node2rpm

Node package that wraps the rpmbuild CLI to build RPMs from JavaScript/TypeScript (e.g. packaging Node apps).

Requirements: Node.js >= 22. The system rpmbuild binary must be installed.

Prerequisites

Install the RPM toolchain on your system. The package invokes the rpmbuild command.

• macOS: brew install rpm
• Fedora / RHEL: rpm-build is usually present; if not: dnf install rpm-build
• Debian / Ubuntu: apt install rpm

Installation

The package is published on the public npm registry as node2rpm.

npm install --save node2rpm

Usage

The package is ESM-only. Use async/await or .then().

Simple: build() (promise)

import rpm from 'node2rpm';

const ctx = await rpm.build({
  name: 'myproject',
  version: '0.0.1',
  summary: 'My Project RPM',
  description: 'RPM for my Node project',
  files: {
    '/var/local/myproject': ['lib/**', 'node_modules/**'],
    '/usr/bin': ['bin/**'],
  },
  release: 1,
  url: 'https://myproject/',
  license: 'GPL+',
  group: 'Development/Tools',
  cwd: '.',
  rpmRootDir: './rpmbuild',
});

console.log('RPM built:', ctx.rpms?.rpm);

With RpmBuilder (events / multiple builds)

import { RpmBuilder } from 'node2rpm';

const builder = new RpmBuilder();
builder.on('message', (phase, ...args) => console.log(phase, ...args));

const ctx = await builder.build({
  name: 'myproject',
  version: '0.0.1',
  summary: 'My Project RPM',
  description: 'RPM for my Node project',
  files: {
    '/var/local/myproject': ['dist/**', 'node_modules/**'],
    '/usr/bin': ['bin/**'],
  },
  release: 20250302120000,
  rpmRootDir: './rpmbuild',
});

API

build(options: BuildOptions): Promise<BuildContext>

Builds an RPM. Options:

| Option | Type | Description | | --------------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | name | string | Package name | | version | string | Version | | summary | string? | Short summary | | description | string? | Long description | | files | object | Map of install path → glob(s). Values can be a string, string[], or { path, chmod? }. Use !pattern to exclude | | release | number? | Release number (default: 1) | | installScript | string[]? | Script lines for %install (e.g. chown); %{buildroot} is supported | | url | string? | Project URL | | license | string? | License (default: GPL+) | | group | string? | RPM group (default: Applications/Internet) | | requires | string[]? | Requires lines | | cwd | string? | Working directory for globs (default: .) | | rpmRootDir | string? | rpmbuild top dir (default: ~/rpmbuild) | | buildArch | string? | e.g. noarch (default) | | specFile | string? | Path to a custom spec file (relative to cwd or absolute). Same placeholders as built-in: {{name}}, {{version}}, {{files}}, etc. | | specTemplate | string? | Inline spec template string (ignored if specFile is set) | | verbose | boolean? | Log rpmbuild output |

Returned BuildContext includes rpms?: { rpm: string | null; srpm: string | null } with paths to the built RPM(s).

RpmBuilder class

Same options as build(). Emits message events with phase and args. Use for multiple builds or progress logging.

License

See LICENSE.