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pkginfo(4)                FILE FORMATS                 pkginfo(4)



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.   Each  parameter is described
     below.  Only fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory.

     PKG*            Abbreviation   for   the    package    being
                     installed,  generally  three  characters  in
                     length (for example, dir or pkg).  All char-
                     acters   in   the   abbreviation   must   be
                     alphanumeric  and  the  first  may  not   be
                     numeric.   The  abbreviation is limited to a
                     maximum length of nine characters.  install,
                     new, and all are reserved abbreviations.

     NAME*           Text that specifies the package  name  (max-
                     imum length of 256 ASCII characters).

     ARCH*           A  comma-separated  list   of   alphanumeric
                     tokens  that  indicate the architecture (for
                     example, 3B2) 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.

     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 appli-
                     cation   category.    Categories  are  case-
                     insensitive and may contain only alphanumer-
                     ics.   Each category is limited in length to



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pkginfo(4)                FILE FORMATS                 pkginfo(4)



                     16 characters.

     DESC            Text that  describes  the  package  (maximum
                     length of 256 ASCII characters).

     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 informa-
                     tion  is  available  or bugs may be reported
                     (maximum length of 256 ASCII characters).

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

     CLASSES         A space-separated list  of  classes  defined
                     for a package.  The order of the list deter-
                     mines 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 argu-
                     ment  to  the  ulimit  command, which estab-
                     lishes 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



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pkginfo(4)                FILE FORMATS                 pkginfo(4)



                     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 pre-SVR4
                     package   dependency   checking.    Pre-SVR4
                     dependency checks were based on  whether  or
                     not  the  name file for the required package
                     existed in the /var/options directory.  This
                     directory  is  not maintained for SVR4 pack-
                     ages since  the  depend  file  is  used  for
                     checking dependencies.  However, entries can
                     be created in  this  directory  to  maintain
                     compatibility.  Setting the PREDEPEND param-
                     eter to y or yes creates a /usr/option entry
                     for the package.  (Packages that are new for
                     SVR4 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"





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pkginfo(4)                FILE FORMATS                 pkginfo(4)



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,



















































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