Thoughts on "make deinstall clean"

[Mantazz]

I am wondering if the result of this command is what was intended. I was building a port on my laptop as an upgrade from a previous version of the same port. I initially gave the command "make install clean" and realized that of course I already had an earlier version of the same. So I brought the command back up and changed it to "make deinstall clean", forgetting to remove the "clean" part.

The result was that the port was deinstalled and the work directory cleaned out. Ooops.

Clearly, make did what I told it to do, I cannot fault it for not outsmarting my bad choice of operators. My question is whether "deinstall" and "clean" are ever a useful combination? From my vantage point, if I am running "deinstall" it is most likely because I am upgrading a package that I just built with make. Why would I want to "deinstall clean"?

[jggimi]

deinstall = remove binary package from /usr/local, /etc, /var, and other locations where content was installed.

clean = delete build directory structure (object files and other content used during the build from source).

[DutchDaemon]

Without using tools like portmaster or portupgrade it's usually best to run 'make deinstall reinstall clean' in the port directory. The 'clean' part only deletes the work subdirectory in the port directory.

[Naikon]

Portupgrade or Portmaster along with pkg_cutleaves are
great packages for maintaining ports in FreeBSD.

[TerryP]

With new ports I often run a `make fetch` for ahead stuff that will be huge, and normally run a `make build` followed by a `make install clean distclean`. Reason being if make runs while I'm away, I'll be able to check my shells history to figure out readily what popped a cork, the build or the install. With stuff that needs an update, I usually run a deinstall, a reinstall, and a clean distclean.

distclean means to clean out the distfiles (downloaded source, etc). Right now my laptop has over 2GB of distfiles leftover from recent upgrades. Normally I retain distfiles for only a few things: stuff that is occasionally hard to come by (flash, codecs), or things I may need to recompile later, and can't necessarily depend on the ability to fetch the code first if I end up fscked over (e.g. zsh)

[jb_daefo]

I have no usual way on updating, but use about 5 ways in general...

portmaster -d category/port category/port
make checksum && make build && pkg_delete -f /var/db/pkg... && make install && yell
[some alias which does a big more or equivalent in sequence, checking
for changed dependencies from the last build]

and a few more. The shell script I run most often, I am suprised easily by
changes in dependencies.

[phoenix]

One thing to watch out for is that the "deinstall" target uses the information in the current port Makefile ... it doesn't use the information in /var/db/pkg to remove the port. If you have version X.0 of the port installed, update the ports tree, which includes version Y.3, and you run "make deinstall" in there ... you may end up with files left behind and a lot of errors flashing by on the screen.

It's much safer to use pkg_delete -xi appname to uninstall apps. That always uses the information in /var/db/pkg/<port-version>/ to remove the app. This reflects what's already on the disk.

"make deinstall" is really only useful for testing a port (make install; make deinstall).

[BSDKaffee]

Originally Posted by phoenix

One thing to watch out for is that the "deinstall" target uses the information in the current port Makefile ... it doesn't use the information in /var/db/pkg to remove the port. If you have version X.0 of the port installed, update the ports tree, which includes version Y.3, and you run "make deinstall" in there ... you may end up with files left behind and a lot of errors flashing by on the screen.

It's much safer to use pkg_delete -xi appname to uninstall apps. That always uses the information in /var/db/pkg/<port-version>/ to remove the app. This reflects what's already on the disk.

"make deinstall" is really only useful for testing a port (make install; make deinstall).

The deinstall target actually uses "pkg_delete -f" to deinstall the package, so it won't matter if the Makefile or pkg-plist was updated. You really shouldn't end up with files left behind or errors if the package was installed correctly.

I do agree it would be safer to use "pkg_delete -i" to get confirmation first, though.

[phoenix]

Hrm, you're right, /usr/ports/Mk/bsd.port.mk does use pkg_delete. Wonder when that got added ... (searches cvsweb)

Seems it's been there for several years. Guess it's time to update my tips file.

Thanks for the pointer!!