Bin To Pkg Direct

Apple’s pkgbuild command-line utility (part of the Xcode Command Line Tools) is the correct, modern way to build packages.

Steps:

my_game/
├── USRDIR/
│   ├── EBOOT.BIN
│   └── (other assets, libraries)
└── ICON0.PNG

Navigate to the extracted folder. You will likely see a payload or data folder. Use pkgbuild (as shown in Scenario 1) to wrap that folder into a deployable PKG. bin to pkg

Example:

pkgbuild --root ./extracted_data \
         --identifier com.oracle.oldjdk \
         --version 1.6.0_23 \
         --install-location /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/ \
         legacy_jdk.pkg

| Platform | Tool | Command Example | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | macOS | pkgbuild, productbuild | pkgbuild --root ./binaries ... | | Solaris | pkgmk | pkgmk -f prototype -r / | | Linux (RPM) | rpmbuild | Converts binaries to .rpm (not .pkg) | | Windows | WiX Toolset | Converts binaries to .msi | Apple’s pkgbuild command-line utility (part of the Xcode

Converting a single executable into a package format (like Debian’s .deb or Red Hat’s .rpm):

Example with fpm (Effing Package Management): my_game/ ├── USRDIR/ │ ├── EBOOT

fpm -s dir -t deb -n myapp -v 1.0 \
    /path/to/binary=/usr/local/bin/myapp

This wraps your binary into a .deb package, handling dependencies, metadata, and installation paths.

Use ps3sys or SFO Editor to generate PARAM.SFO inside my_game/:

Title ID:   MYGAME00001
Title:      My Game
Version:    01.00
Category:   HG (Homebrew Game)

This is the most common reason for searching "bin to pkg". You have an old CD-ROM (e.g., Adobe Creative Suite 3, a legacy game, or an archive of old shareware) which has been ripped to .bin/.cue. Inside this disc image is an installer that should have been a .pkg, or you want to deploy its contents as a modern macOS package.