Package (classic)

A package is an object that represents a software product in its distributable form. Packages can be installed on a device or uninstalled from a device.

Nexthink classifies packages into two types:

Program A program package holds a complete software product ready for installation.

Update An update package, also called a patch, holds bug fixes, security fixes and any other kind of improvements for a program package.

Packages should not be confused with applications. Packages represent a software product in its installable form. Applications represent a software product in its executable form. The Nexthink solution detects the presence of a package when it is installed, and acknowledges the presence of an application when it is executed.

The link between an application and a corresponding package cannot always be established, so you cannot navigate from one to the other. Sometimes, the link is known for individual executables of an application. If this is the case, you can find the name of the package in the field packages of the executable. One executable can in fact be linked to several packages, yet only the names of the packages are given and drilling down from executables to packages is not allowed either.