How do I get a basic spec file to work with rpmbuild?

Question

I installed rpmlint and rpmdevtools. I used rpmdevtools to create a template of a .spec file. I modified the spec file so it will install cfengine. I ran rpmlint on the spec file, and I saw no warnings or errors. I then tried to run the specfile for real, but it failed. Here is the command I ran:

$ rpmbuild -ba newpackage.spec

Here is what I saw:

Executing(%prep): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.wNGgcV
+ umask 022
+ cd /home/ec2-user//BUILD
+ cd /home/ec2-user/BUILD
+ rm -rf Propulsion-1
+ /usr/bin/tar -xf -
+ /usr/bin/gzip -dc /home/ec2-user/SOURCES/cfengine-3.6.5.tar.gz
+ STATUS=0
+ '[' 0 -ne 0 ']'
+ cd Propulsion-1
/var/tmp/rpm-tmp.wNGgcV: line 35: cd: Propulsion-1: No such file or directory
error: Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.wNGgcV (%prep)


RPM build errors:
    Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.wNGgcV (%prep)

The file above on line 35 has this:

cd 'Propulsion-1'

The "Propulsion" name comes from the .spec file. Evidently, the single quotes, hyphen and 1 come from the rpm-build command processing.

What should I do to not have an RPM build error? I want my spec file to work for the installation of cfengine.

Here is the spec file:

Name:  Propulsion
Version: 1
Release:        1%{?dist}
Summary:  First time

License:        GNU
#URL:
Source0: http://s3.amazonaws.com/cfengine.package-repos/tarballs/cfengine-3.6.5.tar.gz

BuildRequires: gettext
# Requires:

%description
This is a test.

%prep
%setup -q


%build
%configure
make %{?_smp_mflags}


%install
rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
%make_install


%files
%doc


%changelog

If you are trying to package cfengine, why have you named this packge Propulsion? — Michael Hampton, Jun 06 '15 at 06:04
Is the name not arbitrary? I tried "cfengine." But that didn't help me. — Propulsion, Jun 06 '15 at 06:09
There is a lot to learn here. I suggest you start with [How to create an RPM package](https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_create_an_RPM_package). — Michael Hampton, Jun 06 '15 at 18:38

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 06 '15 at 18:35

This error is happening because %setup is actually a macro that when expanded, will try to un-tar your source and cd into the source directory.

If the source directory in the tarball differs from the name of the package, you need to set -n, like this:

%setup -n cfengine-3.6.5

In your case, this should work, because when you extract cfengine-3.6.5.tar.gz you get a directory named cfengine-3.6.5 -- and rpmbuild is expecting Propulsion-1 based on your package name and version.

You can read more about the setup macro here and here.

This definitely helped me progress. I'm going to mark it as the answer because this question is getting long. Michael said that there was a lot to learn. I agree. — Propulsion, Jun 07 '15 at 19:32

How do I get a basic spec file to work with rpmbuild?

1 Answers1