bpkg-cfg-create(1)

NAME
bpkg-cfg-create - create configuration

SYNOPSIS

bpkg cfg-create|create [options] [cfg-args]
bpkg cfg-create|create [options] --existing|-e

cfg-args = (module | cfg-var)...

DESCRIPTION

The cfg-create command creates a new bpkg configuration with the specified build2 modules and configuration variables (the first form) or initializes one based on an existing build system configuration (the second form). The bpkg configuration itself is a build system configuration; see build system driver (b(1)) create meta-operation for details.

Unless the --existing|-e or --wipe option is specified, cfg-create expects the configuration directory to be empty or to not exist (in which case it will be created).

By default, the configuration created with the first form loads the config, test, dist, and install modules. However, additional modules and, if required, their configuration variables can be specified as the cfg-create arguments. For example:

bpkg create cxx config.cxx=clang++ config.install.root=/usr/local

By default, bpkg appends .config to the names of the modules that you specify so that only their configurations are loaded. You can override this behavior by specifying the period (.) after the module name. You can also instruct bpkg to use the optional module load by prefixing the module name with the question mark (?). For example:

bpkg create cxx. "?cli"

Configurations can be linked with each other to allow a package to be built in one configuration while its dependencies in one or more linked configurations. This can be used to create a "base" configuration with common dependencies that are shared between multiple configurations. This mechanism is also used to provide a host configuration that is used to build build-time dependencies.

Each configuration is assigned an automatically-generated UUID unless one is specified with the --uuid option. This UUID is used to check the integrity of configuration links. For convenience of referring to linked configurations, a configuration can also be assigned a name with the --name option.

A configuration also has a type specified with the --type option. Three predefined types are target, host, and build2. If the type is not specified explicitly, then target is assumed. When satisfying a dependency of one package on another, a linked configuration will only be considered if (1) it has the same type as the other configuration for run-time dependencies, (2) it has the host type for regular build-time dependencies, and (3) it has the build2 type for build system module build-time dependencies. Note that a host configuration is a target configuration for the host machine. So to create a self-hosted configuration, use type host.

To link a configuration we use the bpkg-cfg-link(1) command. As a shortcut, host and build system module configurations can also be linked during the configuration creation with the --host-config and --build2-config options, respectively. If a build-time dependency is encountered in a configuration that has no linked configuration of a suitable type (host or build2, nor is itself of a suitable type), then a private host or build system module configuration named host or build2, respectively, is created automatically inside the configuration's .bpkg/ subdirectory.

CFG-CREATE OPTIONS

--directory|-d dir
    Create the configuration in dir rather than in the current working directory.

--existing|-e
    Initialize a bpkg configuration based on an existing build system configuration.

--wipe
    Wipe the configuration directory clean before creating the new configuration. For safety, this option requires that you specify the configuration directory explicitly with --directory|-d.

--host-config dir
    Link the specified host configuration with the configuration being created as if by running the bpkg-cfg-link(1) command.

--no-host-config
    Ignore any specified --host-config options.

--build2-config dir
    Link the specified build system module configuration with the configuration being created as if by running the bpkg-cfg-link(1) command.

--no-build2-config
    Ignore any specified --build2-config options.

--name name
    The name of the configuration being created. If this configuration is linked with another configuration using bpkg-cfg-link(1), this name will be used as the link name unless overridden. By default the configuration is created unnamed.

--type type
    The type of the configuration being created. By default, configuration of type target is created.

--uuid uuid
    Use the specified UUID as the configuration id instead of generating one automatically.

COMMON OPTIONS

The common options are summarized below with a more detailed description available in bpkg-common-options(1).

-v  Print essential underlying commands being executed.

-V  Print all underlying commands being executed.

--quiet|-q
    Run quietly, only printing error messages.

--verbose level
    Set the diagnostics verbosity to level between 0 and 6.

--stdout-format format
    Representation format to use for printing to stdout.

--jobs|-j num
    Number of jobs to perform in parallel.

--no-result
    Don't print informational messages about the outcome of performing a command or some of its parts.

--structured-result fmt
    Write the result of performing a command in a structured form.

--progress
    Display progress indicators for long-lasting operations, such as network transfers, building, etc.

--no-progress
    Suppress progress indicators for long-lasting operations, such as network transfers, building, etc.

--diag-color
    Use color in diagnostics.

--no-diag-color
    Don't use color in diagnostics.

--build path
    The build program to be used to build packages.

--build-option opt
    Additional option to be passed to the build program.

--fetch path
    The fetch program to be used to download resources (packages, repository metadata, etc).

--fetch-option opt
    Additional option to be passed to the fetch program.

--fetch-timeout sec
    The fetch and fetch-like (for example, git) program timeout.

--offline
    Do not attempt to download resources (packages, repository metadata, etc), instead taking them from the local fetch cache if available and failing otherwise.

--no-fetch-cache
    Disable local caching of downloaded resources (packages, repository metadata, etc).

--fetch-cache mode
    Comma-separated list of local fetch cache modes.

--fetch-cache-path dir
    The directory of the local fetch cache.

--fetch-cache-session id
    The local fetch cache session.

--sqlite-synchronous mode
    Filesystem synchronization mode for the fetch cache and configuration SQLite databases.

--pkg-proxy url
    HTTP proxy server to use when fetching package manifests and archives from remote pkg repositories.

--git path
    The git program to be used to fetch git repositories.

--git-option opt
    Additional common option to be passed to the git program.

--sha256 path
    The sha256 program to be used to calculate SHA256 sums.

--sha256-option opt
    Additional option to be passed to the sha256 program.

--tar path
    The tar program to be used to extract package archives.

--tar-option opt
    Additional option to be passed to the tar program.

--openssl path
    The openssl program to be used for crypto operations.

--openssl-option opt
    Additional option to be passed to the openssl program.

--auth type
    Types of repositories to authenticate.

--trust fingerprint
    Trust repository certificate with a SHA256 fingerprint.

--trust-yes
    Assume the answer to all authentication prompts is yes.

--trust-no
    Assume the answer to all authentication prompts is no.

--git-capabilities up=pc
    Protocol capabilities (pc) for a git repository URL prefix (up).

--pager path
    The pager program to be used to show long text.

--pager-option opt
    Additional option to be passed to the pager program.

--options-file file
    Read additional options from file.

--default-options dir
    The directory to load additional default options files from.

--no-default-options
    Don't load default options files.

--keep-tmp
    Don't remove the bpkg's temporary directory at the end of the command execution and print its path at the verbosity level 2 or higher.

DEFAULT OPTIONS FILES

See bpkg-default-options-files(1) for an overview of the default options files. For the cfg-create command the search start directory is the parent directory of the new configuration. The following options files are searched for in each directory and, if found, loaded in the order listed:

bpkg.options
bpkg-cfg-create.options

The following cfg-create command options cannot be specified in the default options files:

--directory|-d
--wipe

BUGS
Send bug reports to the users@build2.org mailing list.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 2014-2026 the build2 authors. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the MIT License.