package_metadata.md

Fuchsia Package Metadata

The Fuchsia package format contains an extensive metadata directory. This document describes the metadata extensions that are understood by Fuchsia itself.

See [https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/garnet/+/master/go/src/pm#Structure-of-a-Fuchsia-Package] for more information about where these files appear in a package.

metadata

See [https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/garnet/+/master/go/src/pm#metadata]

contents

See [https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/garnet/+/master/go/src/pm#contents]

signature

See [https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/garnet/+/master/go/src/pm#signature]

Component manifest

A component manifest (.cmx) is a JSON file with the file extension .cmx located in the package’s meta/ directory with information that declares how to run the component and what resources it receives. In particular, the component manifest describes how the component is sandboxed.

Here's a simple example of a cmx for an ELF binary component:

{
    "program": {
        "binary": "bin/app"
    },
    "sandbox": {
        "system": [ "data/sysmgr" ],
        "services": [ "fuchsia.sys.Launcher", "fuchsia.netstack.Netstack" ]
    }
}

And one for a flutter/dart component:

{
    "program": {
        "data": "data/simple_flutter"
    },
    "runner": "flutter_jit_runner"
}

program

The program property describes the resources to execute the component.

If runner is absent, the program property is a JSON object with the following schema:

{
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
        "binary": {
            "type": "string"
        }
    }
}

The binary property describes where in the package namespace to find the binary to run the component.

If runner is present, program is a freeform string-string JSON object interpreted as args to pass to the runner.

For instance, for a flutter/dart component, its format is:

{
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
        "data": {
            "type": "string"
        }
    }
}

Where data should describe the location of the flutter/dart binaries. By default, it is under data/<component-name>.

runner

runner is an optional property that names another component (or a package that contains one) to which execution is to be delegated. The target component must expose the Runner service.

If runner is present, program is a freeform string-string JSON object interpreted as args to pass to the runner.

If runner is absent, it is assumed that program.binary is an ELF binary or shell script.

The runner property is a JSON string.

sandbox

The sandbox property controls the environment in which the component executes. Specifically, the property controls which directories the component can access during execution.

The sandbox property is a JSON object with the following schema:

{
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
        "dev": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
                "type": "string"
            }
        },
        "services": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
                "type": "string"
            }
        },
        "system": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
                "type": "string"
            }
        },
        "pkgfs": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
                "type": "string"
            }
        },
        "features": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
                "type": "string"
            }
        }
    }
}

The dev array contains a list of well-known device directories that are provided to the component. For example, if the string class/input appears in the dev array, then /dev/class/input will appear in the namespaces of components loaded from the package. To whitelist access to a misc device, such as /dev/misc/sysinfo, add the string misc to the dev array. Unfortunately, whitelisting access to individual misc devices is not possible currently.

The system array contains a list of well-known paths within the system package that are provided to the component. For example, if the string bin appears in the system array, then /system/bin will appear in the namespaces of components loaded from the package.

The pkgfs array contains a list of well-known paths within the pkgfs tree that are provided to the component. For example, if the string packages appears in the pkgfs array, then /pkgfs/packages will appear in the namespaces of components loaded from the package, providing access to all packages fully cached on the system.

The services array defines a whitelist of services from /svc that the component may access. A typical component will require a number services from /svc in order to play some useful role in the system. For example, if "services" = [ "fuchsia.sys.Launcher", "fuchsia.netstack.Netstack" ], the component will have the ability to launch other components and access network services. A component may declare any list of services in its services whitelist, but it will only be able to access services present in its environment. This property should be defined by all new components, and soon a migration will take place to convert all components to define services.

The features array contains a list of well-known features that the package wishes to use. Including a feature in this list is a request for the environment in which the contents of the package execute to be given the resources required to use that feature.

The set of currently known features are as follows:

• introspection, which requests access to introspect the system. The introspection namespace will be located at /info_experimental.

• persistent-storage, which requests access to persistent storage for the device, located in /data in the package's namespace. (Future work will likely make this access more fine-grained than just the /data directory.)

• root-ssl-certificates, which requests access to the root SSL certificates for the device. These certificates are provided in the /config/ssl directory in the package's namespace.

• shell, which requests access to the resources appropriate for an interactive command line. Typically, shells are granted access to all the resources available in the current environment. Currently, when a package requests the shell feature, the package loads shared libraries from /system/lib instead of from its own package. This behavior will probably change over time, but we do this currently so that programs that are run from the shell can find their shared libraries. The shell feature also implies the root-ssl-certificates feature.

• shell-commands, which requests access to the currently available shell binaries (note: not "installed", but "available"). Binaries are mapped into /bin in the requesters namespace. Running these commands may require the fuchsia.process.Resolver and fuchsia.process.Launcher services also be requested.

• system-temp, which requests access to the system temp directory, located at /tmp in the package's namespace. (Future work will likely remove access to the system temp directory in favor of a local temp directory for each process.)

• vulkan, which requests access to the resources required to use the Vulkan graphics interface. This adds layer configuration data in the /config/vulkan directory in the package's namespace.

• deprecated-all-services, which grants the component access to all services in its environment, instead of the whitelist in services. This feature is deprecated and should not be used for new components.

See sandboxing.md for more information about sandboxing.