Xar (archiver)
| Filename extensions | .xar, .pkg, .xip |
|---|---|
| Internet media type |
application/x-xar |
| Uniform Type Identifier (UTI) | com.apple.xar-archive |
| Magic number | xar! |
| Type of format | archive file format |
| Extended from | XML, gzip |
XAR (short for eXtensible ARchive format) is an open source file archiver and the default file format of macOS’s archiver app. It was created within the OpenDarwin project and is used in macOS X 10.5 and up for software installation routines, as well as browser extensions in Safari 5.0 and up. Xar replaced the use of gzipped pax files.
One development branch of RPM, RPM5, uses xar.