diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
index 7d334f045409..efc76c2cf49e 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/default.nix
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ rec {
     qemu-img create -f qcow $diskImage "${toString size}M"
 
     mkdir $out/nix-support
-    echo ${fullName} > $out/nix-support/full-name
+    echo "${fullName}" > $out/nix-support/full-name
   '';
 
 
@@ -368,18 +368,28 @@ rec {
     '';
     
     buildPhase = ''
+      eval "$preBuild"
+    
       # Hacky: RPM looks for <basename>.spec inside the tarball, so
       # strip off the hash.
       stripHash "$src"
       srcName="$strippedName"
-      ln -s "$src" "$srcName"
+      cp "$src" "$srcName" # `ln' doesn't work always work: RPM requires that the file is owned by root
 
-      rpmbuild -vv -ta "$srcName"
+      rpmbuild -vv -ta "$srcName" || fail
+
+      eval "$postBuild"
     '';
 
     installPhase = ''
       ensureDir $out/rpms
       find /usr/src -name "*.rpm" -exec cp {} $out/rpms \;
+
+      for i in $out/rpms/*.rpm; do
+        header "Generated RPM/SRPM: $i"
+        rpm -qip $i
+        stopNest
+      done
     '';
   }));
 
@@ -462,4 +472,59 @@ rec {
     });
 
 
+  /* A bunch of disk images. */
+
+  diskImages = {
+
+    redhat9i386 = fillDiskWithRPMs {
+      name = "redhat-9-i386-image";
+      fullName = "Red Hat Linux 9 (i386)";
+      size = 768;
+      rpms = import ./rpm/redhat-9-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
+    
+    suse90i386 = fillDiskWithRPMs {
+      name = "suse-9.0-i386-image";
+      fullName = "SUSE Linux 9.0 (i386)";
+      size = 768;
+      rpms = import ./rpm/suse-9-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
+    
+    fedora2i386 = fillDiskWithRPMs {
+      name = "fedora-core-2-i386-image";
+      fullName = "Fedora Core 2 (i386)";
+      size = 768;
+      rpms = import ./rpm/fedora-2-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
+    
+    fedora3i386 = fillDiskWithRPMs {
+      name = "fedora-core-3-i386-image";
+      fullName = "Fedora Core 3 (i386)";
+      size = 768;
+      rpms = import ./rpm/fedora-3-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
+    
+    fedora5i386 = fillDiskWithRPMs {
+      name = "fedora-core-5-i386-image";
+      fullName = "Fedora Core 5 (i386)";
+      size = 768;
+      rpms = import ./rpm/fedora-5-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
+    
+    ubuntu710i386 = fillDiskWithDebs {
+      name = "ubuntu-7.10-gutsy-i386-image";
+      fullName = "Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy (i386)";
+      size = 512;
+      debs = import ./deb/ubuntu-7.10-gutsy-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
+
+    debian40r3i386 = fillDiskWithDebs {
+      name = "debian-4.0r3-etch-i386-image";
+      fullName = "Debian 4.0r3 Etch (i386)";
+      size = 512;
+      debs = import ./deb/debian-4.0r3-etch-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
+    };
+
+  };
+
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-packages.list b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-i386.list
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-packages.list
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-i386.list
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-packages.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-i386.nix
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-packages.nix
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-2-i386.nix
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-packages.list b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-i386.list
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-packages.list
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-i386.list
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-packages.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-i386.nix
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-packages.nix
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-3-i386.nix
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-packages.list b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-i386.list
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-packages.list
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-i386.list
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-packages.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-i386.nix
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-packages.nix
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/fedora-5-i386.nix
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-packages.list b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-i386.list
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-packages.list
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-i386.list
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-packages.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-i386.nix
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-packages.nix
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/redhat-9-i386.nix
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/rpm.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/rpm.nix
deleted file mode 100644
index 624e3b387a5f..000000000000
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/rpm.nix
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
-pkgs:
-
-rec {
-
-  stdenv = pkgs.stdenv;
-
-  
-  fillDiskWithRPMs = {size ? 1024, rpms, name, fullName, postInstall ? null}:
-  stdenv.mkDerivation {
-    builder = ./fill-disk-with-rpms.sh;
-    worker = ./fill-disk-worker.sh;
-    buildInputs = [pkgs.uml pkgs.utillinux];
-    inherit (pkgs) sysvinit e2fsprogs rpm;
-    inherit rpms size name fullName postInstall;
-  };
-
-
-  runInUML = args: stdenv.mkDerivation (args // {
-    inherit (args) name image;
-    builder = ./run-in-uml.sh;
-    actualBuilder = args.builder;
-    boot = ./run-in-uml-boot.sh;
-    buildInputs = [pkgs.uml pkgs.utillinux];
-    inherit (pkgs) sysvinit utillinux;
-  });
-
-    
-  redhat90Image = fillDiskWithRPMs {
-    rpms = (import ./redhat-9-packages.nix) {inherit (pkgs) fetchurl;};
-    name = "redhat-9.0";
-    fullName = "Red Hat 9.0";
-    postInstall = ./redhat-postinstall.sh;
-  };
-
-  suse90Image = fillDiskWithRPMs {
-    rpms = (import ./suse-9-packages.nix) {inherit (pkgs) fetchurl;};
-    name = "suse-9.0";
-    fullName = "SuSE 9.0";
-  };
-
-  fedora2Image = fillDiskWithRPMs {
-    rpms = (import ./fedora-2-packages.nix) {inherit (pkgs) fetchurl;};
-    name = "fedora-core-2";
-    fullName = "Fedora Core 2";
-    postInstall = ./fedora-postinstall.sh;
-  };
-
-  fedora3Image = fillDiskWithRPMs {
-    rpms = (import ./fedora-3-packages.nix) {inherit (pkgs) fetchurl;};
-    name = "fedora-core-3";
-    fullName = "Fedora Core 3";
-    postInstall = ./fedora-postinstall.sh;
-  };
-
-  fedora5Image = fillDiskWithRPMs {
-    rpms = (import ./fedora-5-packages.nix) {inherit (pkgs) fetchurl;};
-    name = "fedora-core-5";
-    fullName = "Fedora Core 5";
-  };
-}
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-packages.list b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-i386.list
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-packages.list
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-i386.list
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-packages.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-i386.nix
similarity index 100%
rename from pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-packages.nix
rename to pkgs/build-support/vm/rpm/suse-9-i386.nix
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/vm/test.nix b/pkgs/build-support/vm/test.nix
index 6c25667a222b..bef100625a7f 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/vm/test.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/vm/test.nix
@@ -8,47 +8,23 @@ rec {
   buildPatchelfInVM = runInLinuxVM patchelf;
 
 
-  rpmImage = fillDiskWithRPMs {
-    name = "fedora-image";
-    fullName = "Fedora Core 3";
-    size = 1024;
-    rpms = import ./rpm/fedora-3-packages.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
-  };
-
-
-  testRPMImage = makeImageTestScript rpmImage;
+  testRPMImage = makeImageTestScript diskImages.fedora5i386;
 
 
   buildPatchelfRPM = buildRPM {
     name = "patchelf-rpm";
     src = patchelf.src;
-    diskImage = rpmImage;
+    diskImage = diskImages.fedora5i386;
   };
 
   
-  ubuntuImage = fillDiskWithDebs {
-    name = "ubuntu-image";
-    fullName = "Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy";
-    size = 256;
-    debs = import ./deb/ubuntu-7.10-gutsy-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
-  };
-  
-
-  debianImage = fillDiskWithDebs {
-    name = "debian-image";
-    fullName = "Debian 4.0r3 Etch";
-    size = 256;
-    debs = import ./deb/debian-4.0r3-etch-i386.nix {inherit fetchurl;};
-  };
-
-
-  testUbuntuImage = makeImageTestScript ubuntuImage;
+  testUbuntuImage = makeImageTestScript diskImages.ubuntu710i386;
 
   
   buildInDebian = runInLinuxImage (stdenv.mkDerivation {
     name = "deb-compile";
     src = nixUnstable.src;
-    diskImage = debianImage;
+    diskImage = diskImages.debian40r3i386;
     memSize = 512;
     phases = "sysInfoPhase unpackPhase patchPhase configurePhase buildPhase checkPhase installPhase fixupPhase distPhase";
     sysInfoPhase = ''