The delta file is a compressed tarball, containing the following files: version Currently "2.0" or "3.0". type Type of file this is a delta for ("tar", "gz", or "bz2"). For tar files, it contains: manifest List of all files in the tarball, as output by `tar t`. Used to order files correctly when rebuilding it. delta xdelta between the generated tarball and the original tarball. wrapper Encapsulated delta file for the .gz or .bz2 wrapper for the tarball. Optional, if not present a pristine .gz won't be generated. For gz files, wrapper contains: params Parameters to pass to zgz. ("-n 9", "-M", "--rsyncable") timestamp Timestamp of the original input file, in seconds from epoch. filename Filename of the original input file. delta xdelta between the generated gz file and the original gz file. (Optional; needs version "3.0".) For bzip2 files the wrapper contains: params Typically, only the compression level is needed (4th byte of the compressed file), and its matching parameter stored: -N. In some cases a -bN parameter is detected and stored. program Program used to compress. Almost everytime, it is bzip2 (or another implementation producing bit-identical results). pbzip2 might also be detected, but several parameters might interfere (-r, -pN). It may also be zgz (the params will include --old-bzip2 in this case). For xz files, the wrapper contains: params Typically, only the compression level is needed. program Program used to compress. Almost everytime, it is xz.