PORTAGE(5)

NAME
portage - the heart of Gentoo

DESCRIPTION
The current portage code uses many different configuration files, most of which are unknown to users and normal developers. Here we will try to collect all the odds and ends so as to help users more effectively utilize portage. This is a reference only for files which do not already have a man page. All files in the make.profile directory may be tweaked via parent profiles when using cascading profiles. For more info, please see http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/releng/docs/cascading-profiles.xml

Note:
    If you are looking for information on how to emerge something, please see emerge(1).

SYNOPSIS

/etc/
    make.globals
    make.conf(5)

/etc/make.profile/
    deprecated
    make.defaults
    packages
    packages.build
    package.provided
    parent
    use.defaults
    use.mask
    virtuals

/etc/portage/
    bashrc
    package.mask
    package.unmask
    package.keywords
    package.use
    mirrors
    categories

/etc/portage/profile/
    site-specific overrides of /etc/make.profile/

/usr/portage/profiles/
    arch.list
    categories
    info_pkgs
    info_vars
    package.mask
    profiles.desc
    thirdpartymirrors
    use.desc
    use.local.desc

/var/lib/portage/
    world

GLOSSARY
In the following sections, some terminology may be foreign to you or used with meaning specific to Portage. Please see the referenced manpages for more detailed explanations.

    DEPEND atom
        A string which matches a package. It is of the form category/package. It may also contain optional logical operators and versions.
        More reading: ebuild(5)

    KEYWORD
        Each architecture has a unique KEYWORD.
        More reading: ebuild(5)

    virtual
        A DEPEND atom that is part of the "virtual" category. They are used when different packages can satisfy a dependency and only one of them is needed.
        More reading: ebuild(5)

SPECIFIC FILE DESCRIPTIONS

/etc/

    make.globals
        The global default settings for Portage. This comes from the portage package itself. Settings in make.conf override values here. The format is described extensivly in make.conf(5).

    make.conf
        The global custom settings for Portage. See make.conf(5).

/etc/make.profile/
    This is usually just a symlink to the correct profile in /usr/portage/profiles/. Since it is part of the portage tree, it may easily be updated/regenerated by running `emerge --sync`. It defines what a profile is (usually arch specific stuff). If you need a custom profile, then you should make your own /etc/make.profile/ directory and populate it. However, if you just wish to override some settings, do NOT edit these files because they WILL be lost with the next `emerge --sync`. See the section below on /etc/portage/ for overriding.

    deprecated
        The existence of this file marks a profile as deprecated, meaning it is not supported by Gentoo anymore. The first line must be the profile to which users are encouraged to upgrade, optionally followed by some instructions explaining how they can upgrade. Example:
        default-linux/x86/2005.0
        # emerge -n '>=sys-apps/portage-2.0.51'
        # rm -f /etc/make.profile
        # ln -s /usr/portage/profiles/default-linux/alpha/2005.0 /etc/make.profile

    make.defaults
        The profile default settings for Portage. The general format is described in make.conf(5). The make.defaults for your profile defines a few specific variables too:
        ARCH
            Architecture type (x86/ppc/hppa/etc...).
        USERLAND = "GNU"
            Support BSD/cygwin/etc...
        PORTAGE_LIBC = "glibc"
            Support uClibc/BSD libc/etc...
        PROFILE_ARCH
            Distinguish machines classes that have the same ARCH. All sparc machines have ARCH=sparc but set this to either 'sparc32' or 'sparc64'.
        STAGE1_USE
            Special USE flags which may be needed when bootstrapping from stage1 to stage2.
        GRP_STAGE23_USE
            Special USE flags used by catalyst for building a stage3 and GRP sets.

    packages
        This file serves two purposes. The first is to mask out specific packages/versions on a per-profile basis. The second is to provide the list of packages that compose the special system class. Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one DEPEND atom per line of what to mask OUT
        - packages to be added to the system class begin with a *
        Note: In a cascading profile setup, you can remove packages in children profiles which were added by parent profiles by prefixing the atom with a '-'. Example:
        # i am a comment !
        # only allow versions of glibc less than 2.3
        <sys-libs/glibc-2.3
        # add any version of bash to the system class
        *app-shells/bash
        # only allow versions of readline earlier than 4.2
        # and add it to the system class
        *<sys-libs/readline-4.2

    packages.build
        A list of packages (one per line) that make up a stage1 tarball. Really only useful for stage builders.

    package.provided
        A list of packages (one per line) that portage should assume have been provided. Useful for porting to non-Linux systems. Portage will not attempt to update a package that is listed here unless another package explicitly requires a version that is newer than what has been listed. Basically, it's a list that replaces the emerge --inject syntax. For example, if you manage your own copy of a 2.6 kernel, then you can tell portage that 'sys-kernel/development-sources-2.6.7' is already taken care of and it should get off your back about it. Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one DEPEND atom per line
        - relational operators are not allowed
        - must include a version
        Example:
        # you take care of the kernel
        sys-kernel/development-sources-2.6.7
        # you installed your own special copy of QT
        x11-libs/qt-3.3.0

    parent
        This contains a path to the parent profile. It may be either relative or absolute. The paths will be relative to the location of the profile. Most commonly this file contains '..' to indicate the directory above. Utilized only in cascading profiles.

    use.defaults
        Here we DO NOT define the default USE flags, but the so-called auto-USE flags. This rather unknown portage feature activates a USE flag if a specific package is installed and the flag was not explicitly deactivated. This file contains the associations between USE flags and packages that trigger the auto-USE feature. In other words, if we never put "sdl" or "-sdl" into our USE, but we have media-libs/libsdl emerged, then portage automagically sticks "sdl" into our USE for us. Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one USE flag per line with a list of DEPEND atom bases
        Example:
        # media-libs/libsdl will activate "sdl"
        sdl        media-libs/libsdl
        # activate tcltk only if we have both
        # dev-lang/tcl and dev-lang/tk
        tcltk      dev-lang/tcl   dev-lang/tk

    use.mask
        Some USE flags don't make sense on some archs (for example altivec on non-ppc or mmx on non-x86), or haven't yet been tested. Here we list the masked ones. Note: In a cascading profile setup, you can remove USE flags in children profiles which were added by parent profiles by prefixing the flag with a '-'. Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one USE flag per line

    virtuals
        This controls what packages will provide a virtual by default. For example, if a package needs to send e-mail, it will need virtual/mta. In the absence of a package that provides virtual/mta (like qmail, sendmail, postfix, etc...), portage will look here to see what package to use. In this case, Gentoo uses net-mail/ssmtp as the default (as defined in the virtuals file) because it's the package that does the very bare minimum to send e-mail. Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one virtual and DEPEND atom base pair per line
        Example:
        # use net-mail/ssmtp as the default mta
        virtual/mta           net-mail/ssmtp
        # use app-dicts/aspell-en as the default dictionary
        virtual/aspell-dict   app-dicts/aspell-en

/etc/portage/

    bashrc
        If needed, this file can be used to set up a special environment for ebuilds, different from the standard root environment. The syntax is the same as for any other bash script.

    package.mask
        A list of DEPEND atoms to mask. Useful if specific versions of packages do not work well for you. For example, you swear by the Nvidia drivers, but only versions earlier than 1.0.4496. No problem! Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one DEPEND atom per line
        Example:
        # mask out versions 1.0.4496 of the nvidia
        # drivers and later
        >=media-video/nvidia-kernel-1.0.4496
        >=media-video/nvidia-glx-1.0.4496

    package.unmask
        Just like package.mask above, except here you list packages you want to unmask. Useful for overriding the global package.mask file (see below). Note that this does not override packages that are masked via KEYWORDS.

    package.keywords
        Per-package KEYWORDS. Useful for mixing unstable packages in with a normally stable machine or vice versa. This will allow you to augment ACCEPT_KEYWORDS for a single package.
        Note: There are two special KEYWORDS to help out here:
        *  Match any stable KEYWORD
        ~* Match any unstable KEYWORD
        Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one DEPEND atom per line followed by additional KEYWORDS
        - blank lines imply unstable host arch
        Example:
        # always use unstable libgd
        media-libs/libgd ~x86
        # only use stable mplayer
        media-video/mplayer -~x86
        # always use unstable netcat
        net-analyzer/netcat
        Additional Note: If you encounter the -* KEYWORD, this indicates that the package is known to be broken on all systems which are not otherwise listed in KEYWORDS. For example, a binary only package which is built for x86 will look like: games-fps/quake3-demo-1.11.ebuild:KEYWORDS="-* x86" If you wish to accept this package anyways, then add -* to your package.keywords like this: games-fps/quake3-demo -*

    package.use
        Per-package USE flags. Useful for tracking local USE flags or for enabling USE flags for certain packages only. Perhaps you develop GTK and thus you want documentation for it, but you don't want documentation for QT. Easy as pie my friend! Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - one DEPEND atom per line with space-delimited USE flags
        Example:
        # turn on docs for GTK 2.x
        =x11-libs/gtk+-2* doc
        # disable mysql support for QT
        x11-libs/qt -mysql

    mirrors
        Whenever portage encounters a mirror:// style URL it will look up the actual hosts here. If the mirror set is not found here, it will check the global mirrors file at /usr/portage/profiles/thirdpartymirrors. You may also set a special mirror type called "local". This list of mirrors will be checked before GENTOO_MIRRORS and will be used even if the package has RESTRICT="nomirror". Format:
        - comments begin with #
        - mirror type followed by a list of hosts
        Example:
        # local private mirrors used only by my company
        local ftp://192.168.0.3/mirrors/gentoo http://192.168.0.4/distfiles
        # people in japan would want to use the japanese mirror first
        sourceforge http://keihanna.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge
        # people in tawain would want to use the local gnu mirror first
        gnu ftp://ftp.nctu.edu.tw/UNIX/gnu/

    categories
        A simple list of valid categories that may be used in /usr/portage, PORTDIR_OVERLAY, and PKGDIR (see make.conf(5)). This allows for custom categories to be created. Format:
        - one category per line
        Example:
        app-hackers
        media-other

    /usr/portage/profiles/
        Global Gentoo settings that are controlled by the developers. To override these settings, you can use the files in /etc/portage/.

        arch.list
            A list of all valid KEYWORDS. This does not include modifiers. Format:
            - one KEYWORD per line
            Example:
            x86
            ppc
            sparc

        categories
            A simple list of valid categories that may be used in /usr/portage, PORTDIR_OVERLAY, and PKGDIR (see make.conf(5)). Format:
            - one category per line
            Example:
            app-admin
            dev-lang
            games-strategy
            sys-kernel

        info_pkgs
            A list of all the packages which will be displayed when you run `emerge info`.

        info_vars
            A list of all the variables which will be displayed when you run `emerge info`.

        package.mask
            This contains a list of DEPEND atoms for packages that should not be installed in any profile. Useful for adding the latest KDE betas and making sure no one accidentally upgrades to them. Also useful for quickly masking specific versions due to security issues. ALWAYS include a comment explaining WHY the package has been masked and WHO is doing the masking. Format:
            - comments begin with #
            - one DEPEND atom per line
            Example:
            # masked for security reasons
            <sys-libs/zlib-1.1.4
            # <caleb@gentoo.org> (10 Sep 2003)
            # new kde betas
            =kde-base/kde-3.2.0_beta1
            =kde-base/kdeaccessibility-3.2.0_beta1

        profiles.desc
            List all the current stable and development profiles. If a profile is listed here, then it will be checked by repoman. At the moment, only 1 profile is allowed per stable/dev/KEYWORD; the last one found is the last one used. Format:
            - comments begin with #
            - one profile list per line in format: arch dir status
            - arch must be listed in arch.list
            - dir is relative to profiles.desc
            - status must be 'stable' or 'dev'
            Example:
            alpha default-linux/alpha/2004.3 stable
            m68k  default-linux/m68k         dev
            x86   default-linux/x86/2004.3   stable

        thirdpartymirrors
            Controls the mapping of mirror:// style URLs to actual lists of mirrors. Keeps us from overloading a single server. Format:
            - comments begin with #
            - mirror type followed by a list of hosts
            Example:
            sourceforge http://aleron.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge
            gentoo http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/gentoo/distfiles/ ftp://ftp.gtlib.cc.gatech.edu/pub/gentoo/distfiles
            kernel http://www.kernel.org/pub http://www.us.kernel.org/pub

        use.desc
            All global USE flags must be listed here with a description of what they do. Format:
            - comments begin with #
            - use flag - some description
            Example:
            3dfx - Adds support for 3dfx video cards
            acl - Adds support for Access Control Lists
            doc - Adds extra documentation

        use.local.desc
            All local USE flags must be listed here along with the package and a description.
            Format:
            - comments begin with #
            - package:use flag - description
            Example:
            app-editors/nano:justify - Toggles the justify option
            dev-libs/DirectFB:fusion - Adds Multi Application support
            games-emulation/xmess:net - Adds network support

    /var/lib/portage/

        world
            Every time you emerge a package, the package that you requested is recorded here. Then when you run `emerge world -up`, the list of packages is read from this file. Note that this does not mean that the packages that were installed as dependencies are listed here. For example, if you run `emerge mod_php` and you do not have apache already, then "dev-php/mod_php" is recorded in the world file but "net-www/apache" is not. For more information, review emerge(1). Format:
            - one DEPEND atom base per line
            Example:
            games-misc/fortune-mod-gentoo-dev
            dev-libs/uclibc
            app-cdr/cdemu

AUTHORS
Marius Mauch <genone@gentoo.org>
Mike Frysinger <vapier@gentoo.org>
Drake Wyrm <wyrm@haell.com>

REPORTING BUGS
Please report bugs via http://bugs.gentoo.org/

SEE ALSO
emerge(1), ebuild(1), ebuild(5), make.conf(5)