How to make a src.rpm unpack the source to whatever directory I want?

Question

I'm trying to make an rpm that will unpack the source to a custom directory, such as /asdf. When I run it, it always errors out saying "cannot create %sourcedir /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES". Is there something I can put in my .spec file that will make it unpack the source (which is just a .tar.gz file inside the src.rpm) to a custom directory when I do the command "rpm -i xyz.src.rpm"?

Solution 1

The solution was as simple as calling tar in the spec file and then specifying the path I wanted to untar to.

Solution 2

use rpm2cpio to unpack rpm. Or use alien to convert the rpm to other packages (deb, tar...)

The exact syntax for using rpm2cio

rpm2cpio ./package_name-test-1.1-1.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idmv

Comments

[barn]

I found the answer. logiqwest.com/TechnicalPapers/rpmScriptInstall.html provides step-by-step instructions for doing what I was trying to do.

[barn]

yes, that's exactly what I did. I just didn't understand how the spec file worked in terms of rpmbuild.

[DustWolf]

Use that option on what?

[DustWolf]

Does not answer the question, how to unpack a source package.