diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 2efc7621fd..42b319e3cd 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,5 +6,6 @@ Vagrantfile
 _output/*
 bin
 packaging/rpm/_rpmbuild/
+packaging/rpm/paack-result/
 scripts/image-builder/_builds/
 sshfile
diff --git a/packaging/rpm/make-microshift-images-rpm.sh b/packaging/rpm/make-microshift-images-rpm.sh
index a1c9fc27e2..c5550374a0 100755
--- a/packaging/rpm/make-microshift-images-rpm.sh
+++ b/packaging/rpm/make-microshift-images-rpm.sh
@@ -4,16 +4,8 @@ set -e -o pipefail
 # generated from other info
 SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" &> /dev/null && pwd )"
 BASE_VERSION="$(${SCRIPT_DIR}/../../pkg/release/get.sh base)"
-
 RPMBUILD_DIR="${SCRIPT_DIR}/_rpmbuild/"
-BUILD=${BUILD:-$1}
-BUILD=${BUILD:-rpm}
-TARGET=${TARGET:-$2}
-TARGET=${TARGET:-fedora-36-x86_64}
 RELEASE=${RELEASE:-1}
-COPR_REPO=${COPR_REPO:-@redhat-et/microshift-containers}
-
-ARCHITECTURES=${ARCHITECTURES:-"x86_64:amd64 aarch64:arm64"}
 
 build() {
   cat >"${RPMBUILD_DIR}"microshift-images.yaml <<EOF
@@ -41,18 +33,62 @@ EOF
       while read image; do echo "          - $image"; done >> "${RPMBUILD_DIR}"microshift-images.yaml
   done
 
-  ${SCRIPT_DIR}/paack.py ${BUILD}  "${RPMBUILD_DIR}"microshift-images.yaml -r "${RPMBUILD_DIR}" $BUILD_OPT
+  ${SCRIPT_DIR}/paack.py ${BUILD} "${RPMBUILD_DIR}"microshift-images.yaml -r "${RPMBUILD_DIR}" $BUILD_OPT
+}
 
+function usage() {
+  echo "Usage:"
+  echo "   $(basename $0) rpm  <pull_secret> <architectures> <rpm_mock_target>"
+  echo "   $(basename $0) srpm <pull_secret> <architectures>"
+  echo "   $(basename $0) copr <pull_secret> <architectures> <copr_repo>"
+  echo ""
+  echo "pull_secret:     Path to a file containing the OpenShift pull secret"
+  echo "architectures:   One or more RPM architectures"
+  echo "rpm_mock_target: Target for building RPMs inside a chroot (e.g. 'rhel-8-x86_64')"
+  echo "copr_repo:       Target Fedora Copr repository name (e.g. '@redhat-et/microshift-containers')"
+  echo ""
+  echo "Notes:"
+  echo " - The OpenShift pull secret can be downloaded from https://console.redhat.com/openshift/downloads#tool-pull-secret"
+  echo " - Use 'x86_64:amd64' or 'aarch64:arm64' as an architecture value"
+  echo " - See /etc/mock/*.cfg for possible RPM mock target values"
+  exit 1
 }
 
+# parse command line
+BUILD=$1
+PULL_SECRET=$2
+ARCHITECTURES=$3
+case $BUILD in
+rpm)
+  [ $# -ne 4 ] && usage
+  TARGET=$4
+  ;;
+srpm)
+  [ $# -ne 3 ] && usage
+  ;;
+copr)
+  [ $# -ne 4 ] && usage
+  COPR_REPO=$4
+  ;;
+*)
+  usage
+esac
+
 # prepare the rpmbuild env
 mkdir -p "${RPMBUILD_DIR}"/{BUILD,RPMS,SOURCES,SPECS,SRPMS}
 
+# pass pull secret as an environment variable
+export REGISTRY_AUTH_FILE=$PULL_SECRET
+
+# run the build
 case $BUILD in
-  copr) BUILD_OPT=$COPR_REPO build;;
-  rpm)  BUILD_OPT=$TARGET build;;
-  srpm) build;;
-      *)
-      echo "Usage: $0 [copr|rpm|srpm]"
-      exit 1
+rpm)
+  BUILD_OPT=$TARGET build
+  ;;
+srpm)
+  build
+  ;;
+copr)
+  BUILD_OPT=$COPR_REPO build
+  ;;
 esac
diff --git a/packaging/rpm/paack.py b/packaging/rpm/paack.py
index 43541221b8..7b8f4436c4 100755
--- a/packaging/rpm/paack.py
+++ b/packaging/rpm/paack.py
@@ -410,7 +410,11 @@ def _create_images_tarball(self, package, arch_info):
             for image in arch_info['images']:
                 arch_name = arch_info.get('image_arch', arch_info['name'])
                 print("pulling %s for arch %s, to %s" % (image, arch_name, directory))
-                result = system('sudo podman pull --arch %s --root "%s" %s' % (arch_name, directory, image))
+                auth_file = os.getenv('REGISTRY_AUTH_FILE')
+                if auth_file!='':
+                    result = system('sudo podman pull --authfile %s --arch %s --root "%s" %s' % (auth_file, arch_name, directory, image))
+                else:
+                    result = system('sudo podman pull               --arch %s --root "%s" %s' % (           arch_name, directory, image))
                 if result!=0:
                     print("error pulling image")
                     sys.exit(result)