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feat: expand RPM documentation #411

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7a7ae70
feat: expand RPM sections page
Owen-sz Apr 29, 2026
d175756
add more to RPM sections page
Owen-sz Apr 29, 2026
1ef3843
minor additions
Owen-sz Apr 29, 2026
0dfaa5b
feat: start work on expanding RPM macros page
Owen-sz Apr 29, 2026
8513ba6
add packaged-macros.mdx
Owen-sz Apr 30, 2026
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264 changes: 50 additions & 214 deletions content/docs/rpm/macros.mdx
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ Double-expand the macro.
```rpmspec title="example.spec"
%define nya foo
%define meow %{expand:%%nya}

echo %meow
```
</div>
Expand All @@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ Double-expand the macro.
```
</div>
</Split.Root>

<SearchTerra macroname="expand:" />

##### `%{lua:…}` 🛠️ [#lua]
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -466,6 +466,20 @@ This macro is used in [`%setup …`](#setup) for uncompressing source files.

#### Environment info

##### `%?dist` [#?dist]

Used in the `Release:` tag, expands to the dist tag, which is the builder OS shortened identifer and version. Examples:

```
.fc44
.um43
```

Can either be used as `%?dist` or `%dist`, The `?` prefix just means it expands to nothing if the macro is
undefined, which avoids errors when building without a dist tag.

<SearchTerra macroname="?dist" />

##### `%{getncpus:…}` [#getncpus]

When used as `%{getncpus}` with no arguments, expand to the number of available CPU cores.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -497,6 +511,22 @@ concerned. It is suspected that the arguments in most cases have no effect to th

<SearchTerra macroname="rpmversion" />

##### `%_smp_build_ncpus` [#_smp_build_ncpus]

Expands to the output of `nproc` (the build host's thread count)
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@GildedRoach GildedRoach Apr 30, 2026 •
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This is the default behavior, but only because %{__smp_use_cpus} uses this if no other argument is passed to the macro. You can actually use this macro, or preferrably %{_smp_ncpus_max}, to give a different amount of CPUs available to the build, which will also affect $RPM_BUILD_NCPUS.


Example use case: `%make_build GHCJOBS=%{_smp_build_ncpus}`

<SearchTerra macroname="_smp_build_ncpus" />

##### `%_smp_mflags` [#_smp_mflags]

Expands to `-j${RPM_BUILD_NCPUS}`

Example use case: `make %{_smp_mflags}`

<SearchTerra macroname="_smp_mflags" />

#### Output

##### `%{echo:…}` 🔦 [#echo]
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -558,7 +588,7 @@ Expand to the path to the source file. This is just a fancy macro that transform
<div>
```rpmspec title="example.spec"
Source0: https://repos.fyralabs.com/um42/comps.xml

%prep
cat %{S:0}
echo %{S:1}
Expand All @@ -567,14 +597,14 @@ Expand to the path to the source file. This is just a fancy macro that transform
<div>
```rpmspec title="expand.spec"
Source0: https://repos.fyralabs.com/um42/comps.xml

%prep
cat %{_sourcedir}/comps.xml
echo %SOURCE1
```
</div>
</Split.Root>

<SearchTerra macroname="S:" />

##### `%{P:#}` [#P]
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -623,6 +653,18 @@ Or you can just use `less` instead of `grep`.

#### Miscellaneous

##### `%_lib` [#_lib]

Expands to `lib` (on noarch or 32-bit packages) or `lib64` (on 64-bit packages)

<SearchTerra macroname="_lib" />

##### `%__ln_s` [#__ln_s]

Expands to the system's `ln -s` command (should be used when symlinks are needed)

<SearchTerra macroname="__ln_s" />

##### `%nil` 🔰 [#nil]

Expand to nothing.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -763,7 +805,7 @@ what things the binaries are linked to, you may disable that by adding a regex t

<Callout type="info">If you want to disable all automatic `Requires:`, set `AutoReq: 0`.</Callout>

<SearchTerra macroname="__strip" />
<SearchTerra macroname="__requires_exclude" />

##### `%__requires_exclude_from` 🏷️ [#__requires_exclude_from]

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -841,6 +883,8 @@ Similar to above, but takes in path to file that contains the regexes.

##### `%__brp_mangle_shebangs_exclude_from_file` 🏷️ [#__brp_mangle_shebangs_exclude_from_file]

Similar to above, but takes a path to a file containing the list of file paths to exclude.

<SearchTerra macroname="__brp_mangle_shebangs_exclude_from_file" />

##### `%__brp_mangle_shebangs` 🏷️
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1125,7 +1169,6 @@ Macros with the '(Terra only)' warning are part of the `anda-srpm-macros` packag
/run ⇒ %{_rundir}
/usr ⇒ %{_usr}
/usr/bin ⇒ %{_bindir}
/usr/sbin ⇒ %{_sbindir} maybe?
/usr/src ⇒ %{_usrsrc}
/usr/include ⇒ %{_includedir}
/usr/lib64 ⇒ %{_libdir}
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1257,210 +1300,3 @@ mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/themes
</Callout>

<SearchTerra macroname="fdupes" />

### Per Language

If your language / buildsystem is not listed here, go to
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/packaging-guidelines/
and find them on the navigation rail on the left.

#### C and C++

##### `%configure` [#configure]

Expand to `./configure` with the correct flags and arguments.
If you need to execute `./configure`, in most cases you should use this macro instead.

In some cases where `./configure` is not directly available, you may need to run
`autoreconf -fi` or `-fiv`.

<SearchTerra macroname="configure" />

##### `%make_build` 🔰 [#make_build]

⇒ `%__make -O -j${RPM_BUILD_NCPUS} V=1 VERBOSE=1{:sh}`,
where `%{__make}` ⇒ `/usr/bin/make`.
Further arguments to `make` can be attached.

<SearchTerra macroname="make_build" />

##### `%make_install` 🔰 [#make_install]

⇒ `%__make install DESTDIR=%?buildroot INSTALL="%__install -p"{:sh}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="make_install" />

##### `%makeinstall` 🚸 [#makeinstall]

Deprecated. Use [`%make_install`](#make_install) instead.

<SearchTerra macroname="make_install" />

##### `%cmake` 🔰 [#cmake]

Expand to `%{__cmake}` (⇒ `/usr/bin/cmake`) with the correct flags,
such as `-B "%__cmake_builddir"{:sh}` (⇒ `-B "redhat-linux-build"{:sh}`).

<SearchTerra macroname="cmake" />

##### `%cmake_build` 🔰 [#cmake_build]

⇒ `%__cmake --build "%__cmake_builddir" %?_smp_mflags --verbose{:sh}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="cmake_build" />

##### `%cmake_install` 🔰 [#cmake_install]

⇒ `DESTDIR="%buildroot" %__cmake --install "%__cmake_builddir"{:sh}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="cmake_install" />

##### `%meson` 🔰 [#meson]

≈ `%__meson setup{:sh}` with correct flags.

<SearchTerra macroname="meson" />

##### `%meson_build` 🔰 [#meson_build]

⇒ `%__meson compile -C "%_vpath_builddir" -j %_smp_build_ncpus %{?__meson_verbose:--verbose}{:sh}`

⇒ `/usr/bin/meson compile -C redhat-linux-build -j 20 --verbose{:sh}` (on my machine).

<SearchTerra macroname="meson_build" />

##### `%meson_install` 🔰 [#meson_install]

⇒ `DESTDIR=%buildroot %__meson install -C %_vpath_builddir --no-rebuild{:sh}`.
Used in `%install{:rpmspec}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="meson_install" />

##### `%meson_test` 🔰 [#meson_test]

⇒ `%__meson test -C %_vpath_builddir --no-rebuild %{!?__meson_verbose:--quiet}{:sh}`.
Used in `%check{:rpmspec}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="meson_test" />

##### `%ninja_build` [#ninja_build]

⇒ `%__ninja %__ninja_common_opts{:sh}`

⇒ `%__ninja -v -j${RPM_BUILD_NCPUS}{:sh}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="ninja_build" />

##### `%ninja_install` [#ninja_install]

⇒ `DESTDIR=%buildroot %__ninja install %__ninja_common_opts{:sh}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="ninja_install" />

##### `%ninja_test` [#ninja_test]

⇒ `%__ninja test %__ninja_common_opts{:sh}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="ninja_test" />

##### `%build_cflags` 🏷️ [#build_cflags]

Flags to be passed to the C compiler.

⇒ `%{__build_flags_lang_c} %{?_distro_extra_cflags}`

<SearchTerra macroname="build_cflags" />

##### `%_distro_extra_cflags` 🏷️ [#_distro_extra_cflags]

For example, if the compiler is emitting errors that could be disabled with some
`-Wno-…` flags, you can define this macro with extra flags.

This macro is not defined by default on Fedora.

<SearchTerra macroname="_distro_extra_cflags" />

##### `%build_cxxflags` 🏷️ [#build_cxxflags]

Flags to be passed to the C++ compiler.

⇒ `%{__build_flags_lang_cxx} %{?_distro_extra_cxxflags}`

<SearchTerra macroname="build_cxxflags" />

##### `%_distro_extra_cxxflags` 🏷️ [#_distro_extra_cxxflags]

For example, if the compiler is emitting errors that could be disabled with some
`-Wno-…` flags, you can define this macro with extra flags.

This macro is not defined by default on Fedora.

<SearchTerra macroname="_distro_extra_cxxflags" />

#### D

##### `%ldc_arches` [#ldc_arches]

<SearchTerra macroname="ldc_arches" />

##### `%_d_optflags` [#_d_optflags]

<SearchTerra macroname="_d_optflags" />

#### Java

https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/java-packaging-howto/

#### Nim

This section is only applicable to Terra (because Fedora does not ship Nim).

##### `%nim_prep` [#nim_prep]

Set `mold` as the linker and run `nimble setup -y`.

<SearchTerra macroname="nim_prep" />

##### `%nim_build` [#nim_build]

Same as [`%nim_c`](#nim_c).

<SearchTerra macroname="nim_build" />

##### `%nim_c` [#nim_c]

⇒ `nim c -d:release -t:"%nim_tflags" -l:"%nim_lflags"{:sh}`.

<SearchTerra macroname="nim_c" />

#### Python

https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/packaging-guidelines/Python/

#### Rust

https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/packaging-guidelines/Rust/

##### `%rustflags_debuginfo` 🏷️ [#rustflags_debuginfo]

If `gdb` crashes in `find-debuginfo`, you might want to lower the value to `1` or even `0`.

The default value is `2`.

```rpmspec title="example.spec" {11}
https://github.com/terrapkg/packages/blob/2df55dad60a58ecf5f8fbe962f877f2834bdfa25/anda/devs/zed/nightly/zed-nightly.spec#L14

%bcond_with check

# Exclude input files from mangling
%global __brp_mangle_shebangs_exclude_from ^/usr/src/.*$

%global crate zed
%global app_id dev.zed.Zed-Nightly

%global rustflags_debuginfo 0
```

[expression]: ./expr

<SearchTerra macroname="rustflags_debuginfo" />
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