# Install jigdo with Homebrew, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, zypper, apt

Tool to distribute very large files over the internet. Version 0.8.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install jigdo-file.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:jigdo
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install jigdo
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install jigdo
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: net/jigdo/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install jigdo
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: jigdo from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#jigdo
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ji/jigdo/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install jigdo
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: jigdo from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install jigdo-file
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: jigdo-file from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:jigdo
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 0.8.2
- **Source summary:** Tool to distribute very large files over the internet
- **Homepage:** <https://www.einval.com/~steve/software/jigdo/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- jigdo-file (alias)
- jigdo-lite (alias)
- jigdo-mirror (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 0.8.2
## Project history and usage

jigdo, short for Jigsaw Download, is a tool for distributing very large files by reconstructing them from pieces already available on mirrors. It is best known for Debian CD and DVD image distribution.

### Project history

Richard Atterer originally designed jigdo and wrote the first implementation. Steve McIntyre's official page says maintenance later passed to him, with development tracked in the git.einval.com repository.

The original jigdo format used MD5 checksums for both file matches and full-image tracking. McIntyre extended the code with a v2 format in jigdo 0.8.0, replacing the internal checksum basis with SHA256 while preserving version handling for jigdo and template files.

### Adoption history

jigdo's most visible adoption came from Debian installation media. The official page states that Debian and other users released ISO images in the MD5-based v1.x format from around 2004 through late 2023, and that Debian switched trixie jigdo files to SHA256-based v2 format in October 2023.

It remains packaged in Debian, Ubuntu, Homebrew, MacPorts, Nix, Fedora, and other systems because it solves a distribution problem that ordinary direct downloads and mirrors do not: large image reconstruction without forcing every mirror to host every generated image as a monolithic file.

### How it is used

`jigdo-lite` is the user-facing downloader for reconstructing an image from a `.jigdo` file and a matching template. `jigdo-file` creates and inspects jigdo/template data, while `jigdo-mirror` supports mirror-oriented workflows.

The tool is used when large release images can be assembled from files that already exist on package mirrors, saving bandwidth and storage for both users and mirror operators.

### Why package nerds care

jigdo is historically important package-distribution infrastructure. It represents a pre-container, pre-cloud answer to the same problem package systems still face: how to distribute large reproducible artifacts efficiently from existing package pools.

The 2023 SHA256 v2 transition is especially package-nerdy because it shows a long-lived file format migrating away from MD5 while maintaining compatibility behavior for older tools and older release media.

### Timeline

- 2004: Debian and other users began releasing ISO images using the MD5-based jigdo v1.x format around this period.
- 2023: Jigdo 0.8.2 was released.
- 2023: Debian trixie jigdo files switched to SHA256-based v2 format.
- 2025: Steve McIntyre's jigdo page recorded the git.einval.com repository as the source-code home.

### Related projects

- jigit and libjte are Steve McIntyre's related reimplementation of a subset of jigdo features.
- genisoimage historically included support for generating jigdo files beside ISO images.
- xorriso uses libjte to generate jigdo files for ISO-image workflows.

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/jigdo>
- <https://git.einval.com/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=jigdo.git;a=summary>
- <https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/jigdo>
- <https://www.einval.com/~steve/software/JTE/>
- <https://www.einval.com/~steve/software/jigdo/>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - jigdo-file - 0.8.2-1+b1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: jigdo-file from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Download Debian CD/DVD/USB images from any Debian mirror | https://www.einval.com/~steve/software/jigdo/
- Nix - jigdo: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ji/jigdo/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - jigdo-file - 0.8.2-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: jigdo-file from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Download Debian CD/DVD/USB images from any Debian mirror | https://www.einval.com/~steve/software/jigdo/
- dnf - jigdo - 0.8.2-8.fc45: normalized package name match | Fedora Rawhide package metadata: jigdo from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst | Ease distribution of large files over the Internet | https://www.einval.com/~steve/software/jigdo/
- zypper - jigdo - 0.8.2-1.8: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: jigdo from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst | Jigsaw Download | https://www.einval.com/~steve/software/jigdo/
- MacPorts - jigdo: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: net/jigdo/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/jigdo.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/jigdo.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph