Packaging your software applications

The installation tools

The installation tools provide capabilities to install and remove packages, create responses to prompts during installation of packages, check the accuracy of installed packages, and display information about software packages. These tools are introduced to you here so that you can understand the environment into which your package will be placed. The installation tools are:

pkgadd(1M) installs a package.
pkgrm(1M) removes a package.
pkgask(1M) stores answers to an interactive package (one with a request script) in a response file. Later, when installing the package, this file may be specified on the pkgadd(1M) command line so that the package can be installed in noninteractive mode.
pkgchk(1M) checks the content and attribute information for an installed package to ensure that it was not corrupted during installation.
pkginfo(1) and pkgparam(1) display information about packages.

The system administrator can set parameters that control various aspects of installation in the administration file called the admin(4) file. Refer to the manual pages for more information on these commands and on the admin file.