Under Construction
Logical structure of packages and filesets
Each package has a unique name and consists of exactly one BFF file. Logically, a package consists of one or more filesets. Each fileset has a unique name; the prefix of the name must be the name of the associated package.
Package: mypkg
[Fileset1: mypkg.rte]
[Fileset2: mypkg.man]
[ … ]
The filesets of a package can be installed independently. Each fileset can have dependencies on other filesets, installation and configuration scripts, and other files such as license terms.
The filesets contained in a package can be displayed using installp and the “-L” option, as shown here using bos.net.7.3.0.0.I as an example:
# installp -I -Ld bos.net.7.3.0.0.I
bos.net:bos.net.ate:7.3.0.0::I:T:::::N:Asynchronous Terminal Emulator ::::0:2147:
bos.net:bos.net.ewlm.rte:7.3.1.0::I:T:::::N:netWLM ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.ipsec.keymgt:7.3.1.0::I:C:::::N:IP Security Key Management ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.ipsec.rte:7.3.1.0::I:C:::::N:IP Security ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.mobip6.rte:7.3.1.0::I:T:::::N:IPv6 Mobility ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.nfs.adt:7.3.1.0::I:T:::::N:Network File System Development Toolkit ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.nfs.cachefs:7.3.1.0::I:T:::::b:CacheFS File System ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.nfs.client:7.3.1.0::I:C:::::b:Network File System Client ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.nfs.server:7.3.1.0::I:T:::::Y:Network File System Server ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.nis.client:7.3.0.0::I:C:::::Y:Network Information Service Client ::::0:2147:
bos.net:bos.net.nis.server:7.3.0.0::I:T:::::Y:Network Information Service Server ::::0:2147:
bos.net:bos.net.ppp:7.3.1.0::I:T:::::N:Async Point to Point Protocol ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.sctp:7.3.1.0::I:T:::::N:Stream Control Transmission Protocol ::::0:2245:
bos.net:bos.net.snapp:7.3.0.0::I:C:::::N:System Networking Analysis and Performance Pilot ::::0:2147:
bos.net:bos.net.uucode:7.3.0.0::I:C:::::N:Unix to Unix Copy Utilities ::::0:2147:
bos.net:bos.net.uucp:7.3.0.0::I:C:::::N:Unix to Unix Copy Program ::::0:2147:
#
The first field contains the package name (here bos.net) and the second field the name of the fileset (e.g., bos.net.ate, bos.net.ewlm.rte, etc.). The remaining fields contain additional information about the fileset.
For installed software, the filesets belonging to a package cannot be displayed directly. The “lslpp” command, which can be used to display installed software, only supports specifying filesets. However, since the names of all filesets belonging to a package have the package name as a prefix, this prefix followed by “.*” can be specified as an argument to lslpp with the “-Lc” option. The package name will then appear in the first field of the output, and you can use grep to display only these lines:
$ lslpp -Lc "bos.net.*" | grep "^bos.net:"
bos.net:bos.net.ipsec.keymgt:7.3.3.0: : :C:F:IP Security Key Management: : : : : : :0:0:/:2445
bos.net:bos.net.ipsec.rte:7.3.3.1: : :C:F:IP Security: : : : : : :0:0:/:2520
bos.net:bos.net.nfs.client:7.3.3.1: : :C:F:Network File System Client: : : : : : :0:0:/:2520
bos.net:bos.net.nis.client:7.3.3.0: : :C:F:Network Information Service Client: : : : : : :0:0:/:2445
bos.net:bos.net.snapp:7.3.3.0: : :C:F:System Networking Analysis and Performance Pilot: : : : : : :0:0:/:2445
bos.net:bos.net.uucode:7.3.3.0: : :C:F:Unix to Unix Copy Utilities: : : : : : :0:0:/:2445
bos.net:bos.net.uucp:7.3.3.0: : :C:F:Unix to Unix Copy Program: : : : : : :0:0:/:2445
$
Comparing the two outputs, it can be seen that not all filesets of the bos.net package are installed on the system.
Each fileset also consists of at least one so-called part. There are the following three possible parts:
usr – This section should contain files that can be shared by multiple AIX systems, e.g., via NFS. These are typically files located under /usr or /opt.
root – This section should contain files that are not shared but may differ individually for each AIX system. For example, /etc/hosts or /etc/passwd are typically different on different systems.
share – This section should contain files that can be shared, including non-AIX systems, such as Terminfo files. These files are typically located under /usr/share.
Filesets must contain a usr part; root and share parts are optional. If nothing specific is specified during installation, all existing parts of a fileset are always installed or uninstalled.
The parts of a fileset contain the commands, programs, libraries, directories and other files to be installed.
For a package that is in BFF format, the contained parts of the filesets can be displayed using installp and the “-l” option, here again for the package bos.net:
# installp -ld bos.net.7.3.0.0.I
Fileset Name Level I/U Q Content
====================================================================
bos.net.ate 7.3.0.0 I N usr,root
# Asynchronous Terminal Emulator
bos.net.ewlm.rte 7.3.1.0 I N usr,root
# netWLM
bos.net.ipsec.keymgt 7.3.1.0 I N usr,root
# IP Security Key Management
bos.net.ipsec.rte 7.3.1.0 I N usr,root
# IP Security
bos.net.mobip6.rte 7.3.1.0 I N usr,root
# IPv6 Mobility
bos.net.nfs.adt 7.3.1.0 I N usr
# Network File System Development Toolkit
bos.net.nfs.cachefs 7.3.1.0 I b usr,root
# CacheFS File System
bos.net.nfs.client 7.3.1.0 I b usr,root
# Network File System Client
bos.net.nfs.server 7.3.1.0 I Y usr,root
# Network File System Server
bos.net.nis.client 7.3.0.0 I Y usr,root
# Network Information Service Client
bos.net.nis.server 7.3.0.0 I Y usr,root
# Network Information Service Server
bos.net.ppp 7.3.1.0 I N usr,root
# Async Point to Point Protocol
bos.net.sctp 7.3.1.0 I N usr,root
# Stream Control Transmission Protocol
bos.net.snapp 7.3.0.0 I N usr,root
# System Networking Analysis and Performance Pilot
bos.net.uucode 7.3.0.0 I N usr,root
# Unix to Unix Copy Utilities
bos.net.uucp 7.3.0.0 I N usr,root
# Unix to Unix Copy Program
#
The fileset bos.net.nfs.adt has only a usr part; all other filesets have a usr and a root part. None of the filesets have a share part.