jordansissel/fpm · warning

Using deprecated flag: --package-prefix. Please use --packag

Error message

Using deprecated flag: --package-prefix. Please use --package-name-prefix

What it means

The python input target renamed --package-prefix to --package-name-prefix. The old flag is still accepted for compatibility, but its handler block logs this deprecation warning on every use. The block returns the value unchanged, so the prefix is still applied — this is a rename warning, not a loss of function.

Source

Thrown at lib/fpm/package/python.rb:38

class FPM::Package::Python < FPM::Package
  # Flags '--foo' will be accessable  as attributes[:python_foo]
  option "--bin", "PYTHON_EXECUTABLE",
    "The path to the python executable you wish to run.", :default => "python"
  option "--easyinstall", "EASYINSTALL_EXECUTABLE",
    "The path to the easy_install executable tool", :default => "easy_install"
  option "--pip", "PIP_EXECUTABLE",
    "The path to the pip executable tool. If not specified, easy_install " \
    "is used instead", :default => nil
  option "--pypi", "PYPI_URL",
    "PyPi Server uri for retrieving packages.",
    :default => "https://pypi.python.org/simple"
  option "--trusted-host", "PYPI_TRUSTED",
    "Mark this host or host:port pair as trusted for pip",
    :default => nil
  option "--package-prefix", "NAMEPREFIX",
    "(DEPRECATED, use --package-name-prefix) Name to prefix the package " \
    "name with." do |value|
    logger.warn("Using deprecated flag: --package-prefix. Please use " \
                 "--package-name-prefix")
    value
  end
  option "--package-name-prefix", "PREFIX", "Name to prefix the package " \
    "name with.", :default => "python"
  option "--fix-name", :flag, "Should the target package name be prefixed?",
    :default => true
  option "--fix-dependencies", :flag, "Should the package dependencies be " \
    "prefixed?", :default => true

  option "--downcase-name", :flag, "Should the target package name be in " \
    "lowercase?", :default => true
  option "--downcase-dependencies", :flag, "Should the package dependencies " \
    "be in lowercase?", :default => true

  option "--install-bin", "BIN_PATH", "(DEPRECATED, does nothing) The path to where python scripts " \
    "should be installed to." do
    logger.warn("Using deprecated flag --install-bin")

View on GitHub (pinned to b6d77ba72a)

Solutions

1. Replace --package-prefix with --package-name-prefix in the fpm command line
2. If driving fpm from Ruby, set attributes[:python_package_name_prefix] instead of the old attribute
3. Drop the flag entirely to accept the default prefix 'python'

Example fix

# before
fpm -s python -t rpm --package-prefix myteam requests

# after
fpm -s python -t rpm --package-name-prefix myteam requests

# CI guard: fail the script audit when the deprecated flag appears
if grep -rnE -- '--package-prefix([ =]|$)' build/; then
  echo 'ERROR: use --package-name-prefix, not --package-prefix' >&2
  exit 1
fi

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking `fpm -s python -t rpm --package-prefix myteam ...`, or setting the python_package_prefix attribute programmatically on an FPM::Package::Python instance.

Common situations: Build scripts and CI pipelines written against older fpm releases; fpm command lines copy-pasted from old blog posts, wikis, or shared team recipes.

Related errors

• Using deprecated flag --install-bin
• Using deprecated flag: --install-location. Please use --pref
• #{self.class.name} does not yet support reading #{self.type}
• #{self.class.name} does not yet support creating #{self.type
• Parent directory does not exist: #{File.dirname(output_path)

AI-assisted analysis of jordansissel/fpm@b6d77ba72a (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4605b351b812447e. Report an issue: GitHub.