${prefix}/var/db/dports contains five directories: build ===== this is where all the temporary files go whenever you install something. unless you're building something, it should be empty (it can potentially contain a lot of sub-directories but those should themselves only contain an empty 'work' dir. If you've disabled cleaning after installation... * through 'portautoclean no' in ${prefix}/etc/ports/ports.conf * through -k on the command line (e.g. 'sudo port -k install foo +bar) ...which you mostly likely haven't, the directory will *not* be empty but instead still contain files. long story short: ================= unless another action is running, you're free to remove the directory, most likely not saving space, though. (see distfiles -> long story short) distfiles ========= whenever a port is installed, files are fetched and put into this directory, so whenever you decide to uninstall something and feel like reinstalling it (the same version!) at a later point in time, you won't have to fetch any files that time. long story short: ================= this is the directory you can safely get rid of. instead of deleting it, you might first want to... sudo port -f clean --all to clean both the distfiles and the build directory. receipts ======== doesn't take up much space. i won't go into detail but this directory is essential for macports to run, don't delete it. software ======== this is where both inactive and active ports go. activating or deactivating a port doesn't change anything about how much space it takes up on your hd. the file in ${prefix}/(bin|lib|include|...) are only links, which take up virtually no extra space. long story short: ================= to save space, get rid of inactive ports. port echo inactive gets you a list. don't remove anything from this directory by hand! sources ======= the portfiles for every port there is are placed here - assuming your macports installation is up to date. sudo port sync makes sure that is the case. removing this directory isn't really harmful, it's pointless, though because * you won't be able to install anything without it * it'll be restored after every successful sync/selfupdate. Regards, Elias Pipping On Apr 13, 2007, at 1:22 AM, Markus Weimer wrote:
Hi,
I just checked my system for places where I can get a few megabytes of diskspace back and found that /opt/local/var/db/dports contains quite a lot of files. Essentially all software packages I installed are there once again. Is it safe to delete them? Is there a general procedure to free as much space as possible while keeping the ports intact?
Thanks in advance for any pointers,
Markus _______________________________________________ macports-users mailing list macports-users@lists.macosforge.org http://lists.macosforge.org/mailman/listinfo/macports-users