diff --git a/aligeno2.sh b/aligeno2.sh
index 299fbfb73f..80ed27f627 100644
--- a/aligeno2.sh
+++ b/aligeno2.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ requires:
   - pythia
   - ThePEG
   - Rivet
+  - SHERPA
   - lhapdf-pdfsets
   - JETSCAPE
   - CRMC
diff --git a/cmake.sh b/cmake.sh
index c7def3a727..409351e236 100644
--- a/cmake.sh
+++ b/cmake.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package: CMake
 version: "%(tag_basename)s"
-tag: "v3.31.6"
+tag: "v4.0.0"
 source: https://github.com/Kitware/CMake
 requires:
   - "OpenSSL:(?!osx)"
@@ -16,11 +16,14 @@ prefer_system_check: |
   verle() { [[  "$1" = "$(echo -e "$1\n$2" | sort -V -r | head -n1)" ]]; }
   current_version=$(cmake --version | sed -e 's/.* //' | cut -d. -f1,2,3)
   echo alibuild_system_replace: cmake"$current_version"
-  type cmake && verge 3.28.1 $current_version && verle 3.99.99 $current_version
+  type cmake && verge 3.28.1 $current_version
+env:
+  CMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM: 3.5
 prefer_system_replacement_specs:
   "cmake.*":
     env:
       CMAKE_VERSION: ""
+      CMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM: 3.5
 ---
 #!/bin/bash -e
 SONAME=so
diff --git a/mpfr.sh b/mpfr.sh
index 231168d4a9..b2791b9905 100644
--- a/mpfr.sh
+++ b/mpfr.sh
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@ build_requires:
   - alibuild-recipe-tools
 ---
 #!/bin/sh
-rsync -a --delete --exclude '**/.git' $SOURCEDIR/ ./
-perl -p -i -e 's/ doc / /' Makefile.am
+rsync -a --chmod=ug=rwX --delete --exclude .git --delete-excluded $SOURCEDIR/ .
+sed -i.bak -e 's/ doc / /' Makefile.am
+rm *.bak
 autoreconf -ivf
 
 ./configure --prefix=$INSTALLROOT    \
diff --git a/openloops.sh b/openloops.sh
index 97a26f516c..57eb61a6c1 100644
--- a/openloops.sh
+++ b/openloops.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ build_requires:
   - alibuild-recipe-tools
 ---
 #!/bin/bash -e
-rsync -a --delete --exclude '**/.git' --delete-excluded "$SOURCEDIR/" .
+rsync -a --chmod=ug=rwX --delete --exclude .git --delete-excluded "$SOURCEDIR/" .
 
 unset HTTP_PROXY # unset this to build on slc6 system
 
diff --git a/sherpa.sh b/sherpa.sh
index 0a74bf2410..d2f47f6388 100644
--- a/sherpa.sh
+++ b/sherpa.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ requires:
   - lhapdf-pdfsets
   - fastjet
   - pythia
+  - sqlite
 build_requires:
   - "autotools:(slc6|slc7)"
   - cgal
@@ -23,12 +24,14 @@ build_requires:
 # When using the official repo the .git files are needed as Git_Info.C
 # is generated and used during the build process, which fails in case 
 # we would not include the .git directory
-rsync -a $SOURCEDIR/ ./
+rsync -a --chmod=ug=rwX --exclude .git  --delete-excluded $SOURCEDIR/ ./
 
 # Exclude building Manual from Makefile.am
 sed -i.bak /Manual/d Makefile.am
 rm -f Makefile.am.bak
 
+[[ "X$SQLITE_ROOT" = X ]] && SQLITE_ROOT=$(brew --prefix sqlite)
+
 autoreconf -ivf
 
 # SHERPA's configure uses wget which might not be there
@@ -40,7 +43,7 @@ export PATH="$PWD/fakewget:$PATH"
 
 export LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS -L$CGAL_ROOT/lib  -L$GMP_ROOT/lib"
 ./configure --prefix=$INSTALLROOT        \
-              --with-sqlite3=install       \
+              --with-sqlite3=$SQLITE_ROOT \
               --enable-hepmc2=$HEPMC_ROOT  \
               --enable-hepmc3=$HEPMC3_ROOT \
               --enable-lhapdf=$LHAPDF_ROOT \