| Filename extensions | .xar, .pkg, .xip[1] |
|---|---|
| Internet media type |
application/x-xar[1] |
| 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 archiver’s file format. 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.[2]
One development branch of RPM, RPM5, uses xar.[3]