Package and installer file formats

A package bundles a program with its files and a description of how to install it. Many are archives underneath, a ZIP or an ar file with a fixed set of entries, so the same tools can often look inside them.

Formats

.APK

Android package

Android apps: a signed ZIP of DEX code, resources and a manifest.

.APPIMAGE

AppImage application

A Linux app in one runnable file: an ELF runtime and a SquashFS image.

.DEB

Debian package

Software for Debian and Ubuntu: an ar archive of control and data tarballs.

.JAR

Java archive

Java programs and libraries: class files and a manifest in a ZIP.

.MSI

Windows Installer package

Windows install packages: a database of tables inside a compound file.

.MSIX

Windows app package

Signed Windows app packages: a ZIP with a manifest and a block map.

.NUPKG

NuGet package

.NET libraries: a ZIP of assemblies per framework and a .nuspec manifest.

.RPM

RPM package

Software for Fedora, Red Hat and openSUSE: headers and a compressed cpio archive.

.SNAP

Snap package

Linux apps for snapd: a read-only SquashFS image with meta/snap.yaml.

.WHL

Python wheel

Built Python packages: a ZIP of the files and a .dist-info folder.