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 11 for Windows users and does not require Java to be installed to run. The second can be run on any system with Java 8 to 11 installed.
DROID 6.6.1 is a minor update to DROID 6.6.0, that fixes a bug in the no-profile mode output and hash column. DROID 6.6.1 also updates the internal logging library to the latest version available at the time of release.
Download the current version of DROID (Windows only, contains embedded Java) v6.6.1 (ZIP, 83.7MB).
SHA256: 253191ac1c57912f38fbff5f74c06fb53f9f6d047eb90dc6874cfd5d0dc7e1e1
MD5: d2948ed28478e3884c3ac2eef5969acf
Download the current version of DROID (all platforms) v6.6.1 (ZIP, 46.9 MB).
SHA256: c856644348fdbcfd8e60e64656cf4691fef4f6519ee4102152239e3016a97b4b
MD5: 317f4d7203e6196c69bc33ade9296fa2
Droid capabilities now include:
- New no profile mode options in the command line including choosing signature versions and archive files
- Update to csv export in GUI, ability to filter columns appearing in export preferences
For the full list of enhancements and changes please refer to the GitHub repository here.
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 8 to 11 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 10 (64 bit)
- Raspbian
- 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 8 to 11 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-6.6.1.jar’ and ‘droid-command-line-6.6.1.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 here or view the releases in our GitHub page here.
Download the previous version of DROID (Windows only, contains embedded Java) v6.5.2 (ZIP, 88.2MB).
SHA256: af33f0b4be3c78d38aecad6d926ad8dadb98ff56d5e5f4281b0dd49f51c2c32a
MD5: 8483b9826564935179032c6731a1b0b3
Download the previous version of DROID (all platforms) v6.5.2 (ZIP, 47.9 MB).
SHA256: f78a7d487b78b53baf77ec0deef65223edf593ed59bcdfd2a66994f69810c496
MD5: a7a4ac31b7606d7dae864b0a06c44325
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.