Creating RPM packages :: Fedora Docs Site (2024)

Name

Add the base name of the package, which must match the .spec file name. Follow the Package Naming Guidelines and write the file name in lower-case letters.

Version

Add the upstream version number. See Package Versioning. If the version contains tags that are non-numeric, you might need to include the non-numeric characters in the Release tag. If upstream uses full dates to distinguish versions, consider using version numbers of the form. For example, yy.mm[dd] where 2008-05-01 becomes 8.05.

Release

Set the initial value to 1%\{?dist}. Increment the number every time you release a new package for the same version of software. When a new upstream version is released, change the Version tag to match and reset the Release number to 1. For more information, see the Versioning Guide of the packaging guidelines.

Summary

Enter a brief, one-line summary of the package. Use American English. Do not end with a period.

Group

This tag is deprecated since Fedora 17. See SpecFile Reference Preamble

License

Enter an open source software license. Do not use the old Copyright tag. Use a standard abbreviation, for example, GPLv2+ and be specific. For example, use GPLv2+ for GPL version 2 or greater rather than GPL or GPLv2 where it’s true). For more information, see the Licensing Guidelines.

You can list multiple licenses by combining them with and and or (e.g. GPLv2 and BSD).

See Also

What Is RPM Package Manager?How to install an RPM package on CentOS 8Is it possible to use yum to install a RPM file in Red Hat Linux?Linux package management with YUM and RPM

URL

The full URL for more information about the program. For example, the project website.

Do not add a link to the original source code. Add the link to the source code to the Source0 tag.

Source0

Enter the full URL for the compressed archive that contains the original, pristine source code, as upstream released it. “Source” is synonymous with “Source0”.

The full URL basename is used when looking in the SOURCES directory. If possible, embed %{name} and %{version}, so that changes to the go to the right place. Preserve the timestamps when downloading source files. For more information, see Preserve timestamps.

If there is more than one source, name them Source1, Source2.

If you add whole new files in addition to the pristine sources, list them as sources after the pristine sources. A copy of each of these sources is included in any source RPM (SRPM) you create, unless you specifically direct otherwise. For more information on special cases, for example, revision control, see Source URL.

Patch0

Enter the name of the first patch to apply to the source code. If you must patch the files after you extract them, edit the files and save their differences as a .patch file in your ~/rpmbuild/SOURCES directory. Patches must make only one logical change each, so it’s quite possible to have multiple patch files.

BuildArch

If you package files that are architecture-independent, for example shell scripts, data files, then add BuildArch: noarch. The architecture for the binary RPM is then noarch.

BuildRoot

This is now redundant in Fedora and is only needed for EPEL5. By default, the build root is placed in %{_topdir}/BUILDROOT/.

In EPEL5, this is where files are installed during the %install process (after the %build process).

See Also

RPM vs. YUM: Learn the Difference

BuildRequires

Add a comma-separated list of packages that are required for compiling the program. Usually, this field is repeated on multiple lines. These dependencies are not automatically determined. You must include everything that the package needs to build the program.

Verify that you have specified all the necessary build requirements by performing a "mock build" of your package. You can specify a minimum version if necessary, for example, ocaml >= 3.08.

If you need the file /EGGS, determine the package that owns it by running rpm -qf /EGGS.

If you need the program EGGS, determine the package that owns it by running rpm -qf \`which EGGS\`. Keep dependencies to a minimum. For example, use sed instead of perl if you do not need Perl, but note that some applications permanently disable functions if the associated dependency is not present; in those cases you might need to include the additional packages.

Requires

Enter a comma-separate list of packages that are required when the program is installed. Note that the BuildRequires tag lists what is required to build the binary RPM, while the Requires tag lists what is required when installing and running the program; a package may be in one list or in both.

%description

Enter a longer, multi-line description of the program. Use American English. All lines must be 80 characters or less. Blank lines indicate a new paragraph.

Some graphical user interface installation programs reformat paragraphs; lines that start with whitespace might be treated as preformatted text and displayed as is, normally with a fixed-width font.

%prep

Add script commands to "prepare" the program. For example, to extract the program, so that it is ready for building. Typically this is just %autosetup; a common variation is %autosetup -n NAME if the source file unpacks into NAME.

%build

Add script commands to compile the program and get it ready for installing. The program must come with instructions on how to do this.

%install

Add script commands to "install" the program. The commands must copy the files from the BUILD directory %{_builddir} into the buildroot directory, %{buildroot}.

%check

Add script commands to "test" the program. This is run after the %install procedure, so place it there if you have this section. Often it contains make test or make check. This is separated from %build so that people can skip the self-test if they desire.

%clean

Note that this section is now redundant in Fedora and is only necessary for EPEL. Typically this contains only the following command: rm-rf%{buildroot}.

%files

Add the list of files to be installed.

%changelog

Add changes in the package. Use the format example above. Do not put software’s change log here. This change log is only for the RPM.

ExcludeArch

If the package does not successfully compile, build or work on a particular architecture, list those architectures under this tag.

Inserting comments

• Insert comments with a leading # character, and beware of macros (beginning with %) that are potentially multi-line, as they are expanded first.

• When commenting out a line, double the percent signs (%%) of the macros appearing after the #.

• Avoid inline comments on the same line as script commands.