[Mageia-discuss] Trying to learn a little about packaging

Fri Jan 14 06:18:58 CET 2011

The .spec file as provided defines %define _prefix as /usr/local. Yes,
+I know that it should be /usr for a Mandriva-specific package, but I'd
+like to actually build the package first so I can understand what
+needs to be patched to build from the pristine sources on
+Madriva/Mageia, not start from scratch - that kind of defeats the
+purpose of RPM.
+
+In the %files section "%{_libdir}/%{name}" should pick up "%_prefix",
+but it does not. As a result, some files don't get created in two
+directories and the build fails.
+
+What I'm asking is if there is a difference in how Mandrake handles
+that substitution versus how Fedora handles that. I installed Fedora
+in a VM and the package builds fine on Fedora, but I get the error on
+Madriva. I've examined the .spec file and don't see where there is any
+obvious problem, so I'm seeking some guidance as to where to look
+deeper.
+
+While I can find lots of (mostly useless) info on RPM building through
+Google, I'm not sure where to look for any Mandriva docs for that, so
+a suggestion for that would be welcome as well.
+
+On 1/13/11, Remy CLOUARD <shikamaru at mandriva.org> wrote:
+> On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 09:41:46AM +0200, P. Christeas wrote:
+>> On Thursday 13 January 2011, Hoyt Duff wrote:
+>> > ...
+>> > I contacted the author, who says the rpm will build on Fedora. He
+>> > says: "Path error. The .spec file "%define _prefix /usr/local"
+>> > (compare with a "./configure --prefix=/usr/local") and in the %files
+>> > section "%{_libdir}/%{name}" should pick up "%_prefix". For some
+>> > reason it doesn't but then again I never built RPM's on Mandriva...
+>> >
+>> > ... and gave me a hack to try that fails also with an error he has
+>> > never seen before,
+>> > error: Package already exists: %package __restore__
+>> >
+>> > Can someone point me to where in the Mandriva docs I can find info on
+>> > what might be going wrong? Thanks.
+>>
+>> (by just looking at your mail, no deeper look at rkhunter or else)
+>>
+>> The prefix should be "/usr", and not explicitly defined in the project's
+>> spec.
+>> Reason: all software that is installed through distro packages goes to
+>> /usr.
+>> All other that installs through "./install.sh" or custom hacks goes to
+>> "/usr/local"
+>> So, make sure that "/usr/local" is _not_ the path passed to ./configure
+>> and
+>> used to install files onto.
+>>
+> That’s true.
+>
+> I would add that we also have preconfigured macro that ensures standard
+> directories are respected (among other things).
+>
+> Could you try using %configure2_5x instead of ./configure ? the prefix
+> part should be dropped.
+>
+> If you are curious about what it does, you could try rpm --eval
+> %configure2_5x :-)
+>
+> Regards,
+> --
+> Rémy CLOUARD
+> () ascii ribbon campaign - against html e-mail
+> /\ www.asciiribbon.org - against proprietary attachments
+>
+
+
+-- 
+Hoyt
+