Introduction

FreeBSD is a powerful operating system capable of functioning in a variety of roles. Part of what makes this operating system an ideal choice in many scenarios is its reputation for flexibility. A large contribution to this reputation comes from FreeBSD’s supported method for installing software from source, known as the ports system.

In this guide, we will discuss some of the benefits of the ports system and will demonstrate how to use it to acquire and manage additional software. We will cover how to install using the make command, how to customize your applications, and how to leverage some common tools to make ports maintenance easier.

Prerequisites

In order to follow along with this guide, you should have access to a FreeBSD 10.1 server and a non-root user account with sudo privileges. This guide can assist you in logging into your FreeBSD server and setting up a reasonable working environment.

Managing Different Types of FreeBSD Software

The FreeBSD team maintains the base FreeBSD operating system as a coherent unit. Its components are updated using a tool called freebsd-update and their behavior is controlled primarily through configuration files located within the /etc directory. While you can install and use alternatives to the bundled software, you cannot easily or safely remove the ones that are included in the base system as these are considered functionally essential parts of the operating system. Continue reading How To Install and Manage Ports on FreeBSD 10.1 →