# How do I determine what file formats my install of GDAL supports?

**URL:** <https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-i-determine-what-file-formats-my-install-of-gdal-supports/2772>\
**Category:** Q&A\
**Tags:** gis\
**Created:** [May 2, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-i-determine-what-file-formats-my-install-of-gdal-supports/2772 "2023-05-02T13:35:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![milechin](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/user_avatar/ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/milechin/32/1126_2.png) [@milechin](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/milechin)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-i-determine-what-file-formats-my-install-of-gdal-supports/2772/1 "2023-05-02T13:35:56Z")

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GDAL is a core dependency for many open source and commercial GIS packages. Unfortunately not all installs of GDAL are identical and so the support of what files it can read and write may vary from one install to another. How does one determine what files does GDAL support?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![milechin](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/user_avatar/ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/milechin/32/1126_2.png) [@milechin](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/milechin)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-i-determine-what-file-formats-my-install-of-gdal-supports/2772/2 "2023-05-02T13:42:24Z")

</div>

The easiest way to check what file formats your install of GDAL supports is to run the following commands in a terminal:

For Raster supported filed:

```auto
gdalinfo --formats

```

For vector supported formats:

```auto
ogrinfo --formats

```

The output will look something like this:

```auto
Supported Formats:
  VRT -raster,multidimensional raster- (rw+v): Virtual Raster
  DERIVED -raster- (ro): Derived datasets using VRT pixel functions
  GTiff -raster- (rw+vs): GeoTIFF
  COG -raster- (wv): Cloud optimized GeoTIFF generator
  NITF -raster- (rw+vs): National Imagery Transmission Format
  RPFTOC -raster- (rovs): Raster Product Format TOC format
  ECRGTOC -raster- (rovs): ECRG TOC format
  HFA -raster- (rw+v): Erdas Imagine Images (.img)
  SAR_CEOS -raster- (rov): CEOS SAR Image
  CEOS -raster- (rov): CEOS Image

```

Each line represents a file format and in the parenthesis indicates what file actions can be taken. The following are the definitions pulled from the documentation:

- ‘ro’ is read-only driver
- ‘rw’ is read or write (i.e. supports CreateCopy)
- ‘rw+’ is read, write and update (i.e. supports Create).
- ‘v’ is appended for formats supporting virtual IO (/vsimem, /vsigzip, /vsizip, etc). A ‘s’ is appended for formats supporting subdatasets

[https://gdal.org/programs/raster\_common\_options.html](https://gdal.org/programs/raster_common_options.html)