PKG(7) FreeBSD Miscellaneous Information Manual PKG(7)
NAME
pkg - a utility for manipulating packages
SYNOPSIS
pkg [-d] command ...
pkg [-d] add [-fy] [-r reponame] pkg.pkg
pkg -N
pkg [-46d] bootstrap [-fy] [-r reponame]
DESCRIPTION
pkg is the package management tool. It is used to manage local packages
installed from ports(7) and install/upgrade packages from remote
repositories.
To avoid backwards incompatibility issues, the actual pkg(8) tool is not
installed in the base system. The first time invoked, pkg will bootstrap
the real pkg(8) from a remote repository.
pkg command ...
If pkg(8) is not installed yet, it will be fetched, have its
signature verified, installed, and then have the original command
forwarded to it. If already installed, the command requested
will be forwarded to the real pkg(8).
pkg add [-fy] [-r reponame] pkg.pkg
Install pkg(8) from a local package instead of fetching from
remote. If signature checking is enabled, then the correct
signature file must exist and the signature valid before the
package will be installed. If the -f flag is specified, then
pkg(8) will be installed regardless if it is already installed.
If the -y flag is specified, no confirmation will be asked when
bootstrapping pkg(8).
If a reponame has been specified, then the signature
configuration for that repository will be used.
pkg -N Do not bootstrap, just determine if pkg(8) is actually installed
or not. Returns 0 and the number of packages installed if it is,
otherwise 1.
pkg [-46] bootstrap [-fy] [-r reponame]
Attempt to bootstrap and do not forward anything to pkg(8) after
it is installed. With -4 and -6, pkg will force IPv4 or IPv6
respectively to fetch pkg(8) and its signatures as needed. If
the -f flag is specified, then pkg(8) will be fetched and
installed regardless if it is already installed. If the -y flag
is specified, no confirmation will be asked when bootstrapping
pkg(8).
If a reponame has been specified, then the configuration for that
repository will be used.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported by pkg:
-d, --debug
Show debug information. May be specified more than once to
increase the level of detail. When specified twice, fetch(3)
debug output is enabled.
CONFIGURATION
Configuration varies in whether it is in a repository configuration file
or the global configuration file. The default repository configuration
for FreeBSD is stored in /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf, and additional repository
configuration files will be searched for in REPOS_DIR, or
/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos if it is unset.
For bootstrapping, pkg will process all repositories that it finds and
use the last enabled repository by default.
Repository configuration is stored in the following format:
FreeBSD: {
url: "pkg+http://pkg.FreeBSD.org/${ABI}/latest",
mirror_type: "srv",
signature_type: "none",
fingerprints: "/usr/share/keys/pkg",
enabled: yes
}
url Refer to PACKAGESITE in ENVIRONMENT
mirror_type Refer to MIRROR_TYPE in ENVIRONMENT
signature_type Refer to SIGNATURE_TYPE in ENVIRONMENT
fingerprints Refer to FINGERPRINTS in ENVIRONMENT
enabled Defines whether this repository should be used or not.
Valid values are yes, true, 1, no, false, 0.
Global configuration can be stored in /usr/local/etc/pkg.conf in the
following format:
PACKAGESITE: "pkg+http://pkg.FreeBSD.org/${ABI}/latest",
MIRROR_TYPE: "srv",
SIGNATURE_TYPE: "none",
FINGERPRINTS: "/usr/share/keys/pkg",
ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES: "yes"
REPOS_DIR: ["/etc/pkg", "/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos"]
Reference ENVIRONMENT for each variable.
ENVIRONMENT
The following environment variables can be set to override the settings
from the pkg.conf file used.
MIRROR_TYPE This defines which mirror type should be used. Valid
values are SRV, HTTP, NONE.
ABI This defines the ABI for the package to be installed.
Default ABI is determined from /bin/sh.
ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES If set, no confirmation will be asked when
bootstrapping pkg(8).
SIGNATURE_TYPE If set to FINGERPRINTS then a signature will be
required and validated against known certificate
fingerprints when bootstrapping pkg(8).
FINGERPRINTS If SIGNATURE_TYPE is set to FINGERPRINTS this value
should be set to the directory path where known
fingerprints are located.
PACKAGESITE The URL that pkg(8) and other packages will be fetched
from.
REPOS_DIR Comma-separated list of directories that should be
searched for repository configuration files.
FILES
Configuration is read from the files in the listed order. This path can
be changed by setting REPOS_DIR. The last enabled repository is the one
used for bootstrapping pkg(8).
/usr/local/etc/pkg.conf
/etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf
/usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/*.conf
EXAMPLES
Some examples are listed here. The full list of available commands are
available in pkg(8) once it is bootstrapped.
Search for a package:
$ pkg search perl
Install a package:
% pkg install perl
List installed packages:
$ pkg info
Upgrade from remote repository:
% pkg upgrade
List non-automatic packages:
$ pkg query -e '%a = 0' %o
List automatic packages:
$ pkg query -e '%a = 1' %o
Delete an installed package:
% pkg delete perl
Remove unneeded dependencies:
% pkg autoremove
Change a package from automatic to non-automatic, which will prevent
pkg-autoremove(8) from removing it:
% pkg set -A 0 perl
Change a package from non-automatic to automatic, which will make
pkg-autoremove(8) allow it be removed once nothing depends on it:
% pkg set -A 1 perl
Create package file from an installed package:
% pkg create -o /usr/ports/packages/All perl
Determine which package installed a file:
$ pkg which /usr/local/bin/perl
Audit installed packages for security advisories:
$ pkg audit
Check installed packages for checksum mismatches:
# pkg check -s -a
Check for missing dependencies:
# pkg check -d -a
Fetch a package for a different FreeBSD version, along with all its
dependencies:
# pkg -o ABI=FreeBSD:15:amd64 -o IGNORE_OSVERSION=yes fetch -o
destdir -d perl
SEE ALSO
ports(7), pkg(8)
HISTORY
The pkg command first appeared in FreeBSD 9.1. It became the default
package tool in FreeBSD 10.0, replacing the pkg_install suite of tools
pkg_add(1), pkg_info(1) and pkg_create(1).
FreeBSD 15.1-STABLE-HBSD April 29, 2025 PKG(7)