find a binary that depends on the library in the built package and append the version needed by the binary. Appending the version yourself disables automatic detection.

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=().

Package Relations

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.

If the provision name appears to be a library (ends with .so), makepkg will try to find the library in the built package and append the correct version. Appending the version yourself disables automatic detection.

Additional architecture-specific provides can be added by appending an underscore and the architecture name e.g., provides_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=().

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=().

Other

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.

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

Option	Description
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. 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. More useful in its negative form !makeflags with select packages that have problems building with custom makeflags such as -j2.
debug	Add the user-specified debug flags (DEBUG_CFLAGS, DEBUG_CXXFLAGS) to their counterpart buildflags as specified in makepkg.conf. 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.

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).

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: 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).

Sources

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').

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.

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.

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.

Integrity

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.

Packaging Functions

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.