A DEB file is a standard Unix archive that contains two bzipped or gzipped archives, one for the installer control information and another for the actual installable data. DEB files are often used for software installation packages by multiple versions of Linux including Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Edubuntu, and PCLinuxOS.

The Debian package management system (dpkg) is commonly used to install, remove, and manipulate Debian packages. DEB files can be converted to other package formats using Alien, a program primarily used to convert between different Linux package formats. Various Debian packages may be available as .UDEB files, which are also known as udebs or "micro debs." UDEB files are similar in structure as DEB files but only contain essential functional files.