RPM Package Contents

RPM files are specialized compressed archives, loosely based on the cpio archive format.

RPM Contents

• Metadata
  • A list of capabilities the package provides
  • A list of dependencies the package requires
  • Packager, build date, license, summary, description, ...
  • Changelog
  • Checksum, path, file size, timestamp, and permissions for each file
• Digital signature
• Software
• Data
  • Fonts
  • Icons
  • Game levels
  • Sample data
  • (etc)
• Documentation - including manpages, info documents, and files in /usr/share/doc
• Configuration files
• Setup scriptlets - short scripts run when software is installed/removed.
  • Pre-install (pre) - executed before installation
  • Post-install (post) - executed after installation
  • Pre-uninstall (preun) - executed before installation
  • Post-uninstall (postun) - executed after uninstallation
  • Triggers - scripts executed when other packages are installed/removed (deprecated)

Source RPM (SRPM) Contents

• Metadata
• Source files
  • Tarballs or zip archives
  • Source files and data files
  • Patches
• Spec file - containing build instructions