NAME

       deb-split - Debian multi-part binary package format

SYNOPSIS

       filename.deb

DESCRIPTION

       The multi-part .deb format is used to split big packages into smaller pieces to ease transport in small
       media.

FORMAT

       The file is an ar archive with a magic value of !<arch>.  The file names might contain a trailing slash
       (since dpkg 1.15.6).

       The first member is named debian-split and contains a series of lines, separated by newlines.  Currently
       eight lines are present:

       •   The format version number, 2.1 at the time this manual page was written.

       •   The package name.

       •   The package version.

       •   The md5sum of the package.

       •   The total size of the package.

       •   The maximum part size.

       •   The current part number, followed by a slash and the total amount of parts (as in ‘1/10’).

       •   The package architecture (since dpkg 1.16.1).

       Programs  which  read  multi-part  archives  should be prepared for the minor format version number to be
       increased and additional lines to be present, and should ignore these if this is the case.

       If the major format version number has changed, an incompatible change has  been  made  and  the  program
       should  stop.  If it has not, then the program should be able to safely continue, unless it encounters an
       unexpected member in the archive (except at the end), as described below.

       The second, last required member is named data.N, where N denotes the part number.  It contains  the  raw
       part data.

       These  members  must  occur  in  this  exact order.  Current implementations should ignore any additional
       members after data.N.  Further members may be defined in the future, and (if  possible)  will  be  placed
       after these two.

SEE ALSO

       deb(5), dpkg-split(1).

1.22.6                                             2024-07-17                                       deb-split(5)