Application Packaging Developer's Guide

Displaying Additional Information About Installed Packages

You can use two other commands to display information about installed packages:

The pkgparam Command

The pkgparam command enables you to display the values associated with the parameters you specified on the command line. The values are retrieved from either the pkginfo file for a specific package, or from the file you name. One parameter value is shown per line. You can display the values only or the parameters and their values.

ProcedureHow to Obtain Information With the pkgparam Command

  1. Install your package.

    See How to Install a Package on a Standalone System or Server, if needed.

  2. Display additional information about your package.


    # pkgparam [-v] pkg-abbrev [param...]

    -v

    Displays the name of the parameter and its value. 

    pkg-abbrev

    Is the name of a specific package. 

    param

    Specifies one or more parameters whose value is displayed. 


Example 4–3 Obtaining Information With the pkgparam Command

For example, to display values only, use this command.


$ pkgparam SUNWcadap
none
/opt
US/Mountain
/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sadm/install/bin
/usr/sadm/sysadm
SUNWcadap
Chip designers need CAD application software to design abc
chips.  Runs only on xyz hardware and is installed in the usr
partition.
system
release 1.0
SPARC
venus990706083849
SUNWcadap
/var/sadm/pkg/SUNWcadap/save
Jul 7 1999 09:58
$

To display parameters and their values, use the following command.


$ pkgparam -v SUNWcadap
pkgparam -v SUNWcadap
CLASSES='none'
BASEDIR='/opt'
TZ='US/Mountain'
PATH='/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sadm/install/bin'
OAMBASE='/usr/sadm/sysadm'
PKG='SUNWcadap'
NAME='Chip designers need CAD application software to design abc chips.  
Runs only on xyz hardware and is installed in the usr partition.'
CATEGORY='system'
VERSION='release 1.0'
ARCH='SPARC'
PSTAMP='venus990706083849'
PKGINST='SUNWcadap'
PKGSAV='/var/sadm/pkg/SUNWcadap/save'
INSTDATE='Jul 7 1999 09:58'
$

Or, if you want to display the value of a specific parameter, use this format:


$ pkgparam SUNWcadap BASEDIR
/opt
$

For more information, refer to pkgparam(1).


See Also

If you are ready to go to the next task, see How to Remove a Package.

The pkginfo Command

You can display information about installed packages with the pkginfo command. This command has several options that enable you to customize both the format and the contents of the display.

You can request information about any number of package instances.

The Default pkginfo Display

When the pkginfo command is executed without options, it displays the category, package instance, and package name of all packages that have been completely installed on your system. The display is organized by categories as shown in the following example.


$ pkginfo
.
.
.
system      SUNWinst       Install Software
system      SUNWipc        Interprocess Communications
system      SUNWisolc      XSH4 conversion for ISO Latin character sets
application SUNWkcspf      KCMS Optional Profiles
application SUNWkcspg      KCMS Programmers Environment
application SUNWkcsrt      KCMS Runtime Environment
.
.
.
$

Customizing the Format of the pkginfo Display

You can get a pkginfo display in any of three formats: short, extracted, and long.

The short format is the default. It shows only the category, package abbreviation, and full package name, as shown in The Default pkginfo Display.

The extracted format shows the package abbreviation, package name, package architecture (if available), and package version (if available). Use the -x option to request the extracted format as shown in the next example.


$ pkginfo -x
.
.
.
SUNWipc         Interprocess Communications
                (sparc) 11.8.0,REV=1999.08.20.12.37
SUNWisolc       XSH4 conversion for ISO Latin character sets
                (sparc) 1.0,REV=1999.07.10.10.10
SUNWkcspf       KCMS Optional Profiles
                (sparc) 1.1.2,REV=1.5
SUNWkcspg       KCMS Programmers Environment
                (sparc) 1.1.2,REV=1.5
.
.
.
$

Using the -l option produces a display in the long format showing all of the available information about a package, as in the following example.


$ pkginfo -l SUNWcadap
   PKGINST:  SUNWcadap
      NAME:  Chip designers need CAD application software to
design abc chips.  Runs only on xyz hardware and is installed
in the usr partition.
  CATEGORY:  system
      ARCH:  SPARC
   VERSION:  release 1.0
   BASEDIR:  /opt
    PSTAMP:  system980706083849
  INSTDATE:  Jul 7 1999 09:58
    STATUS:  completely installed
     FILES:     13 installed pathnames
                 6 directories
                 3 executables
              3121 blocks used (approx)
$

Parameter Descriptions for the pkginfo Long Format

The table below describes the package parameters that can be displayed for each package. A parameter and its value are displayed only when the parameter has a value assigned to it.

Table 4–2 Package Parameters

Parameter 

Description 

ARCH

The architecture supported by this package. 

BASEDIR

The base directory in which the software package resides (shown if the package is relocatable). 

CATEGORY

The software category, or categories, of which this package is a member (for example, system or application).

CLASSES

A 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.  

DESC

Text that describes the package. 

EMAIL

The electronic mail address for user inquiries. 

HOTLINE

Information on how to receive hotline help about this package. 

INTONLY

Indicates that the package should only be installed interactively when set to any non-NULL value. 

ISTATES

A list of allowable run states for package installation (for example, S s 1).

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. 

NAME

The package name, generally text describing the package abbreviation. 

ORDER

A list of classes defining the order in which they should be put on the medium. Used by the pkgmk command in creating the package. Classes not defined in this parameter are placed on the medium using the standard ordering procedures.

PKGINST

Abbreviation for the package being installed. 

PSTAMP

The production stamp for this package. 

RSTATES

A list of allowable run states for package removal (for example, S s 1).

ULIMIT

If set, this parameter is passed as an argument to the ulimit command, which establishes the maximum size of a file during installation. This applies only to files created by procedure scripts.

VENDOR

The name of the vendor who supplied the software package. 

VERSION

The version of this package.  

VSTOCK

The vendor-supplied stock number. 

For detailed information about the pkginfo command, refer to the pkginfo(1) man page.

ProcedureHow to Obtain Information With the pkginfo Command

  1. Install your package.

    See How to Install a Package on a Standalone System or Server, if needed.

  2. Display additional information about your package.


    # pkginfo [-x | -l] [pkg-abbrev]

    -x

    Displays package information in extracted format. 

    -l

    Displays package information in long format. 

    pkg-abbrev

    Is the name of a specific package. If omitted, the pkginfo command displays information about all installed packages, in the default format.

Where to Go Next

If you are ready to go to the next task, see How to Remove a Package.