The Image Packaging System software is a network-centric packaging system.Both IPS and SVR4 packages are supported for the OpenSolaris 2009.06 release. With IPS, users can perform the following tasks:Create and manage images Install new packages and update existing packages Manage and search the software on your system With the IPS publication tools, developers can perform the following:Create and manage packaging repositories Create and publish packages to a packaging repository Provide a content mirror for an existing packaging repository Retrieve the contents of an existing package from a packaging repository Republish the contents of an existing package to a packaging repository The Image Packaging System software provides the following commands:pkg(1)A command-line client that can be used to create and manage images, search package data, and perform software installation, upgrade, and removal.For more information, see the following: pkg(1) Command Reference pkgsend1 A command-line client that can be used to publish packages, create package repositories, and manage existing package repositories.For more information, see . pkg.depotd1M A command-line daemon that can be used to create package repositories, and manage or provide network access to existing package repositories.For more information, see . pkgrecv1 A command-line client used to retrieve the contents of a package from a package repository. The retrieved package can then be modified and republished using the pkgsend command.For more information, see . packagemanager1 A graphical client used to create and manage images, search package data, and perform software installation, upgrade, and removal.For more information, see . The pkg(5) man page describes the Image Packaging System. The pkg(1) man page describes the image packaging management client. A package in IPS is a collection of actions defined by a set of key/value pairs that represent metadata such as classification, and descriptions, or other attributes such as path and alias. The key-value pair could also represent a data payload. These actions can represent items such as files found in a file system, or installable objects, such as drivers, services, groups, and users.For more information, see Actions in IPS.An on-disk format has not yet been defined for IPS packages. As such, the IPS system does not currently have an equivalent for .rpm, SVR4 packages, or .nbm files. Each IPS package is represented by a Fault Management Resource Identifier (FMRI). FMRIs are used with the pkg1 command to indicate which packages to perform operations on.The FMRI includes descriptive information about the package, such as the package name, version information, and date.For example, the FMRI, pkg://opensolaris.org/library/libc@5.11,5.11-0.75:20071001T163427Z, consists of the following information:Scheme – pkg Publisher – opensolaris.org Package Name – libc Version String – Consists of four components :Component Version – 5.11 Build Version – 5.11 Branch Version – 0.75 Timestamp (when the package was published) – 20071001T163427Z Note the following points with respect to the terms publisher and repository.A publisher is a person, group of persons, or a corporation that publishes a package. A forward domain name such as opensolaris.org or a reverse domain name such as org.opensolaris is used to identify the publisher.The term authority has been replaced by the term publisher from the OpenSolaris 2009.06 release onwards. A repository is a location from where packages are retrieved. The location is described by an address (URI). A repository contains packages from a single publisher. However, a publisher can publish to multiple repositories. A preferred publisher's repository will be used first when packaging operations are performed. If the preferred publisher's repository does not contain a package needed for an operation, the repositories of the remaining publishers will then be used to satisfy the request. If only one publisher exists, it becomes the preferred publisher.