Packaging Your Software with RPM

Many research and corporate environments develop their own customized software for distribution within their organization. Sometimes software packages are downloaded and then customized for use in a particular organization. To more easily install such customized software, administrators pack the programs into their own RPM packages. In such packages, you can include your own versions of configuration files, documentation, and modified source and binaries. RPM automatically installs software on a system in the designated directories, along with any documentation, libraries, or support programs.

The package creation process is designed to take the program through several stages, starting with unpacking it from an archive, then compiling its source code, and finally, generating the RPM package. You can skip any of these stages, up to the last one. If your software is already unpacked, you can start with compiling it. If your software is compiled, you can start with installation. If it is already installed, you can go directly to creating the RPM package.

The build processes for RPM used to be included with the rpm command. They are now incorporated into a separate tool called rpmb. This tool, along with supporting libraries and documentation, is located in the rpm-build package. Be sure this package is installed before you try to build RPM packages. You can still run the rpm command with the build options, but these are simply aliases for corresponding rpmb commands.