What is in /opt/local/var/db/dports

[Elias Pipping]

${prefix}/var/db/dports contains five directories:

build
=====
         this is where all the temporary files go whenever
         you install something. unless you're building
         something, it should be empty (it can potentially
         contain a lot of sub-directories but those should
         themselves only contain an empty 'work' dir. If
         you've disabled cleaning after installation...

         * through 'portautoclean no' in
           ${prefix}/etc/ports/ports.conf
         * through -k on the command line
           (e.g. 'sudo port -k install foo +bar)

         ...which you mostly likely haven't, the directory
         will *not* be empty but instead still contain files.

         long story short:
         =================

         unless another action is running, you're free to
         remove the directory, most likely not saving space,
         though. (see distfiles -> long story short)

distfiles
=========

         whenever a port is installed, files are fetched and
         put into this directory, so whenever you decide to
         uninstall something and feel like reinstalling it
         (the same version!) at a later point in time, you
         won't have to fetch any files that time.

         long story short:
         =================

         this is the directory you can safely get rid of.
         instead of deleting it, you might first want to...

            sudo port -f clean --all

         to clean both the distfiles and the build directory.

receipts
========

         doesn't take up much space. i won't go into detail but
         this directory is essential for macports to run, don't
         delete it.

software
========

         this is where both inactive and active ports go.
         activating or deactivating a port doesn't change
         anything about how much space it takes up on your hd.
         the file in ${prefix}/(bin|lib|include|...) are only
         links, which take up virtually no extra space.

         long story short:
         =================

         to save space, get rid of inactive ports.

           port echo inactive

         gets you a list. don't remove anything from this
         directory by hand!

sources
=======

         the portfiles for every port there is are placed here -
         assuming your macports installation is up to date.

           sudo port sync

         makes sure that is the case. removing this directory
         isn't really harmful, it's pointless, though because

         * you won't be able to install anything without it
         * it'll be restored after every successful sync/selfupdate.


Regards,

Elias Pipping


On Apr 13, 2007, at 1:22 AM, Markus Weimer wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I just checked my system for places where I can get a few megabytes of
> diskspace back and found that /opt/local/var/db/dports contains quite
> a lot of files. Essentially all software packages I installed are
> there once again. Is it safe to delete them? Is there a general
> procedure to free as much space as possible while keeping the ports
> intact?
>
> Thanks in advance for any pointers,
>
> Markus
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