RPM supports two build-related directories with very similar names, the build directory and the buildroot.

The build directory is the location where RPM actually builds the software, compiling source code, running the configure script, and so on. Normally, you do not need to worry about the build directory as the rpmbuild command properly changes to this directory as needed.

The buildroot, on the other hand, acts as a staging area that looks like the final installation directory. The name buildroot refers to the fact that the final installation directory is usually the root directory, /. The install section of the spec file (covered in the section "Installing the Software") installs files into the buildroot directory in the proper subdirectories, as if the files were really under the system root directory, /. This allows the buildroot directory to hold all the final installed files for a package, so you can see what will really be installed by the package.

You should always set the buildroot by defining a Buildroot: entry in your spec file. For example:

Buildroot: %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-root

This example sets the buildroot under the temporary directory named in the %_tmppath macro. The subdirectory is named based on the name and version of the package. For example, for a package named ypbind and a version 1.12, with a %_tmppath value of /tmp, the final buildroot directory would be:

/tmp/ypbind-1.12-root

Once you set a buildroot, your scripts run from the spec file and commands within the spec file can access the buildroot using the RPM_BUILD_ROOT environment variable. You normally need to access the RPM_BUILD_ROOT environment variable in the install section of the spec file (covered in the section "Installing the Software").

Note

You can override the buildroot with the --buildroot command-line parameter to the rpmbuild command.

The buildroot replaces the older, and now obsolete directive, Root:.