The %files List

The %files list indicates to RPM which files on the build system are to be packaged. The list consists of one file per line. The file may have one or more directives preceeding it. These directives give RPM additional information about the file and are discussed more fully below.

Normally, each file includes its full path. The path performs two functions. First, it specifies the file's location on the build system. Second, it denotes where the file should be placed when the package is to be installed. [1]

For packages that create directories containing hundreds of files, it can be quite cumbersome creating a list that contains every file. To make this situation a bit easier, if the %files list contains a path to a directory, RPM will automatically package every file in that directory, as well as every file in each subdirectory. Shell-style globbing can also be used in the %files list.