When building an rpm (rpm -ba), rpm ignores the "Release:" field in the spec file header. Example: I want to make an rpm for Galileo Version 1, Release 3. The source files are in directory Galileo-1.3. The tar file is named Galileo-1.3.tar.gz. The spec file header (in Galileo-1.3.spec) is as follows: Summary: Galileo Display Wall Server Name: Galileo Version: 1 Release: 3 Copyright: Jupiter Systems, Inc. All rights reserved Vendor: Jupiter Systems, Inc. Group: X11 Source: %{name}-%{version}.%{release}.tar.gz When I enter rpm -ba Galileo-1.3.spec I get the error message: ... -rwxr--r-- john/root 278 2000-12-12 11:14:31 Galileo-1.3/root/.xsession + STATUS=0 + [ 0 -ne 0 ] + cd Galileo-1 /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.55273: Galileo-1: No such file or directory Bad exit status from /var/tmp/rpm-tmp.55273 (%prep) (That's in the BUILD directory) So I end up having make kludges like putting the release number in the "Version:" field, renaming the tar file and so on.
Usually what is done in your case is Name: Galileo Version: 1.3 Release: <anything you want> ... %prep %setup