DROID is a software tool developed by The National Archives to perform automated batch identification of file formats. Developed by our Digital Preservation department as part of its broader digital preservation activities, DROID is designed to meet the fundamental requirement of any digital repository to be able to identify the precise format of all stored digital objects, and to link that identification to a central registry of technical information about that format and its dependencies.
DROID uses internal signatures to identify and report the specific file format and version of digital files. These signatures are stored in an XML signature file, generated from information recorded in the PRONOM technical registry. New and updated signatures are regularly added to PRONOM, and DROID can be configured to automatically download updated signature files.
DROID is free and open source software made available under the New BSD License. The source code can be downloaded from our GitHub repository.
For more information see our DROID: user guide (PDF, 0.65 MB).
Find out more about how to use DROID for information management activities.
Current version
DROID 6.5 onwards provides two download options for users. The first is embedded with Java OpenJDK runtime for Windows users and does not require Java to be installed to run. The second can be run on any system with Java installed. DROID versions upto 6.8.0 run with Java 8 to 17. DROID 6.8.1 requires Java 21
DROID 6.8.1 is an update over DROID 6.8.0, that has improvements as mentioned below:
Improvements
- #1148 Improvement: Update the internal database to the latest version to address security vulnerability
- #1148 Improvement: Drop support for Java versions below 21. Updated the bundled java version to 21.0.5
- #1151 Improvement: Replace javax.xml with jakarta.xml. This will allow us to upgrade other libraries to later versions
Various library updates.
For the full list of enhancements and changes please refer to the GitHub repository here.
Download the current version of DROID (Windows only, contains embedded Java) v6.8.1 (ZIP, 95.5MB).
SHA256: 3ac7a0cf91215e8b8562b602c7fb8d052e5b69a935ae56b6eb4aa08618f1520b
MD5: 077ca8c772904d2210bdc223156b231a
Download the current version of DROID (all platforms) v6.8.1 (ZIP, 48.7MB).
SHA256: e8c014f6b75ed13ce9312616c3d03a981325ddb8ffbcd680aa1630fe7429d177
MD5: 4b441c422571e0ca2967182b6e986ede
Development builds of DROID which have the latest features, but do not undergo the same level of testing and quality checks, are available here: https://oss.sonatype.org/content/repositories/snapshots/uk/gov/nationalarchives/droid-binary/.
System requirements
The DROID version without embedded Java runs on any platform with Java 21 Standard Edition (SE) or OpenJDK installed. A Windows platform is required for the option with embedded Java.
DROID is built and tested on:
- Linux CentOS (Red Hat)
- Microsoft Windows 11 (64 bit)
- Mac OSX (Mojave)
- Mac OSX (Sierra)
- Linux Ubuntu Desktop
Common issues
If you are experiencing issues using DROID try these:
- Check which version (by typing java -version in CMD) of Java is installed and install version 21 or above if required
- Check DROID is running from a location on the local machine and not on a shared network/drive
- Close down DROID and delete .droid6 folder (within Windows, usually found here: C:\Users\’username’\.droid6) then restart DROID which will re-create the .droid6 folder
- If using a Linux or OSX operating system you may have to set executable permissions to be allowed to run DROID. You should set the executable permission on the ‘droid.sh’ file. You may also need to set executable permissions on the two .jar files: ‘droid-ui-6.8.1.jar’ and ‘droid-command-line-6.8.1.jar’
For additional support please contact us at PRONOM@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Support
User support is available from our Google Groups discussion page, ideal for questions about DROID, or assistance getting DROID working. Alternatively you can contact us via email. Bug reports, feature requests, and code contributions should be raised through GitHub Issues. We welcome contributions of new formats and format signatures to the PRONOM registry. If you wish to contribute, please use our online form. Signature Files and their release notes can be found below:
Previous versions
Versions of DROID prior to 6.1 are available from our Sourceforge site.
Versions of DROID 6.1 onwards are available from maven central or view the releases in our GitHub page.
Download the previous version of DROID (Windows only, contains embedded Java) v6.8.0 (ZIP, 88.7MB).
SHA256: 68ec8572485ea2c4d571829bd3c4f4f207b215eec9c5bb9e88189a75336e19e7
MD5: 31ea3f91c50df00acb51a4e836539be3
Download the previous version of DROID (all platforms) v6.8.0 (ZIP, 47.3 MB).
SHA256: 1c4ac222c78fa0b01caf15f3e19d9edfb5c45a3ddab826ef638ea3aea3f00a87
MD5: 025b57aeeb15dc98175f11e347037f47
DroidConvert
DroidConvert transforms a DROID CSV export into the structure required for digital transfers to The National Archives. This is for use by Public Record bodies preparing digital collections for transfer. The Readme included within the download contains information on using this tool.
DroidConvert is designed for Windows systems and has been tested on Windows 7 and 10 operating systems.
SHA256: 765ed27855065c1862b24ccb5d0ed71e87c635888e55be507c9d07a978fa89d3
MD5: deecfc1ad124312d66d33a1da254beb1
The script was written using the Python programming language, the original script can be viewed here.