rpmbuild Command in Linux: Syntax, Stages & RPM Package Examples

On Ubuntu, install rpm to get rpmbuild. For learning or CI, a custom _topdir under /tmp keeps artifacts out of your home directory.

Create the tree and a noarch demo spec:

Package installs and updates in this section use dnf command.

rm -rf /tmp/rpmbuild-test
mkdir -p /tmp/rpmbuild-test/{BUILD,BUILDROOT,RPMS,SOURCES,SPECS,SRPMS}
echo 'Hello from demo package' > /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SOURCES/hello.txt
cat > /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/demo.spec << 'EOF'
Name:           demo
Version:        1.0
Release:        1%{?dist}
Summary:        Minimal demo package for rpmbuild cheat sheet
License:        MIT
BuildArch:      noarch
%description
A tiny noarch package used to demonstrate rpmbuild stages.
%prep
mkdir -p demo-1.0
cp %{_sourcedir}/hello.txt demo-1.0/
%build
# no compile step
%install
mkdir -p %{buildroot}/usr/share/demo
install -m 644 demo-1.0/hello.txt %{buildroot}/usr/share/demo/hello.txt
%files
/usr/share/demo/hello.txt
EOF

Verify layout:

ls /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/ /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SOURCES/

Sample output:

/tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/:
demo.spec

/tmp/rpmbuild-test/SOURCES/:
hello.txt

On RHEL hosts, rpmdev-setuptree creates the same layout under ~/rpmbuild.

-bp runs only the %prep section — unpack sources and apply patches — so you can inspect the build directory before compile steps.

Run the command:

rpmbuild --define "_topdir /tmp/rpmbuild-test" -bp /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/demo.spec

Sample output:

Building target platforms: noarch
Building for target noarch
Executing(%mkbuilddir): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.W8yM58
Executing(%prep): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.R4JkNE
+ umask 022
+ cd /tmp/rpmbuild-test/BUILD/demo-1.0-build
+ mkdir -p demo-1.0
+ cp /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SOURCES/hello.txt demo-1.0/
+ RPM_EC=0
+ jobs -p
+ exit 0

Confirm sources landed under BUILD:

cat /tmp/rpmbuild-test/BUILD/demo-1.0-build/demo-1.0/hello.txt

Sample output:

Hello from demo package

-ba completes all stages and writes .rpm files under RPMS/ and SRPMS/.

Run the command:

rpmbuild --define "_topdir /tmp/rpmbuild-test" -ba /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/demo.spec

Sample output (tail):

Processing files: demo-1.0-1.noarch
Provides: demo = 1.0-1
Requires(rpmlib): rpmlib(CompressedFileNames) <= 3.0.4-1 ...
Wrote: /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SRPMS/demo-1.0-1.src.rpm
Wrote: /tmp/rpmbuild-test/RPMS/noarch/demo-1.0-1.noarch.rpm

List artifacts:

ls -la /tmp/rpmbuild-test/RPMS/noarch/ /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SRPMS/

Install on an RPM-based host with sudo rpm -ivh or sudo dnf install; on Ubuntu, use rpm -qlp to inspect without installing.

-bc runs %prep and %build. For C/C++ packages this is where make runs; our demo spec has an empty %build.

Run the command:

rpmbuild --define "_topdir /tmp/rpmbuild-test" -bc /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/demo.spec

Sample output ends with:

Executing(%build): /bin/sh -e /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.GHivSu
+ umask 022
+ cd /tmp/rpmbuild-test/BUILD/demo-1.0-build
+ RPM_EC=0
+ jobs -p
+ exit 0

If %build fails, fix the spec or BuildRequires before continuing to -bi.

-bi runs through %install, placing files under BUILDROOT — a fake filesystem root used to assemble the RPM payload.

Run the command:

rpmbuild --define "_topdir /tmp/rpmbuild-test" -bi /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/demo.spec

Check the staged file:

find /tmp/rpmbuild-test/BUILD -path '*/BUILDROOT/*' -type f

Sample output:

/tmp/rpmbuild-test/BUILD/demo-1.0-build/BUILDROOT/usr/share/demo/hello.txt

The %files section must list every path under BUILDROOT or -ba fails the file manifest check.

-bl prints the path list RPM expects from %files — catch missing or unpackaged files before a full build.

Run after a successful -bi:

rpmbuild --define "_topdir /tmp/rpmbuild-test" -bl /tmp/rpmbuild-test/SPECS/demo.spec

Sample output includes:

/usr/share/demo/hello.txt

If a file exists in BUILDROOT but not in %files, the full build warns about unpackaged files.

Multiple projects on one host should not share a single ~/rpmbuild — point each job at its own tree.

Run the command:

rpmbuild --define "_topdir /tmp/rpmbuild-test" -E '%{_topdir}'

Sample output:

/tmp/rpmbuild-test

Use the same --define "_topdir ..." prefix on every rpmbuild invocation for that project.

Lab builds under /tmp should be deleted when you finish capturing output — do not leave stale BUILDROOT trees on shared hosts.

Remove the demo tree:

rm -rf /tmp/rpmbuild-test
ls /tmp/rpmbuild-test 2>&1

Sample output:

ls: cannot access '/tmp/rpmbuild-test': No such file or directory

Use rpmbuild --clean inside a spec's %clean section for production workflows; for throwaway /tmp trees, rm -rf is enough.