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Introduction to PackageMaker

PackageMaker is an application shipped with the Developer Tools for creating installation packages. To create an installer for a single item, such as an application, a package should be created. To create an installer for multiple items, a metapackage or distribution should be created.

The workflow in PackageMaker is to create a PackageMaker document (.pmproj) file and then build your package (.pkg), metapackage (.mpkg), or distribution (.mpkg) from this document file. The document file can be stored separately from the .pkg or .mpkg so that you can easily rebuild later.

In addition, PackageMaker can edit .pkg and .mpkg files directly. This works exactly like editing a .pmproj file, with the following notes:

Alternatively, you can use the Package Setup Assistant to quickly and easily create your package/metapackage/distribution. It provides a step-by-step interface where you simply provide the items you want to install along with relevant metadata, and it takes care of the rest.