The package’s meta data in stored in the RPM header. The header is a binary data structure that stores the single pieces of data in tags. Each tag has a pre-defined meaning and data type. These are not stored in the header itselfs but need to be known by the code reading the header. In the header the tags are only refered by their number.
Tag types
Scalar types
There are four unsigned integer types for RPM tags:
Additionally there is a char datatype that is also only used once.
There is a bin datatype for arbitrary data that is basically an char array.
There are two string types: Plain string with is zero terminated and of arbitary length (within the header size restriction).
i18nstrings are translated to the requested locale when queried.
Arrays
Each tag is either of a plain scalar type or is an array of one of these types. While not enforced by the type system the RPM code assumes that tags belonging together have the same number of entries e.g. one for each file.
Mappings
While not technically a type on its own there are several mappings. These consists of two or more tags working together. One array (called dictionary, often named *dict) contains a list of values while another tag (called an index) contains integers referencing a position in the first one. The index can either be a plain integer or an integer array.
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Name |
1000 |
string |
Package name. |
| Version |
1001 |
string |
Package version. |
| Release |
1002 |
string |
Package release. |
| Epoch |
1003 |
int32 |
Package epoch (optional). An absent epoch is equal to epoch value 0. |
| License |
1014 |
string |
License of the package contents. |
| Summary |
1004 |
i18nstring |
One line summary of the package’s purpose. |
| Description |
1005 |
i18nstring |
Multiline description of the package’s purpose |
| Os |
1021 |
string |
The operating system the package is for |
| Arch |
1022 |
string |
The architecture the package is for. noarch is a special case denoting a architecture independent package. |
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Buildhost |
1007 |
string |
Hostname of the system the package was built on. |
| Buildtime |
1006 |
int32 |
Unix timestamp of package build time. |
| Bugurl |
5012 |
string |
URL to package bug tracker. |
| Changelogname |
1081 |
string array |
Per entry changelog author information, typically name <email>. |
| Changelogtext |
1082 |
string array |
Per entry changelog text. |
| Changelogtime |
1080 |
int32 array |
Per entry changelog Unix timestamp. |
| Cookie |
1094 |
string |
An opaque value for tracking packages from a single build operation. |
| Distribution |
1010 |
string |
Distribution name. |
| Disttag |
1155 |
string |
Distribution acronym. |
| Disturl |
1123 |
string |
Distribution specific URL of the package. |
| Encoding |
5062 |
string |
Encoding of the header string data. When present it is always utf-8 and the data has actually been validated. |
| Group |
1016 |
i18nstring |
Group of the package. |
| Modularitylabel |
5096 |
string |
|
| Optflags |
1122 |
string |
%{optflags} value at the time of package build. |
| Packager |
1015 |
string |
Packager contact information. |
| Platform |
1132 |
string |
Package platform (arch-os-vendor). |
| Policies |
1150 |
string array |
|
| Policyflags |
5033 |
int32 array |
|
| Policynames |
5030 |
string array |
|
| Policytypes |
5031 |
string array |
|
| Policytypesindexes |
5032 |
int32 array |
|
| Rpmversion |
1064 |
string |
Version of rpm used to build the package. |
| Sourcepkgid |
1146 |
bin |
|
| Sourcerpm |
1044 |
string |
Package source rpm file name. |
| Translationurl |
5100 |
string |
URL of upstream translation service/repository |
| UpstreamReleases |
5101 |
string |
URL to check for newer releases from upstream e.g. for build systems to check for newer upstream releases and then to notify the packager. |
| Url |
1020 |
string |
Package URL, typically project upstream website. |
| Vcs |
5034 |
string |
(Public) upstream source code VCS location. Format <vcs>:<address> with <vcs> being the VCS command used (e.g. git, svn, hg, …) and <address> being the location of the repository as used by the VCS tool to clone/checkout the repository (e.g. https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpm.git). |
| Vendor |
1011 |
string |
Package vendor contact information. |
Packages with files
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Archivesize |
1046 |
int32 |
(Uncompressed) payload size. |
| Dirnames |
1118 |
string array |
dirname(3) components of contained paths |
| Filedigestalgo |
5011 |
int32 |
ID of file digest algorithm. If missing, considered 0 for md5. |
| Longarchivesize |
271 |
int64 |
(Uncompressed) payload size when > 4GB. |
| Longsize |
5009 |
int64 |
Installed package size when > 4GB. |
| Mimedict |
5116 |
int32 |
Dictionary of MIME types, only >= v6. |
| Payloadcompressor |
1125 |
string |
Payload compressor name (as passed to rpmio Fopen()) |
| Payloadflags |
1126 |
string |
Payload compressor level (as passed to rpmio Fopen()) |
| Payloadformat |
1124 |
string |
Payload format (cpio) |
| Prefixes |
1098 |
string array |
Relocatable prefixes (on relocatable packages). |
| Size |
1009 |
int32 |
Installed package size. |
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Basenames |
1117 |
string array |
basename(3) of the path. |
| Dirindexes |
1116 |
int32 array |
Index into dirname(3) array of the pacakge (see Dirname tag). |
| Filedevices |
1095 |
int32 array |
Abstract device ID (hardlink calculation only). |
| Filedigests |
1035 |
string array |
File cryptographic digest (aka hash) using algorithm specified in Filedigestalgo. |
| Fileflags |
1037 |
int32 array |
File virtual attributes (doc, license, ghost, artifact etc) |
| Filegroupname |
1040 |
string array |
Unix group name. |
| Fileinodes |
1096 |
int32 array |
Abstract inode number (hardlink calculation only). |
| Filelangs |
1097 |
string array |
Optional language of the file (eg man page translations) |
| Filelinktos |
1036 |
string array |
Symlink target for symlink files. |
| Filemimeindex |
5115 |
int32 array |
Index into MIME dictionary (see Mimedict tag), only >= v6. |
| Filemodes |
1030 |
int16 array |
Unix file mode. |
| Filemtimes |
1034 |
int32 array |
Unix file modification timestamp (aka mtime). |
| Filerdevs |
1033 |
int16 array |
Device ID (of device files) |
| Filesizes |
1028 |
int32 array |
File size (when all files are < 4GB) |
| Fileusername |
1039 |
string array |
Unix owner name |
| Fileverifyflags |
1045 |
int32 array |
File verification flags (which aspects of file to verify) |
| Longfilesizes |
5008 |
int64 array |
File size (when files > 4GB are present) |
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Classdict |
1142 |
string array |
File class (libmagic string) dictionary (only v4) |
| Dependsdict |
1145 |
int32 array |
File dependencies dictionary |
| Filecaps |
5010 |
string array |
cap_to_text(3) textual representation of file capabilities. |
| Fileclass |
1141 |
int32 array |
Index into Classdict (only v4) |
| Filecolors |
1140 |
int32 array |
File “color” - 1 for 32bit ELF, 2 for 64bit ELF and 0 otherwise |
| Filedependsn |
1144 |
int32 array |
Number of file dependencies in Dependsdict, starting from Filedependsx |
| Filedependsx |
1143 |
int32 array |
Index into Dependsdict denoting start of this file’s dependencies. |
| Filesignaturelength |
5091 |
int32 |
IMA signature length. |
| Filesignatures |
5090 |
string array |
IMA signature (hex encoded). |
| Veritysignaturealgo |
277 |
int32 |
fsverity signature algorithm ID. |
| Veritysignatures |
276 |
string array |
fsverity signature (base64 encoded). |
All dependency tags follow the same pattern. The name tag contains
dependency token names, the flags tag may contain additional context
information and the dependency is versioned as per (RPMSENSE_* bitfield),
the range related to the version specified in the version tag.
Hard dependencies
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
| Providename |
1047 |
string array |
| Provideversion |
1113 |
string array |
| Provideflags |
1112 |
int32 array |
| Requirename |
1049 |
string array |
| Requireversion |
1050 |
string array |
| Requireflags |
1048 |
int32 array |
| Conflictname |
1054 |
string array |
| Conflictversion |
1055 |
string array |
| Conflictflags |
1053 |
int32 array |
| Obsoletename |
1090 |
string array |
| Obsoleteversion |
1115 |
string array |
| Obsoleteflags |
1114 |
int32 array |
Soft dependencies
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
| Enhancename |
5055 |
string array |
| Enhanceversion |
5056 |
string array |
| Enhanceflags |
5057 |
int32 array |
| Recommendname |
5046 |
string array |
| Recommendversion |
5047 |
string array |
| Recommendflags |
5048 |
int32 array |
| Suggestname |
5049 |
string array |
| Suggestversion |
5050 |
string array |
| Suggestflags |
5051 |
int32 array |
| Supplementname |
5052 |
string array |
| Supplementversion |
5053 |
string array |
| Supplementflags |
5054 |
int32 array |
| Ordername |
5035 |
string array |
| Orderversion |
5036 |
string array |
| Orderflags |
5037 |
int32 array |
Scriptlets
Basic scriptlets
All scriptlet tags follow the same pattern. The main tag contains the
corresponding scriptlet (eg %post) body. If present, the prog tag
denotes the scriptlet interpreter and possible arguments, and flags tag
contains additional processing information such as whether to macro
expand the scriptlet body.
%post script is executed right after the package got installed
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
| Postin |
1024 |
string |
| Postinflags |
5021 |
int32 |
| Postinprog |
1086 |
string array |
%posttrans scripts are all executed at the end of the transaction that installed their packages
| Posttrans |
1152 |
string |
| Posttransflags |
5025 |
int32 |
| Posttransprog |
1154 |
string array |
%postuntrans scripts are all executed at the end of the transaction that removes their packages
| Postuntrans |
5104 |
string |
| Postuntransflags |
5108 |
int32 |
| Postuntransprog |
5106 |
string array |
%postun script is executed right after the package was removed
| Postun |
1026 |
string |
| Postunflags |
5023 |
int32 |
| Postunprog |
1088 |
string array |
%pre script is executed right before the package is installed
| Prein |
1023 |
string |
| Preinflags |
5020 |
int32 |
| Preinprog |
1085 |
string array |
%pretrans scripts are executed for to be installed packages before any packages are installed/removed
| Pretrans |
1151 |
string |
| Pretransflags |
5024 |
int32 |
| Pretransprog |
1153 |
string array |
%preuntrans scripts are executed for to be removed packages before any packages are installed/removed
| Preuntrans |
5103 |
string |
| Preuntransflags |
5107 |
int32 |
| Preuntransprog |
5105 |
string array |
%preun script is executed right before the package gets removed
| Preun |
1025 |
string |
| Preunflags |
5022 |
int32 |
| Preunprog |
1087 |
string array |
%verify script is executed when the package is verified (e.g. with rpm -V)
| Verifyscript |
1079 |
string |
| Verifyscriptflags |
5026 |
int32 |
| Verifyscriptprog |
1091 |
string array |
Triggers
Triggers are stored in a combination of dependency and scriptlet tags.
Triggerscripts, Triggerscriptflags and Triggerscriptprog form a scriptlet
triplet, and Triggername, Triggerflags, Triggerversion form a dependency
triplet. Triggerindexes is a per dependency index into Triggerscripts,
binding the two triplets together.
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
| Triggerflags |
1068 |
int32 array |
| Triggerindex |
1069 |
int32 array |
| Triggername |
1066 |
string array |
| Triggerscriptflags |
5027 |
int32 array |
| Triggerscriptprog |
1092 |
string array |
| Triggerscripts |
1065 |
string array |
| Triggerversion |
1067 |
string array |
File triggers
File trigger tags are like normal trigger tags,
with an additional priority tag to affect trigger running order. File
triggers in Filetrigger-tags run once per triggered package, whereas
triggers in Transfiletrigger-tags run once per transaction.
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
| Filetriggerflags |
5072 |
int32 array |
| Filetriggerindex |
5070 |
int32 array |
| Filetriggername |
5069 |
string array |
| Filetriggerpriorities |
5084 |
int32 array |
| Filetriggerscriptflags |
5068 |
int32 array |
| Filetriggerscriptprog |
5067 |
string array |
| Filetriggerscripts |
5066 |
string array |
| Filetriggerversion |
5071 |
string array |
| Transfiletriggerflags |
5082 |
int32 array |
| Transfiletriggerindex |
5080 |
int32 array |
| Transfiletriggername |
5079 |
string array |
| Transfiletriggerpriorities |
5085 |
int32 array |
| Transfiletriggerscriptflags |
5078 |
int32 array |
| Transfiletriggerscriptprog |
5077 |
string array |
| Transfiletriggerscripts |
5076 |
string array |
| Transfiletriggerversion |
5081 |
string array |
Signatures and digests
Signatures allow to verify the origin of a package.
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Dsaheader |
267 |
bin |
OpenPGP DSA signature of the header (if thus signed) |
| Longsigsize |
270 |
int64 |
Header+payload size if > 4GB. |
| Openpgp |
278 |
string array |
OpenPGP signature(s) of the header, base64 encoded |
| Payloaddigest |
5092 |
string array |
Cryptographic digest of the compressed payload. |
| Payloaddigestalgo |
5093 |
int32 |
ID of the payload digest algorithm. |
| Payloaddigestalt |
5097 |
string array |
Cryptographic digest of the uncompressed payload. |
| Rsaheader |
268 |
bin |
OpenPGP RSA signature of the header (if thus signed). |
| Sha1header |
269 |
string |
SHA1 digest of the header. |
| Sha256header |
273 |
string |
SHA256 digest of the header. |
| Siggpg |
262 |
bin |
OpenPGP DSA signature of the header+payload (if thus signed). |
| Sigmd5 |
261 |
bin |
MD5 digest of the header+payload. |
| Sigpgp |
259 |
bin |
OpenPGP RSA signature of the header+payload (if thus signed). |
| Sigsize |
257 |
int32 |
Header+payload size. |
The following tags are added to the headers during installation and do not
exist in RPM package files.
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Filestates |
1029 |
char array |
Per-file installed status information (installed/skipped/forced etc) |
| Installcolor |
1127 |
int32 |
“Color” of transaction in which the package was installed. |
| Installtid |
1128 |
int32 |
ID of transaction in which the package was installed. |
| Installtime |
1008 |
int32 |
Unix timestamp of package installation. |
| Instprefixes |
1099 |
string array |
|
| Origbasenames |
1120 |
string array |
Original Basenames (relocated packages only) |
| Origdirindexes |
1119 |
int32 array |
Original Dirindexes (relocated packages only) |
| Origdirnames |
1121 |
string array |
Original Dirnames (relocated packages only) |
Source packages
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Buildarchs |
1089 |
string array |
If present, specifies the architectures the package may be built for. |
| Excludearch |
1059 |
string array |
If present, limits the architectures on which the package is buildable by excluding those specified. |
| Excludeos |
1060 |
string array |
If present, limits the operating systems on which the package is buildable by excluding those specified. |
| Exclusivearch |
1061 |
string array |
If present, limits the architectures on which the package is buildable exclusively to those specified. |
| Exclusiveos |
1062 |
string array |
If present, limits the operating systems on which the package is buildable exclusively to those specified. |
| Nopatch |
1052 |
int32 array |
Denotes a patch number for which source is not supplied. |
| Nosource |
1051 |
int32 array |
Denotes a source number for which source is not supplied. |
| Patch |
1019 |
string array |
Patch file names. |
| Source |
1018 |
string array |
Source file names. |
| Sourcepackage |
1106 |
int32 |
Denotes a source rpm. |
| Spec |
5099 |
string |
Expanded and parsed spec contents. |
Internal / special
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Headeri18ntable |
100 |
string array |
Locales for which the header has translations. |
| Headerimmutable |
63 |
bin |
Special tag to return the unmodified, original image of the header even after data has been added to it in eg installation. |
| Pubkeys |
266 |
string array |
used in gpg-pubkey special packages in the RPM data base |
Deprecated / Obsolete
These tags are not longer in active use. If encountered in packages
they are ignored.
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Filecontexts |
1147 |
string array |
|
| Fscontexts |
1148 |
string array |
|
| Gif |
1012 |
bin |
|
| Icon |
1043 |
bin |
|
| Oldenhancesname |
1159 |
string array |
|
| Oldenhancesversion |
1160 |
string array |
|
| Oldenhancesflags |
1161 |
int32 array |
|
| Oldfilenames |
1027 |
string array |
|
| Oldsuggestsname |
1156 |
string array |
|
| Oldsuggestsversion |
1157 |
string array |
|
| Oldsuggestsflags |
1158 |
int32 array |
|
| Patchesflags |
1134 |
int32 array |
|
| Patchesname |
1133 |
string array |
|
| Patchesversion |
1135 |
string array |
|
| Recontexts |
1149 |
string array |
|
| Removetid |
1129 |
int32 |
|
| Xpm |
1013 |
bin |
|
Aliases
Aliases are simply shorthands or alternative names for other tags.
| Alias Name |
Tag |
Type |
Description |
| C |
Conflictname |
string array |
|
| Conflicts |
Conflictname |
string array |
|
| E |
Epoch |
int32 |
|
| Enhances |
Enhancename |
string array |
|
| Filemd5s |
Filedigests |
string array |
|
| Hdrid |
Sha1header |
string |
|
| N |
Name |
string |
|
| Obsoletes |
Obsoletename |
string array |
|
| O |
Obsoletename |
string array |
|
| Oldenhances |
Oldenhancesname |
string array |
|
| Oldsuggests |
Oldsuggestsname |
string array |
|
| P |
Providename |
string array |
|
| Pkgid |
Sigmd5 |
bin |
|
| Provides |
Providename |
string array |
|
| R |
Release |
string |
|
| Recommends |
Recommendname |
string array |
|
| Requires |
Requirename |
string array |
|
| Suggests |
Suggestname |
string array |
|
| Supplements |
Supplementname |
string array |
|
| V |
Version |
string |
|
Extensions
Extension tags do not exist in concrete form anywhere, their data is
constructed at query time based on other information in the headers
or runtime environment. A few physical tags do have an extension format
as well however, these exceptions noted below.
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Archsuffix |
5098 |
string |
Package file arch suffix (“.src”, “.nosrc” or .arch) |
| Dbinstance |
1195 |
int32 |
Header ID of installed package, 0 otherwise. |
| Epochnum |
5019 |
int32 |
Package epoch as numeric value (0 if not present). |
| Evr |
5013 |
string |
Formatted epoch:version-release string of the package |
| Fileclass |
1141 |
string array |
Per-file formatted libmagic classification strings, calculated from the Fileclass and Classdict tags. Note overlap with the concrete Fileclass tag with different type (integer array)! |
| Headercolor |
5017 |
int32 |
Header “color” calculated from file colors. |
| Nevr |
5015 |
string |
Formatted name-epoch:version-release string of the package |
| Nevra |
5016 |
string |
Formatted name-epoch:version-release.arch string of the package |
| Nvr |
5014 |
string |
Formatted name-version-release string of the package |
| Nvra |
1196 |
string |
Formatted name-version-release.arch string of the package |
| Filenames |
5000 |
string array |
Per file paths contained in the package, calculated from the path triplet. |
| Filenlinks |
5045 |
int32 array |
Per file hardlink number, calculated from inode/device information. |
| Fileprovide |
5001 |
string array |
Per file dependency capabilities provided by the corresponding files. |
| Filerequire |
5002 |
string array |
Per file dependency capabilities required by the corresponding files. |
| Instfilenames |
5040 |
string array |
Per file paths installed from the package, calculated from the path triplet and file status info. |
These tags provide 64bit values regardless of underlying storage size. They return the value of the concrete tag if present or the value of the corresponding 32bit tag as an 64bit value. Always use these to access the sizes. See Large File support for details.
| Longfilesizes |
Per file sizes in 64bit format |
| Longarchivesize |
Archive size in 64bit format |
| Longsize |
Uncompressed size in 64bit format |
| Longsigsize |
Header+payload size in 64bit format |
| Tag Name |
Value |
Type |
Description |
| Openpgp |
278 |
string array |
All OpenPGP signature(s) in the header, including legacy ones (base64 encoded) |
| Origfilenames |
5007 |
string array |
Original Filenames in relocated packages. |
| Providenevrs |
5042 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] provide dependency strings. |
| Conflictnevrs |
5044 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] conflict dependency strings. |
| Obsoletenevrs |
5043 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] obsolete dependency strings. |
| Enhancenevrs |
5061 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] enhance dependency strings. |
| Recommendnevrs |
5058 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] recommend dependency strings. |
| Requirenevrs |
5041 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] require dependency strings. |
| Suggestnevrs |
5059 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] suggest dependency strings. |
| Supplementnevrs |
5060 |
string array |
Formatted name [op version] supplement dependency strings. |
| Sysusers |
5109 |
string array |
Formatted systemd-sysusers lines for the package. |
| Filetriggerconds |
5086 |
string array |
Formatted file trigger condition information. |
| Filetriggertype |
5087 |
string array |
Formatted file trigger type information. |
| Transfiletriggerconds |
5088 |
string array |
Formatted transaction file trigger condition information. |
| Transfiletriggertype |
5089 |
string array |
Formatted transaction file trigger type information. |
| Triggerconds |
5005 |
string array |
Formatted trigger condition information. |
| Triggertype |
5006 |
string array |
Formatted trigger type information. |
| Verbose |
5018 |
int32 |
Returns 1 if rpm is running in verbose mode. |