DEB File Documentation

Overview

Feature Value
File Extension .deb
Format Type Binary
MIME Type application/vnd.debian.binary-package
Developed by Debian
Primary Use Software installation package for Debian-based operating systems
Structure ar archive
Components debian-binary, control archive, data archive
debian-binary Version information
control archive Contains package metadata and installation scripts
data archive Contains the actual software/data to be installed
Compression Gzip, xz, bzip2 (for data and control archives)
Signature Supports GPG signature
Pre-dependencies Dependencies that are required to be installed before this package
Conflicts Specifies packages that cannot coexist with this package
Replaces Specifies packages that are replaced by this package
Multi-Arch Specifies if the package is multi-architecture compliant
Priority Specifies the urgency of installing this package (required, optional, etc.)
Section Software group the package belongs to (e.g., admin, net, devel)
Maintainer Contact information of the person or organization responsible for the package
Description Full description of the package and its functionalities
License Type of license under which the software is distributed