Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2025 17:16:58 +0100 From: =?utf-8?Q?Peter_Ankerst=C3=A5l?= <peter@pean.org> To: freebsd-pkgbase@freebsd.org Subject: Customize what packages get installed Message-ID: <DB0931F1-EF34-4D09-9BE6-468888F0CE30@pean.org>
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[-- Attachment #1 --] Hi! After fiddling around with pkgbase for a while realized that this is a very convenient way to customize what software gets installed or upgraded in a system compared to a custom make.conf. But after asking the forums (https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/how-to-correctly-slim-down-a-base-system-using-pkgbase.100605/) I haven’t found a documented way to do this. If I for some reason like security, storage or any other reason decide to build a slimmed down system I would like to filter what packages get installed during upgrade. (I understand that first installation is a different problem). Is there any production ready or recommended way to do this? I could think of at least a few situations where this would be really nice: * Embedded systems where storage is limited * High security systems where only the needed binaries should be available * Single process jails I get that for jails I could just install the packages needed, but it would be nice to have a standard way to choose the packages you need. A side track for this question is security updates. Using 14.3 upgrading to a new patch level pkg upgraded all installed FreeBSD-base packages at the new patch level. Why couldn’t it just install the packages that changed with that patch level? I understand that the new repo has to have all packages, but maybe there should be a way to signal to pkg what packages are actually needed for that patch level. Thanks! /Peter. [-- Attachment #2 --] <html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">Hi!<div><br></div><div>After fiddling around with pkgbase for a while realized that this is a very convenient way to customize what software gets installed or upgraded in a system compared to a custom make.conf.</div><div><br></div><div>But after asking the forums (<a href="https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/how-to-correctly-slim-down-a-base-system-using-pkgbase.100605/">https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/how-to-correctly-slim-down-a-base-system-using-pkgbase.100605/</a>) I haven’t found a documented way to do this.</div><div><br></div><div>If I for some reason like security, storage or any other reason decide to build a slimmed down system I would like to filter what packages get installed during upgrade. (I understand that first installation is a different problem).</div><div><br></div><div>Is there any production ready or recommended way to do this? </div><div><br></div><div>I could think of at least a few situations where this would be really nice:</div><div> * Embedded systems where storage is limited</div><div> * High security systems where only the needed binaries should be available</div><div> * Single process jails</div><div><br></div><div>I get that for jails I could just install the packages needed, but it would be nice to have a standard way to choose the packages you need.</div><div><br></div><div>A side track for this question is security updates. Using 14.3 upgrading to a new patch level pkg upgraded all installed FreeBSD-base packages at the new patch level. Why couldn’t it just install the packages that changed with that patch level? I understand that the new repo has to have all packages, but maybe there should be a way to signal to pkg what packages are actually needed for that patch level. </div><div><br></div><div>Thanks!</div><div><br></div><div>/Peter.</div></body></html>help
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