Packaging Guide

The Packaging Guide provides an explanation of Software Collections and details how to build and package them. Developers and system administrators who have a basic understanding of software packaging with RPM packages, but who are new to the concept of Software Collections, can use this Guide to get started with Software Collections.
1. Introducing Software Collections
1.1. Why Package Software with RPM?
1.2. What Are Software Collections?
1.3. Enabling Support for Software Collections
1.4. Installing a Software Collection
1.5. Listing Installed Software Collections
1.6. Enabling a Software Collection
1.6.1. Running an Application Directly
1.6.2. Running a Shell with Multiple Software Collections Enabled
1.6.3. Running Commands Stored in a File
1.7. Listing Enabled Software Collections
1.8. Uninstalling a Software Collection
2. Packaging Software Collections
2.1. Creating Your Own Software Collections
2.2. The File System Hierarchy
2.3. The Software Collection Root Directory
2.4. The Software Collection Prefix
2.5. Software Collection Package Names
2.6. Software Collection Scriptlets
2.7. Package Layout
2.7.1. Metapackage
2.7.2. Creating a Metapackage
2.8. Software Collection Macros
2.8.1. Macros Specific to a Software Collection
2.8.2. Macros Not Specific to a Software Collection
2.8.3. The nfsmountable Macro
2.9. Commonly Used Path Redefinitions
2.9.1. Language-specific Path Redefinitions
2.9.2. Other Path Redefinitions
2.10. Converting a Conventional Spec File
2.10.1. Example of the Converted Spec File
2.10.2. Converting Tags and Macro Definitions
2.10.3. Converting Subpackages
2.10.4. Converting RPM Scripts
2.10.5. Software Collection Automatic Provides and Requires and Filtering Support
2.10.6. Software Collection Macro Files Support
2.10.7. Software Collection Shebang Support
2.10.8. Making a Software Collection Depend on Another Software Collection
2.11. Uninstalling All Software Collection Directories
2.12. Building a Software Collection
2.12.1. Rebuilding a Software Collection without build Subpackages
2.12.2. Avoiding debuginfo File Conflicts
3. Advanced Topics
3.1. Using Software Collections over NFS
3.1.1. Changed Directory Structure and File Ownership
3.1.2. Registering and Deregistering Software Collections
3.2. Converting Software Collection Scriptlets into Environment Modules
3.3. Providing syspaths Subpackages
3.3.1. Naming syspaths Subpackages
3.3.2. Files Included in syspaths Subpackages
3.3.3. Limitations of syspaths Wrappers
3.3.4. Symbolic Links in syspaths Subpackages
3.3.5. Services Without a Prefix
3.4. Managing Services in Software Collections
3.4.1. Configuring an Environment for Services
3.5. Software Collection Library Support
3.5.1. Using a Library Outside of the Software Collection
3.5.2. Prefixing the Library Major soname with the Software Collection Name
3.5.3. Software Collection Library Support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
3.6. Software Collection .pc Files Support
3.7. Software Collection MANPATH Support
3.8. Software Collection cronjob Support
3.9. Software Collection Log File Support
3.10. Software Collection logrotate Support
3.11. Software Collection /var/run/ Files Support
3.12. Software Collection Lock File Support
3.12.1. Software Collection SysV init Lock File Support
3.13. Software Collection Configuration Files Support
3.14. Software Collection Kernel Module Support
3.15. Software Collection SELinux Support
3.15.1. SELinux Support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
3.16. Differences Between Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7
3.16.1. The %license Macro
3.16.2. Missing runtime Subpackage Dependencies
3.16.3. The scl-package() Provides
4. Extending Software Collections
4.1. Providing an scldevel Subpackage
4.1.1. Creating an scldevel Subpackage
4.1.2. Using an scldevel Subpackage in a Dependent Software Collection
4.2. Extending the python27 and rh-python35 Software Collections
4.2.1. The vt191 Software Collection
4.2.2. The python-versiontools Package
4.2.3. Building the vt191 Software Collection
4.2.4. Testing the vt191 Software Collection
4.3. Extending the rh-ruby23 Software Collection
4.3.1. The rh-ror42 Software Collection
4.3.2. The rh-ror42-rubygem-bcrypt Package
4.3.3. Building the rh-ror42 Software Collection
4.3.4. Testing the rh-ror42 Software Collection
4.4. Extending the rh-perl524 Software Collection
4.4.1. The h2m144 Software Collection
4.4.2. The help2man Package
4.4.3. Building the h2m144 Software Collection
4.4.4. Testing the h2m144 Software Collection
5. Troubleshooting Software Collections
5.1. Error: line XX: Unknown tag: %scl_package software_collection_name
5.2. scl command does not exist
5.3. Unable to open /etc/scl/prefixes/software_collection_name
5.4. scl_source: command not found
A. Getting More Information
A.1. Red Hat Developers
A.2. Installed Documentation
A.3. Accessing Online Documentation
B. Revision History
B.1. Acknowledgments
C. Legal Notice

Chapter 1. Introducing Software Collections

This chapter introduces you to the concept and usage of Software Collections or SCLs for short.

1.1. Why Package Software with RPM?

The RPM Package Manager (RPM) is a package management system that runs on Enterprise Linux and Fedora. RPM makes it easier for you to distribute, manage, and update software that you create for Enterprise Linux and Fedora. Many software vendors distribute their software via a conventional archive file (such as a tarball). However, there are several advantages in packaging software into RPM packages. These advantages are outlined below.

With RPM, you can:

Install, reinstall, remove, upgrade and verify packages.
Users can use standard package management tools (for example Yum or PackageKit) to install, reinstall, remove, upgrade and verify your RPM packages.
Use a database of installed packages to query and verify packages.
Because RPM maintains a database of installed packages and their files, users can easily query and verify packages on their system.
Use metadata to describe packages, their installation instructions, and so on.
Each RPM package includes metadata that describes the package's components, version, release, size, project URL, installation instructions, and so on.
Package pristine software sources into source and binary packages.
RPM allows you to take pristine software sources and package them into source and binary packages for your users. In source packages, you have the pristine sources along with any patches that were used, plus complete build instructions. This design eases the maintenance of the packages as new versions of your software are released.
Add packages to Yum repositories.
You can add your package to a Yum repository that enables clients to easily find and deploy your software.
Digitally sign your packages.
Using a GPG signing key, you can digitally sign your package so that users are able to verify the authenticity of the package.
For in-depth information on what is RPM and how to use it, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide, or the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide.

1.2. What Are Software Collections?

With Software Collections, you can build and concurrently install multiple versions of the same software components on your system. Software Collections have no impact on the system versions of the packages installed by any of the conventional RPM package management utilities.

Software Collections:

Do not overwrite system files
Software Collections are distributed as a set of several components, which provide their full functionality without overwriting system files.
Are designed to avoid conflicts with system files
Software Collections make use of a special file system hierarchy to avoid possible conflicts between a single Software Collection and the base system installation.
Require no changes to the RPM package manager
Software Collections require no changes to the RPM package manager present on the host system.
Need only minor changes to the spec file
To convert a conventional package to a single Software Collection, you only need to make minor changes to the package spec file.
Allow you to build a conventional package and a Software Collection package with a single spec file
With a single spec file, you can build both the conventional package and the Software Collection package.
Uniquely name all included packages
With Software Collection's namespace, all packages included in the Software Collection are uniquely named.
Do not conflict with updated packages
Software Collection's namespace ensures that updating packages on your system causes no conflicts.
Can depend on other Software Collections
Because one Software Collection can depend on another, you can define multiple levels of dependencies.

1.3. Enabling Support for Software Collections

To enable support for Software Collections on your system so that you can enable and build Software Collections, you need to have installed the packages scl-utils and scl-utils-build.
If the packages scl-utils and scl-utils-build are not already installed on your system, you can install them by typing the following at a shell prompt as root:
# yum install scl-utils scl-utils-build
The scl-utils package provides the scl tool that lets you enable Software Collections on your system. For more information on enabling Software Collections, see Section 1.6, “Enabling a Software Collection”.
The scl-utils-build package provides macros that are essential for building Software Collections. For more information on building Software Collections, see Section 2.12, “Building a Software Collection”.

1.4. Installing a Software Collection

To ensure that a Software Collection is on your system, install the so-called metapackage of the Software Collection. Thanks to Software Collections being fully compatible with the RPM Package Manager, you can use conventional tools like Yum or PackageKit for this task.
For example, to install a Software Collection with the metapackage named software_collection_1, run the following command:
# yum install software_collection_1
This command will automatically install all the packages in the Software Collection that are essential for the user to perform most common tasks with the Software Collection.
Software Collections allow you to only install a subset of packages you intend to use. For example, to use the Ruby interpreter from the rh-ruby23 Software Collection, you only need to install a package rh-ruby23-ruby from that Software Collection.
If you install an application that depends on a Software Collection, that Software Collection will be installed along with the rest of the application's dependencies.
For detailed information on Software Collection metapackages, see Section 2.7.1, “Metapackage”.
For detailed information on Yum and PackageKit usage, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide, or the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide.

1.5. Listing Installed Software Collections

To get a list of Software Collections that are installed on the system, run the following command:
 scl --list 
To get a list of installed packages contained within a specified Software Collection, run the following command:
 scl --list software_collection_1 

1.6. Enabling a Software Collection

The scl tool is used to enable a Software Collection and to run applications in the Software Collection environment.
General usage of the scl tool can be described using the following syntax:
 scl action software_collection_1 software_collection_2 command 
If you are running a command with multiple arguments, remember to enclose the command and its arguments in quotes:
 scl action software_collection_1 software_collection_2 'command --argument' 
Alternatively, use a -- command separator to run a command with multiple arguments:
 scl action software_collection_1 software_collection_2 -- command --argument 

Remember that:

  • When you run the scl tool, it creates a child process (subshell) of the current shell. Running the command again then creates a subshell of the subshell.
  • You can list enabled Software Collections for the current subshell. See Section 1.7, “Listing Enabled Software Collections” for more information.
  • You have to disable an enabled Software Collection first to be able to enable it again. To disable the Software Collection, exit the subshell created when enabling the Software Collections.
  • When using the scl tool to enable a Software Collection, you can only perform one action with the enabled Software Collection at a time. The enabled Software Collection must be disabled first before performing another action.

1.6.1. Running an Application Directly

For example, to directly run Perl with the --version option in the Software Collection named software_collection_1, execute the following command:
 scl enable software_collection_1 'perl --version' 
Alternatively, you can provide a syspaths subpackage that makes it more convenient to run commands in the Software Collection environment. For more information on syspaths subpackages, see Section 3.3, “Providing syspaths Subpackages”.

1.6.2. Running a Shell with Multiple Software Collections Enabled

To run the Bash shell in the environment with multiple Software Collections enabled, execute the following command:
 scl enable software_collection_1 software_collection_2 bash 
The command above enables two Software Collections, named software_collection_1 and software_collection_2.

1.6.3. Running Commands Stored in a File

To execute a number of commands, which are stored in a file, in the Software Collection environment, run the following command:
 cat cmd | scl enable software_collection_1 - 
The command above executes commands, which are stored in the cmd file, in the environment of the Software Collection named software_collection_1.

1.7. Listing Enabled Software Collections

To get a list of Software Collections that are enabled in the current session, print the $X_SCLS environment variable by running the following command:
echo $X_SCLS 

1.8. Uninstalling a Software Collection

You can use conventional tools like Yum or PackageKit when uninstalling a Software Collection because Software Collections are fully compatible with the RPM Package Manager. For example, to uninstall all packages and subpackages that are part of a Software Collection named software_collection_1, run the following command:
 yum remove software_collection_1\* 
You can also use the yum remove command to remove the scl utility.
For detailed information on Yum and PackageKit usage, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide, or the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide.

Chapter 2. Packaging Software Collections

This chapter introduces you to packaging Software Collections.

2.1. Creating Your Own Software Collections

In general, you can use one of the following two approaches to deploy an application that depends on an existing Software Collection:
  • install all required Software Collections and packages manually and then deploy your application, or
  • create a new Software Collection for your application.

When creating a new Software Collection for your application:

Create a Software Collection metapackage
Each Software Collection includes a metapackage, which installs a subset of the Software Collection's packages that are essential for the user to perform most common tasks with the Software Collection. See Section 2.7.1, “Metapackage” for more information on creating metapackages.
Consider specifying the location of the Software Collection root directory
You are advised to specify the location of the Software Collection root directory by setting the %_scl_prefix macro in the Software Collection spec file. For more information, see Section 2.3, “The Software Collection Root Directory”.
Consider prefixing the name of your Software Collection packages
You are advised to prefix the name of your Software Collection packages with the vendor and Software Collection's name. For more information, see Section 2.4, “The Software Collection Prefix”.
Specify all Software Collections and other packages required by your application as dependencies
Ensure that all Software Collections and other packages required by your application are specified as dependencies of your Software Collection. For more information, see Section 2.10.8, “Making a Software Collection Depend on Another Software Collection”.
Convert existing conventional packages or create new Software Collection packages
Ensure that all macros in your Software Collection package spec files use conditionals. See Section 2.10, “Converting a Conventional Spec File” for more information on how to convert an existing package spec file.
Build your Software Collection
After you create the Software Collection metapackage and convert or create packages for your Software Collection, you can build the Software Collection with the rpmbuild utility. For more information, see Section 2.12, “Building a Software Collection”.

2.2. The File System Hierarchy

The root directory of Software Collections is normally located in the /opt/ directory to avoid possible conflicts between Software Collections and the base system installation. The use of the /opt/ directory is recommended by the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS).
Below is an example of the file system hierarchy layout with two Software Collections, software_collection_1 and software_collection_2:
The Software Collection File System Hierarchy

Figure 2.1. The Software Collection File System Hierarchy

As you can see above, each of the Software Collections directories contains the Software Collection root directory, and one or more Software Collection scriptlets. For more information on the Software Collection scriptlets, refer to Section 2.6, “Software Collection Scriptlets”.

2.3. The Software Collection Root Directory

You can change the location of the root directory by setting the %_scl_prefix macro in the spec file, as in the following example:
%global _scl_prefix /opt/provider
where provider is the provider (vendor) name registered, where applicable, with the Linux Foundation and the subordinated Linux Assigned Names and Numbers Authority (LANANA), in conformance with the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.
Each organization or project that builds and distributes Software Collections should use its own provider name, which conforms to the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS) and avoids possible conflicts between Software Collections and the base system installation.
You are advised to make the file system hierarchy conform to the following layout:
/opt/provider/prefix-application-version/

Note

You must define the _scl_prefix macro above the %scl_package macro in the spec file.
For more information on the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, see http://www.pathname.com/fhs/.
For more information on the Linux Assigned Names and Numbers Authority, see http://www.lanana.org/.

2.4. The Software Collection Prefix

When naming your Software Collection, you are advised to prefix the name of your Software Collection as described below in order to avoid possible name conflicts with the system versions of the packages that are part of your Software Collection.
The Software Collection prefix consists of two parts:
  • the provider part, which defines the provider's name, and
  • the name of the Software Collection itself.
These two parts of the Software Collection prefix are separated by a dash (-), as in the following example:
myorganization-ruby193
In this example, myorganization is the provider's name, and ruby193 is the name of the Software Collection.
While it is ultimately a vendor's or distributor's decision whether to specify the provider's name in the prefix or not, specifying it is highly recommended.
A notable exception are Software Collections which were first shipped with Red Hat Software Collections 1.x, they do not specify the provider's name in their prefixes. Newer Software Collections added in Red Hat Software Collections 2.0 and later use rh as the provider's name. For example:
rh-ruby23

2.5. Software Collection Package Names

The Software Collection package name consists of two parts:
These two parts of the Software Collection package name are separated by a dash (-), as in the following example:
myorganization-ruby193-foreman-1.1
In this example, myorganization-ruby193 is the prefix, and foreman-1.1 is the name and version number of the application.

2.6. Software Collection Scriptlets

The Software Collection scriptlets are simple shell scripts that change the current system environment so that the group of packages in the Software Collection is preferred over the corresponding group of conventional packages installed on the system.
To utilize the Software Collection scriptlets, use the scl tool that is part of the scl-utils package. For more information on scl, refer to Section 1.6, “Enabling a Software Collection”.
A single Software Collection can include multiple Software Collection scriptlets. These scriptlets are located in the /opt/provider/software_collection/ directory in your Software Collection package. If you only need to distribute a single scriptlet in your Software Collection, it is highly recommended that you use enable as the name for that scriptlet. When the user runs a command in the Software Collection environment by executing scl enable software_collection command, the /opt/provider/software_collection/enable scriptlet is then used to update search paths, and so on.
Note that Software Collection scriptlets can only set the system environment in a subshell that is created by running the scl enable command. The subshell is only active for the time the command is being performed.

2.7. Package Layout

Each Software Collection's layout consists of the metapackage, which installs a subset of other packages, and a number of the Software Collection's packages, which are installed within the Software Collection namespace.

2.7.1. Metapackage

Each Software Collection includes a metapackage, which installs a subset of the Software Collection's packages that are essential for the user to perform most common tasks with the Software Collection. For example, the essential packages can provide the Perl language interpreter, but no Perl extension modules. The metapackage contains a basic file system hierarchy and delivers a number of the Software Collection's scriptlets.
The purpose of the metapackage is to make sure that all essential packages in the Software Collection are properly installed and that it is possible to enable the Software Collection.
The metapackage produces the following packages that are also part of the Software Collection:
The main package: %name
The main package in the Software Collection contains dependencies of the base packages, which are included in the Software Collection. The main package does not contain any files.
When specifying dependencies for your Software Collection's packages, ensure that no other package in your Software Collection depends on the main package. The purpose of the main package is to install only those packages that are essential for the user to perform most common tasks with the Software Collection.
Normally, the main package does not specify any build time dependencies (for instance, packages that are only build time dependencies of another Software Collection's packages).
For example, if the name of the Software Collection is myorganization-ruby193, then the main package macro is expanded to:
myorganization-ruby193
The runtime subpackage: %name-runtime
The runtime subpackage in the Software Collection owns the Software Collection's file system and delivers the Software Collection's scriptlets. This package needs to be installed for the user to be able to use the Software Collection.
For example, if the name of the Software Collection is myorganization-ruby193, then the runtime subpackage macro is expanded to:
myorganization-ruby193-runtime
The build subpackage: %name-build
The build subpackage in the Software Collection delivers the Software Collection's build configuration. It contains RPM macros needed for building packages into the Software Collection. The build subpackage is optional and can be excluded from the Software Collection.
For example, if the name of the Software Collection is myorganization-ruby193, then the build subpackage macro is expanded to:
myorganization-ruby193-build
The contents of the myorganization-ruby193-build subpackage are shown below:
$ cat /etc/rpm/macros.ruby193-config
%scl myorganization-ruby193
The syspaths subpackage: %name-syspaths
The syspaths subpackage in the Software Collection provides an optional way to install convenient shell wrappers and symbolic links into the standard path, thus altering the base system installation, but making binary files in the Software Collection packages easier to use.
For example, if the name of the Software Collection is myorganization-ruby193, then the syspaths subpackage macro is expanded to:
myorganization-ruby193-syspaths
For more information about the syspaths subpackage, see Section 3.3, “Providing syspaths Subpackages”.
The scldevel subpackage: %name-scldevel
The scldevel subpackage in the %name Software Collection contains development files, which are useful when developing packages of another Software Collection that depends on the %name Software Collection. The scldevel subpackage is optional and can be excluded from the %name Software Collection.
For example, if the name of the Software Collection is myorganization-ruby193, then the scldevel subpackage macro is expanded to:
myorganization-ruby193-scldevel
For more information about the scldevel subpackage, see Section 4.1, “Providing an scldevel Subpackage”.

2.7.2. Creating a Metapackage

When creating a new metapackage:

  • Define the following macros at the top of the metapackage spec file, above the %scl_package macro:
    • scl_name_prefix that specifies the provider's name to be used as a prefix in your Software Collection's name, for example, myorganization-. This is different from _scl_prefix, which specifies the root of your Software Collection but also uses the provider's name. See Section 2.4, “The Software Collection Prefix” for more information.
    • scl_name_base that specifies the base name of your Software Collection, for example, ruby.
    • scl_name_version that specifies the version of your Software Collection, for example, 193.
  • You are advised to define a Software Collection macro nfsmountable that changes the location of configuration and state files and makes your Software Collection usable over NFS. For more information, see Section 3.1, “Using Software Collections over NFS”.
  • Consider specifying all packages in your Software Collection that are essential for the Software Collection run time as dependencies of the metapackage. That way you can ensure that the packages are installed with the Software Collection metapackage.
  • You are advised to add Requires: scl-utils-build to the build subpackage.
  • You are not required to use conditionals for Software Collection-specific macros in the metapackage.
  • Include any path redefinition that the packages in your Software Collection may require in the enable scriptlet.
    For information on commonly used path redefinitions, see Section 2.9, “Commonly Used Path Redefinitions”.
  • Always make sure that the metapackage contains the %setup macro in the %prep section, otherwise building the Software Collection will fail. If you do not need to use a particular option with the %setup macro, add the %setup -c -T command to the %prep section.
    This is because the %setup macro defines and creates the %buildsubdir directory, which is normally used for storing temporary files at build time. If you do not define %setup in your Software Collection packages, files in the %buildsubdir directory will be overwritten, causing the build to fail.
  • Add any macros you need to use to the macros.%{scl}-config file in the build subpackage.

Example of the Metapackage

To get an idea of what a typical metapackage for a Software Collection named myorganization-ruby193 looks like, see the following example:
%global scl_name_prefix myorganization-
%global scl_name_base ruby
%global scl_name_version 193

%global scl %{scl_name_prefix}%{scl_name_base}%{scl_name_version}

# Optional but recommended: define nfsmountable
%global nfsmountable 1

%global _scl_prefix /opt/myorganization
%scl_package %scl

Summary: Package that installs %scl
Name: %scl_name
Version: 1
Release: 1%{?dist}
License: GPLv2+
Requires: %{scl_prefix}less
BuildRequires: scl-utils-build

%description
This is the main package for %scl Software Collection.

%package runtime
Summary: Package that handles %scl Software Collection.
Requires: scl-utils

%description runtime
Package shipping essential scripts to work with %scl Software Collection.

%package build
Summary: Package shipping basic build configuration
Requires: scl-utils-build

%description build
Package shipping essential configuration macros to build %scl Software Collection.

# This is only needed when you want to provide an optional scldevel subpackage
%package scldevel
Summary: Package shipping development files for %scl

%description scldevel
Package shipping development files, especially useful for development of
packages depending on %scl Software Collection.

%prep
%setup -c -T

%install
%scl_install

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
export PATH="%{_bindir}:%{_sbindir}\${PATH:+:\${PATH}}"
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="%{_libdir}\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}}"
export MANPATH="%{_mandir}:\${MANPATH:-}"
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="%{_libdir}/pkgconfig\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:+:\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}}"
EOF

# This is only needed when you want to provide an optional scldevel subpackage
cat >> %{buildroot}%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl_name_base}-scldevel << EOF
%%scl_%{scl_name_base} %{scl}
%%scl_prefix_%{scl_name_base} %{scl_prefix}
EOF

# Install the generated man page
mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_mandir}/man7/
install -p -m 644 %{scl_name}.7 %{buildroot}%{_mandir}/man7/

%files

%files runtime -f filelist
%scl_files

%files build
%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl}-config

%files scldevel
%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl_name_base}-scldevel

%changelog
* Fri Aug 30 2013 John Doe &lt;jdoe@example.com&gt; 1-1
- Initial package

2.8. Software Collection Macros

The Software Collection packaging macro scl defines where to relocate the Software Collection's file structure. The relocated file structure is a file system used exclusively by the Software Collection.
The %scl_package macro defines files ownership for the Software Collection's metapackage and provides additional packaging macros to use in the Software Collection environment.
To be able to build a conventional package and a Software Collection package with a single spec file, prefix the Software Collection macros with %{?scl:macro}, as in the following example:
%{?scl:Requires: %scl_runtime}
In the example above, the %scl_runtime macro is the value of the Requires tag. Both the macro and the tag use the %{?scl: prefix.

2.8.1. Macros Specific to a Software Collection

The table below shows a list of all macros specific to a particular Software Collection. All the macros have default values that you will not need to change in most cases.

Table 2.1. Software Collection Specific Macros

Macro
Description
Example value
%scl_name
name of the Software Collection
software_collection_1
%scl_prefix
name of the Software Collection with a dash appended at the end
software_collection_1-
%pkg_name
name of the original package
perl
%_scl_prefix
root of the Software Collection (not package's root)
/opt/provider/
%_scl_scripts
location of Software Collection's scriptlets
/opt/provider/software_collection_1/
%_scl_root
installation root (install-root) of the package
/opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/
%scl_require_package software_collection_1 package_2
depend on a particular package from a specific Software Collection
software_collection_1-package_2

2.8.2. Macros Not Specific to a Software Collection

The table below shows a list of macros that are not specific to a particular Software Collection. Because these macros are not relocated and do not point to the Software Collection file system, they allow you to point to the system root file system. These macros use _root as a prefix.
All the macros have default values that you will not need to change in most cases.

Table 2.2. Software Collection Non-Specific Macros

Macro
Description
Relocated
Example value
%_root_prefix
Software Collection's %_prefix macro
no
/usr/
%_root_exec_prefix
Software Collection's %_exec_prefix macro
no
/usr/
%_root_bindir
Software Collection's %_bindir macro
no
/usr/bin/
%_root_sbindir
Software Collection's %_sbindir macro
no
/usr/sbin/
%_root_datadir
Software Collection's %_datadir macro
no
/usr/share/
%_root_sysconfdir
Software Collection's %_sysconfdir macro
no
/etc/
%_root_libexecdir
Software Collection's %_libexecdir macro
no
/usr/libexec/
%_root_sharedstatedir
Software Collection's %_sharedstatedir macro
no
/usr/com/
%_root_localstatedir
Software Collection's %_localstatedir macro
no
/usr/var/
%_root_includedir
Software Collection's %_includedir macro
no
/usr/include/
%_root_infodir
Software Collection's %_infodir macro
no
/usr/share/info/
%_root_mandir
Software Collection's %_mandir macro
no
/usr/share/man/
%_root_initddir
Software Collection's %_initddir macro
no
/etc/rc.d/init.d/
%_root_libdir
Software Collection's %_libdir macro, this macro does not work if Software Collection's metapackage is platform-independent
no
/usr/lib/

2.8.3. The nfsmountable Macro

Using a Software Collection macro nfsmountable allows you to change values for the _sysconfdir, _sharedstatedir, and _localstatedir macros so that your Software Collection can have its state files and configuration files located outside the Software Collection's /opt file system hierarchy. This makes the files easier to manage and is also required when using your Software Collection over NFS.
If you do not need support for Software Collections over NFS, using nfsmountable is optional but recommended. For more information, see Section 3.1, “Using Software Collections over NFS”.

2.9. Commonly Used Path Redefinitions

This section lists environment variables commonly used to redefine paths in the enable scriptlet to set up the Software Collection environment. They are also used to specify the location of the Software Collection components in the Software Collection file system hierarchy.
Whether you need to specify a path redefinition in the enable scriptlet depends on the packages you choose to include in your Software Collection. The environment variables normally follow this pattern:
$ENV_VAR=$SCL_ENV_VAR:$ENV_VAR

2.9.1. Language-specific Path Redefinitions

GEM_PATH
The GEM_PATH environment variable specifies the location of Ruby gems. As such, it is also used in those Software Collections that extend the rh-ruby23 Software Collection. For more information, see Section 4.3, “Extending the rh-ruby23 Software Collection”.
Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export GEM_PATH="\${GEM_PATH:=%{gem_dir}:\`scl enable %{scl_ruby} -- ruby -e "print Gem.path.join(':')"\`}"
GOPATH
The GOPATH environment variable specifies the location of Go source and binary files. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export GOPATH="%{gopath}\${GOPATH:+:\${GOPATH}}"
JAVACONFDIRS
The JAVACONFDIRS environment variable is used to specify the location of the java.conf configuration file. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export JAVACONFDIRS="%{_sysconfdir}/java\${JAVACONFDIRS:+:}\${JAVACONFDIRS:-}"
PERL5LIB
The PERL5LIB environment variable is used to specify the location of custom Perl modules so that they can be installed with the %{?_scl_root} prefix. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export PERL5LIB="%{_scl_root}%{perl_vendorlib}\${PERL5LIB:+:\${PERL5LIB}}"
PYTHONPATH
The PYTHONPATH environment variable specifies the location of custom Python libraries. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export PYTHONPATH="%{_scl_root}%{python_sitearch}:%{_scl_root}%{python_sitelib}\${PYTHONPATH:+:}\${PYTHONPATH:-}"

2.9.2. Other Path Redefinitions

CPATH
The CPATH environment variable specifies include paths for the GCC compiler to use. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export CPATH="%{_includedir}\${CPATH:+:\${CPATH}}"
INFOPATH
The INFOPATH environment variable specifies directories that contain Info files. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export INFOPATH="%{_infodir}\${INFOPATH:+:\${INFOPATH}}"
LD_LIBRARY_PATH
The LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable specifies the location of libraries. For more information, see Section 3.5, “Software Collection Library Support”.
Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="%{_libdir}\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}}"
LIBRARY_PATH
The LIBRARY_PATH environment variable specifies the location of special linker files or ordinary libraries for GCC to use. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export LIBRARY_PATH="%{_libdir}\${LIBRARY_PATH:+:\${LIBRARY_PATH}}"
MANPATH
The MANPATH environment variable specifies the location of man pages. For more information, see Section 3.7, “Software Collection MANPATH Support”.
Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export MANPATH="%{_mandir}:\${MANPATH:-}"
PATH
The PATH environment variable specifies the location of binary files. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export PATH="%{_bindir}:%{_sbindir}\${PATH:+:\${PATH}}"
PCP_DIR
The PCP_DIR environment variable specifies the location of files and directories used by PCP. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export PCP_DIR="%{_scl_root}"
PKG_CONFIG_PATH
The PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable specifies the location of .pc files used by the pkg-config program. For more information, see Section 3.6, “Software Collection .pc Files Support”.
Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="%{_libdir}/pkgconfig\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:+:\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}}"
XDG_CONFIG_DIRS
The XDG_CONFIG_DIRS environment variable specifies the location of desktop configuration files according to the freedesktop.org specification. Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS="%{_sysconfdir}/xdg:\${XDG_CONFIG_DIRS:-/etc/xdg}"
XDG_DATA_DIRS
The XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable specifies the location of desktop data files according to the freedesktop.org specification. It is used in some Software Collections to locate the Software Collection-specific scripts or to enable bash completion.
Include the following in the enable scriptlet to redefine the environment variable:
export XDG_DATA_DIRS="%{_datadir}:\${XDG_DATA_DIRS:-/usr/local/share:%{_root_datadir}}"

2.10. Converting a Conventional Spec File

This section discusses converting a conventional spec file into a Software Collection spec file so that the converted spec file can be used in both the conventional package and the Software Collection.

2.10.1. Example of the Converted Spec File

To see what the diff file comparing a conventional spec file with a converted spec file looks like, refer to the following example:
--- a/less.spec
+++ b/less.spec
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
+%{?scl:%scl_package less}
+%{!?scl:%global pkg_name %{name}}
+
 Summary: A text file browser similar to more, but better
-Name: less
+Name: %{?scl_prefix}less
 Version: 444
 Release: 7%{?dist}
 License: GPLv3+
 Group: Applications/Text
-Source: http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/%{name}-%{version}.tar.gz
+Source: http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/%{pkg_name}-%{version}.tar.gz
 Source1: lesspipe.sh
 Source2: less.sh
 Source3: less.csh
@@ -19,6 +22,7 @@ URL: http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/
 Requires: groff
 BuildRequires: ncurses-devel
 BuildRequires: autoconf automake libtool
-Obsoletes: lesspipe < 1.0
+Obsoletes: %{?scl_prefix}lesspipe < 1.0
+%{?scl:Requires: %scl_runtime}
 
 %description
 The less utility is a text file browser that resembles more, but has
@@ -31,7 +35,7 @@ You should install less because it is a basic utility for viewing text
 files, and you'll use it frequently.
 
 %prep
-%setup -q
+%setup -q -n %{pkg_name}-%{version}
 %patch1 -p1 -b .Foption
 %patch2 -p1 -b .search
 %patch4 -p1 -b .time
@@ -51,16 +55,16 @@ make CC="gcc $RPM_OPT_FLAGS -D_GNU_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE_SOURCE -D_LARGEFILE64_SOU
 %install
 rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
 make DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT install
-mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/profile.d
+mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_sysconfdir}/profile.d
 install -p -c -m 755 %{SOURCE1} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_bindir}
-install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/profile.d
-install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE3} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/profile.d
-ls -la $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/profile.d
+install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_sysconfdir}/profile.d
+install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE3} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_sysconfdir}/profile.d
+ls -la $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_sysconfdir}/profile.d
 
 %files
 %defattr(-,root,root,-)
 %doc LICENSE
-/etc/profile.d/*
+%{_sysconfdir}/profile.d/*
 %{_bindir}/*
 %{_mandir}/man1/*

2.10.2. Converting Tags and Macro Definitions

The following steps show how to convert tags and macro definitions in a conventional spec file into a Software Collection spec file.

Procedure 2.1. Converting tags and macro definitions

  1. Add the %scl_package macro to the spec file. Place the macro in front of the spec file preamble as follows:
    %{?scl:%scl_package package_name}
  2. You are advised to define the %pkg_name macro in the spec file preamble in case the package is not built for the Software Collection:
    %{!?scl:%global pkg_name %{name}}
    Consequently, you can use the %pkg_name macro to define the original name of the package wherever it is needed in the spec file that you can then use for building both the conventional package and the Software Collection.
  3. Change the Name tag in the spec file preamble as follows:
    Name: %{?scl_prefix}package_name
  4. If you are building or linking with other Software Collection packages, then prefix the names of those Software Collection packages in the Requires and BuildRequires tags with %{?scl_prefix} as follows:
    Requires: %{?scl_prefix}ifconfig
    When depending on the system versions of packages, you should avoid using versioned Requires or BuildRequires. If you need to depend on a package that could be updated by the system, consider including that package in your Software Collection, or remember to rebuild your Software Collection when the system package updates.
  5. To check that all essential Software Collection's packages are dependencies of the main metapackage, add the following macro after the BuildRequires or Requires tags in the spec file:
    %{?scl:Requires: %scl_runtime}
  6. Prefix the Obsoletes, Conflicts and BuildConflicts tags with %{?scl_prefix}. This is to ensure that the Software Collection can be used to deploy new packages to older systems without having the packages specified, for example, by Obsolete removed from the base system installation. For example:
    Obsoletes: %{?scl_prefix}lesspipe < 1.0
  7. Prefix the Provides tag with %{?scl_prefix}, as in the following example:
    Provides: %{?scl_prefix}more

2.10.3. Converting Subpackages

For any subpackages that define their name with the -n option, prefix their name with %{?scl_prefix}, as in the following example:
%package -n %{?scl_prefix}more
Prefixing applies not only to the %package macro, but also for %description and %files. For example:
%description -n %{?scl_prefix}rubygems
RubyGems is the Ruby standard for publishing and managing third party
libraries.
In case the subpackage requires the main package, make sure to also adjust the Requires tag in that subpackage so that the tag uses %{?scl_prefix}%{pkg_name}. For example:
Requires: %{?scl_prefix}%{pkg_name} = %{version}-%{release}

2.10.4. Converting RPM Scripts

This section describes general rules for converting RPM scripts that can often be found in the %prep, %build, %install, %check, %pre, and %post sections of a conventional spec file.
  • Replace all occurrences of %name with %pkg_name. Most importantly, this includes adjusting the %setup macro.
    • Adjust the %setup macro in the %prep section of the spec file so that the macro can deal with a different package name in the Software Collection environment:
      %setup -q -n %{pkg_name}-%{version}
      Note that the %setup macro is required and that you must always use the macro with the -n option to successfully build your Software Collection.
  • If you are using any of the %_root_ macros to point to the system file system hierarchy, you must use conditionals for these macros so that you can then use the spec file for building both the conventional package and the Software Collection. Edit the macros as in the following example:
    mkdir -p %{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{?!scl:%_sysconfdir}
  • When building Software Collection packages that depend on other Software Collection packages, it is often important to ensure that the scl enable functionality links properly or run proper binaries, and so on. One of the examples where this is needed is compiling against a Software Collection library or running an interpreted script with the interpreter in the Software Collection.
    Wrap the script using the %{?scl: prefix, as in the following example:
    %{?scl:scl enable %scl - << \EOF}
     set -e
     ruby example.rb
     RUBYOPT="-Ilib" ruby bar.rb
     # The rest of the script contents goes here.
    %{?scl:EOF}
    It is important to specify set -e in the script so that the script behavior is consistent regardless of whether the script is executed in the rpm shell or the scl environment.
  • Pay attention to any scripts that are executed during the Software Collection package installation, such as:
    • %pretrans, %pre,
    • %post, %postun, %posttrans,
    • %triggerin, %triggerun, and %triggerpostun.
    If you use the scl enable functionality in those scripts, you are advised to start with an empty environment to avoid any unintentional collisions with the base system installation.
    To do so, use env -i - before enabling the Software Collection, as in the following example:
    %posttrans
    %{?scl:env -i - scl enable %{scl} - << \EOF}
    %vagrant_plugin_register %{vagrant_plugin_name}
    %{?scl:EOF}
  • All hardcoded paths found in RPM scripts must be replaced with proper macros. For example, replace all occurrences of /usr/share with %{_datadir}. This is needed because the $RPM_BUILD_ROOT variable and the %{build_root} macro are not relocated by the scl macro.

2.10.5. Software Collection Automatic Provides and Requires and Filtering Support

Important

The functionality described in this section is not available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
RPM in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 features support for automatic Provides and Requires and filtering. For example, for all Python libraries, RPM automatically adds the following Requires:
Requires: python(abi) = (version)
As explained in Section 2.10, “Converting a Conventional Spec File”, you should prefix this Requires with %{?scl_prefix} when converting your conventional RPM package:
Requires: %{?scl_prefix}python(abi) = (version))
Keep in mind that the scripts searching for these dependencies must sometimes be rewritten for your Software Collection, as the original RPM scripts are not extensible enough, and, in some cases, filtering is not usable. For example, to rewrite automatic Python Provides and Requires, add the following lines in the macros.%{scl}-config macro file:
%__python_provides /usr/lib/rpm/pythondeps-scl.sh --provides %{_scl_root} %{scl_prefix}
%__python_requires /usr/lib/rpm/pythondeps-scl.sh --requires %{_scl_root} %{scl_prefix}
The /usr/lib/rpm/pythondeps-scl.sh file is based on a pythondeps.sh file from the conventional package and adjusts search paths.
If there are Provides or Requires that you need to adjust, for example, a pkg_config Provides, there are two ways to do it:
  • Add the following lines in the macros.%{scl}-config macro file so that it applies to all packages in the Software Collection:
    %_use_internal_dependency_generator 0
    %__deploop() while read FILE; do /usr/lib/rpm/rpmdeps -%{1} ${FILE}; done | /bin/sort -u
    %__find_provides /bin/sh -c "%{?__filter_prov_cmd} %{__deploop P} %{?__filter_from_prov}"
    %__find_requires /bin/sh -c "%{?__filter_req_cmd}  %{__deploop R} %{?__filter_from_req}"
    
    # Handle pkgconfig's virtual Provides and Requires
    %__filter_from_req | %{__sed} -e 's|pkgconfig|%{?scl_prefix}pkgconfig|g'
    %__filter_from_prov | %{__sed} -e 's|pkgconfig|%{?scl_prefix}pkgconfig|g'
  • Or, alternatively, add the following lines after tag definitions in every spec file for which you want to filter Provides or Requires:
    %{?scl:%filter_from_provides s|pkgconfig|%{?scl_prefix}pkgconfig|g}
    %{?scl:%filter_from_requires s|pkgconfig|%{?scl_prefix}pkgconfig|g}
    %{?scl:%filter_setup}

Important

When using filters, you need to pay attention to the automatic dependencies you change. For example, if the conventional package contains Requires: pkgconfig(package_1) and Requires: pkgconfig(package_2), and only package_2 is included in the Software Collection, ensure that you do not filter the Requires tag for package_1.

2.10.6. Software Collection Macro Files Support

In some cases, you may need to ship macro files with your Software Collection packages. They are located in the %{?scl:%{_root_sysconfdir}}%{!?scl:%{_sysconfdir}}/rpm/ directory, which corresponds to the /etc/rpm/ directory for conventional packages. When shipping macro files, ensure that:
  • You rename the macro files by appending .%{scl} to their names so that they do not conflict with the files from the base system installation.
  • The macros in the macro files are either not expanded, or they are using conditionals, as in the following example:
    %__python2 %{_bindir}/python
    %python2_sitelib %(%{?scl:scl enable %scl '}%{__python2} -c "from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib; print(get_python_lib())"%{?scl:'})
As another example, there may be a situation where you need to create a Software Collection mypython that depends on a Software Collection python26. The python26 Software Collection defines the %{__python2} macro as in the above sample. This macro will evaluate to /opt/provider/mypython/root/usr/bin/python2, but the python2 binary is only available in the python26 Software Collection (/opt/provider/python26/root/usr/bin/python2).
To be able to build software in the mypython Software Collection environment, ensure that:
  • The macros.python.python26 macro file, which is a part of the python26-python-devel package, contains the following line:
    %__python26_python2 /opt/provider/python26/root/usr/bin/python2
  • And the macro file in the python26-build subpackage, and also the build subpackage in any depending Software Collection, contains the following line:
    %scl_package_override() {%global __python2 %__python26_python2}
    
This will redefine the %{__python2} macro only if the build subpackage from a corresponding Software Collection is present, which usually means that you want to build software for that Software Collection.

2.10.7. Software Collection Shebang Support

A shebang is a sequence of characters at the beginning of a script that is used as an interpreter directive. The shebang is processed by the automatic dependency generator and it points to a certain location, possibly in the system root file system.
When the automatic dependency generator processes the shebang, it adds dependencies according to the interpreters they point to. From the Software Collection point of view, there are two types of shebangs:
#!/usr/bin/env example
This shebang instructs the /usr/bin/env program to run the interpreter.
The automatic dependency generator will create a dependency on the /usr/bin/env program, as expected.
If the $PATH environment variable is redefined properly in the enable scriptlet, the example interpreter is found in the Software Collection file system hierarchy, as expected.
You are advised to rewrite the shebang in your Software Collection package so that the shebang specifies the full path to the interpreter located in the Software Collection file system hierarchy.
#!/usr/bin/example
This shebang specifies the direct path to the interpreter.
The automatic dependency generator will create a dependency on the /usr/bin/example interpreter located outside the Software Collection file system hierarchy. However, when building a package for your Software Collection, you often want to create a dependency on the %{?_scl_root}/usr/bin/example interpreter located in the Software Collection file system hierarchy.
Keep in mind that even when you properly redefine the $PATH environment variable, this has no effect on what interpreter is used. The system version of the interpreter located outside the Software Collection file system hierarchy is always used. In most cases, this is not desired.
If you are using this type of shebang and you want the shebang to point to the Software Collection file system hierarchy when building your Software Collection package, use a command like the following:
find %{buildroot} -type f | \
  xargs sed -i -e '1 s"^#!/usr/bin/example"#!%{?_scl_root}/usr/bin/example"'
where /usr/bin/example is the interpreter you want to use.

2.10.8. Making a Software Collection Depend on Another Software Collection

To make one Software Collection depend on a package from another Software Collection, you need to adjust the BuildRequires and Requires tags in the dependent Software Collection's spec file so that these tags properly define the dependency.
For example, to define dependencies on two Software Collections named software_collection_1 and software_collection_2, add the following three lines to your application's spec file:
BuildRequires: scl-utils-build
Requires: %scl_require software_collection_1
Requires: %scl_require software_collection_2
Ensure that the spec file also contains the %scl_package macro in front of the spec file preamble, for example:
%{?scl:%scl_package less}
Note that the %scl_package macro must be included in every spec file of your Software Collection.
You can also use the %scl_require_package macro to define dependencies on a particular package from a specific Software Collection, as in the following example:
BuildRequires: scl-utils-build
Requires: %scl_require_package software_collection_1 package_name

2.11. Uninstalling All Software Collection Directories

Keep in mind that the yum remove command does not uninstall directories provided by those Software Collection packages and subpackages that are removed after the Software Collection runtime subpackage is removed.
To ensure that all directories are uninstalled, make those packages and subpackages depend on the runtime subpackage. To do so, add the following line with the %scl_runtime macro to the spec file of each of those packages and subpackages:
%{?scl:Requires: %scl_runtime}
Adding the above line ensures that all directories provided by those packages and subpackages are removed correctly as long as the runtime subpackage does not depend on any of those packages and subpackages.

2.12. Building a Software Collection

If you have correctly converted a conventional spec file for your Software Collection as documented in Section 2.10, “Converting a Conventional Spec File”, you will be able to build the resulting package in both the Software Collection and conventional build roots. Building the converted package in a conventional build root will produce a conventional base system RPM package, while building in a Software Collection build root that contains %{scl}-build will produce a Software Collection package.
To build a Software Collection on your system, run the following command:
 rpmbuild -ba package.spec --define 'scl name' 
The difference between the command shown above and the standard command to build conventional packages (rpmbuild -ba package.spec) is that you have to append the --define option to the rpmbuild command when building a Software Collection.
The --define option defines the scl macro, which uses the Software Collection configured in the Software Collection spec file (package.spec).
Alternatively, to be able to use the standard command rpmbuild -ba package.spec to build the Software Collection, specify the following in the package.spec file:
BuildRequires: software_collection-build
where software_collection is the name of the Software Collection.

2.12.1. Rebuilding a Software Collection without build Subpackages

When you want to rebuild a Software Collection that comes with no build subpackage (software_collection-build), you can create the build subpackage by rebuilding the Software Collection metapackage, and thus avoid using the rpmbuild -ba package.spec --define 'scl name' command.
Note that you need to have the scl-utils-build package installed on your system, otherwise rebuilding the Software Collection metapackage with the rpmbuild command will fail.
For more information about the scl-utils-build package, see Section 1.3, “Enabling Support for Software Collections”.

2.12.2. Avoiding debuginfo File Conflicts

When you build two Software Collection packages (or a conventional RPM package and a Software Collection package) that specify the same Source tag, and thus unpack source files into the same directory underneath the %_builddir directory, their debuginfo packages will have file conflicts. Due to these conflicts, the user will be unable to install both packages on the same system at the same time.
To avoid these file conflicts, the spec file of one of the packages has to be altered to unpack its upstream source into a uniquely named top directory. This adds one more directory level to the build tree underneath the %_builddir directory. By doing so, the debuginfo package generation script produces debuginfo files that do not conflict with files from the other debuginfo package.
To see what the diff file comparing an original spec file with an altered spec file looks like, refer to the following example:
--- a/tbb.spec
+++ b/tbb.spec
@@ -66,11 +66,13 @@ PDF documentation for the user of the Threading Building Block (TBB)
 C++ library.
 
 %prep
-%setup -q -n %{sourcebasename}
+%setup -q -c -n %{name}
+cd %{sourcebasename}
 %patch1 -p1
 %patch2 -p1
 
 %build
+cd %{sourcebasename}
 %{?scl:scl enable %{scl} - << \EOF}
 make %{?_smp_mflags} CXXFLAGS="$RPM_OPT_FLAGS" tbb_build_prefix=obj
 %{?scl:EOF}
@@ -81,6 +83,7 @@ done
 
 %install
 rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
+cd %{sourcebasename}
 mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_libdir}
 mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/%{_includedir}
 
@@ -108,20 +111,20 @@ done
 
 %files
 %defattr(-,root,root,-)
-%doc COPYING doc/Release_Notes.txt
+%doc %{sourcebasename}/COPYING %{sourcebasename}/doc/Release_Notes.txt
 %{_libdir}/*.so.2
 
 %files devel
 %defattr(-,root,root,-)
-%doc CHANGES
+%doc %{sourcebasename}/CHANGES
 %{_includedir}/tbb
 %{_libdir}/*.so
 %{_libdir}/pkgconfig/*.pc
 
 %files doc
 %defattr(-,root,root,-)
-%doc doc/Release_Notes.txt
-%doc doc/html
+%doc %{sourcebasename}/doc/Release_Notes.txt
+%doc %{sourcebasename}/doc/html
 
 %changelog
 * Wed Nov 13 2013 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> - 4.1-5.20130314

Chapter 3. Advanced Topics

This chapter discusses advanced topics on packaging Software Collections.

3.1. Using Software Collections over NFS

In some environments, the requirement is often to have a centralized model for how applications and tools are distributed rather than allowing users to install the application or tool version they prefer. In this way, NFS is the common method of mounting centrally managed software.
You need to define a Software Collection macro nfsmountable to use a Software Collection over NFS. If the macro is defined when building a Software Collection, the resulting Software Collection has its state files and configuration files located outside the Software Collection's /opt file system hierarchy. This enables you to mount the /opt file system hierarchy over NFS as read-only. It also makes state files and configuration files easier to manage.
If you do not need support for Software Collections over NFS, using nfsmountable is optional but recommended.
To define the nfsmountable macro, ensure that the Software Collection metapackage spec file contains the following lines:
%global nfsmountable 1

%scl_package %scl
As shown above, the nfsmountable macro must be defined before defining the %scl_package macro. This is because the %scl_package macro redefines the _sysconfdir, _sharedstatedir, and _localstatedir macros depending on whether the nfsmountable macro has been defined or not. The values that nfsmountable changes for the redefined macros are detailed in the following table.

Table 3.1. Changed Values for Software Collection Macros

Macro
Original definition
Expanded value for the original definition
Changed definition
Expanded value for the changed definition
_sysconfdir
%{_scl_root}/etc
/opt/provider/%{scl}/root/etc
%{_root_sysconfdir}%{_scl_prefix}/%{scl}
/etc/opt/provider/%{scl}
_sharedstatedir
%{_scl_root}/var/lib
/opt/provider/%{scl}/root/var/lib
%{_root_localstatedir}%{_scl_prefix}/%{scl}/lib
/var/opt/provider/%{scl}/lib
_localstatedir
%{_scl_root}/var
/opt/provider/%{scl}/root/var
%{_root_localstatedir}%{_scl_prefix}/%{scl}
/var/opt/provider/%{scl}

3.1.1. Changed Directory Structure and File Ownership

The nfsmountable macro also has an impact on how the scl_install and scl_files macros create a directory structure and set the file ownership when you run the rpmbuild command.
For example, a directory structure of a Software Collection named software_collection with the nfsmountable macro defined looks as follows:
$ rpmbuild -ba software_collection.spec --define 'scl software_collection'
...
$ rpm -qlp software_collection-runtime-1-1.el6.x86_64
/etc/opt/provider/software_collection
/etc/opt/provider/software_collection/X11
/etc/opt/provider/software_collection/X11/applnk
/etc/opt/provider/software_collection/X11/fontpath.d
...
/opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/src
/opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/src/debug
/opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/src/kernels
/opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/tmp
/var/opt/provider/software_collection
/var/opt/provider/software_collection/cache
/var/opt/provider/software_collection/db
/var/opt/provider/software_collection/empty
...

3.1.2. Registering and Deregistering Software Collections

In case a Software Collection is shared over NFS but not locally installed on your system, you need to make the scl tool aware of it by registering that Software Collection.
Registering a Software Collection is done by running the scl register command:
$ scl register /opt/provider/software_collection
where /opt/provider/software_collection is the absolute path to the file system hierarchy of the Software Collection you want to register. The path's directory must contain the enable scriptlet and the root/ directory to be considered a valid Software Collection file system hierarchy.
Deregistering a Software Collection is a reverse operation that you perform when you no longer want the scl tool to be aware of a registered Software Collection.
Deregistering a Software Collection is done by calling a deregister scriptet when running the scl command:
$ scl deregister software_collection
where software_collection is the name of the Software Collection you want to deregister.

3.1.2.1. Using (de)register Scriptlets in a Software Collection Metapackage

You can specify (de)register scriptlets in a Software Collection metapackage similarly to how enable scriptlets are specified. When specifying the scriptets, remember to explicitly include them in the %file section of the metapackage spec file.
See the following sample code for an example of specifying (de)register scriptets:
%install
%scl_install

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
# Contents of the enable scriptlet goes here
...
EOF

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/register << EOF
# Contents of the register scriptlet goes here
...
EOF

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/deregister << EOF
# Contents of the deregister scriptlet goes here
...
EOF
...
%files runtime -f filelist
%scl_files
%{_scl_scripts}/register
%{_scl_scripts}/deregister
In the register scriptlet, you can optionally specify the commands you want to run when registering the Software Collection, for example, commands to create files in /etc/opt/ or /var/opt/.

3.2. Converting Software Collection Scriptlets into Environment Modules

Environment modules allow you to manage, for example, different versions of applications by dynamically modifying your shell environment. To use your Software Collection with the environment module system, convert the Software Collection's enable scriptlet into an environment module with a script /usr/share/Modules/bin/createmodule.sh.

Procedure 3.1. Converting an enable scriptlet into an environment module

  1. Ensure that an environment-modules package is installed on your system:
    # yum install environment-modules
  2. Run the /usr/share/Modules/bin/createmodule.sh script to convert your Software Collection's enable scriptlet into an environment module:
    /usr/share/Modules/bin/createmodule.sh /path/to/enable/scriptlet
    Replace /path/to/enable/scriptlet with the file path of the enable scriptlet you want to convert.
  3. Add the same command /usr/share/Modules/bin/createmodule.sh /path/to/enable/scriptlet in the %pre section of your Software Collection metapackage, below the code generating your enable scriptlet.
    In case you have the enable scriptlet packaged as a file in one of your Software Collection packages, add the command /usr/share/Modules/bin/createmodule.sh /path/to/enable/scriptlet in the %post section.
See the module(1) man page for more information about environment modules.

3.3. Providing syspaths Subpackages

In order to use a Software Collection's packages, users need to perform certain tasks that differ from when using conventional RPM packages. For example, they need to use an scl enable call, which changes environment variables, such as PATH or LD_LIBRARY_PATH, so that binaries installed in alternative locations can be found. Users also need to use alternative names for systemd services. Some scripts may also call binaries using full paths, for example /usr/bin/mysql, and as a result, those scripts may not work with the Software Collection.
A recommended solution to address the problems described above is to use syspaths subpackages. The basic idea is to allow users to consume different versions of the same package without affecting the base system installation, but with the option to use the Software Collection packages as if they were conventional RPM packages, making the Software Collection easier to use.
The optional syspaths subpackages (such as rh-mariadb102-syspaths) provide shell wrappers and symbolic links that are installed into the standard path (typically, /usr/bin/). This means that by choosing to install the syspaths subpackages, users deliberately alter the base system installation, making the syspaths subpackages typically suitable for users who do not require installing and running multiple versions of the same package at a time. This is especially the case when using databases.
Using syspaths subpackages avoids the need for adjusting scripts in the Software Collection packages to make those scripts easier to use. Keep in mind that syspaths subpackages do conflict with the packages from the base system installation, so the conventional packages cannot be installed together with the syspaths subpackages. If that is a concern, consider employing a container-based technology to isolate the syspaths subpackages from the base system installation.

3.3.1. Naming syspaths Subpackages

For each Software Collection that utilizes the concept of a syspaths subpackage, there are typically multiple syspaths subpackages provided. syspaths subpackages are made available for each package with a file that can be provided with a wrapper or a symbolic link.
On top of that, there is a Software Collection metapackage's subpackage named software_collection_1-syspaths, where software_collection_1 is the name of the Software Collection. The software_collection_1-syspaths subpackage requires other syspaths subpackages included the Software Collection. Installing the software_collection_1-syspaths subpackage thus results in installing all the other syspaths packages.
For example, if you want to include wrappers for a binary file binary_1 included in the software_collection_1-package_1 package and a binary file binary_2 included in the software_collection_1-package_2 package, then create the following three syspaths subpackages in the software_collection_1 Software Collection:
software_collection_1-syspaths
software_collection_1-package_1-syspaths
software_collection_1-package_2-syspaths

3.3.2. Files Included in syspaths Subpackages

The files suitable for inclusion in syspaths subpackages are executable shell wrappers for binaries that users interact with.
The following is an example of a wrapper for a binary file binary_1 included in the software_collection_1 and located in /opt/rh/software_collection_1/root/usr/bin/binary_1:
#!/bin/bash
source scl_source enable software_collection_1
exec "/opt/rh/software_collection_1/root/usr/bin/binary_1" "$@"
When you install this wrapper in /usr/bin/binary_1 and make it executable, users can then simply run the binary_1 command without the need to prefix it with scl enable software_collection_1. The wrapper installed in /usr/bin/ sets up the correct environment and executes the target binary located withing the /opt/provider/%{scl} file system hierarchy.

3.3.3. Limitations of syspaths Wrappers

The fact that syspaths wrappers are shell scripts means that users cannot perform every possible task with the wrappers as with the target binary. For example, when debugging binaries using gdb, the full path pointing to the /opt/provider/%{scl} file system hierarchy needs to be used, because gdb does not work with wrapper shell scripts.

3.3.4. Symbolic Links in syspaths Subpackages

Other than wrappers for binary files, there are more files that are suitable for installation outside of the /opt, /etc/opt/, or /var/opt/ directories, and thus can be provided by syspaths subpackages. For example, you can make the path to database files (normally located under /var/opt/provider/%{scl}) easier to discover with a symbolic link located in /var/lib/. However, for some symbolic links, it is better not to install them in /var/lib/ under their original name as they may conflict with the name of the conventional RPM package from the base system installation.
A good idea is to name the symbolic link /var/lib/software_collection_1-original_name or similar. For log files, a recommended name is /var/log/software_collection_1-original_name or similar. Keep in mind that the name itself is not important, the design goal here is make those files easy to find under the /var/lib/ or /var/log/ directories.
The same applies to configuration files, the goal is to make symbolic links easy to discover under the /etc directory.

3.3.5. Services Without a Prefix

systemd and SysV init services are popular examples of user interaction with daemon services. In general, users do not need to include scl enable in the command when starting services, because services are by design started in a clean environment. But still, users are required to use the correct service name, usually prefixed with the Software Collection name (for example, rh-mariadb102-mariadb).
syspaths subpackages allow users to use the conventional names of the services, such as mariadb, mongod, or postgresql, if the appropriate syspaths subpackage is installed. To achieve this, create a symbolic link, without including the Software Collection name in the symbolic link name, that points to the conventional service file.
For example, a service service_1 in the software_collection_1 Software Collection that is normally provided by the file /etc/rc.d/init.d/software_collection_1-service_1 can be accessed as service_1 by creating the following symbolic link:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/service_1 -> /etc/rc.d/init.d/software_collection_1-service_1
Or, in the case of a systemd unit file:
/usr/lib/systemd/system/service_1 -> /usr/lib/systemd/system/software_collection_1-service_1

3.4. Managing Services in Software Collections

When packaging your Software Collection, ensure that users can directly manage any services (daemons) provided by the Software Collection or one of the associated applications with the system default tools, like service or chkconfig on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, or systemctl on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.
For Software Collections on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, make sure to adjust the %install section of the spec file as follows to avoid possible name conflicts with the system versions of the services that are part of the Software Collection:
%install
install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{!?scl:%_sysconfdir}/rc.d/init.d/%{?scl_prefix}service_name
Replace service_name with the actual name of the service.
For Software Collections on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, adjust the %install section of the spec file as follows:
%install
install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_unitdir}/%{?scl_prefix}service_name.service
With this configuration in place, you can then refer to the version of the service included in the Software Collection as follows:
%{?scl_prefix}service_name
Keep in mind that no environment variables are propagated from the user's environment to a SysV init script (or a systemd service file on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7). This is expected and ensures that services are always started in a clean environment. However, this requires you to properly set up a Software Collection environment for processes that are to be run by the SysV init scripts (or systemd service files).

3.4.1. Configuring an Environment for Services

It is recommended to make the Software Collection you want to enable for services configurable. The directions in this section show how to make a Software Collection named software_collection configurable.

Procedure 3.2. Configuring an environment for services on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

  1. Create a configuration file in /opt/provider/software_collection/service-environment with the following content:
    [SCLNAME]_SCLS_ENABLED="software_collection"
    Replace SCLNAME with a unique identifier for your Software Collection, for instance, your Software Collection's name written in capital letters.
    Replace software_collection with the name of your Software Collection as defined by the %scl_name macro.
  2. Add the following line at the beginning of the SysV init script:
    source /opt/provider/software_collection/service-environment
  3. In the SysV init script, determine commands that run binaries located in the /opt/provider/ file system hierarchy. Prefix these commands with scl enable $[SCLNAME]_SCLS_ENABLED, similarly to when you run a command in the Software Collection environment.
    For example, replace the following line:
    /usr/bin/daemon_binary --argument-1 --argument-2
    with:
    scl enable $[SCLNAME]_SCLS_ENABLED -- /usr/bin/daemon_binary --argument-1 --argument-2
  4. Some commands, like su or runuser, also clear environment variables. Thus, if these commands are used in the SysV init script, enable your Software Collection again after running these commands.
    For instance, replace the following line:
    su - user_name -c '/usr/bin/daemon_binary --argument-1 --argument-2'
    with:
    su - user_name -c '\
      source /opt/provider/software_collection/service-environment \
      scl enable $SCLNAME_SCLS_ENABLED -- /usr/bin/daemon_binary --argument-1 --argument-2'

Procedure 3.3. Configuring an environment for services on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

  1. Create a configuration file in /opt/provider/software_collection/service-environment with the following content:
    [SCLNAME]_SCLS_ENABLED="software_collection"
    Replace SCLNAME with a unique identifier for your Software Collection, for instance, your Software Collection's name written in capital letters.
    Replace software_collection with the name of your Software Collection as defined by the %scl_name macro.
  2. Add the following line in the systemd service file to load the configuration file:
    EnvironmentFile=/opt/provider/software_collection/service-environment
  3. In the systemd service file, prefix all commands specified in ExecStartPre, ExecStart, and similar directives with scl enable $[SCLNAME]_SCLS_ENABLED, similarly to when you run a command in the Software Collection environment:
    ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/scl enable $[SCLNAME]_SCLS_ENABLED -- /opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/bin/daemon_helper_binary --argument-1 --argument-2
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/scl enable $[SCLNAME]_SCLS_ENABLED -- /opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/bin/daemon_binary --argument-1 --argument-2

Warning

Prefixing ExecStart* commands with scl enable ... as described above will prevent the service from transitioning to its target SELinux context indicated by the SELinux policy in effect. If the service is supposed to be confined using SELinux, the systemd service file needs to execute the binary directly. If the binary is linked against shared libraries which are part of the Software Collection, the DT_RUNPATH attribute may help make those shared libraries accessible at runtime without the need for using the scl enable ... wrapper. See Section 3.15.1, “SELinux Support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7” for more information.

3.5. Software Collection Library Support

In case you distribute libraries that you intend to use only in the Software Collection environment or in addition to the libraries available on the system, update the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable in the enable scriptlet as follows:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="%{_libdir}\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}}"
The configuration ensures that the version of the library in the Software Collection is preferred over the version of the library available on the system if the Software Collection is enabled.

Note

In case you distribute a private shared library in the Software Collection, consider using the DT_RUNPATH attribute instead of the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable to make the private shared library accessible in the Software Collection environment.

3.5.1. Using a Library Outside of the Software Collection

If you distribute libraries that you intend to use outside of the Software Collection environment, you can use the directory /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ for this purpose.

Warning

Do not use /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ for libraries already available on the system. Using /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ is only recommended for a library that is not available on the system, as otherwise the version of the library in the Software Collection might get preference over the system version of the library. That could lead to undesired behavior of the system versions of the applications, including unexpected termination and data loss.

Procedure 3.4. Using /etc/ld.so.conf.d/ for libraries in the Software Collection

  1. Create a file named %{?scl_prefix}libs.conf and adjust the spec file configuration accordingly:
    SOURCE2: %{?scl_prefix}libs.conf
    
  2. In the %{?scl_prefix}libs.conf file, include a list of directories where the versions of the libraries associated with the Software Collection are located. For example:
    /opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/usr/lib64/
    
    In the example above, the /usr/lib64/ directory that is part of the Software Collection software_collection_1 is included in the list.
  3. Edit the %install section of the spec file, so the %{?scl_prefix}libs.conf file is installed as follows:
    %install
    install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{!?scl:%_sysconfdir}/ld.so.conf.d/
    

3.5.2. Prefixing the Library Major soname with the Software Collection Name

When using libraries included in the Software Collection, always remember that a library with the same major soname can already be available on the system as a part of the base system installation. It is thus important not to forget to use the scl enable command when building an application against a library included in the Software Collection. Failing to do so may result in the application being executed in an incorrect environment, linked against the incorrect system version of the library.

Warning

Keep in mind that executing your application in an incorrect environment (for example in the system environment instead of the Software Collection environment) as well as linking your application against an incorrect library can lead to undesired behavior of your application, including unexpected termination and data loss.
To ensure that your application is not linked against an incorrect library even if the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable has not been set properly, change the major soname of the library included in the Software Collection. The recommended way to change the major soname is to prefix the major soname version number with the Software Collection name.
Below is an example of the MySQL client library with the mysql55- prefix:
$ rpm -ql mysql55-mysql-libs | grep 'lib.*so'
/opt/provider/mysql55/root/usr/lib64/mysql/libmysqlclient.so.mysql55-18
/opt/provider/mysql55/root/usr/lib64/mysql/libmysqlclient.so.mysql55-18.0.0
On the same system, the system version of the MySQL client library is listed below:
$ rpm -ql mysql-libs | grep 'lib.*so'
/usr/lib64/mysql/libmysqlclient.so.18
/usr/lib64/mysql/libmysqlclient.so.18.0.0
The rpmbuild utility generates an automatic Provides tag for packages that include a versioned shared library. If you do not prefix the soname as described above, then an example of the Provides in case of the mysql package is libmysqlclient.so.18()(64bit). With this Provides, RPM can choose the incorrect RPM package, resulting in the application missing the requirement.
If you prefix the soname as described above, then an example of the generated Provides in case of mysql is libmysqlclient.so.mysql55-18()(64bit). With this Provides, RPM chooses the correct RPM dependencies and the application's requirements are satisfied.
In general, unless absolutely necessary, Software Collection packages should not provide any symbols that are already provided by packages from the base system installation. One exception to that rule is when you want to use the symbols in the packages from the base system installation.

3.5.3. Software Collection Library Support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

When building your Software Collection for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, use the %__provides_exclude_from macro to prevent scanning certain files for automatically generated RPM symbols.
For example, to prevent scanning .so files in the %{_libdir} directory, add the following lines before the BuildRequires or Requires tags in your Software Collection spec file:
%if %{?scl:1}%{!?scl:0}
  # Do not scan .so files in %{_libdir}
  %global __provides_exclude_from ^%{_libdir}/.*.so.*$
%endif
The functionality is part of RPM support for automatic Provides and Requires, see Section 2.10.5, “Software Collection Automatic Provides and Requires and Filtering Support” for more information.

3.6. Software Collection .pc Files Support

The .pc files are special metadata files used by the pkg-config program to store information about libraries available on the system.
In case you distribute .pc files that you intend to use only in the Software Collection environment or in addition to the .pc files installed on the system, update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable. Depending on what is defined in your .pc files, update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable for the %{_libdir} macro (which expands to the library directory, typically /usr/lib/ or /usr/lib64/), or for the %{_datadir} macro (which expands to the share directory, typically /usr/share/).
If the library directory is defined in your .pc files, update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable by adjusting the %install section of the Software Collection spec file as follows:
%install
cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="%{_libdir}/pkgconfig\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:+:\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}}"
EOF
If the share directory is defined in your .pc files, update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable by adjusting the %install section of the Software Collection spec file as follows:
%install
cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="%{_datadir}/pkgconfig\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:+:\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}}"
EOF
The two examples above both configure the enable scriptlet so that it ensures that the .pc files in the Software Collection are preferred over the .pc files available on the system if the Software Collection is enabled.
The Software Collection can provide a wrapper script that is visible to the system to enable the Software Collection, for example in the /usr/bin/ directory. In this case, ensure that the .pc files are visible to the system even if the Software Collection is disabled.
To allow your system to use .pc files from the disabled Software Collection, update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable with the paths to the .pc files associated with the Software Collection. Depending on what is defined in your .pc files, update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable for the %{_libdir} macro (which expands to the library directory), or for the %{_datadir} macro (which expands to the share directory).

Procedure 3.5. Updating the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable for %{_libdir}

  1. To update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable for the %{_libdir} macro, create a custom script /etc/profile.d/name.sh. The script is preloaded when a shell is started on the system.
    For example, create the following file:
    %{?scl_prefix}pc-libdir.sh
  2. Use the pc-libdir.sh short script that modifies the PKG_CONFIG_PATH variable to refer to your .pc files:
    export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="%{_libdir}/pkgconfig:/opt/provider/software_collection/path/to/your/pc_files"
  3. Add the file to your Software Collection package's spec file:
    SOURCE2: %{?scl_prefix}pc-libdir.sh
  4. Install this file into the system /etc/profile.d/ directory by adjusting the %install section of the Software Collection package's spec file:
    %install
    install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{!?scl:%_sysconfdir}/profile.d/

Procedure 3.6. Updating the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable for %{_datadir}

  1. To update the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable for the %{_datadir} macro, create a custom script /etc/profile.d/name.sh. The script is preloaded when a shell is started on the system.
    For example, create the following file:
    %{?scl_prefix}pc-datadir.sh
  2. Use the pc-datadir.sh short script that modifies the PKG_CONFIG_PATH variable to refer to your .pc files:
    export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="%{_datadir}/pkgconfig:/opt/provider/software_collection/path/to/your/pc_files"
  3. Add the file to your Software Collection package's spec file:
    SOURCE2: %{?scl_prefix}pc-datadir.sh
  4. Install this file into the system /etc/profile.d/ directory by adjusting the %install section of the Software Collection package's spec file:
    %install
    install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{!?scl:%_sysconfdir}/profile.d/

3.7. Software Collection MANPATH Support

To allow the man command on the system to display man pages from the enabled Software Collection, update the MANPATH environment variable with the paths to the man pages that are associated with the Software Collection.
To update the MANPATH environment variable, add the following to the %install section of the Software Collection spec file:
%install
cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
export MANPATH="%{_mandir}:\${MANPATH:-}"
EOF
This configures the enable scriptlet to update the MANPATH environment variable. The man pages associated with the Software Collection are then not visible as long as the Software Collection is not enabled.
The Software Collection can provide a wrapper script that is visible to the system to enable the Software Collection, for example in the /usr/bin/ directory. In this case, ensure that the man pages are visible to the system even if the Software Collection is disabled.
To allow the man command on the system to display man pages from the disabled Software Collection, update the MANPATH environment variable with the paths to the man pages associated with the Software Collection.

Procedure 3.7. Updating the MANPATH environment variable for the disabled Software Collection

  1. To update the MANPATH environment variable, create a custom script /etc/profile.d/name.sh. The script is preloaded when a shell is started on the system.
    For example, create the following file:
    %{?scl_prefix}manpage.sh
  2. Use the manpage.sh short script that modifies the MANPATH variable to refer to your man path directory:
    export MANPATH="/opt/provider/software_collection/path/to/your/man_pages:${MANPATH}"
  3. Add the file to your Software Collection package's spec file:
    SOURCE2: %{?scl_prefix}manpage.sh
  4. Install this file into the system /etc/profile.d/ directory by adjusting the %install section of the Software Collection package's spec file:
    %install
    install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{!?scl:%_sysconfdir}/profile.d/

3.8. Software Collection cronjob Support

With your Software Collection, you can run periodic tasks on the system either with a dedicated service or with cronjobs. If you intend to use a dedicated service, refer to Section 3.4, “Managing Services in Software Collections” on how to work with initscripts in the Software Collection environment.

Procedure 3.8. Running periodic tasks with cronjobs

  1. To use cronjobs for running periodic tasks, place a crontab file for your Software Collection in the /etc/cron.d/ directory with the Software Collection's name.
    For example, create the following file:
    %{?scl_prefix}crontab
  2. Ensure that the contents of the crontab file follow the standard crontab file format, as in the following example:
    0 1 * * Sun root scl enable software_collection '/opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/bin/cron_job_name'
    where software_collection is the name of your Software Collection, and /opt/provider/software_collection/root/usr/bin/cron_job_name is the command you want to periodically run.
  3. Add the file to your spec file of the Software Collection package:
    SOURCE2: %{?scl_prefix}crontab
  4. Install the file into the system directory /etc/cron.d/ by adjusting the %install section of the Software Collection package's spec file:
    %install
    install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{!?scl:%_sysconfdir}/cron.d/
    

3.9. Software Collection Log File Support

By default, programs packaged in a Software Collection create log files in the /opt/provider/%{scl}/root/var/log/ directory.
To make log files more accessible and easier to manage, you are advised to use the nfsmountable macro that redefines the _localstatedir macro. This results in log files being created underneath the /var/opt/provider/%{scl}/log/ directory, outside of the /opt/provider/%{scl} file system hierarchy.
For example, a service mydaemon normally stores its log file in /var/log/mydaemon/mydaemond.log in the base system installation. When mydaemon is packaged as a software_collection Software Collection and the nfsmountable macro is defined, the path to the log file in software_collection is as follows:
/var/opt/provider/software_collection/log/mydaemon/mydaemond.log
For more information on using the nfsmountable macro, see Section 3.1, “Using Software Collections over NFS”.

3.10. Software Collection logrotate Support

With your Software Collection or an application associated with your Software Collection, you can manage log files with the logrotate program.

Procedure 3.9. Managing log files with logrotate

  1. To manage your log files with logrotate, place a custom logrotate file for your Software Collection in the system directory for the logrotate jobs /etc/logrotate.d/.
    For example, create the following file:
    %{?scl_prefix}logrotate
  2. Ensure that the contents of the logrotate file follow the standard logrotate file format as follows:
    /opt/provider/software_collection/var/log/your_application_name.log {
          missingok
          notifempty
          size 30k
          yearly
          create 0600 root root
      }
  3. Add the file to your spec file of the Software Collection package:
    SOURCE2: %{?scl_prefix}logrotate
  4. Install the file into the system directory /etc/logrotate.d/ by adjusting the %install section of the Software Collection package's spec file:
    %install
    install -p -c -m 644 %{SOURCE2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{?scl:%_root_sysconfdir}%{!?scl:%_sysconfdir}/logrotate.d/

3.11. Software Collection /var/run/ Files Support

PID files are one example of files usually located underneath the /var/run/package_name/ directory. When packaging PID files into your Software Collection, you are advised to use the nfsmountable macro and store the PID files in the following directory:
/var/run/software_collection-package_name/
where software_collection is the name of your Software Collection and package_name is the name of the package included in your Software Collection.
Following this naming convention avoids file conflicts with the base system installation, while it makes it possible for your Software Collection to use /var/run/ features, for example the tmpfs file system for PID files.
For more information on using the nfsmountable macro, see Section 3.1, “Using Software Collections over NFS”.

3.12. Software Collection Lock File Support

By default, programs packaged into a Software Collection create lock files in the /opt/provider/%{scl}/root/var/lock/ directory.
To make lock files more accessible and easier to manage, you are advised to use the nfsmountable macro that redefines the _localstatedir macro. This results in lock files being created underneath the /var/opt/provider/%{scl}/lock/ directory, outside of the /opt/provider/%{scl} file system hierarchy.
If applications or services packaged into your Software Collection write the lock underneath the /var/opt/provider/%{scl}/lock/ directory, then those applications and services can run concurrently with the system versions (when the resources of your Software Collection's applications and services will not conflict with the system versions' resources).
For example, a lock file mylockfile.lock is normally created in the /var/lock/ directory in the base system installation. If the lock file is a part of a software_collection Software Collection and the nfsmountable macro is defined, the path to the lock file in software_collection is as follows:
/var/opt/provider/software_collection/lock/mylockfile.lock
For more information on using the nfsmountable macro, see Section 3.1, “Using Software Collections over NFS”.

Preventing Programs from Running Concurrently

If you want to prevent your Software Collection's applications or services from running while the system version of the respective application or service is running, make sure that your applications or services, which require a lock, write the lock to the system directory /var/lock/. In this way, your applications or services' lock file will not be overwritten. The lock file will not be renamed and the name stays the same as the system version.

3.12.1. Software Collection SysV init Lock File Support

When a service is started by an init script, a lock file is touched in the /var/lock/subsys/ directory with the same name as the init script. As discussed in Section 3.4, “Managing Services in Software Collections”, service names include a Software Collection prefix. Use the same naming convention for files underneath /var/lock/subsys/ to ensure that the lock file names do not conflict with the base system installation.

3.13. Software Collection Configuration Files Support

By default, configuration files in a Software Collection are stored within the /opt/provider/%{scl} file system hierarchy.
To make configuration files more accessible and easier to manage, you are advised to use the nfsmountable macro that redefines the _sysconfdir macro. This results in configuration files being created underneath the /etc/opt/provider/%{scl}/ directory, outside of the /opt/provider/%{scl} file system hierarchy.
For example, a configuration file example.conf is normally stored in the /etc directory in the base system installation. If the configuration file is a part of a software_collection Software Collection and the nfsmountable macro is defined, the path to the configuration file in software_collection is as follows:
/etc/opt/provider/software_collection/example.conf
For more information about using the nfsmountable macro, see Section 3.1, “Using Software Collections over NFS”.

3.14. Software Collection Kernel Module Support

Because Linux kernel modules are normally tied to a particular version of the Linux kernel, you must be careful when you package kernel modules into a Software Collection. This is because the package management system on Enterprise Linux does not automatically update or install an updated version of the kernel module if an updated version of the Linux kernel is installed. To make packaging the kernel modules into the Software Collection easier, see the following recommendations. Ensure that:
  1. the name of your kernel module package includes the kernel version,
  2. the tag Requires, which can be found in your kernel module spec file, includes the kernel version and revision (in the format kernel-version-revision).

3.15. Software Collection SELinux Support

Because Software Collections are designed to install the Software Collection packages in an alternate directory, set up the necessary SELinux labels so that SELinux is aware of the alternate directory.
If the file system hierarchy of your Software Collection package imitates the file system hierarchy of the corresponding conventional package, you can run the semanage fcontext and restorecon commands to set up the SELinux labels.
For example, if the /opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/usr/ directory in your Software Collection package imitates the /usr/ directory of your conventional package, set up the SELinux labels as follows:
semanage fcontext -a -e /usr /opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/usr
restorecon -R -v /opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/usr
The commands above ensure that all directories and files in the /opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/usr/ directory are labeled by SELinux as if they were located in the /usr/ directory.

3.15.1. SELinux Support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

When packaging a Software Collection for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, add the following commands to the %post section in the Software Collection metapackage to set up the SELinux labels:
semanage fcontext -a -e /usr /opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/usr
restorecon -R -v /opt/provider/software_collection_1/root/usr
selinuxenabled && load_policy || :
The last command ensures that the newly created SELinux policy is properly loaded, and that the files installed by a package in the Software Collection are created with the correct SELinux context. By using this command in the metapackage, you do not need to include the restorecon command in all packages in the Software Collection.
Note that the semanage fcontext command is provided by the policycoreutils-python package, therefore it is important that you include policycoreutils-python in Requires for the Software Collection metapackage.

Note

The SELinux aspect of starting services has changed significantly in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. Most importantly, using the scl enable ... wrapper in a systemd service file will cause the service to be run as an unconfined process using the unconfined_service_t context. As this context has no transition rules by design, the service will not be able to transition into the target SELinux context indicated by the SELinux policy, which means scl enable ... cannot be used on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 if the service being started is supposed to be confined using SELinux.

3.16. Differences Between Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7

The RPM Package Manager in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 ships with a number of feature changes that are not available in the older version of the RPM Package Manager shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.
This section provides more details on the changes that may affect you when building your Software Collection packages for both systems.

3.16.1. The %license Macro

The %license macro allows you to specify the license file to be installed by your package. The macro is only supported by the RPM Package Manager in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7. When building your Software Collection package on both Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7, declare the %license macro for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 as follows:
%{!?_licensedir:%global license %%doc}

3.16.2. Missing runtime Subpackage Dependencies

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, the scl tool automatically generates the needed Requires on the Software Collection runtime subpackage. This does not work on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. When building your Software Collection for that system, you need to explicitly specify the dependency on the runtime subpackage in each Software Collection package:
Requires: %{?scl_prefix}runtime

3.16.3. The scl-package() Provides

By design, building a Software Collection package generates a number of Provide: scl-package() tags. The purpose of these is to internally identify the built package as belonging to a specific Software Collection. The tags are detailed in the following table.

Table 3.2. Provides in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7

Software Collection package
Provide
${software_collection_1}
scl-package(software_collection_1)
${software_collection_1}-build
scl-package(software_collection_1)
${software_collection_1}-runtime
scl-package(software_collection_1)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 ships with an older version of the RPM Package Manager, so as an exception, building the same package on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 only generates a single Provide: scl-package() tag, as detailed in the following table. This is an expected behavior and the differences are handled internally by the scl tool.

Table 3.3. Provide in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

Software Collection package
Provide
${software_collection_1}
scl-package(software_collection_1)
Do not use these internally generated dependencies to list packages that belong to a particular Software Collection. For information on how to properly list Software Collection packages, see Section 1.5, “Listing Installed Software Collections”.

Chapter 4. Extending Software Collections

This chapter describes extending Software Collections.

4.1. Providing an scldevel Subpackage

The purpose of an scldevel subpackage is to make the process of creating dependent Software Collections easier by providing a number of generic macro files. Packagers then use these macro files when they are extending existing Software Collections. scldevel is provided as a subpackage of your Software Collection's metapackage.

4.1.1. Creating an scldevel Subpackage

The following section describes creating an scldevel subpackage for two examples of Ruby Software Collections, ruby193 and ruby200.

Procedure 4.1. Providing your own scldevel subpackage

  1. In your Software Collection's metapackage, add the scldevel subpackage by defining its name, summary, and description:
    %package scldevel
    Summary: Package shipping development files for %scl
    Provides: scldevel(%{scl_name_base})
    
    %description scldevel
    Package shipping development files, especially useful for development of
    packages depending on %scl Software Collection.
    You are advised to use the virtual Provides: scldevel(%{scl_name_base}) during the build of packages of dependent Software Collections. This will ensure availability of a version of the %{scl_name_base} Software Collection and its macros, as specified in the following step.
  2. In the %install section of your Software Collection's metapackage, create the macros.%{scl_name_base}-scldevel file that is part of the scldevel subpackage and contains:
    cat >> %{buildroot}%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl_name_base}-scldevel << EOF
    %%scl_%{scl_name_base} %{scl}
    %%scl_prefix_%{scl_name_base} %{scl_prefix}
    EOF
    Note that between all Software Collections that share the same %{scl_name_base} name, the provided macros.%{scl_name_base}-scldevel files must conflict. This is to disallow installing multiple versions of the %{scl_name_base} Software Collections. For example, the ruby193-scldevel subpackage cannot be installed when there is the ruby200-scldevel subpackage installed.

4.1.2. Using an scldevel Subpackage in a Dependent Software Collection

To use your scldevel subpackage in a Software Collection that depends on the ruby200 Software Collection, update the metapackage of the dependent Software Collection as described below.

Procedure 4.2. Using your own scldevel subpackage in a dependent Software Collection

  1. Consider adding the following at the beginning of the metapackage's spec file:
    %{!?scl_ruby:%global scl_ruby ruby200}
    %{!?scl_prefix_ruby:%global scl_prefix_ruby %{scl_ruby}-}
    These two lines are optional. They are only meant as a visual hint that the dependent Software Collection has been designed to depend on the ruby200 Software Collection. If there is no other scldevel subpackage available in the build root, then the ruby200-scldevel subpackage is used as a build requirement.
    You can substitute these lines with the following line:
    %{?scl_prefix_ruby}
  2. Add the following build requirement to the metapackage:
    BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}scldevel
    By specifying this build requirement, you ensure that the scldevel subpackage is in the build root and that the default values are not in use. Omitting this package could result in broken requires at the subsequent packages' build time.
  3. Ensure that the %package runtime part of the metapackage's spec file includes the following lines:
    %package runtime
    Summary: Package that handles %scl Software Collection.
    Requires: scl-utils
    Requires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}runtime
  4. Consider including the following lines in the %package build part of the metapackage's spec file:
    %package build
    Summary: Package shipping basic build configuration
    Requires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}scldevel
    Specifying Requires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}scldevel ensures that macros are available in all packages of the Software Collection.
    Note that adding this Requires only makes sense in specific use cases, such as where packages in a dependent Software Collection use macros provided by the scldevel subpackage.

4.2. Extending the python27 and rh-python35 Software Collections

This section describes extending the python27 and rh-python35 Software Collections by creating a dependent Software Collection.
In Red Hat Software Collections 3.8, the scl tool is extended to support a macro %scl_package_override(), which allows for easier packaging of your own dependent Software Collection.

4.2.1. The vt191 Software Collection

Below is a commented example of building a dependent Software Collection. The Software Collection is named vt191 and contains the versiontools Python package version 1.9.1.
Note the following in the vt191 Software Collection metapackage:
  • The vt191 Software Collection metapackage has the following build dependency set:
    BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_python}scldevel
    This expands to, for example, python27-scldevel.
    The python27-scldevel subpackage ships two important macros, %scl_python and %scl_prefix_python. Note that these macros are defined at the top of the metapackage spec file. Although the definitions are not required, they provide a visual hint that the vt191 Software Collection has been designed to be built on top of the python27 Software Collection. They also serve as a fallback value.
  • To have a site-packages directory set up properly, use the value of the %python27python_sitelib macro and replace python27 with vt191. Note that if you are building the Software Collection with a different provider (for example, /opt/myorganization/ instead of /opt/rh/), you will need to change these, too.

    Important

    Because the /opt/rh/ provider is used to install Software Collections provided by Red Hat, it is strongly recommended to use a different provider to avoid possible conflicts. See Section 2.3, “The Software Collection Root Directory” for more information.
  • The vt191-build subpackage has the following dependency set:
    Requires: %{scl_prefix_python}scldevel
    This expands to, for example, python27-scldevel. The purpose of this dependency is to ensure that the macros are always present when building packages for the vt191 Software Collection.
  • The enable scriptlet for the vt191 Software Collection uses the following line:
    . scl_source enable %{scl_python}
    Note the dot at the beginning of the line. This line makes the Python Software Collection start implicitly when the vt191 Software Collection is started so that the user can only type scl enable vt191 command instead of scl enable python27 vt191 command to run command in the Software Collection environment.
  • The macro file macros.vt191-config calls the %scl_package_override function to properly override %__os_install_post, Python dependency generators, and certain Python-specific macros used in other packages' spec files.
# define name of the scl
%global scl vt191
%scl_package %scl

# Defaults for the values for the python27/rh-python35 Software Collection. These
# will be used when python27-scldevel (or rh-python35-scldevel) is not in the
# build root
%{!?scl_python:%global scl_python python27}
%{!?scl_no_vendor:%global scl_no_vendor python27}
%{!?scl_prefix_python:%global scl_prefix_python %{scl_python}-}

# Only for this build, you need to override default __os_install_post,
# because the default one would find /opt/.../lib/python2.7/ and try
# to bytecompile with the system /usr/bin/python2.7
%global __os_install_post %{%{scl_no_vendor}_os_install_post}
# Similarly, override __python_requires for automatic dependency generator
%global __python_requires %{%{scl_no_vendor}_python_requires}

# The directory for site packages for this Software Collection
%global vt191_sitelib %(echo %{python27python_sitelib} | sed 's|%{scl_python}|%{scl}|')

Summary: Package that installs %scl
Name: %scl_name
Version: 1
Release: 1%{?dist}
License: GPLv2+
BuildRequires: scl-utils-build
# Always make sure that there is the python27-sclbuild (or rh-python35-sclbuild)
# package in the build root
BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_python}scldevel
# Require python27-python-devel, you will need macros from that package
BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_python}python-devel
Requires: %{scl_prefix}python-versiontools

%description
This is the main package for %scl Software Collection.

%package runtime
Summary: Package that handles %scl Software Collection.
Requires: scl-utils
Requires: %{scl_prefix_python}runtime

%description runtime
Package shipping essential scripts to work with %scl Software Collection.

%package build
Summary: Package shipping basic build configuration
Requires: scl-utils-build
# Require python27-scldevel (or rh-python35-scldevel) so that there is always access
# to the %%scl_python and %%scl_prefix_python macros in builds for this Software
# Collection
Requires: %{scl_prefix_python}scldevel

%description build
Package shipping essential configuration macros to build %scl Software Collection.

%prep
%setup -c -T

%install
%scl_install

# Create the enable scriptlet that:
# - Adds an additional load path for the Python interpreter.
# - Runs scl_source so that you can run:
#     scl enable vt191 "bash"
#   instead of:
#     scl enable python27 vt191 "bash"

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
. scl_source enable %{scl_python}
export PYTHONPATH="%{vt191_sitelib}\${PYTHONPATH:+:\${PYTHONPATH}}"
EOF

mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{vt191_sitelib}

# - Enable Software Collection-specific bytecompilation macros from
#   the python27-python-devel package.
# - Also override the %%python_sitelib macro to point to the vt191 Software
#   Collection.
# - If you have architecture-dependent packages, you will also need to override
#   the %%python_sitearch macro.

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl}-config << EOF
%%scl_package_override() %%{expand:%{?python27_os_install_post:%%global __os_install_post %%python27_os_install_post}
%%global __python_requires %%python27_python_requires
%%global __python_provides %%python27_python_provides
%%global __python %python27__python
%%global python_sitelib %vt191_sitelib
%%global python2_sitelib %vt191_sitelib
}
EOF

%files

%files runtime -f filelist
%scl_files
%vt191_sitelib

%files build
%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl}-config

%changelog
* Wed Jan 22 2014 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> - 1-1
- Initial package.

4.2.2. The python-versiontools Package

Below is a commented example of the python-versiontools package spec file. Note the following in the spec file:
  • The BuildRequires tags are prefixed with %{?scl_prefix_python} instead of %{scl_prefix}.
  • The %install section explictly specifies --install-purelib.
%{?scl:%scl_package python-versiontools}
%{!?scl:%global pkg_name %{name}}

%global pypi_name versiontools

Name:           %{?scl_prefix}python-versiontools
Version:        1.9.1
Release:        1%{?dist}
Summary:        Smart replacement for plain tuple used in __version__

License:        LGPLv3
URL:            https://launchpad.net/versiontools
Source0:        http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/v/versiontools/versiontools-1.9.1.tar.gz

BuildArch:      noarch
BuildRequires:  %{?scl_prefix_python}python-devel
BuildRequires:  %{?scl_prefix_python}python-setuptools
%{?scl:BuildRequires: %{scl}-build %{scl}-runtime}
%{?scl:Requires: %{scl}-runtime}

%description
Smart replacement for plain tuple used in __version__

%prep
%setup -q -n %{pypi_name}-%{version}

%build
%{?scl:scl enable %{scl} "}
%{__python} setup.py build
%{?scl:"}

%install
# Explicitly specify --install-purelib %{python_sitelib}, which is now overriden
# to point to vt191, otherwise Python will try to install into the python27
# Software Collection site-packages directory
%{?scl:scl enable %{scl} "}
%{__python} setup.py install -O1 --skip-build --root %{buildroot} --install-purelib %{python_sitelib}
%{?scl:"}

%files
%{python_sitelib}/%{pypi_name}*

%changelog
* Wed Jan 22 2014 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> - 1.9.1-1
- Built for vt191 SCL.

4.2.3. Building the vt191 Software Collection

To build the vt191 Software Collection:
  1. Install the python27-scldevel and python27-python-devel subpackages that are part of the python27 Software Collection.
  2. Build vt191.spec and install the vt191-runtime and vt191-build packages.
  3. Install the python27-python-setuptools package, which is a build requirement for versiontools.
  4. Build python-versiontools.spec.

4.2.4. Testing the vt191 Software Collection

To test the vt191 Software Collection:
  1. Install the vt191-python-versiontools package.
  2. Run the following command:
    $ scl enable vt191 "python -c 'import versiontools; print(versiontools.__file__)'"
  3. Verify that the output contains the following line:
    /opt/rh/vt191/root/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/versiontools/__init__.pyc
    Note that the provider rh in the path may vary depending on your redefinition of the %_scl_prefix macro. See Section 2.3, “The Software Collection Root Directory” for more information.

4.3. Extending the rh-ruby23 Software Collection

In Red Hat Software Collections 3.8, it is possible to extend the rh-ruby23 Software Collection by adding dependent packages. The Ruby on Rails 4.2 (rh-ror42) Software Collection, which is built on top of Ruby 2.3 provided by the rh-ruby23 Software Collection, is one example of such an extension.
This section provides detailed information about the rh-ror42 metapackage and the rh-ror42-rubygem-bcrypt package, which are both part of the rh-ror42 Software Collection.

4.3.1. The rh-ror42 Software Collection

This section contains a commented example of the Ruby on Rails 4.2 metapackage for the rh-ror42 Software Collection. The rh-ror42 Software Collection depends on the rh-ruby23 Software Collection.
Note the following in the rh-ror42 Software Collection metapackage example:
  • The rh-ror42 Software Collection spec file has the following build dependencies set:
    BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}scldevel
    BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}rubygems-devel
    This expands to, for example, rh-ruby23-scldevel and rh-ruby23-rubygems-devel.
    The rh-ruby23-scldevel subpackage contains two important macros, %scl_ruby and %scl_prefix_ruby. The rh-ruby23-scldevel subpackage should be available in the build root. In case there are multiple Ruby Software Collections available, rh-ruby23-scldevel determines which of the available Software Collections should be used.
    Note that the %scl_ruby and %scl_prefix_ruby macros are also defined at the top of the spec file. Although the definitions are not required, they provide a visual hint that the rh-ror42 Software Collection has been designed to be built on top of the rh-ruby23 Software Collection. They also serve as a fallback value.
  • The rh-ror42-runtime subpackage must depend on the runtime subpackage of the Software Collection it depends on. This dependency is specified as follows:
    %package runtime
    Requires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}runtime
    When the package is built against the rh-ruby23 Software Collection, this expands to rh-ruby23-runtime.
  • The rh-ror42-build subpackage must depend on the scldevel subpackage of the Software Collection it depends on. This is to ensure that all other packages of this Software Collection will have the same macros defined, thus it is built against the same Ruby version.
    %package build
    Requires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}scldevel
    In the case of the rh-ruby23 Software Collection, this expands to rh-ruby23-scldevel.
  • The enable scriptlet for the rh-ror42 Software Collection contains the following line:
    . scl_source enable %{scl_ruby}
    Note the dot at the beginning of the line. This line makes the Ruby Software Collection start implicitly when the rh-ror42 Software Collection is started so that the user can only type scl enable rh-ror42 command instead of scl enable rh-ruby23 rh-ror42 command to run command in the Software Collection environment.
  • The rh-ror42-scldevel subpackage is provided so that it is available in case you need it to build a Software Collection which extends the rh-ror42 Software Collection. The package provides the %{scl_ror} and %{scl_prefix_ror} macros, which can be used to extend the rh-ror42 Software Collection.
  • Because the rh-ror42 Software Collection's gems are installed in a separate root directory structure, you need to ensure that the correct ownership for the rubygems directories is set. This is done by using a snippet to generate a file list rubygems_filesystem.list.
    You are advised to set the runtime package to own all directories which would, if located in the root file system, be owned by another package. One example of such directories in the case of the rh-ror42 Software Collection is the Rubygem directory structure.
%global scl_name_prefix rh-
%global scl_name_base ror
%global scl_name_version 41

%global scl %{scl_name_prefix}%{scl_name_base}%{scl_name_version}

# Fallback to rh-ruby23. rh-ruby23-scldevel is unlikely to be available in
# the build root.
%{!?scl_ruby:%global scl_ruby rh-ruby23}
%{!?scl_prefix_ruby:%global scl_prefix_ruby %{scl_ruby}-}

# Do not produce empty debuginfo package.
%global debug_package %{nil}

# Support SCL over NFS.
%global nfsmountable 1

%{!?install_scl: %global install_scl 1}

%scl_package %scl

Summary: Package that installs %scl
Name: %scl_name
Version: 2.0
Release: 5%{?dist}
License: GPLv2+

%if 0%{?install_scl}
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-therubyracer
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-sqlite3
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-rails
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-sass-rails
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-coffee-rails
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-jquery-rails
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-sdoc
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-turbolinks
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-bcrypt
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-uglifier
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-jbuilder
Requires: %{scl_prefix}rubygem-spring
%endif
BuildRequires: help2man
BuildRequires: scl-utils-build
BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}scldevel
BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}rubygems-devel

%description
This is the main package for %scl Software Collection.

%package runtime
Summary: Package that handles %scl Software Collection.
Requires: scl-utils
# The enable scriptlet depends on the ruby executable.
Requires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}ruby

%description runtime
Package shipping essential scripts to work with %scl Software Collection.

%package build
Summary: Package shipping basic build configuration
Requires: scl-utils-build
Requires: %{scl_runtime}
Requires: %{scl_prefix_ruby}scldevel

%description build
Package shipping essential configuration macros to build %scl Software Collection.

%package scldevel
Summary: Package shipping development files for %scl
Provides: scldevel(%{scl_name_base})

%description scldevel
Package shipping development files, especially usefull for development of
packages depending on %scl Software Collection.

%prep
%setup -c -T

%install
%scl_install

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
export PATH="%{_bindir}:%{_sbindir}\${PATH:+:\${PATH}}"
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="%{_libdir}\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:\${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}}"
export MANPATH="%{_mandir}:\${MANPATH:-}"
export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="%{_libdir}/pkgconfig\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:+:\${PKG_CONFIG_PATH}}"
export GEM_PATH="\${GEM_PATH:=%{gem_dir}:\`scl enable %{scl_ruby} -- ruby -e "print Gem.path.join(':')"\`}"

. scl_source enable %{scl_ruby}
EOF

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl_name_base}-scldevel << EOF
%%scl_%{scl_name_base} %{scl}
%%scl_prefix_%{scl_name_base} %{scl_prefix}
EOF


scl enable %{scl_ruby} - << \EOF
set -e

# Fake rh-ror42 Software Collection environment.
GEM_PATH=%{gem_dir}:`ruby -e "print Gem.path.join(':')"` \
X_SCLS=%{scl} \
ruby -rfileutils > rubygems_filesystem.list << \EOR
  # Create the RubyGems file system.
  Gem.ensure_gem_subdirectories '%{buildroot}%{gem_dir}'
  FileUtils.mkdir_p File.join '%{buildroot}', Gem.default_ext_dir_for('%{gem_dir}')

  # Output the relevant directories.
  Gem.default_dirs['%{scl}_system'.to_sym].each { |k, p| puts p }
EOR
EOF

%files

%files runtime -f rubygems_filesystem.list
%scl_files

%files build
%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl}-config

%files scldevel
%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl_name_base}-scldevel


%changelog
* Thu Jan 16 2015 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> - 1-1
- Initial package.

4.3.2. The rh-ror42-rubygem-bcrypt Package

Below is a commented example of the rh-ror42-rubygem-bcrypt package spec file. This package provides the bcrypt Ruby gem. For more information on bcrypt, see the following website:
Note that the only significant difference between the rh-ror42-rubygem-bcrypt package spec file and a normal Software Collection package spec file is the following:
  • The BuildRequires tags are prefixed with %{?scl_prefix_ruby} instead of %{scl_prefix}.
%{?scl:%scl_package rubygem-%{gem_name}}
%{!?scl:%global pkg_name %{name}}

%global gem_name bcrypt

Summary: Wrapper around bcrypt() password hashing algorithm
Name: %{?scl_prefix}rubygem-%{gem_name}
Version: 3.1.9
Release: 2%{?dist}
Group: Development/Languages
# ext/* - Public Domain
# spec/TestBCrypt.java - ISC
License: MIT and Public Domain and ISC
URL: https://github.com/codahale/bcrypt-ruby
Source0: http://rubygems.org/downloads/%{gem_name}-%{version}.gem
Requires: %{?scl_prefix_ruby}ruby(release)
Requires: %{?scl_prefix_ruby}ruby(rubygems) 
BuildRequires: %{?scl_prefix_ruby}rubygems-devel
BuildRequires: %{?scl_prefix_ruby}ruby-devel
BuildRequires: %{?scl_prefix}rubygem(rspec)
Provides: %{?scl_prefix}rubygem(bcrypt) = %{version}

%description
bcrypt() is a sophisticated and secure hash algorithm designed by The
OpenBSD project for hashing passwords. bcrypt provides a simple,
humane wrapper for safely handling passwords.

%package doc
Summary: Documentation for %{pkg_name}
Group: Documentation
Requires: %{?scl_prefix}%{pkg_name} = %{version}-%{release}

%description doc
Documentation for %{pkg_name}.

%prep
%setup -n %{pkg_name}-%{version} -q -c -T
%{?scl:scl enable %{scl} - << \EOF}
%gem_install -n %{SOURCE0}
%{?scl:EOF}

%build

%install
mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{gem_dir}
cp -pa .%{gem_dir}/* \
        %{buildroot}%{gem_dir}/

mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{gem_extdir_mri}
cp -pa .%{gem_extdir_mri}/* %{buildroot}%{gem_extdir_mri}/

# Prevent a symlink with an invalid target in -debuginfo (BZ#878863).
rm -rf %{buildroot}%{gem_instdir}/ext/

%check
%{?scl:scl enable %{scl} - << \EOF}
pushd .%{gem_instdir}
# 2 failutes due to old RSpec
# https://github.com/rspec/rspec-expectations/pull/284
rspec -I$(dirs +1)%{gem_extdir_mri} spec |grep '34 examples, 2 failures' || exit 1
popd
%{?scl:EOF}

%files
%dir %{gem_instdir}
%exclude %{gem_instdir}/.*
%{gem_libdir}
%{gem_extdir_mri}
%exclude %{gem_cache}
%{gem_spec}
%doc %{gem_instdir}/COPYING

%files doc
%doc %{gem_docdir}
%doc %{gem_instdir}/README.md
%doc %{gem_instdir}/CHANGELOG
%{gem_instdir}/Rakefile
%{gem_instdir}/Gemfile*
%{gem_instdir}/%{gem_name}.gemspec
%{gem_instdir}/spec


%changelog
* Fri Mar 21 2015 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> - 3.1.2-4
- Initial package.

4.3.3. Building the rh-ror42 Software Collection

To build the rh-ror42 Software Collection:
  1. Install the rh-ruby23-scldevel subpackage which is a part of the rh-ruby23 Software Collection.
  2. Build rh-ror42.spec and install the ror42-runtime and ror42-build packages.
  3. Build rubygem-bcrypt.spec.

4.3.4. Testing the rh-ror42 Software Collection

To test the rh-ror42 Software Collection:
  1. Install the rh-ror42-rubygem-bcrypt package.
  2. Run the following command:
    $ scl enable rh-ror42 -- ruby -r bcrypt -e "puts BCrypt::Password.create('my password')"
  3. Verify that the output contains the following line:
    $2a$10$s./ReniLY.wXPHVBQ9npoeyZf5KzywfpvI5lhjG6Ams3u0hKqwVbW

4.4. Extending the rh-perl524 Software Collection

This section describes extending the rh-perl524 Software Collection by building your own dependent Software Collection.

Important

Examples described in this section only work as expected when extending the rh-perl524 Software Collection with packages that:
  • do not provide any Perl modules, and
  • only depend on Perl modules provided by the rh-perl524 Software Collection.

4.4.1. The h2m144 Software Collection

This section contains a commented example of a dependent Software Collection's metapackage. The dependent Software Collection is named h2m144 and contains the help2man Perl package version 1.44.1. The h2m144 Software Collection depends on the rh-perl524 Software Collection.
Note the following in the h2m144 Software Collection metapackage:
  • The h2m144 Software Collection metapackage has the following build dependency set:
    BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_perl}scldevel
    This expands to rh-perl524-scldevel.
    The rh-perl524-scldevel subpackage contains two important macros, %scl_perl and %scl_prefix_perl, and also provides Perl dependency generators. Note that the macros are defined at the top of the metapackage spec file. Although the definitions are not required, they provide a visual hint that the h2m144 Software Collection has been designed to be built on top of the rh-perl524 Software Collection. They also serve as a fallback value.
  • The h2m144-build subpackage has the following dependency set:
    Requires: %{scl_prefix_perl}scldevel
    This expands to rh-perl524-scldevel. The purpose of this dependency is to ensure that the macros and dependency generators are always present when building packages for the h2m144 Software Collection.
  • The enable scriptlet for the h2m144 Software Collection contains the following line:
    . scl_source enable %{scl_perl}
    Note the dot at the beginning of the line. This line makes the Perl Software Collection start implicitly when the h2m144 Software Collection is started so that the user can only type scl enable h2m144 command instead of scl enable rh-perl524 h2m144 command to run command in the Software Collection environment.
  • The macro file macros.h2m144-config calls the Perl dependency generators, and certain Perl-specific macros used in other packages' spec files.
%global scl h2m144
%scl_package %scl

# Default values for the rh-perl524 Software Collection. These
# will be used when rh-perl524-scldevel is not in the build root.
%{!?scl_perl:%global scl_perl rh-perl524}
%{!?scl_prefix_perl:%global scl_prefix_perl %{scl_perl}-}

# Only for this build, override __perl_requires for the automatic dependency
# generator.
%global __perl_requires /usr/lib/rpm/perl.req.stack

Summary: Package that installs %scl
Name:    %scl_name
Version: 1
Release: 1%{?dist}
License: GPLv2+
BuildRequires: scl-utils-build
# Always make sure that there is the rh-perl524-scldevel
# package in the build root.
BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_perl}scldevel
# Require rh-perl524-perl-macros; you will need macros from that package.
BuildRequires: %{scl_prefix_perl}perl-macros
Requires: %{scl_prefix}help2man

%description
This is the main package for %scl Software Collection.

%package runtime
Summary: Package that handles %scl Software Collection.
Requires: scl-utils
Requires: %{scl_prefix_perl}runtime

%description runtime
Package shipping essential scripts to work with %scl Software Collection.

%package build
Summary: Package shipping basic build configuration
Requires: scl-utils-build
# Require rh-perl524-scldevel so that there is always access to the %%scl_perl
# and %%scl_prefix_perl macros in builds for this Software Collection.
Requires: %{scl_prefix_perl}scldevel

%description build
Package shipping essential configuration macros to build %scl Software Collection.

%prep
%setup -c -T

%build

%install
%scl_install

# Create the enable scriptlet that:
# - Adds an additional load path for the Perl interpreter.
# - Runs scl_source so that you can run:
#     scl enable h2m144 'bash'
#   instead of:
#     scl enable rh-perl524 h2m144 'bash'

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_scl_scripts}/enable << EOF
. scl_source enable %{scl_perl}
export PATH="%{_bindir}:%{_sbindir}\${PATH:+:\${PATH}}"
export MANPATH="%{_mandir}:\${MANPATH:-}"
EOF

cat >> %{buildroot}%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl}-config << EOF
%%scl_package_override() %%{expand:%%global __perl_requires /usr/lib/rpm/perl.req.stack
%%global __perl_provides /usr/lib/rpm/perl.prov.stack
%%global __perl %{_scl_prefix}/%{scl_perl}/root/usr/bin/perl
}
EOF

%files

%files runtime -f filelist
%scl_files

%files build
%{_root_sysconfdir}/rpm/macros.%{scl}-config

%changelog
* Tue Apr 22 2014 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> - 1-1
- Initial package.

4.4.2. The help2man Package

Below is a commented example of the help2man package spec file. Note the following in the spec file:
  • The BuildRequires tags are prefixed with %{?scl_prefix_perl} instead of %{scl_prefix}.
%{?scl:%scl_package help2man}
%{!?scl:%global pkg_name %{name}}

# Supported build option:
#
# --with nls ... build this package with --enable-nls 
%bcond_with nls

Name:           %{?scl_prefix}help2man
Summary:        Create simple man pages from --help output
Version:        1.44.1
Release:        1%{?dist}
Group:          Development/Tools
License:        GPLv3+
URL:            http://www.gnu.org/software/help2man
Source:         ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/help2man/help2man-%{version}.tar.xz
%{!?with_nls:BuildArch: noarch}

BuildRequires:  %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(Getopt::Long)
BuildRequires:  %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(POSIX)
BuildRequires:  %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(Text::ParseWords)
BuildRequires:  %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(Text::Tabs)
BuildRequires:  %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(strict)
%{?with_nls:BuildRequires: %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(Locale::gettext) /usr/bin/msgfmt}
%{?with_nls:BuildRequires: %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(Encode)}
%{?with_nls:BuildRequires: %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(I18N::Langinfo)}
Requires:   %{?scl_prefix_perl}perl(:MODULE_COMPAT_%(%{?scl:scl enable %{scl_perl} '}eval "`perl -V:version`"; echo $version%{?scl:'}))

Requires(post): /sbin/install-info
Requires(preun): /sbin/install-info

%description
help2man is a script to create simple man pages from the --help and
--version output of programs.

Since most GNU documentation is now in info format, this provides a
way to generate a placeholder man page pointing to that resource while
still providing some useful information.

%prep
%setup -q -n help2man-%{version}

%build
%configure --%{!?with_nls:disable}%{?with_nls:enable}-nls --libdir=%{_libdir}/help2man
%{?scl:scl enable %{scl} "}
make %{?_smp_mflags}
%{?scl:"}

%install
%{?scl:scl enable %{scl} "}
make install_l10n DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT
%{?scl:"}
%{?scl:scl enable %{scl} "}
make install DESTDIR=$RPM_BUILD_ROOT
%{?scl:"}
%find_lang %pkg_name --with-man

%post
/sbin/install-info %{_infodir}/help2man.info %{_infodir}/dir 2>/dev/null || :

%preun
if [ $1 -eq 0 ]; then
  /sbin/install-info --delete %{_infodir}/help2man.info \
    %{_infodir}/dir 2>/dev/null || :
fi

%files -f %pkg_name.lang
%doc README NEWS THANKS COPYING
%{_bindir}/help2man
%{_infodir}/*
%{_mandir}/man1/*

%if %{with nls}
%{_libdir}/help2man
%endif

%changelog
* Tue Apr 22 2014 John Doe <jdoe@example.com> - 1.44.1-1
- Built for h2m144 SCL.

4.4.3. Building the h2m144 Software Collection

To build the h2m144 Software Collection:
  1. Install the rh-perl524-scldevel and rh-perl524-perl-macros packages that are part of the perl524 Software Collection.
  2. Build h2m144.spec and install the h2m144-runtime and h2m144-build packages.
  3. Install the rh-perl524-perl, rh-perl524-perl-Text-ParseWords and rh-perl524-perl-Getopt-Long packages, which are all build requirements for help2man.
  4. Build help2man.spec.

4.4.4. Testing the h2m144 Software Collection

To test the h2m144 Software Collection:
  1. Install the h2m144-help2man package.
  2. Run the following command:
    $ scl enable h2m144 'help2man bash'
  3. Verify that the output is similar to the following lines:
    .\" DO NOT MODIFY THIS FILE!  It was generated by help2man 1.44.1.
    .TH BASH, "1" "April 2014" "bash, version 4.1.2(1)-release (x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu)" "User Commands"
    .SH NAME
    bash, \- manual page for bash, version 4.1.2(1)-release (x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu)
    .SH SYNOPSIS
    .B bash
    [\fIGNU long option\fR] [\fIoption\fR] ...
    .SH DESCRIPTION
    GNU bash, version 4.1.2(1)\-release\-(x86_64\-redhat\-linux\-gnu)
    .IP
    bash [GNU long option] [option] script\-file ...
    .SS "GNU long options:"
    .HP
    \fB\-\-debug\fR

Chapter 5. Troubleshooting Software Collections

This chapter helps you troubleshoot some of the common issues you can encounter when building your Software Collections.

5.1. Error: line XX: Unknown tag: %scl_package software_collection_name

You can encounter this error message when building a Software Collection package. It is usually caused by a missing package scl-utils-build. To install the scl-utils-build package, run the following command:
# yum install scl-utils-build

5.2. scl command does not exist

This error message is usually caused by a missing package scl-utils. To install the scl-utils package, run the following command:
# yum install scl-utils

5.3. Unable to open /etc/scl/prefixes/software_collection_name

This error message can be caused by using incorrect arguments with the scl command you are calling. Check the scl command is correct and that you have not mistyped any of the arguments.
The same error message can also be caused by a missing Software Collection. Ensure that the software_collection_name Software Collection is properly installed on the system. For more information, see Section 1.5, “Listing Installed Software Collections”.

5.4. scl_source: command not found

This error message is usually caused by having an old version of the scl-utils package installed. To update the scl-utils package, run the following command:
# yum update scl-utils

Appendix A. Getting More Information

For more information on Software Collection packaging, Red Hat Developers, the Red Hat Software Collections and Red Hat Developer Toolset offerings, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see the resources listed below.

A.1. Red Hat Developers

  • Overview of Red Hat Software Collections on Red Hat Developers – The Red Hat Developers portal provides a number of tutorials to get you started with developing code using different development technologies. This includes the Node.js, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby Software Collection.
  • Red Hat Developer Blog – The Red Hat Developer Blog contains up-to-date information, best practices, opinion, product and program announcements as well as pointers to sample code and other resources for those who are designing and developing applications based on Red Hat technologies.

A.2. Installed Documentation

  • scl(1) – The man page for the scl tool for enabling Software Collections and running programs in Software Collection's environment.
  • scl --help – General usage information for the scl tool for enabling Software Collections and running programs in Software Collection's environment.
  • rpmbuild(8) – The man page for the rpmbuild utility for building both binary and source packages.

A.3. Accessing Online Documentation

The following is a brief list of documents that are directly or indirectly relevant to this book:
  • spec2scl – The spec2scl tool can help you convert conventional RPM spec files to SCL-style spec files. Install it on Fedora by running the yum install spec2scl command.
  • Red Hat Software Collections 3.8 Release Notes – The Release Notes for Red Hat Software Collections 3.8 document the major features and contains other information about Red Hat Software Collections, a Red Hat offering that provides a set of dynamic programming languages, database servers, and various related packages.
  • Red Hat Developer Toolset 11.0 User Guide – The User Guide for Red Hat Developer Toolset 11.0 contains information about Red Hat Developer Toolset, a Red Hat offering for developers on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform. Using Software Collections, Red Hat Developer Toolset provides current versions of the GCC compiler, GDB debugger and other binary utilities.
  • Using Red Hat Software Collections 3.8 Container Images – This guide provides information on how to use container images based on Red Hat Software Collections. The available container images include applications, daemons, and databases. The images can be run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Atomic Host.
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Developer Guide – The Developer Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 provides detailed description of Red Hat Developer Toolset features, as well as an introduction to Red Hat Software Collections, and information on libraries and runtime support, compiling and building, debugging, and profiling.
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 System Administrator's Guide – The System Administrator's Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 documents relevant information regarding the deployment, configuration, and administration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Developer Guide – The Developer Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 provides detailed description of Red Hat Developer Toolset features, as well as an introduction to Red Hat Software Collections, and information on libraries and runtime support, compiling and building, debugging, and profiling.
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 Deployment Guide – The Deployment Guide for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 documents relevant information regarding the deployment, configuration, and administration of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.

Appendix B. Revision History

Revision History
Revision 2-9Mon Mar 21 2022Petr Kovář
2-9 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-8Fri Feb 14 2020Petr Kovář
2-8 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-7Thu May 17 2018Petr Kovář
2-7 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-6Wed Aug 23 2017Petr Kovář
2-6 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-5Mon Jan 30 2017Petr Kovář
2-5 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-4Mon 21 Nov 2016Petr Kovář
2-4 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-3Mon 08 Jun 2015Petr Kovář
2-3 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-2Fri 24 Apr 2015Petr Kovář
2-2 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-1Thu 05 Mar 2015Petr Kovář
2-1 release of the Packaging Guide.
Revision 2-0Thu Nov 06 2014Petr Kovář
The Software Collections Guide renamed to Packaging Guide.
The Packaging Guide published for softwarecollections.org.
Revision 1-4Fri Jul 11 2014Petr Kovář
1-4 release of the Software Collections Guide.
Revision 1-3Sun Mar 23 2014Petr Kovář
1-3 release of the Software Collections Guide.
Revision 1-2Wed Sep 18 2013Petr Kovář
1-2 release of the Software Collections Guide.
Revision 1-1Mon Feb 18 2013Petr Kovář
1-1 release of the Software Collections Guide.
Revision 1-0Tue Jun 19 2012Petr Kovář
1-0 release of the Software Collections Guide.
Revision 0.0-0Thu Feb 23 2012Petr Kovář
Initial creation of book.

B.1. Acknowledgments

The author of this book would like to thank the following people for their valuable contributions: Jindřich Nový, Marcela Mašláňová, Bohuslav Kabrda, Honza Horák, Jan Zelený, Martin Čermák, Jitka Plesníková, Langdon White, Florian Nadge, Stephen Wadeley, Douglas Silas, Tomáš Čapek, and Vít Ondruch, among many others.

Appendix C. Legal Notice

Copyright © 2021 Red Hat, Inc.
The text of and illustrations in this document are licensed by Red Hat under a Creative Commons Attribution–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license ("CC-BY-SA"). An explanation of CC-BY-SA is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. The original authors of this document, and Red Hat, designate the Fedora Project as the "Attribution Party" for purposes of CC-BY-SA. In accordance with CC-BY-SA, if you distribute this document or an adaptation of it, you must provide the URL for the original version.
Red Hat, as the licensor of this document, waives the right to enforce, and agrees not to assert, Section 4d of CC-BY-SA to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
Red Hat, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Shadowman logo, JBoss, MetaMatrix, Fedora, the Infinity Logo, and RHCE are trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.
For guidelines on the permitted uses of the Fedora trademarks, refer to https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal:Trademark_guidelines.
Linux® is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries.
Java® is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
XFS® is a trademark of Silicon Graphics International Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries.
MySQL® is a registered trademark of MySQL AB in the United States, the European Union and other countries.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.