Why does %files needed and why it cannot be created automatically by listing $RPM_BUILD_ROOT directory contents?
For example, in that spec file i have to use some modifications in it in script, that build an RPM package for me. I have to cd into ~/RPM/SOURCES, then find . in it and echo each line into .spec file to setup %files section. It can be done automatically by the tool using the same techniuque i do in the background but from $RPM_BUILD_ROOT directory instead?
%install
mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct/
cp -rf -- ~/RPM/SOURCES/* $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct/
%files
/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct/file_1
/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct/file_2
/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct/file_3
... - a lot of lines here
/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct/file_100000
UPD:
Yes it is possible to use all copied files automatically (Doc http://ftp.rpm.org/max-rpm/s1-rpm-inside-files-list-directives.html)
In my case %files can be rewritten as that
%files
/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct/*
It will take files from $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/opt/MyCompany/MyProduct, so to use star we need to omit build root which is $RPM_BUILD_ROOT or %{buildroot} (Which is default path where rpm searches for files IIUC)
Why does %files needed and why it cannot be created automatically by listing
$RPM_BUILD_ROOT directory contents?
It is common that one spec file build creates multiple (sub)packages - then also
multiple %files sections are needed.
Even though there exist some automatic %files
section
generators,
nb there's the
%files -f option,
in general it isn't possible to split the files automatically.
Worth saying that most of the package maintainers don't maintain the software
source code, but just package the "upstream" releases. If the %files sections
are rather manually maintained (in contrast with the wildcard patterns), the
package maintainer has everything a bit more under control because he is
notified about the changes in the software installation layout (e.g. when a new
file appears in /usr/bin with a new release, rpmbuild starts complaining that
there's a new "unpackaged" file, see below).
It can be done automatically by the tool using the same techniuque i do in the
background but from $RPM_BUILD_ROOT directory instead?
You don't even have to run find manually. As long as %install creates the
files in $RPM_BUILD_ROOT, if you don't mention them in %files - you get reports
like those:
$ rpmbuild -bb *.spec
...
Checking for unpackaged file(s): /usr/lib/rpm/check-files /home/user/rpmbuild/BUILDROOT/test-1-1.x86_64
error: Installed (but unpackaged) file(s) found:
/usr/bin/not-packaged
RPM build errors:
Installed (but unpackaged) file(s) found:
/usr/bin/not-packaged
Related
Is it possible to have a separate %install section for a subpackage in a spec file?
For example, files can be specified for the main package as
%files
and for the subpackage like this:
%files mysubpackage
however, I have only seen one
%install
section, and I get an error if I do
%install mysubpackage
no, you cannot have, and you don't need a separate %install section.
Let's suppose a typical example: you compile a program and want to create two packages; library.rpm and library-devel.rpm (with the headers). Then you'll have a spec file something like this:
Name: library
# probably some other fields...
%description
describre library
%package devel
Summary: headers for library
%description devel
describe library-devel package
%prep
# some common prep code for both packages; eg
%setup -q
%build
make (or whatever to build your program)
%install
# install files for both rpm packages; library AND headers
mkdir -p ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}/%_libdir/
mkdir -p ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}/usr/include/
cp library.so* ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}/%_libdir/
cp include/*.h* ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}/usr/include/
%files
%defattr(-,root,root)
%_libdir/*.so.*
%files devel
%defattr(-,root,root)
%_libdir/*.so # yes; if you use version numbers; the versioned .so go in the normal package; the one without version number in the devel package
/usr/include/*
further reading: RPM packaging guide
I am having trouble symlinking dotfiles. I have a folder in my home directory ~/dotfiles which I have synced to a github repo. I am trying to take my .vimrc file in ~/dotfiles/.vimrc and create a symbolic link to put it at ~/.vimrc. To do this I type in
ln -s ~/dotfiles/.vimrc ~/.vimrc
But when I run that it says
ln: /Users/me/.vimrc: File exists
What am I doing wrong?
That error message means that you already have a file at ~/.vimrc, which ln is refusing to overwrite. Either delete the ~/.vimrc and run ln again or let ln delete it for you by passing the -f option:
ln -s -f ~/dotfiles/.vimrc ~/.vimrc
There is a better solution for managing dotfiles without using symlinks or any other tool, just a git repo initialized with --bare.
A bare repository is special in a way that they omit working directory, so you can create your repo anywhere and set the --work-tree=$HOME then you don't need to do any work to maintain it.
Approach
first thing to do is, create a bare repo
git init --bare $HOME/.dotfiles
To use this bare repo, you need to specify --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ and --work-tree=$HOME, better is to create an alias
alias dotfiles='/usr/bin/git --git-dir=$HOME/.dotfiles/ --work-tree=$HOME
At this point, all your configuration files are being tracked, and you can easily use the newly registered dotfiles command to manage the repository, ex :-
# to check the status of the tracked and untracked files
dotfiles status
# to add a file
dotfiles commit .tmux.conf -m ".tmux.conf added"
# push new files or changes to the github
dotfiles push origin main
I also use this way to sync and store my dotfiles, see my dotfiles repository and can read at Storing dotfiles with Git where I wrote about managing for multiple devices.
How to symlink all dotfiles in a directory recursively
Have a dotfiles directory that is structured as to how they should be structured at $HOME
dotfiles_home=~/dotfiles/home # for example
cp -rsf "$dotfiles_home"/. ~
-r: Recursive, create the necessary directory for each file
-s: Create symlinks instead of copying
-f: Overwrite existing files (previously created symlinks, default .bashrc, etc)
/.: Make sure cp "copy" the contents of home instead of the home directory itself.
Tips
Just like ln, if you want no headache or drama, use an absolute path for the first argument like the example above.
Note
This only works with GNU cp (preinstalled in Ubuntu), not POSIX cp. Check your man cp, you can install GNU coreutils if needed.
Thanks
To this and this.
The powers that be have decided that I have to use this tool which I've grown to hate in a short time.
I have packed a few things (binary, script, library) on a tarball that I want to put in a secluded place... specifically under $HOME but it could be anywhere. I can get all that to work but everything under %files automatically prepends my rpm's buildroot, which happens to be ~/rpmbuild/BUILDROOT/blah/blah.
I'm actually using a template from a colleague, but getting nowhere. Tried changing ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT} but that has the same results: installing everything to the root directory. Here's what I assume are the interesting parts. Again, it's just a program I made, something to kick it off, and a library it requires.
Source0: %{name}-%{version}.tar.gz
%install
rm -rf ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}
mkdir -p ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT}/MyApp
/bin/tar -C ${RPM_BUILD_ROOT} -xf ${RPM_SOURCE_DIR}/${RPM_PACKAGE_NAME}-${RPM_PACKAGE_VERSION}.tar.gz
%files
%defattr(7550,root,root,-)
/MyApp.1.0-r10
/MyApp.py
/lib/libMyLibrary.so.1.0.0
If I change the tar line in %install to chdir to ${HOME} it copies the files there, but then %files fails, due to the prepending issue.
I'm kinda a new to writing spec files and building RPM's. Currently I have one RPM that is supposed to deploy some files in 1 of 2 possible directories that will vary with the OS.
How can I, within the %files section, verify them? I can't use variable...I can't verify both paths because one will for sure fail...I tried to define a macro earlier in the %install section but it will be defined just once and won't be redefined on every RPM installation...
what can I do here?
Thanks
I had a similar situation where additional files were included in the RPM in case of a DEBUG build over and above all files in the RELEASE build.
The trick is to pass a list of files to %files alongwith a regular list of files below it:
%install
# Create a temporary file containing the list of files
EXTRA_FILES=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT/ExtraFiles.list
touch %{EXTRA_FILES}
# If building in DEBUG mode, then include additional test binaries in the package
%if %{build_mode} == "DEBUG"
# %{build_mode} is a variable that is passed to the spec file when invoked by the build script
# Like: rpmbuild --define "build_mode DEBUG"
echo path/to/file1 > %{EXTRA_FILES}
echo path/to/file2 >> %{EXTRA_FILES}
%endif
%files -f %{EXTRA_FILES}
path/to/release/file1
path/to/release/file2
In your case, you can leverage the %if conditional in the %install section, use the OS as a spec variable passed to rpmbuild (or detect it in the RPM spec itself) and then pass the file containing the list to %files
The %files section can have variables in it, but usually this would be something like your path that is defined so you don't have to repeat it a bunch. so %{long_path}/file_name, where long_path was defined earlier in the spec file. the %files section is all the information that goes into the RPM database, and is created when you build the RPM so you won't be able to change those values based on machine information when installed.
If you really want to do this, you could include a tar file inside of the main tarball that gets extracted depending on certain conditions (since the spec file is just bash). Now keep in mind this is an awful idea. The files won't be tracked by the RPM database, so when you remove the RPM these files will still exist.
In reality you should build two RPMs, this will allow for better support going forward into the future in the event you have to hand this off to someone, as well as preserving your own sanity a year from now when you need to update the RPM.
This is how I solved my problem
step 1 :
In Build section .. somewhere I wrote :
%build
.....
#check my condition here & if true define some macro
%define is_valid %( if [ -f /usr/bin/myfile ]; then echo "1" ; else echo "0"; fi )
#after his normal continuation
.....
...
Step 2: in install section
%install
......
#do something in that condition
if %is_valid
install -m 0644 <file>
%endif
#rest all your stuff
................
Step 3:in files section
%files
%if %is_valid
%{_dir}/<file>
%endif
That's it
It works.
PS : I cannot give you full code hence giving all useful snippet
Forrest suggests the best solution, but if that is not possible practical you can detect the OS version at runtime in the post-install section, move the script to the appropriate location, and then delete it post-uninstall, eg:
# rpm spec snippets
%define OS_version %(hacky os detection)
...
Source2: script.sh
...
%install
install %{_sourcedir}/script.sh %{buildroot}/some/known/location
...
%post
%if %{OS_version} == "..."
mv /some/known/location/script.sh /distro/specific/script.sh
%elif %{OS_version} == "..."
...
%preun
rm -rf /all/script/locations
Much more error prone than building different RPMs on different OSes, but will scale a little better if you need to support many different OSes.
In my install section of my rpm Spec file I have a bunch of mkdir's to create the directories I need. The ones that don't have any files installed in them get pruned out in the end and don't end up getting created. How can I ensure that the empty directories get created when it is all said and done?
In your %files section:
%files
%dir /my/directory/name