===== RPM Macros =====

Here are the definitions for some common specfile macros as they are defined on Fedora 13 (rpm-4.8.0-14.fc13). For definitions of more macros, examine the output of "<code>rpm --showrc</code>". To see the expanded definition of a macro use the command <code>rpm --eval "%{macro}"</code>.  Note that neither command will take into account macros defined inside specfiles, but both will take into account macros defined in your <code>~/.rpmmacros</code> file and macros defined on the command line.

Keep in mind that some of these macros may evaluate differently on older Fedora or EPEL releases. 

==== Macros mimicking autoconf variables ====

  %{_sysconfdir}        /etc
  %{_prefix}            /usr
  %{_exec_prefix}       %{_prefix}
  %{_bindir}            %{_exec_prefix}/bin
  %{_libdir}            %{_exec_prefix}/%{_lib}
  %{_libexecdir}        %{_exec_prefix}/libexec
  %{_sbindir}           %{_exec_prefix}/sbin
  %{_sharedstatedir}    /var/lib
  %{_datarootdir}       %{_prefix}/share
  %{_datadir}           %{_datarootdir}
  %{_includedir}        %{_prefix}/include
  %{_infodir}           /usr/share/info
  %{_mandir}            /usr/share/man
  %{_localstatedir}     /var
  %{_initddir}          %{_sysconfdir}/rc.d/init.d

<WRAP center round tip 60%>
Differences in EPEL 4 & 5 
  * **%{_initddir}** does not exist in EPEL 4 & 5, use the deprecated **%{_initrddir}** macro instead 
  * **%{_sharedstatedir}** expands to **%{_prefix}/com** in EPEL 4 & 5
</WRAP>



==== Other macros and variables for paths ====
These macros should be used for paths that are not covered by the macros mimicking autoconf variables. The <code>%{buildroot}</code> macro or the <code>$RPM_BUILD_ROOT</code> variable is the directory that should be assumed to be the root file system when installing files. Is is used as the value for the <code>DESTDIR</code> variable.

  %{_var}               /var
  %{_tmppath}           %{_var}/tmp
  %{_usr}               /usr
  %{_usrsrc}            %{_usr}/src
  %{_lib}               lib (lib64 on 64bit multilib systems)
  %{_docdir}            %{_datadir}/doc
  %{buildroot}          %{_buildrootdir}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}.%{_arch}
  $RPM_BUILD_ROOT       %{buildroot}


==== Build flags macros and variables ====
These macros should be used as flags for the compiler or linker. Note that the values for the macros below reflect the settings on Fedora 13 (i686) with redhat-rpm-config installed.


  %{__global_cflags}   -O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fexceptions -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4
  %{optflags}          %{__global_cflags} -m32 -march=i686 -mtune=atom -fasynchronous-unwind-tables
  $RPM_OPT_FLAGS       %{optflags}



==== RPM directory macros ====
The macros are usually used with <code>rpmbuild --define</code> to specify which directories rpmbuild should use, it is unusual to use them within SPEC files.

  %{_topdir}            %{getenv:HOME}/rpmbuild
  %{_builddir}          %{_topdir}/BUILD
  %{_rpmdir}            %{_topdir}/RPMS
  %{_sourcedir}         %{_topdir}/SOURCES
  %{_specdir}           %{_topdir}/SPECS
  %{_srcrpmdir}         %{_topdir}/SRPMS
  %{_buildrootdir}      %{_topdir}/BUILDROOT


<WRAP center round tip 60%>
**%{_buildrootdir}** does not exist in EPEL 4 & 5
</WRAP>

{{tag> rpm }}