How do you "configure" a source RPM (.src.rpm)

[nathan r. rhuby]

Bernard mentink wrote:
>  Hi All,
> 
> A quick question. How do you get RPM to allow you to pause the 
> installation, in order to run ./configure. I can not see
> an option in "man rpm". I am doing the normal "rpm --rebuild" to obtain 
> the ppc.rpm, but can not find a way to do any
> customization.
> 
> The only option, I can see, is after the build, to get into the src 
> directory and re-configure, make etc etc, but the subseqent install
> proberly does not put the executable in the same place as the normal rpm 
> -i.
>

rpm -i $source-rpm

This will place the specfile in /usr/src/rpm/SPECS and the sources (with 
patches) in /usr/src/rpm/SOURCES.  Edit the specfile to control what 
options are passed to configure and the rpm -bb $specfile.

If you need finer control about what happen with the source (eg: need to 
make changes), untar a copy in your home directory, make changes, untar 
a clean copy of the source and then diff the two to create a patch you 
can drop into SOURCES and then add to the specfile.  (man diff for a 
very long and rather good explination about how to make good patchfiles.)

HTH,

-n