Inside the Spec File

In this chapter, we're going to cover the spec file in detail. There are a number of different types of entries that comprise a spec file, and every one will be documented here. The different types of entries are:

• Comments -- Human-readable notes ignored by RPM.

• Tags -- Define data.

• Scripts -- Contain commands to be executed at specific times.

• Macros -- A method of executing multiple commands easily.

• The %files list -- A list of files to be included in the package.

• Directives -- Used in the %files list to direct RPM to handle certain files in a specific way.

• Conditionals -- Permit operating system- or architecture-specific preprocessing of the spec file.

Let's start by looking at comments.