SRPM

SRPM stands for Source RPM, a type of RPM package used in RPM-based distributions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, and CentOS. An SRPM distributes the original source code along with the packaging metadata needed to rebuild the binary packages. Unlike a standard binary RPM, an SRPM contains sources, patches, and a spec file and does not contain compiled binaries (though some prebuilt source artifacts may be included in rare cases). The SRPM is itself an RPM package and is typically named with a .src.rpm extension, e.g., foo-1.2-3.src.rpm. When installed, it places the sources in a build directory and provides a building recipe via the SPEC file in SPECS, along with the source archive in SOURCES.

The primary use of SRPMs is to enable rebuilds and auditing. They allow distributions and users to rebuild the software for different architectures or with custom build options, and to verify the provenance of the code and patches. They also facilitate security updates and reproducible builds by providing the exact sources and patch set used to create binary packages.

To build binary RPMs from an SRPM, a build tool such as rpmbuild is used, for example rpmbuild --rebuild foo-1.2-3.src.rpm, which uses the included SPEC to compile and package the software for the target architecture. The resulting binary RPMs are placed in the RPMS/ directory.

SRPMs are commonly used in packaging workflows and are a standard part of the RPM packaging ecosystem, complementing binary RPMs and source archives distributed by upstream projects.