[MacPorts] howto/InstallingOlderPort modified
MacPorts
noreply at macports.org
Tue Aug 18 23:50:18 PDT 2015
Page "howto/InstallingOlderPort" was changed by ryandesign at macports.org
Diff URL: <https://trac.macports.org/wiki/howto/InstallingOlderPort?action=diff&version=18>
Revision 18
Comment: rewrote; removed instructions for manually downloading from repository using Trac, in favor of using svn; addressed how to disable default variants
Changes:
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Index: howto/InstallingOlderPort
=========================================================================
--- howto/InstallingOlderPort (version: 17)
+++ howto/InstallingOlderPort (version: 18)
@@ -3,33 +3,46 @@
= How to install an older version of a port =
* Audience: Anyone needing an older version of a port than is currently available in the repository or installed on their machine
- * Requires: MacPorts >=1.7
+ * Requires: MacPorts >= 1.7
-== Introduction ==
-When you upgrade an installed port, MacPorts deactivates the older version but keeps it installed. For example:
+== Introduction == #intro
+
+MacPorts maintainers strive to give you the latest version of software in each port, but you may wish to use an older version for various reasons. How to do this depends on whether you still have the older version installed.
+
+Installing an older version of a port is not the intended way to use MacPorts, is not usually recommended, and may cause various problems. It's fine to do this in the course of trying to identify a problem, but once you have determined that a newer version is broken and that an older version works, please inform the developers of the affected software of the problem so that they can fix it, so that you can soon go back to using the latest versions of the software.
+
+
+== Reactivating an older version that's still installed == #reactivate
+
+When you upgrade an installed port, MacPorts deactivates the older version but keeps it installed. For example, assume tcl @8.4.16_0 is installed:
{{{
$ port installed tcl
The following ports are currently installed:
- tcl @8.4.16_0(active)
+ tcl @8.4.16_0 (active)
+}}}
+
+When you upgrade, a newer version of tcl will be installed and activated, while tcl @8.4.16_0 will remain installed but will be deactivated:
+
+{{{
$ sudo port upgrade tcl
[snip]
$ port installed tcl
The following ports are currently installed:
tcl @8.4.16_0
tcl @8.5.0_0 (active)
-$
}}}
-If you later discover you would like to go back to the older version, you can activate it, which will automatically deactivate the active version first:
+As long as it is still installed, you can reactivate tcl @8.4.16_0, which will automatically deactivate the active version first:
{{{
$ sudo port activate tcl @8.4.16_0
---> Deactivating tcl @8.5.0_0
---> Activating tcl @8.4.16_0
-$
}}}
+
+And similarly you can go back to the newer version.
Once you're confident the new version works to your satisfaction, you can uninstall the old one to reclaim disk space:
@@ -37,68 +50,97 @@
$ sudo port uninstall tcl @8.4.16_0
}}}
-If you want to go back to an older version after you've already uninstalled it, or to an older version than you've ever had installed, you can do so by manually downloading the older version of the portfile from the Subversion repository.
+Note:
+if you used the `-u` flag when you upgraded the port (i.e. `sudo port -u upgrade tcl`), MacPorts would uninstall the inactive versions after activating the latest one, so you would not be able to reactivate them later.
+Use `-u` when you know in advance that you will not want to go back to an older version, or you don't mind taking the extra steps below to reinstall the older version later if needed.
-== Installation ==
-=== Step 1: '''Finding the right revision''' ===
-To install an older version of the port, you'll have to manually download the files from the repository. [browser:trunk/dports Browse the repository] to find the directory of the port you want, then use the Revision Log link in the upper right to find the older version that you want to install. For example, if you wanted to install the older 8.4.16 version of tcl, browse to the [browser:trunk/dports/lang/tcl lang/tcl] directory and look at its [log:trunk/dports/lang/tcl revision log]. Here you'll note that tcl was updated to 8.5.0 in r32235, so you want the revision before that, which was r30810. Click the [browser:trunk/dports/lang/tcl at 30810 @30810] link in the revision log (not the [30810] link) to see the directory as it existed in that revision.
+== (Re)installing an older version that's no longer installed == #install
-=== Step 2: '''Getting the Portfile''' ===
-Click the Portfile to see it, then download it to disk using the Original Format link at the bottom of the page. The tcl port doesn't have a `files` directory, but if it did, you should download each file within it as well, and place them in a `files` directory on your disk in the same place where you downloaded the Portfile.
+If you want to go back to an older version after you've already uninstalled it, or to install an older version of a port that predates when you first installed it, you can do so by manually downloading the older version of the portfile and any associated files from the MacPorts Subversion repository.
-MacPorts usually runs under a separate "macports" user account with reduced privileges;
-you must place the Portfile (and files directory, if any) in a place where the "macports" user can read them.
-In particular, your home directory is not usually readable by other users, so inside your home directory is not a suitable location;
-using an unsuitable location will result in an error message like `Error: Unable to execute port: could not read "/Users/someuser/Desktop/Portfile": permission denied`.
-If you don't mind the OS deleting these files after a few days, or after a restart, you could put them in /tmp, or you could create another directory elsewhere (e.g. at the root of your hard drive) for this purpose.
+=== Step 1: '''Find the right revision''' ===
+To install an older version of the port, you'll have to get the necessary files from the repository.
+[browser:trunk/dports Browse the repository] to find the directory of the port you want, then use the Revision Log link in the upper right to find the older version that you want to install.
+For example, if you wanted to install the older 8.4.16 version of tcl, browse to the [browser:trunk/dports/lang/tcl lang/tcl] directory and look at its [log:trunk/dports/lang/tcl revision log].
+Here you'll note that tcl was updated to 8.5.0 in !r32235, so you want the revision before that, which was !r30810.
+(You can also just subtract one from the revision you found, e.g. !r32235 - 1 = !r32234.)
+If desired, you can click the [browser:trunk/dports/lang/tcl at 30810 @30810] link in the revision log (not the [30810] link) to see the directory as it existed in that revision.
-=== Step 3: '''Building the downloaded port''' ===
-Finally, use the Terminal to `cd` to the directory where you downloaded the Portfile and type "`sudo port install`".
+=== Step 2: '''Get the port directory''' ===
+In the Terminal, using the revision number, port category and port name, check out the port's directory at the desired revision using the `svn` command:
+{{{
+$ svn checkout -r 30810 https://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/lang/tcl
+}}}
+This creates a "tcl" directory in your current location, and populates that with everything the port needs to build.
+Replace "30810" and "lang/tcl" with the correct revision and category/portname for the port you're interested in.
-== Alternative method to getting the port ==
+Note:
+Subversion is included with Mac OS X 10.5 and later but you may want to get a newer version by installing the subversion port;
+Mac OS X 10.4 does not include subversion, so users of that system must install the port:
-Subversion can be used as well to fetch an older port, and is simpler for one that has a files/ subdirectory.
+{{{
+$ sudo port install subversion
+}}}
-=== Step 1: '''Install Subversion''' ===
+Note:
+MacPorts usually runs under a separate "macports" user account with reduced privileges, so you must check out the port's directory in a place where the macports user can read them.
+The directories Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, and Pictures, which OS X created in your home directory when your user account was created, have permissions that prevent other users (including the macports user) from looking inside them, so these are ''not'' suitable locations.
+Using an unsuitable location will result in an error message like `Error: Unable to execute port: Could not open file: /Users/username/Desktop/portname/Portfile`.
+So instead, create a new directory in your home directory (such as "macports") in which to store these port directories.
+Or you could create another directory elsewhere (e.g. at the root of your hard drive) for this purpose.
+If you don't mind the OS deleting these files after a few days, or after a restart, you could put them in /tmp.
+If you really want to put the port directory in one of the mentioned directories in your home directory, and you don't mind other users on your system reading your files (e.g. if your computer is used by only one person), you could change the permissions of the desired directory from 0700 (`drwx------`) to 0755 (`drwxr-xr-x`).
-Install Subversion:
+=== Step 3: '''Build the downloaded port''' ===
+Finally, change to the directory you checked out with Subversion (which contains the Portfile) and install the port, omitting the port name:
+
{{{
-sudo port install subversion
+$ cd tcl
+$ sudo port install
}}}
-This step is optional for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and later, which already include a Subversion client, but you may want to install it from MacPorts anyway because its version is likely newer than the one included with your operating system.
-=== Step 2: '''Finding the right revision''' ===
-Follow Step 1 earlier to find the right revision for the port you need, e.g. r30810.
-=== Step 3: '''Checking out the port''' ===
-Using the revision number, port category and port name, check out the port directory at that revision using the `svn` command:
+=== Specifying a variant === #variant
+
+To enable a variant, specify it as usual. For example, to install the port in the current directory enabling the quartz variant:
+
{{{
-svn co -r 30810 http://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/lang/tcl
+$ sudo port install +quartz
}}}
-This creates a tcl directory in your current location, and populates that with everything the port needs to build. Replace "30810" and "lang/tcl" with the correct revision and category/portname for the port you're interested in.
-== An example ==
-The following shows a complete example:
+To disable a variant that's on by default, you must also first use the `--` argument. For example, to install the port in the current directory disabling the x11 variant:
+
+{{{
+$ sudo port install -- -x11
+}}}
+
+
+=== Specifying a subport === #subport
+
+Some Portfiles—including those for python modules, perl modules, php modules, and others—contain subports. For example, a python module has subports for each version of Python it supports. To specify which subport you want, set the "`subport`" variable. For example to install the py27-pylint subport of the py-pylint portfile:
+
+{{{
+$ cd py-pylint
+$ sudo port install subport=py27-pylint
+}}}
+
+Make sure you specify the subport exactly as shown at the top of the output of `port info`. MacPorts [ticket:34619 will not warn or notify you] if you misspell a subport name or request a subport that does not exist.
+
+
+=== Another example === #example
{{{port info php5}}} shows it to be first in the '''lang''' category, so it would be located in lang/php5.
-After browsing [log:trunk/dports/lang/php5 php5's history], 5.3.0 was introduced in r53563 which means the previous revision, r53555, was the last update for 5.2.10. With this information, we can run
+After browsing [log:trunk/dports/lang/php5 php5's history], 5.3.0 was introduced in r53563 which means the previous revision, r53555, was the last update for 5.2.10. With this information, we can run:
+
{{{
-svn co -r 53555 http://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/lang/php5
-cd php5
-sudo port install +apache2+postgresql83
+$ svn checkout -r 53555 https://svn.macports.org/repository/macports/trunk/dports/lang/php5
+$ cd php5
+$ sudo port install -- +apache2 +postgresql83
}}}
After this, php5 version 5.2.10 should be installed.
-== Specifying a subport ==
-
-Many python libraries, for example, have separate ports for different python versions, but a single port file to describe them all. To specify which version you want, use "subport=...". For example:
-
-{{{
-cd dports/python/py-pylint
-sudo port install subport=py27-pylint
-}}}
[wiki:howto <- Back to the HOWTO section]
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