# 3.4.1.1. Specifying the LIC_FILES_CHKSUM Variable

#### 3.4.1.1. 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 \
                             ..."

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

You can also use relative paths as shown in the following example:

         LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://src/ls.c;startline=5;endline=16;\
                                             md5=bb14ed3c4cda583abc85401304b5cd4e"
         LIC_FILES_CHKSUM = "file://../license.html;md5=5c94767cedb5d6987c902ac850ded2c6"

In this example, the first line locates a file in `${S}/src/ls.c`. The second line refers to a file in `WORKDIR`, which is the parent of `S`.

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