RELOCATABLE PACKAGES ==================== Relocatable packages are a way to give the user a little control over the installation location of a package. For example, a vendor may distribute their software to install in "/opt" but you'd like it to install in "/usr/opt". If the vendor were distributing a relocatable RPM package, it would be easy. Building a Relocatable Package ------------------------------ Not all software can be "relocatable". Before continuing you should think about how the program works, what files it accesses, what other programs access *it* (and expect it to be in a certain place), etc. If you determine that the location of the package doesn't matter, then it can probably be built as "relocatable". All you need to do to build a relocatable package is put: Prefix: in your spec file. The "" will usually be something like "/usr", "/usr/local", or "/opt". Every file in your %files list must start with that prefix. For example, if you have "Prefix: /usr" and your %files list contains "/etc/foo.conf", the build will fail. Installing Relocatable Packages ------------------------------- By default, RPM will install a relocatable package in the prefix directory listed in the spec file. You can override this on the RPM install command line with "--prefix ". For example, if the package in question were going to be installed in "/opt" but you don't have enough disk space there (and it is a relocatable package), you could install it "--prefix /usr/opt".