---
date: 09 June 2002
section: 8
title: RPMBUILD
---

NAME
====

rpmbuild - Build RPM Package(s)

SYNOPSIS
========

BUILDING PACKAGES:
------------------

**rpmbuild** {**-ba\|-bb\|-bp\|-bf|\-bc\|-bi\|-bl\|-bs\|-br\|-bd**}
\[**rpmbuild-options**\] *SPECFILE \...*

**rpmbuild** {**-ra\|-rb\|-rp\|-rf\|-rc\|-ri\|-rl\|-rs\|-rr\|-rd**}
\[**rpmbuild-options**\] *SOURCEPACKAGE \...*

**rpmbuild** {**-ta\|-tb\|-tp\|-tf\|-tc\|-ti\|-tl\|-ts\|-tr\|-td**}
\[**rpmbuild-options**\] *TARBALL \...*

**rpmbuild** {**\--rebuild\|\--recompile**} *SOURCEPKG \...*

MISCELLANEOUS:
--------------

**rpmbuild** **\--showrc**

rpmbuild-options
----------------

\[**\--buildroot ***DIRECTORY*\] \[**\--clean**\] \[**\--nobuild**\]
\[**\--rmsource**\] \[**\--rmspec**\] \[**\--short-circuit**\]
\[**\--build-in-place**\] \[**\--noprep**\] \[**\--noclean**\]
\[**\--nocheck**\] \[**\--rpmfcdebug**\] \[**\--target ***PLATFORM*\]
\[**\--with ***OPTION*\] \[**\--without ***OPTION*\]

DESCRIPTION
===========

**rpmbuild** is used to build both binary and source software packages.
A **package** consists of an archive of files and meta-data used to
install and erase the archive files. The meta-data includes helper
scripts, file attributes, and descriptive information about the package.
**Packages** come in two varieties: binary packages, used to encapsulate
software to be installed, and source packages, containing the source
code and recipe necessary to produce binary packages.

One of the following basic modes must be selected: **Build Package**,
**Build Package from Tarball**, **Recompile Package**, **Show
Configuration**.

GENERAL OPTIONS
---------------

These options can be used in all the different modes.

**-?, \--help**

:   Print a longer usage message then normal.

**\--version**

:   Print a single line containing the version number of **rpm** being
    used.

**\--quiet**

:   Print as little as possible - normally only error messages will be
    displayed.

**-v**

:   Print verbose information - normally routine progress messages will
    be displayed.

**-vv**

:   Print lots of ugly debugging information.

**\--rpmfcdebug**

:   Enables to debug dependencies generation.

**\--rcfile ***FILELIST*

:   Each of the files in the colon separated *FILELIST* is read
    sequentially by **rpm** for configuration information. Only the
    first file in the list must exist, and tildes will be expanded to
    the value of **\$HOME**. The default *FILELIST* is
    */usr/lib/rpm/rpmrc*:*/usr/lib/rpm/\<vendor\>/rpmrc*:*/etc/rpmrc*:*\~/.rpmrc*.

**\--pipe ***CMD*

:   Pipes the output of **rpm** to the command *CMD*.

**\--dbpath ***DIRECTORY*

:   Use the database in *DIRECTORY* rather than the default path
    */var/lib/rpm*

**\--root ***DIRECTORY*

:   Use the file system tree rooted at *DIRECTORY* for all operations.
    Note that this means the database within *DIRECTORY* will be used
    for dependency checks and any scriptlet(s) (e.g. **%post** if
    installing, or **%prep** if building, a package) will be run after a
    chroot(2) to *DIRECTORY*.

**-D, \--define=\'***MACRO EXPR***\'**

:   Defines *MACRO* with value *EXPR*.

**\--scm=***SCM*

:   Select the *SCM* to use with %autosetup, if one is not set in the
    spec file. Note that not all values for *SCM*, e.g., **patch** (the
    default) and **gendiff**, **git**, or **quilt** work interchangeably
    with all other patches and options stated in the %autosetup line,
    especially option **-p***N*.

BUILD OPTIONS
-------------

The general form of an rpm build command is

**rpmbuild** {**-b***STAGE***\|-r***STAGE***\|-t***STAGE*}
\[**rpmbuild-options**\] *FILE \...*

The argument used is **-b** if a spec file is being used to build the
package, **-r** if a source package is to be rebuilt and **-t** if
**rpmbuild** should look inside of a (possibly compressed) tar file for
the spec file to use.

Packages are built in a number of stages. The first six correspond to
the following sections in a spec file: **%prep**,
**%generate\_buildrequires**, **%build**, **%install**, **%check** and
**%clean**. Finally, binary and source packages are created in an
assembly stage.

The *STAGE* character specifies the stage to finish with (after doing
all the stages preceding it), and is one of:

**-ba**

:   Perform a full build - executes up to and including the assembly
    stage. In most cases, this is the option to choose.

**-bb**

:   Build just the binary packages - executes up to and including the
    assembly stage, but without creating the source package.
    On success, the build directory is removed (as in **\--clean**).

**-bp**

:   Unpack the sources and apply any patches - executes the %prep stage
    only.

**-bf**

:   Configure the sources - executes up to and including the %conf stage.
    This generally involves the equivalent of a \"./configure\".

**-bc**

:   Compile the sources - executes up to and including the %build stage.
    This generally involves the equivalent of a \"make\".

**-bi**

:   Install the binaries into the build root - executes up to and
    including the %check stage. This generally involves the equivalent
    of a \"make install\" and \"make check\".

**-bl**

:   Do a \"list check\" - the %files section from the spec file is macro
    expanded, and checks are made to verify that each file exists.

**-bs**

:   Build just the source package - skips straight to the assembly
    stage, without executing any of the preceding stages or creating
    binary packages.

**-br**

:   Build just the source package, but also parse and include dynamic
    build dependencies - executes up to and including the
    %generate\_buildrequires stage and then skips straight to the
    assembly stage, without creating binary packages. This command can
    be used to fully resolve dynamic build dependencies. See the DYNAMIC
    BUILD DEPENDENCIES section for details.

**-bd**

:   Check dynamic build dependencies and build the .buildreqs.nosrc.rpm
    package if any are missing. Don't build anything else.

The following options may also be used:

**\--buildroot ***DIRECTORY*

:   When building a package, override the BuildRoot tag with directory
    *DIRECTORY*.

**\--clean**

:   Remove the build tree after the packages are made.

**\--nobuild**

:   Do not execute any build stages. Useful for testing out spec files.

**\--noprep**

:   Do not execute %prep build stage even if present in spec.

**\--noclean**

:   Do not execute %clean build stage even if present in spec.

**\--nocheck**

:   Do not execute %check build stage even if present in spec.

**\--nodebuginfo**

:   Do not generate debuginfo packages.

**\--nodeps**

:   Do not verify build dependencies.

**\--rmsource**

:   Remove the sources after the build (may also be used standalone,
    e.g. \"**rpmbuild** **\--rmsource foo.spec**\").

**\--rmspec**

:   Remove the spec file after the build (may also be used standalone,
    eg. \"**rpmbuild** **\--rmspec foo.spec**\").

**\--short-circuit**

:   Skip straight to specified stage (i.e., skip all stages leading up
    to the specified stage). Only valid with **-bc**, **-bi**, and
    **-bb**. Useful for local testing only. Packages built this way will
    be marked with an unsatisfiable dependency to prevent their
    accidental use.

**\--build-in-place**

:   Build from locally checked out sources. Sets \_builddir to current
    working directory. Skips handling of -n and untar in the %setup and
    the deletion of the buildSubdir.

**\--target ***PLATFORM*

:   When building the package, interpret *PLATFORM* as
    **arch-vendor-os** and set the macros **%\_target**,
    **%\_target\_cpu**, and **%\_target\_os** accordingly.

**\--with ***OPTION*

:   Enable configure *OPTION* for build.

**\--without ***OPTION*

:   Disable configure *OPTION* for build.

REBUILD AND RECOMPILE OPTIONS
-----------------------------

There are two other ways to invoke building with rpm:

**rpmbuild** **\--rebuild\|\--recompile** *SOURCEPKG \...*

When invoked this way, **rpmbuild** installs the named source package,
and does a prep, compile and install. In addition, **\--rebuild** builds
a new binary package. When the build has completed, the build directory
is removed (as in **\--clean**) and the the sources and spec file for
the package are removed.

These options are now superseded by the **-r\*** options which allow
much more fine control over what stages of the build to run.

DYNAMIC BUILD DEPENDENCIES
--------------------------

When the %generate\_buildrequires stage runs and some of the newly
generated BuildRequires are not satisfied, **rpmbuild** creates an
intermediate source package ending in *buildreqs.nosrc.rpm*, which has
the new BuildRequires, and exits with code 11. This package can then be
used in place of the original source package to resolve and install the
missing build dependencies in the usual way, such as with
**dnf-builddep(8)**.

Multiple layers of dynamic build dependencies may exist in a spec file;
the presence of specific BuildRequires on the system may yield new
BuildRequires next time a build is performed with the same source
package. The easiest way to ensure that all dynamic build dependencies
are satisfied is to run the **-br** command, install the new
dependencies of the *buildreqs.nosrc.rpm* package and repeat the whole
procedure until **rpmbuild** no longer exits with code 11.

If the **-br** command is coupled with **\--nodeps**, exit code 11 is
always returned and a *buildreqs.nosrc.rpm* package is always created.

SHOWRC
------

The command

**rpmbuild** **\--showrc**

shows the values **rpmbuild** will use for all of the options are
currently set in *rpmrc* and *macros* configuration file(s).

FILES
=====

rpmrc Configuration
-------------------

    /usr/lib/rpm/rpmrc
    /usr/lib/rpm/<vendor>/rpmrc
    /etc/rpmrc
    ~/.rpmrc

Macro Configuration
-------------------

    /usr/lib/rpm/macros
    /usr/lib/rpm/<vendor>/macros
    /etc/rpm/macros
    ~/.rpmmacros

Temporary
---------

*/var/tmp/rpm\**

SEE ALSO
========

**gendiff**(1), **popt**(3), **rpm**(8), **rpm2cpio**(8), **rpmkeys**(8),
**rpmspec**(8), **rpmsign**(8)

**rpmbuild \--help** - as rpm supports customizing the options via popt
aliases it\'s impossible to guarantee that what\'s described in the
manual matches what\'s available.

**http://www.rpm.org/ \<URL:http://www.rpm.org/\>**

AUTHORS
=======

    Marc Ewing <marc@redhat.com>
    Jeff Johnson <jbj@redhat.com>
    Erik Troan <ewt@redhat.com>
