To add new MIME types to the system or to modify information about a MIME type, you need to understand how to refresh the MIME database. To refresh the MIME database, use the update-mime-database application. For example, if an application installs information about a new MIME type to the /usr/share/mime/packages/diff.xml file, the update-mime-database application must be invoked with the /usr/share/mime parameter.
# update-mime-database /usr/share/mime *** * Updating MIME database in /usr/share/mime... ***
The MIME database is refreshed by scanning all the source XML files in the <MIME>/packages directory.