Home / server / Questions / 13392
Accepted
Dana the Sane
Asked: 2009-05-28 16:17:19 +0800 CST

How to maintain a macports installation

  • 772

I've used the apt family of package managers for some time and started using macports last year when I got a laptop. I'm at a bit of a loss at the best way to keep packages up-to-date though, and any other maintenance tasks I should be looking out for.

My question is, beside periodically using port upgrade on specific packages, what is the workflow for getting regular security and package updates?

mac-osx

4 Answers

  1. Every week or two, I do

    port selfupdate
port upgrade installed

    This is basically the equivalent of

    apt-get update
apt-get upgrade

    if you are familiar with Debian/Ubuntu.

    • 4
  2. Best Answer

    I run the following

    port -v sync # sync the latest definitions
port -v outdated # see what's outdated
port -v upgrade outdated # upgrade what's outdated

    You can run

    port -v selfupdate

    every so once in a while to upgrade the MacPorts software itself. It's only infrequently updated, so I only do this when I know there is a new release.

    • 4

  3. Sync and update if newer version of MacPorts itself is released.

    sudo port -v -d selfupdate

    List new packages

    port outdated

    Update all packages

    sudo port -v upgrade outdated

    After update old versions are not removed but set "inactiv". To clean up:

    sudo port -v uninstall inactive

    From time to time I run this. It cleans up downloads and left over files from previous builds. 

    sudo port clean -f --all "*"
    • 4

  4. The easiest way to find out what packages are out of date is to run port outdated. I'm not aware (and couldn't find when researching my facts) of an RSS feed or something similar to let you know when ports are updated. However you could run a script every week or something similar to check to see what is outdated and let you know.

    Personally I check my port installations once a month or so manually.

    • 1