If you want to make any changes to the rpm, the standard procedure would be to install the src.rpm with rpm -ivh, edit the spec file in /usr/src/packages/SPECS and finally build the new rpm with "rpm -bb <spec file>" or "rpm -ba <spec file>" if you want a new src.rpm built with your new edited spec file included.
Anders, Thanks, that does seem to work but is not quite what I was looking for. I guess there is not a HowTo that describes using the *.src.rpm and associated spec files. :( I still have a few questions, maybe you can answer them: (for all of the below, I am working with shadow-4.0.2-47.src.rpm) ---- 1) The above ("rpm -ivh; rpm -ba") is apparently missing some dependency checking. At least on my machine rpm -ba is dying because I don't have ldap.h installed. The dependency on openldap2-devel is in the specfile under both "# neededforbuild" and "# usedforbuild". How do I get rpm to test for it? 2) What is the difference between "# neededforbuild" and "# usedforbuild" in the specfile. 3) If I want to create a patch file of my own, do I just create a shadow-4.0.2-greg.dif file and reference it in the specfile? If so, do I create the diff file with a diff -c like a normal patch? 4) While developing my patches, I want to modify the actual source, compile, and install. The below seems to work, and it installs to /var/tmp/shadow-root, which is nice for initial testing. === # rpm -ivh shadow-4.0.2-47.src.rpm (.src.rpm from the CDs) # cd /usr/src/packages/SPECS # rpm -bp shadow.spec # Apply SuSE specific patches # rpm -bc --short-circuit shadow.spec # Run ./configure as SuSE does # cd /usr/src/packages/BUILD # make source code changes # Invoke local makes as necessary # cd /usr/src/packages/SPECS # rpm -bi --short-circuit shadow.spec # Install === For final testing, how do I get rpm to install to /? Thanks very much, Greg -- Greg Freemyer