---
name: "alpm-package-base"
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-package-base"
---

# alpm-package-base(7)

an identifier that tracks from which sources an ALPM based package originates.

## NAME

package base - an identifier that tracks from which sources an ALPM based package originates.

## DESCRIPTION

The **package base** format represents an identifier, that describes the source origin of each **alpm-package** file. It is particularly useful in **alpm-split-package** files to track the sources from which each package file is built.

More specifically, the **alpm-package-base** format is used throughout the package management life cycle:

- •

  in build scripts and source metadata files (i.e. **PKGBUILD** and **SRCINFO**)

- •

  in file formats for package metadata (i.e. **BUILDINFO** and **PKGINFO**)

- •

  in file formats for repository metadata (i.e. **alpm-repo-desc**)

- •

  and in system state metadata (i.e. **alpm-db-desc**).

### General Format

The identifier name for **alpm-package-base** may differ depending on context. However, the value restrictions for it are the same as those for **alpm-package-name**.

## EXAMPLES

The **PKGBUILD** of a package named `example`, that implicitly specifies its **alpm-package-base** as `example`.

```
pkgname=example
pkgver=1.0.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="An example package"
arch=(any)
url="https://example.org"
license=('CC0-1.0')
package() {
  install -vdm 755 "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/"
  printf "example\n" > "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/example.txt"
}
```

The **PKGBUILD** of a package named `example`, that explicitly specifies its **alpm-package-base** as `something-else`.

```
pkgname=example
pkgbase=something-else
pkgver=1.0.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="An example package"
arch=(any)
url="https://example.org"
license=('CC0-1.0')
package() {
  install -vdm 755 "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/"
  printf "example\n" > "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/example.txt"
}
```

The **PKGBUILD** of a split package setup with the packages `example` and `other-example` that both share the implicit **alpm-package-base** `example`.

```
pkgname=(
  example
  other-example
)
pkgver=1.0.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="An example package"
arch=(any)
url="https://example.org"
license=('CC0-1.0')
package_example() {
  install -vdm 755 "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/"
  printf "example\n" > "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/example.txt"
}
package_other-example() {
  install -vdm 755 "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/"
  printf "other-example\n" > "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/example.txt"
}
```

The **PKGBUILD** of a split package setup with the packages `example1` and `example2` that both share the explicit **alpm-package-base** `example`.

```
pkgname=(
  example1
  example2
)
pkgbase=example
pkgver=1.0.0
pkgrel=1
pkgdesc="An example package"
arch=(any)
url="https://example.org"
license=('CC0-1.0')
package_example1() {
  install -vdm 755 "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/"
  printf "example1\n" > "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/example.txt"
}
package_example2() {
  install -vdm 755 "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/"
  printf "example2\n" > "$pkgdir/usr/share/doc/$pkgname/example.txt"
}
```

## SEE ALSO

[**BUILDINFO**(5)](/BUILDINFO/5.md), [**PKGBUILD**(5)](/PKGBUILD/5.md), [**PKGINFO**(5)](/PKGINFO/5.md), [**SRCINFO**(5)](/SRCINFO/5.md), **alpm-db-desc**(7), [**alpm-package**(7)](/alpm-package/7.md), [**alpm-package-name**(7)](/alpm-package-name/7.md), **alpm-repo-desc**(7), [**alpm-split-package**(7)](/alpm-split-package/7.md)