NAME

pkginfo − package characteristics file

DESCRIPTION

pkginfo is an ASCII file that describes the characteristics of the package along with information that helps control the flow of installation.  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.  Newlines may not be used in this field prior to SYSTEM V Release 4.0, Version 3.  If newlines are used, the package can only be installed on subsequent releases.  Each parameter is described below.  Only fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory. 

PKG∗ PKG is the parameter to which you assign an abbreviation for the name of the package being installed.  The abbreviation must be a short string (no more than nine characters long) and it must conform to file naming rules.  All characters in the abbreviation must be alphanumeric and the first may not be numeric.  install, new, and all are reserved abbreviations. 

The package name you assign to PKG is also used in the instance name (pkginst) for the package in question.  pkginst is composed of one or two parts: pkg (the same string you assigned to PKG) and, if more than one instance of that package exists, pkg plus inst (an instance identifier).  (The term “package instance” is used loosely: it refers to all instantiations of pkginst, even those that do not include instance identifiers.) 

The package name abbreviation (pkg) is the mandatory part of pkginst.  To create such an abbreviation, assign it with the PKG parameter.  For example, to assign the abbreviation sds to the Software Distribution Service package, enter PKG=sds. 

The second part (inst), which is required only if you have more than one instance of the package in question, is a suffix that identifies the instance.  This suffix is either a number (preceded by a period) or any short mnemonic string you choose.  If you don’t assign your own instance identifier when one is required, the system assigns a numeric one by default.  For example, if you have three instances of the Software Distribution Service package and you don’t create your own mnemonic identifiers (such as old and beta), the system adds the suffixes .2 and .3 to the second and third packages, automatically. 

To indicate all instances of a package, specify inst.∗.  (When using this format, enclose the command line in single quotes to prevent the shell from interpreting the ∗ character.)  Use the token all to refer to all packages available on the source medium. 

NAME∗ Text that specifies the package name. 

ARCH A comma-separated list of alphanumeric tokens that indicate the architecture (for example, ARCH=m68k,m88k) associated with the package.  The pkgmk tool may be used to create or modify this value when actually building the package.  The maximum length of a token is 16 characters and it cannot include a comma.  ARCH is not a mandatory field.  Therefore, if it is not specified or if it is specified as NULL, it is ignored. 

VERSION∗ Text that specifies the current version associated with the software package.  The maximum length is 256 ASCII characters and the first character cannot be a left parenthesis.  The pkgmk tool may be used to create or modify this value when actually building the package. 

CATEGORY∗ A comma-separated list of categories under which a package may be displayed.  A package must at least belong to the system or application category.  Categories are case-insensitive and may contain only alphanumerics.  Each category is limited in length to 16 characters. 

DESC Text that describes the package. 

VENDOR Used to identify the vendor that holds the software copyright (maximum length of 256 ASCII characters). 

HOTLINE Phone number and/or mailing address where further information may be received or bugs may be reported (maximum length of 256 ASCII characters). 

EMAIL An electronic address where further information is available or bugs may be reported (maximum length of 256 ASCII characters). 

VSTOCK The vendor stock number, if any, that identifies this product (maximum length of 256 ASCII characters). 

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 will be installed first (on a media by media basis).  This parameter may be modified by the request script. 

ISTATES A list of allowable run states for package installation (for example, "S s 1"). 

RSTATES A list of allowable run states for package removal (for example, "S s 1"). 

BASEDIR The pathname to a default directory where “relocatable” files may be installed.  If blank, the package is not relocatable and any files that have relative pathnames will not be installed.  An administrator can override the default directory. 

ULIMIT If set, this parameter is passed as an argument to the ulimit command, which establishes the maximum size of a file during installation. 

ORDER A list of classes defining the order in which they should be put on the medium.  Used by pkgmk in creating the package.  Classes not defined in this field are placed on the medium using the standard ordering procedures. 

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 package is allowed.  This parameter must be set in order to have multiple instances of a package. 

PSTAMP Production stamp used to mark the pkgmap file on the output volumes.  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 system machine name followed by the string "YYMMDDHHMM" (year, month, date, hour, minutes). 

INTONLY Indicates that the package should only be installed interactively when set to any non-NULL value. 

PREDEPEND Used to maintain compatibility with dependency checking on packages delivered earlier than System V Release 4.  Pre-Release 4 dependency checks were based on whether or not the name file for the required package existed in the /usr/options directory.  This directory is not maintained for Release 4 packages because the depend file is used for checking dependencies.  However, entries can be created in this directory
to maintain compatibility. Setting the PREDEPEND parameter to y or yes creates a /usr/options entry for the package.  (Packages new for Release 4 do not need to use this parameter.) 

EXAMPLES

Here is a sample pkginfo:

PKG="oam"
NAME="OAM Installation Utilities"
VERSION="3"
VENDOR="AT&T"
HOTLINE="1-800-ATT-BUGS"
EMAIL="attunix!olsen"
VSTOCK="0122c3f5566"
CATEGORY="system.essential"
ISTATES="S 2"
RSTATES="S 2"

NOTES

Developers may define their own installation parameters by adding a definition to this file.  A developer-defined parameter must begin with a capital letter, ­followed by lowercase letters. 

  —  Essential Utilities