rpmlint is a tool for checking common errors in rpm packages. rpmlint can be used to test individual packages before uploading or to check an entire distribution. By default all applicable checks are performed but specific checks can be performed by using command line parameters.

rpmlint can check binary rpms (files and installed ones), source rpms, and plain specfiles, but all checks do not apply to all argument types. For best check coverage, run rpmlint on source rpms instead of plain specfiles, and installed binary rpms instead of uninstalled binary rpm files.

The idea for rpmlint is from the lintian tool of the Debian project.

Comments and new checks welcome. See the project home page at https://github.com/rpm-software-management/rpmlint

Implemented checks:

• Tag checks (TagsCheck).
• Distribution specific checks (MandrakeCheck).
• Binary checks (BinaryCheck).
• Configuration file checks (ConfigCheck).
• Location, permission, group and owner checks (FileCheck).
• suid warnings (FileCheck).
• Signature checks (SignatureCheck).
• FHS checks (FHSCheck).
• Source specific checks (SourceCheck).
• i18n checks (I18NCheck).
• Menu system checks (MenuCheck).
• Scriptlet checks (PostCheck).
• /etc/rc.d/init.d checks (InitScriptCheck).
• Spec file checks (SpecCheck).
• Zip/Jar file checks (ZipCheck).
• Pam configuration file checks (PamCheck).
• Rpm file checks (RpmFileCheck).
• Software Collections checks (SCLCheck).

If you want to change configuration options or the list of checks, use the global configuration files /etc/rpmlint/*config or the user configuration file $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/rpmlint (~/.config/rpmlint if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is empty or not set).

Configuration files are Python source files and should begin with the following line:

from Config import *

to load configuration functions.

Configuration functions:

resetChecks() resets the list of checks.

addCheck(check) adds the check to the list of checks to try.

addCheckDir(path) adds a path to look for checks.

setOption(name, value) sets the value of the configuration option. See below for the list of available options.

addFilter(regexp) adds a filter to remove the output of a check, and removeFilter(regexp) removes one (for use eg. in per-user configuration files to remove filters added in system config files).

See the file config shipped with rpmlint for examples, available options and their default values.