Binary RPMs and Source RPMs

There are two main types of RPM packages: binary (or applications) and source. A binary RPM has been compiled for a particular architecture.

A source RPM (SRPM) package typically contains a gzipped tar archive with the source files, and an RPM spec file.

To compile and install a source RPM package on redhat system, you can do the following:

Type:

  1. rpm -ihv elinks.src.rpm
  2.  
  3. rpm -ihv elinks.src.rpm
  4.  
  5. cd  /usr/src/redhat/SPECS
  6.  
  7. rpm -bb elinks.spec

As root, install the binary RPM. It will be located in the directory- /usr/src/redhat/RPMS/i386.

* elinks - lynx-like alternative character mode WWW browser.

Working behind the scenes of the package manager is the RPM database, stored in /var/lib/rpm. It consists of a single database (Packages) containing all of the meta information of the installed rpms and multiple databases used for indexing purposes.

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