---
name: "alpm-architecture"
section: "7"
platform: "linux"
package: "alpm-docs"
version: "0.13.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/alpm-architecture"
---

# alpm-architecture(7)

architecture definition for ALPM based packages.

## NAME

architecture - architecture definition for ALPM based packages.

## DESCRIPTION

The **architecture** format is a custom string format that contains **CPU instruction set architectures**\[1\] and further identifiers and is used for representing the architecture of ALPM based packages. This format is used in build scripts or file formats for package metadata (e.g. in **PKGBUILD**, **BUILDINFO**, **PKGINFO**) to describe the architecture of a package, or the architecture of dependency packages.

The **architecture** format comprises values defined by convention. The values are custom keywords, most of which are derived directly from **CPU instruction set architectures**\[1\] or specific microarchitectures.

The **architecture** value must be covered by the set of alphanumeric characters and ‘\_’.

## EXAMPLES

The below **architecture** values all relate to specific **CPU instruction set architectures**\[1\] or microarchitectures and can be used to specify a package architecture. This usually means that packages of a specific **architecture** can only be used in a particular context.

```
"any"
```

A package can be used on any hardware as its contents are not specific to any architecture.

```
"x86_64"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **x86-64**\[2\] instruction set version 1 and above (see **x86-64 microarchitecture levels**\[3\]).

```
"x86_64_v2"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **x86-64**\[2\] instruction set version 2 and above (see **x86-64 microarchitecture levels**\[3\]).

```
"x86_64_v3"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **x86-64**\[2\] instruction set version 3 and above (see **x86-64 microarchitecture levels**\[3\]).

```
"x86_64_v4"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **x86-64**\[2\] instruction set version 4 and above (see **x86-64 microarchitecture levels**\[3\]).

```
"i686"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **IA-32**\[4\] instruction set version 6 (aka. **P6**\[5\], or ‘i686’). This architecture is considered legacy.

```
"i486"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **IA-32**\[4\] instruction set version 4 (aka. **i486**\[6\]). This architecture is considered legacy.

```
"pentium4"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **Pentium 4**\[7\] microarchitecture. This architecture is considered legacy.

```
"armv7"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **ARMv7 architecture family**\[8\]. This architecture is considered legacy.

```
"armv8"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **ARMv8 architecture family**\[9\].

```
"aarch64"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the **AArch64**10 ⟨64-bit%20execution%20state%20of%20the%20\*\*ARM%20architecture%20family\*\*\[11\]⟩\\c .

```
"riscv64"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the 64-bit variant of the **RISC-V**\[12\] instruction set architecture (**ISA**\[13\]).

```
"loong64"
```

A package can only be used on hardware compatible with the 64-bit variant of the **LoongArch**\[14\] instruction set architecture (**ISA**\[13\]).

## SEE ALSO

[**BUILDINFO**(5)](/BUILDINFO/5.md), [**PKGBUILD**(5)](/PKGBUILD/5.md), [**PKGINFO**(5)](/PKGINFO/5.md), [**alpm-epoch**(7)](/alpm-epoch/7.md), [**alpm-pkgrel**(7)](/alpm-pkgrel/7.md), [**alpm-pkgver**(7)](/alpm-pkgver/7.md), [**vercmp**(8)](/vercmp/8.md)

## NOTES

- 1\.

  **CPU instruction set architectures**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison\_of\_instruction\_set\_architectures#Instruction\_sets⟩

- 2\.

  **x86-64**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64⟩

- 3\.

  **x86-64 microarchitecture levels**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64#Microarchitecture\_levels⟩

- 4\.

  **IA-32**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IA-32⟩

- 5\.

  **P6**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P6\_(microarchitecture)⟩

- 6\.

  **i486**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I486⟩

- 7\.

  **pentium4**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium\_4⟩

- 8\.

  **ARMv7 architecture family**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM\_architecture\_family#32-bit\_architecture⟩

- 9\.

  **ARMv8 architecture family**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM\_architecture\_family#Armv8⟩

- 10\.

  **AArch64**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AArch64⟩

- 11\.

  **ARM architecture family**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM\_architecture\_family⟩

- 12\.

  **RISC-V**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC-V⟩

- 13\.

  **ISA**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruction\_set\_architecture⟩

- 14\.

  **LoongArch**

-

  ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loongson#LoongArch⟩