Add extra file into the rpm building process

Question

i have the source-code of an application that supports adding python plugins. i have written a python script and want to build a custom rpm that by-default includes my script. So that i do not have to additionally add it after the rpm installation.

Now as far as i understand, there are two parts to this-

1. Adding the file to the source code.
2. Listing that file in the .spec file.

How do i know where to put the file in the source? How do i specify the path where i want my script to be copied? The spec file contains text like-

%if %{with_python}
%files python
%{_mandir}/man5/collectd-python*
%{_libdir}/%{name}/python.so

//Something like this?

// %{_libdir}/%{name}/gearman.py 
// %{_libdir}/%{name}/redis.py
%endif

Answer 1

You need to know where to place your script file on the target installation (e.g. /usr/lib/myApp/plugins/myNiceScript.py)

In the spec-File (section %install) you have to copy your script under %{buildroot} into the target directory (which has to be created first.

%install
...
# in case the dir does not exist:
mkdir -p %{buildroot}/usr/lib/myApp/plugins

cp whereitis/myNiceScript.py   %{buildroot}/usr/lib/myApp/plugins

At the end you have to define the file flags in the %files section. E.g. if your file has to have 644 under root:

%files
...
%defattr(644,root,root)
/usr/lib/myApp/plugins/myNiceScript.py

If your plugins directory is to be created during installation you need to define these flags too:

%defattr(755,root,root)
%dir /usr/lib/myApp/plugins