Image Packaging System

The Image Packaging System, also known as IPS or pkg(5), is a cross-platform package management system created by the OpenSolaris community in coordination with Sun Microsystems. It is used by OpenSolaris and a growing number of layered applications, including GlassFish, across a variety of OS platforms.

Features include:

• Use of ZFS, allowing multiple boot environments and easy package operation rollbacks
• Transactional actions
• Support for multiple platform architectures within a single package
• Legacy support for SVR4 packages
• Extensive search grammar
• Remote search capability
• Changes-only based package updates
• Network package repository
• File and network-based package publication
• Package operation history
• Multi-platform ports for layered applications:
  • Broad platform support: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, OpenSolaris, Solaris and IBM AIX
  • Cross-platform update notification and package management Graphical user interfaces.

External links

• OpenSolaris Project: Image Packaging System
• Multi-platform Use of pkg(5) for Layered Applications
• Update Center Project: Delivers Ports of pkg(5) for Layered Use