RpmSpec Type documentation

Background/Abstract

• The RpmSpec Type generates .spec files suitable for use by the rpmbuild utility to build and package. It additionally creates a Bourne shell script that automates creation of source tarball and proper dependency-order building/packaging of .spec files.
• The RpmSpec type refines the existing aggregated workspace MPC concept, as well as introduces the ability to have specific clauses inside workspace declarations (.mwc files). Consequently, workspace files utilizing these new features are not backwards-compatible with prior releases of MPC.
• Since RPM is primarily Linux-based, RpmSpec only officially supports use on Linux-based systems. It may work on platforms for which an RPM port exists, but such success would be coincidental and neither intended, tested, nor guaranteed.

Pre-requisites

• The following software items are required and in the execution path (as well as any of their respective dependencies):

  RPM

  Minimum of version 4.7.1 recommended (not tested with other versions).

  Development toolchain

  This can be the standard development toolchain. Packaging for other architectures is supported if the toolchain in the path is a cross-compiler for that architecture.

Usage

The RpmSpec type refines an existing concept in MPC known as aggregate workspaces to define package scopes. When mwc.pl is run on a top-level workspace with -type rpmspec, each aggregated workspace is presumed to define the scope of a package that will become an RPM. Inter-project dependencies that exist between any projects known to the top-level workspace automatically turn into inter-package dependencies in RPMs.

Generic workflow

Presuming .mwc files already exist, and that inter-project dependencies are complete and well-formed (i.e., contain sufficient after statements to insure proper build ordering):

1. Use the command mwc.pl -type rpmspec top-level-workspace.mwc to generate .spec files and *_rpm.sh builder script.
2. Run the top-level-workspace_rpm.sh script to build/package.

Adapting/Writing Projects for Packaging

Creating Workspaces

The RpmSpec type uses aggregate workspaces to define the scope of a package. In other words, defining a package involves writing a .mwc file that includes all the projects that should go into that package. An additional .mwc file must be written for each additional package. Finally, these package workspaces get aggregated into a workspace.

RPM packages require extra information not needed by "normal" MPC projects or workspaces. This information is defined in a specific clause in the workspace for the rpmspec type, e.g.,

// top-level workspace
workspace {
  specific (rpmspec) {
    rpm_version = 1.0
    rpm_release = 1
  }
  package1.mwc
  package2.mwc
}

Details on the variables allowed in the specific clause can be found in the $MPC_ROOT/docs/templates/rpmspec.txt file.

If you use workspaces as a part of building right now, you may wish to write additional workspace files specifically for packaging via RPM.

Making Projects Install-Ready

MPC-assisted packaging requires some attention from the developer in order to yield its full potential. What this means is that in order for a project to avail itself to be packaged, it must take care to insure that any collateral (such as files) that it needs to end up in the package get installed via MPC's install feature. Note that this feature is currently only implemented within the gnuace project type. Typically, this involves inheriting from the install base project in order to enable auto-generation of installation rules in the makefiles. MPC defaults to making educated guesses as to what files should be installed (e.g., for an exe project, it figures that the executable should be installed), but a developer can augment or replace MPC's guesses using Install*_Files groupings. See the documentation on the gnuace installation feature for details.