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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 characters 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 (maximum length of 256 ASCII characters).
ARCH*
A comma-separated list of alphanumeric tokens that indicate the architecture associated with the package. The pkgmk(1) 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(1) 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 (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 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(1) 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(4) 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.

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"

See Also

pkgmk(1) , pkgmap(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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