UPDATE-BINFMTS(8)					  Debian System Manager's Manual					 UPDATE-BINFMTS(8)

NAME

     update-binfmts -- maintain registry of executable binary formats

SYNOPSIS

     update-binfmts [options] --install name path spec
     update-binfmts [options] --remove name path
     update-binfmts [options] --import [name]
     update-binfmts [options] --display [name]
     update-binfmts [options] --enable [name]
     update-binfmts [options] --disable [name]
     update-binfmts [options] --find [path]

DESCRIPTION

     Versions 2.1.43 and later of the Linux kernel have contained the binfmt_misc module.  This enables a system administrator to register inter-
     preters for various binary formats based on a magic number or their file extension, and cause the appropriate interpreter to be invoked when-
     ever a matching file is executed.	Think of it as a more flexible version of the #! executable interpreter mechanism, or as something which
     can behave a little like "associations" in certain other operating systems (though in GNU/Linux the tendency is to keep this sort of thing
     somewhere else, like your file manager).  update-binfmts manages a persistent database of these interpreters.

     When each package providing a registered interpreter is installed, changed, or removed, update-binfmts is called to update information about
     that interpreter.	update-binfmts is usually called from the postinst or prerm scripts in Debian packages.

OPTIONS

     Exactly one action must be specified; this may be accompanied by any one of the common options.

   COMMON OPTIONS
     --package package-name
	   Specifies the name of the current package, to be used by package post-installation and pre-removal scripts.	System administrators
	   installing binary formats for local use should probably ignore this option.

	   When installing new formats, the --import action should be used instead.

     --admindir directory
	   Specifies the administrative directory, when this is to be different from the default of /var/lib/binfmts.

     --importdir directory
	   Specifies the directory from which packaged binary formats are imported, when this is to be different from the default of
	   /usr/share/binfmts.

     --test
	   Don't do anything, just demonstrate what would be done.

     --help
	   Display some usage information.

     --version
	   Display version information.

   ACTIONS
     --install name path spec
	   Install a binary format identified by name with interpreter path into the database.	After registration, this format will be used when
	   the kernel tries to execute a file matching spec (see BINARY FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS below).

	   --install will attempt to enable this binary format in the kernel as well as adding it to its own database; see --enable below.

	   You cannot install a format with any of the names ".", "..", "register", or "status", as these are used by the filesystem or the
	   binfmt_misc module.

     --remove name path
	   Remove the binary format identified by name with interpreter path from the database.  This will also attempt to disable the binary for-
	   mat in the kernel; see --disable below.

     --import [name]
	   Import a packaged format file called name, or import all format files currently on the system if no name is given.  If name is not a
	   full path, it is assumed to be a file in the import directory (/usr/share/binfmts by default).  See FORMAT FILES below for the required
	   contents of these files.

	   For packages, this is preferable to using the --install option, as a format file can be installed without update-binfmts needing to be
	   available.

     --display [name]
	   Display any information held in the database about the binary format identifier name, or about all known binary formats if no name is
	   given.  Also show whether displayed binary formats are enabled or disabled.

     --enable [name]
	   Enable binary format name, or all known binary formats if no name is given, in the kernel, thus enabling direct execution of matching
	   files.  You must have binfmt_misc compiled into the kernel or loaded as a module for this to work.

     --disable [name]
	   Disable binary format name, or all known binary formats if no name is given, in the kernel, thus disabling direct execution of matching
	   files.  You must have binfmt_misc compiled into the kernel or loaded as a module for this to work.

     --find [path]
	   Print the list of interpreters that will be tried in sequence when attempting to execute path, one per line.  The first one for which
	   execvp(3) succeeds will be used.

	   Note that if multiple formats match an executable, then the order is in general not defined, and may not be preserved between
	   update-binfmts operations, so you should generally try to ensure that this option prints at most one line for any given path.  The
	   exception to this is that any format with a userspace detector will be run before any format without a userspace detector.

   BINARY FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS
     --magic byte-sequence
	   This matches all files with the magic number byte-sequence.	Hexadecimal escapes may be included in the byte-sequence by preceding them
	   with x, for example 'x0a' for a linefeed.	Remember to protect such escapes with quotes or an additional backslash to prevent their
	   interpretation by the shell.

	   Also see --offset and --mask.

     --offset offset
	   This is the offset of the magic/mask in the file, counted in bytes.	The default is 0.  Only valid with --magic.

     --mask byte-sequence
	   This mask will be logically-ANDed with the string to be checked against the magic number given with --magic.  The default is all 0xff,
	   i.e. no effect.  Only valid with --magic.

     --extension extension
	   This matches all files whose names end in ".extension".  Hexadecimal escapes are not recognized here.  Extension matching is case-sen-
	   sitive.

     --detector path
	   If this option is used, a userspace detector program will be used to check whether the file is suitable for this interpreter.  This may
	   be used when the binary format is more complex than can be handled by the kernel's format specifications alone.  The program should
	   return an exit code of zero if the file is appropriate and non-zero otherwise.

     --credentials yes, --credentials no
	   Whether to keep the credentials of the original binary to run the interpreter; this is typically useful to run setuid binaries, but has
	   security implications.

   FORMAT FILES
     A format file is a sequence of options, one per line, corresponding roughly to the options given to an --install command.	Each option con-
     sists of a key, followed by whitespace, followed by a value.

     The package option should be set to the current package.  The interpreter option should be set to the path to the interpreter that will han-
     dle this binary format.  The magic, offset, mask, extension, detector, and credentials options correspond to the command-line options of the
     same names.

EXIT STATUS

     0	   The requested action was successfully performed.

     2	   Problems were encountered whilst parsing the command line or performing the action.

EXAMPLES

     This format file can be used with an interpreter capable of handling Java .class files:

	 package javawrapper
	 interpreter /usr/bin/javawrapper
	 magic xcaxfexbaxbe

     This corresponds roughly to the following command:

	 update-binfmts --package javawrapper 
	     --install javawrapper /usr/bin/javawrapper 
	     --magic 'xcaxfexbaxbe'

NOTES

     If you're not careful, you can break your system with update-binfmts.  An easy way to do this is to register an ELF binary as a handler for
     ELF, which will almost certainly cause your system to hang immediately; even if it doesn't, you won't be able to run update-binfmts to fix
     it.  In the future update-binfmts may have some checks to prevent this sort of thing happening accidentally, though of course you can still
     manipulate the binfmt_misc kernel module directly.

AUTHOR

     update-binfmts is copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Colin Watson <cjwatson@debian.org>.
     See the GNU General Public License version 3 or later for copying conditions.

     You can find the GNU GPL v3 in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-3 on any modern Debian system.

     Richard Guenther wrote the binfmt_misc kernel module.

THANKS

     Ian Jackson wrote update-alternatives and dpkg-divert, from which this program borrows heavily.

Debian								 January 24, 2011							    Debian