Package format is a type of

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

containing computer programs and additional metadata needed by

package manager A package manager or package management system is a collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing computer programs for a computer in a consistent manner. A package manager deals wi ...

s; an instance of this type of archive is called a package. While the

archive file format In computing, an archive file stores the content of one or more files, possibly compressed, with associated metadata such as file name, directory structure, error detection and correction information, commentary, compressed data archives, stor ...

itself may be unchanged, package formats carry additional metadata, such as a

manifest file In computer programming, a manifest file is a Data file, file containing metadata for a group of accompanying files that are part of a set or coherent unit. For example, the files of a computer program may have a manifest describing the name, Soft ...

or certain directory layouts. Packages may contain either source code or executable files. Packages may be converted from one type to another with software such as Alien.

Software supply chain and security

Packages are an important component in managing the security and integrity of the software supply chain. Packages containing executables and configuration can be digitally signed to establish the integrity of running software and protect against tampering. Package formats that support code signing include .deb (

Debian Debian () is a free and open-source software, free and open source Linux distribution, developed by the Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock in August 1993. Debian is one of the oldest operating systems based on the Linux kerne ...

), .msi (

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

), .apk ( Android) and .ipa (

IOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

IPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was given a name distinct from iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones to reflect the diverging features of the two product lines, suc ...

Common formats

Specialized formats

BSD-based formats

Linux-based formats

Windows formats

Generic formats

Arch Linux's Pacman and

Slackware Slackware is a Linux distribution created by Patrick Volkerding in 1993. Originally based on Softlanding Linux System (SLS), Slackware has been the basis for many other Linux distributions, most notably the first versions of SUSE Linux distr ...

use 'tar' archives with generic naming but specific internal structures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Linux Package Formats Package management systems