build RPM out of binary-files

[Tron_]

Hi,

i already searched trough the RPM documentation, but couldn't find anything in this direction.
If I have a program, from which I only have the precompiled binary files available, is it possible to pack such a program into an RPM-package, or do I need the source-files, as how i understood it normally rpmbuild compiles the rpm-package out of the source-code.

Thanks

Martin

[Rubberman]

You need the rpm-build package for your system, then you need to read the man pages for rpmbuild as well as other documentation on how to build rpm files. It is not easy. My wife and I are both professional Linux software people and neither of us like to do that... Getting everything just so in order to build the RPM is a major PITA. It is better to package the binaries into a compressed tarball along with an installation script. My wife builds software installation packages from binaries for physics research labs all over the world, and none of them are packaged as RPMs. Besides the cruft associated with building RPMs, there is the fact that some of the people doing the installation need them to be installed by non-admin accounts for testing, avoiding interference with standard software of the same type, etc.

[harshada]

ya you told the solution of making the tarball of all binnaries. bt i m interested in the RPM package of those binnaries. Can anybody plz help me for tht.....
Instead of creating the RPM of souce i wanna create it of binnaries .....

[Rubberman]

See the manpage for the rpmbuild command. Here is the description from the man page on CentOS/RHEL 5:

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 pack-
       ages, 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.

[harshada]

actually i m interested in is...
instead of source i have just executable thn , as i cn create rpm of source can i create the rpm of those executable.
as an any1 gives me just an executable and says me to create the rpm out of it, is thr any way for tht...
doing rpm of source is fine....