Can I have a RPM depend on a directory?

Question

I'm creating an RPM file (with rpmbuild) whose post-install script will create a file in /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d/. To make sure that the directory already exists, I'd like to specify a dependency on a package which creates it.

Is it correct in this case to add a Requires: /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d line to the spec file? Or is it not allowed to depend on directories, and should I rather add a dependency on xorg-x11-xinit package (which appears to provide this directory on my system)?

The package is intended to work on CentOS (RHEL) 6.

@KarolyHorvath yes, I have tried it, and it works; but I'm not sure if it's _supposed_ to work and if it's officially supported, or if it only works accidentally. — oliver, Feb 04 '15 at 09:50
centos distributions are like prehistoric brick stones... I doubt that anything will change. — Karoly Horvath, Feb 04 '15 at 09:52

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 07 '15 at 01:13

0

This should work (you can Require any path), but you should be depending on the package that provides that path. There must be a reason you are not doing this?

answered Feb 07 '15 at 01:13

user318904

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I just thought it would be better to depend on the directory rather than a specific package. That way, another package may provide the path as well, and theoretically the user may choose which package should be installed to satisfy this dependency. I realize that it's mostly theoretical in this case, but would like to know what's the "correct" way to express such a dependency. – oliver Feb 09 '15 at 12:05
The case you are talking about: two packages owning the same directory, is a packaging error, it means they would not be able to be installed at the same time. – user318904 Feb 09 '15 at 16:56

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 09 '15 at 19:54

You should use virtual packages to avoid surprises, when the required file can be provided by more than one package.

In your example, yum provides says that /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc.d is provided by xorg-x11-xinit and qt5-qtbase-gui, so, specifying that path as a dependency could pull a package you don expect.

You should have a virtual package for each possible package that provides the file. The package my-xinit-x11 should contain:

Requires:     xorg-x11-xinit
Provides:     my-xinit

And your package should contain:

Requires:    my-xinit

More virtual packages can be created with the same Provides, so when either is installed rpmbuild will see the dependency as satisfied

Can I have a RPM depend on a directory?

2 Answers2