Build rpm packages with the rpmbuild command

This article is about how to build rpm packages with the rpmbuild command and a SPEC file.

The program

Here is how we create our program, hello world:

cd
mkdir hello
cd hello
cat >main.c <<EOF
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
  printf("hello world");
}
EOF

The Makefile

To build our program, we need a makefile. Here is how we create it:

cat >Makefile <<EOF
all:hello

hello: main.c
        gcc main.c -o hello

install: hello
        cp hello /usr/local/bin
EOF
sed -i "s/        /\t/g" Makefile 

The SPEC file

cat >hello.spec<<EOF
Summary: hello greets the world
Name: hello
Version: 1.0
Release: 1
License: GPL
Group: Applications/Sound
Source: hello.tar.gz
URL: http://www.staerk.de/thorsten/
Distribution: SUSE Linux
Vendor: -
Packager: Thorsten Staerk

%description
hello greets the world

%prep
%setup

%build
make 

%install
make install
mkdir -p /usr/src/packages/BUILDROOT/hello-1.0-1.x86_64/usr/local/bin
cp /usr/local/bin/hello /usr/src/packages/BUILDROOT/hello-1.0-1.x86_64/usr/local/bin/hello

%files 
%defattr(-, root, root)
"/usr/local/bin/hello"
EOF

Build the rpm

Now we have the SPEC file and the software. Build it with the command

rpmbuild -ba hello.spec

You will find your ready RPM under /usr/src/packages/RPMS.

See also

• http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-newbie-8/rpm-rebuild-unknown-option-348748/
• http://www.rpm.org/max-rpm/s1-rpm-build-creating-spec-file.html

todo