pkginfo(4) File Formats pkginfo(4)NAMEpkginfo - package characteristics file
DESCRIPTIONpkginfo is an ASCII file that describes the characteristics of the
package along with information that helps control the flow of installa‐
tion. It is created by the software package developer.
Each entry in the pkginfo file is a line that establishes the value of
a parameter in the following form:
PARAM="value"
There is no required order in which the parameters must be specified
within the file. The PKG, NAME, ARCH, VERSION and CATEGORY parameters
are mandatory. Other parameters are optional.
pkginfo provides optional parameters and an environment variable in
support of the zones (multiple Solaris environments) feature. See
zones(5).
The following paramaters are mandatory:
ARCH
A comma-separated list of alphanumeric tokens that indicate the
architecture associated with the package. The pkgmk(1) tool can be
used to create or modify this value when actually building the
package. The maximum length of a token is 16 characters and it can‐
not include a comma.
Solaris's installation software meaningfully uses only one archi‐
tecture token of the form:
<instruction_set_architecture>[.<platform_group>]
where platform_group is intended only for Solaris installation
packages. Third party application software should restrict itself
to ARCH values from the following Solaris-supported instruction set
architectures (uname -p): sparc, i386, and ppc. Examples of
Solaris' platform groups (uname -m) are sun4u for the SPARC
instruction set and i86pc for the i386 instruction set. See
uname(1) and isalist(1) for more details.
CATEGORY
A comma-separated list of categories under which a package can be
displayed. A package must at least belong to the system or applica‐
tion category. Categories are case-insensitive and can contain only
alphanumerics. Each category is limited in length to 16 characters.
NAME
Text that specifies the package name (maximum length of 256 ASCII
characters). Use the NAME parameter as the foundation for describ‐
ing the functionality and purpose of the package; spell out any
acronyms and avoid internal product/project code names. The DESC
parameter can then be used to expand the descriptive information.
Use the NAME parameter to state as specifically as possible the use
of the package, why a user would need to load it, and so on.
PKG
Abbreviation for the package being installed. All characters in the
abbreviation must be alphanumeric. You can also use the − and +
characters in the abbreviation. The first character cannot be
numeric, a + or a -.
The abbreviation is limited to a maximum length of 32 characters.
install, new, and all are reserved abbreviations. It is customary
to make the first four letters unique to your company, such as the
company's stock symbol.
VERSION
Text that specifies the current version associated with the soft‐
ware package. The maximum length is 256 ASCII characters and the
first character cannot be a left parenthesis. The pkgmk(1) tool
can be used to create or modify this value when actually building
the package. Current Solaris software practice is to assign this
parameter monotonically increasing Dewey decimal values of the
form:
<major_revision>.<minor_revision>[.<micro_revision>]
where all the revision fields are integers. The versioning fields
can be extended to an arbitrary string of numbers in Dewey-decimal
format, if necessary.
The following parameters are optional:
BASEDIR
The pathname to a default directory where "relocatable" files can
be installed. If blank, the package is not relocatable and any
files that have relative pathnames are not installed. An adminis‐
trator can override the default directory.
CLASSES
A space-separated list of classes defined for a package. The order
of the list determines the order in which the classes are
installed. Classes listed first are installed first (on a media by
media basis). This parameter can be modified by the request
script.
DESC
Text that describes the package (maximum length of 256 ASCII char‐
acters). This parameter value is used to provide the installer with
a description of what the package contains and should build on the
description provided in the NAME parameter. Try to make the two
parameters work together so that a pkginfo-l provides a fairly
comprehensive textual description of the package.
EMAIL
An electronic address where further information is available or
bugs can be reported (maximum length of 256 ASCII characters).
HOTLINE
Phone number and/or mailing address where further information can
be received or bugs can be reported (maximum length of 256 ASCII
characters).
INTONLY
Indicates that the package should only be installed interactively
when set to any non-null value.
ISTATES
A list of allowable run states for package installation (for exam‐
ple, "S s 1" allows run states of S, s or 1). The Solaris operat‐
ing environment supports the run levels s, S, 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6.
Applicable run levels for this parameter are s, S, 1, 2, and 3. See
init(1M) for details.
MAXINST
The maximum number of package instances that should be allowed on a
machine at the same time. By default, only one instance of a pack‐
age is allowed. This parameter must be set in order to have multi‐
ple instances of a package. In order to support multiple instances
of packages (for example, packages that differ in their ARCH or
VERSION parameter value), the value of this parameter must be high
enough to allow for all instances of a given package, including
multiple versions coexisting on a software server.
ORDER
A list of classes defining the order in which they should be put on
the medium. Used by pkgmk(1) in creating the package. Classes not
defined in this field are placed on the medium using the standard
ordering procedures.
PSTAMP
Production stamp used to mark the pkgmap(4) file on the output vol‐
umes. Provides a means for distinguishing between production copies
of a version if more than one is in use at a time. If PSTAMP is not
defined, the default is used. The default consists of the UNIX sys‐
tem machine name followed by the string "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" (year,
month, date, hour, minutes, seconds).
RSTATES
A list of allowable run states for package removal (for example, "S
s 1" allows run states of S, s or 1). The Solaris operating envi‐
ronment supports the run levels s, S, 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. Appli‐
cable run levels for this parameter are s, S, 1, 2, and 3 See
init(1M) for details.
SUNW_ISA
Solaris-only optional parameter that indicates a software package
contains 64-bit objects if it is set to sparcv9. If this parameter
is not set, the default ISA (instruction set architecture) is set
to the value of the ARCH parameter.
SUNW_LOC
Solaris-only optional parameter used to indicate a software package
containing localization files for a given product or application.
The parameter value is a comma-separated list of locales supported
by a package. It is only used for packages containing localization
files, typically the message catalogues. The allowable values for
this string field are those found in the table of Standard Locale
Names located in the International Language Environments Guide.
SUNW_LOC="<locale_name>,<locale_name>,..,<locale_name>"
where
<locale_name>::= <language>[_<territory>][.<codeset>]
<language>::= the set of names from ISO 639
<territory>::= the set of territories specified
in ISO 3166
<codeset>::= is a string corresponding to the coded
character set
Since a value of C specifies the traditional UNIX system behavior
(American English, en_US), packages belonging to the C locale are
viewed as non-localized packages, and thus must not have SUNW_LOC
and SUNW_PKGLIST included in their pkginfo file. See also the
SUNW_LOC parameter in packagetoc(4) and setlocale(3C) for more
information. This keyword is not recognized by the add-on software
utility Software Manager.
SUNW_PKG_DIR
A value set by pkgadd that contains the location of the installing
package. This value is provided to any install time package proce‐
dure scripts that need to know where the installing package is
located. This parameter should never be set manually from within a
pkginfo file.
SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES
Defines whether a package, when installed, must be installed and
must be identical in all zones. Assigned value can be true or
false. The default value is false. The setting of SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES
has the effects described below.
If set to true, the following conditions are in effect:
· The package must be installed in the global zone.
· The package must be installed in any non-global zone that is
created.
· The package must be identical in all zones.
· The package can be installed only by the global zone adminis‐
trator.
· The package cannot be installed by a non-global zone adminis‐
trator.
If set to false, the following conditions are in effect:
· The package is not required to be installed in all zones.
· The package is not required to be identical across all zones.
· The package can be installed by the global zone administrator
or by a non-global zone administrator.
Packages that must be identical across all zones must set this
variable to true. This would include packages that deliver compo‐
nents that are part of the core operating system, or that are
dependent on interfaces exported by the core operating system, or
that deliver device drivers, or runtime libraries that use or
export operating system interfaces that are not guaranteed to be
stable across minor releases.
Packages that deliver components that are not part of the core
operating system (such as application programs) that can be differ‐
ent between any two zones must set this variable to false.
With respect to SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES, keep in mind the following:
· Use of pkgadd in the global zone installs packages in all
zones unless -G is specified, in which case packages are
installed in the global zone only. The setting of
SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES does not change this behavior. For example,
a package that has a setting of SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES=false is not
installed in the global zone only.
· The SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES attribute controls whether a package
must be installed in all zones (and must be the same in all
zones) when it is installed.
· Use of the -G option to pkgadd with a package that has
SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES=true is an error and causes installation of
that package to fail.
SUNW_PKG_HOLLOW
Defines whether a package should be visible in any non-global zone
if that package is required to be installed and be identical in all
zones (for example, a package that has SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES=true).
Assigned value can be true or false. The default value is false.
The package is not required to be installed, but if it is
installed, the setting of SUNW_PKG_HOLLOW has the effects described
below.
If set to false, the following conditions are in effect:
· If installed in the global zone, the package content and
installation information are required in all non-global zones.
· Software delivered by the package is visible in all non-global
zones. An example of such a a package is the package that
delivers the truss(1) command.
If set to true, the following conditions are in effect:
· The package content is not delivered on any non-global zone.
However, the package installation information is required on
all non-global zones.
· The package delivers software that should not be visible in
all non-global zones. Examples include kernel drivers and sys‐
tem configuration files that work only in the global zone.
This setting allows the non-global zone to resolve dependen‐
cies on packages that are installed only in the global zone
without actually installing the package data.
· In the global zone, the package is recognized as having been
installed, and all components of the package are installed.
Directories are created, files are installed, and class action
and other scripts are run as appropriate when the package is
installed.
· In a non-global zone, the package is recognized as having been
installed, but no components of the package are installed. No
directories are created, no files are installed, and no class
action or other install scripts are run when the package is
installed.
· When removed from the global zone, the package is recognized
as having been completely installed. Appropriate directories
and files are removed, and class action or other install
scripts are run when the package is removed.
· When removed from a non-global zone, the package is recognized
as not having been completely installed. No directories are
removed, no files are removed, and no class action or other
install scripts are run when the package is removed.
· The package is recognized as being installed in all zones for
purposes of dependency checking by other packages that rely on
this package being installed.
If SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES is set to false, the value of this variable
has no meaning. It is a package construction error to set
SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES to false, then set SUNW_PKG_HOLLOW to true.
SUNW_PKG_THISZONE
Defines whether a package must be installed in the current zone
only. Assigned value can be true or false. The default value is
false. The setting of SUNW_PKG_THISZONE has the effects described
below.
If set to true, the following conditions are in effect:
· The package is installed in the current zone only.
· If installed in the global zone, the package is not added to
any currently existing or yet-to-be-created non-global zones.
This is the same behavior that would occur if the -G option
were specified to pkgadd.
If set to false, the following conditions are in effect:
· If pkgadd is run in a non-global zone, the package is
installed in the current zone only.
· If pkgadd is run in the global zone, the package is installed
in the global zone, and is also installed in all currently
installed non-global zones. In addition, the package will be
propagated to all future, newly installed non-global zones.
SUNW_PKGLIST
Solaris-only optional parameter used to associate a localization
package to the package(s) from which it is derived. It is required
whenever the SUNW_LOC parameter is defined. This parameter value is
an comma-separated list of package abbreviations of the form:
SUNW_PKGLIST="pkg1[:version],pkg2[:version],..."
where version (if specified) should match the version string in the
base package specified (see VERSION parameter in this manual page).
When in use, SUNW_PKGLIST helps determine the order of package
installation. The packages listed in the parameter are installed
before the localization package in question is installed. When left
blank, SUNW_PKGLIST="", the package is assumed to be required for
the locale to function correctly. See the SUNW_PKGLIST parameter in
packagetoc(4) for more information. This keyword is not recognized
by the add-on software utility Software Manager.
SUNW_PKGTYPE
Solaris-only parameter for Sun internal use only. Required for
packages part of the Solaris operating environment releases which
install into the /, /usr, /usr/kvm, and /usr/openwin file systems.
The The Solaris operating environment installation software must
know which packages are part of which file system to properly
install a server/client configuration. The currently allowable val‐
ues for this parameter are root, usr, kvm, and ow. If no SUNW_PKG‐
TYPE parameter is present, the package is assumed to be of
BASEDIR=/opt. SUNW_PKGTYPE is optional only for packages which
install into the /opt name space as is the case for the majority of
Solaris add-on software. See the SUNW_PKGTYPE parameter in package‐
toc(4) for further information.
SUNW_PKGVERS
Solaris-only parameter indicating of version of the Solaris operat‐
ing environment package interface.
SUNW_PKGVERS="<sunw_package_version>"
where <unw_package_version> has the form x.y[.z] and x, y, and z
are integers. For packages built for this release and previous
releases, use SUNW_PKGVERS="1.0".
SUNW_PRODNAME
Solaris-only parameter indicating the name of the product this
package is a part of or comprises (maximum length of 256 ASCII
characters). A few examples of currently used SUNW_PRODNAME values
are: "SunOS", "OpenWindows", and "Common Desktop Environment".
SUNW_PRODVERS
Solaris-only parameter indicating the version or release of the
product described in SUNW_PRODNAME (maximum length of 256 ASCII
characters). For example, where SUNW_PRODNAME="SunOS", and the
Solaris 2.x Beta release, this string could be "5.x BETA", while
for the Solaris 2.x FCS release, the string would be "5.x". For
Solaris 10, the string is "5.10". If the SUNW_PRODNAME parameter is
NULL, so should be the SUNW_PRODVERS parameter.
ULIMIT
If set, this parameter is passed as an argument to the ulimit(1)
command (see limit(1)), which establishes the maximum size of a
file during installation.
VENDOR
Used to identify the vendor that holds the software copyright (max‐
imum length of 256 ASCII characters).
VSTOCK
The vendor stock number, if any, that identifies this product (max‐
imum length of 256 ASCII characters).
For further discussion of the zones-related parameters described above,
see System Administration Guide: N1 Grid Containers, Resource Manage‐
ment, and Solaris Zones.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables are available only to package class
action scripts and to checkinstall, preinstall, postinstall scripts.
SUNW_PKG_INSTALL_ZONENAME
This variable is set only during the initial installation of a
zone.
If this variable is not set, the system does not support the
zones(5) feature. In this case, the package is being installed to
or removed from a system that is not configured for zones.
If the variable is set, and equal to global, the package is being
installed to or removed from the global zone.
If the variable is set and not equal to global, the package is
being installed to or removed from the non-global zone named by the
contents of the environment variable ${SUNW_PKG_INSTALL_ZONENAME}.
PKG_INIT_INSTALL
This variable is set only during an initial installation of
Solaris, such as installing Solaris from a CD, DVD, or net install
image.
If this variable is set and equal to TRUE, then the package is
being installed as part of an initial installation of Solaris.
If this variable is not set, or set and not equal to TRUE, then the
package is not being installed as part of an initial installation
of Solaris.
The following code excerpt illustrates the semantics of the preceding
environment variables.
if [ $PKG_INIT_INSTALL != "" ] ; then
# Package being installed as part of initial
# installation of Solaris.
elif [ $SUNW_PKG_INSTALL_ZONENAME != "" ] ; then
if [ $SUNW_PKG_INSTALL_ZONENAME != "global" ] ; then
# Package being installed as part of initial installation
# of non-global zone $SUNW_PKG_INSTALL_ZONENAME
else
# Package being installed as part of initial installation
# of a global zone.
fi
else
# Package not being installed as part of initial installation of
# Solaris and package not being installed as part of initial
# installation of non-global zone.
fi
EXAMPLES
Example 1: A Sample pkginfo File
Here is a sample pkginfo file:
SUNW_PRODNAME="SunOS"
SUNW_PRODVERS="5.5"
SUNW_PKGTYPE="usr"
SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES=false
SUNW_PKG_HOLLOW=false
PKG="SUNWesu"
NAME="Extended System Utilities"
VERSION="11.5.1"
ARCH="sparc"
VENDOR="Sun Microsystems, Inc."
HOTLINE="Please contact your local service provider"
EMAIL=""
VSTOCK="0122c3f5566"
CATEGORY="system"
ISTATES="S 2"
RSTATES="S 2"
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWcsu │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Interface Stability │See entries below │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│PKG value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│VERSION value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│NAME value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│DESC value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ARCH value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│CATEGORY value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│BASEDIR value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│ISTATES value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│RSTATES value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│MAXINST value │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PKG_ALLZONES │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PKG_HOLLOW │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PKG_THISZONE │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PRODNAME │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PRODVERS │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PKGVERS │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PKGTYPE │Unstable │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_LOC │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PKGLIST │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│SUNW_PKG_DIR │Evolving │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│PKG_INIT_INSTALL │Unstable │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOisalist(1), limit(1), pkgmk(1), uname(1), init(1M), setlocale(3C),
clustertoc(4), order(4), packagetoc(4), pkgmap(4), attributes(5),
zones(5)
Application Packaging Developer's Guide
International Language Environments Guide
System Administration Guide: N1 Grid Containers, Resource Management,
and Solaris Zones
NOTES
Developers can define their own installation parameters by adding a
definition to this file. A developer-defined parameter must begin with
a capital letter.
Trailing white space after any parameter value is ignored. For example,
VENDOR="Sun Microsystems, Inc." is the same as VENDOR="Sun Microsys‐
tems, Inc. ".
SunOS 5.10 24 Mar 2006 pkginfo(4)
