3.7.1.1. Specifying the LIC_FILES_CHKSUM Variable

The LIC_FILES_CHKSUM variable contains checksums of the license text in the source code for the recipe. Following is an example of how to specify LIC_FILES_CHKSUM: 

     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://COPYING;md5=xxxx \
                         file://licfile1.txt;beginline=5;endline=29;md5=yyyy \
                         file://licfile2.txt;endline=50;md5=zzzz \
                         ..."

Notes

  • When using "beginline" and "endline", realize that line numbering begins with one and not zero. Also, the included lines are inclusive (i.e. lines five through and including 29 in the previous example for licfile1.txt).

  • When a license check fails, the selected license text is included as part of the QA message. Using this output, you can determine the exact start and finish for the needed license text.

The build system uses the S variable as the default directory when searching files listed in LIC_FILES_CHKSUM. The previous example employs the default directory.

Consider this next example: 

     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://src/ls.c;beginline=5;endline=16;\
                                         md5=bb14ed3c4cda583abc85401304b5cd4e"
     LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://${WORKDIR}/license.html;md5=5c94767cedb5d6987c902ac850ded2c6"

The first line locates a file in ${S}/src/ls.c and isolates lines five through 16 as license text. The second line refers to a file in WORKDIR.

Note that LIC_FILES_CHKSUM variable is mandatory for all recipes, unless the LICENSE variable is set to "CLOSED".