Trusted Solaris Developer's Guide

Package Files

A package consists of package objects (the files to be installed) and control files (files that control how, when, where, and if the package is installed). Information about packages already installed on the system is stored in the software installation database in /var/sadm/install/contents.

The Solaris operating environment provides the following commands for creating and installing ABI-compliant software packages.

pkginfo(1)	Display software package information.
pkgparam(1)	Display package parameter values.
pkgask(1M)	Create a request script.
installf(1M)	Add an entry to the software installation database.
removef(1M)	Remove an entry from the software installation database.

To create a package, you set up the following files:

Required information files.
- pkginfo(4)
- prototype(4)

Optional information files as needed
Optional mandatory access control (MAC) security attributes file, tsolinfo(4).
Optional packaging scripts as needed.

pkgmk(1) uses pkginfo(4) and prototype(4) to construct a software package. The optional scripts customize the installation and remove packages.