GNU bug report logs - #60068
[PATCH 1/2] guix-install.sh: Add GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE environment variable.

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: guix-patches <at> gnu.org
Cc: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] guix-install.sh: Add GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE environment
 variable.
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 10:56:02 -0500

The need for this use case appeared when attempting to install Guix on a truly
minimal image made with Buildroot, which lacked enough GNU components that I
had to extract a guix pack to /gnu before attempting installation, which would
then refuse to proceed because of the existing /gnu.

* etc/guix-install.sh: Document environment variables.
(REQUIRE): Add missing "useradd" command.
(sys_create_store) [GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE]: Skip pre-existing installation
checks and output a warning.  Extract the tarball directly to /.
---
 etc/guix-install.sh | 26 +++++++++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/etc/guix-install.sh b/etc/guix-install.sh
index fb9006b3e2..06730f7e3f 100755
--- a/etc/guix-install.sh
+++ b/etc/guix-install.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,22 @@
 
 # We require Bash but for portability we'd rather not use /bin/bash or
 # /usr/bin/env in the shebang, hence this hack.
+
+# Environment variables
+#
+# GUIX_BINARY_FILE_NAME
+#
+# Can be used to override the automatic download mechanism and point
+# to a local Guix binary archive filename like
+# "/tmp/guix-binary-1.4.0rc2.armhf-linux.tar.xz"
+#
+# GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE
+#
+# Instead of aborting to avoid overwriting a previous installations,
+# allow copying over /var/guix or /gnu.  This can be useful when the
+# installation required the user to extract Guix packs under /gnu to
+# satisfy its dependencies.
+
 if [ "x$BASH_VERSION" = "x" ]
 then
     exec bash "$0" "$@"
@@ -53,6 +69,7 @@ REQUIRE=(
     "chmod"
     "uname"
     "groupadd"
+    "useradd"
     "tail"
     "tr"
     "xz"
@@ -337,16 +354,15 @@ sys_create_store()
 
     _debug "--- [ ${FUNCNAME[0]} ] ---"
 
-    if [[ -e "/var/guix" || -e "/gnu" ]]; then
+    if [[ -z $GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE && (-e /var/guix || -e /gnu) ]]; then
         die "A previous Guix installation was found.  Refusing to overwrite."
+    else
+        _msg "${WAR}Overwriting existing installation!"
     fi
 
     cd "$tmp_path"
-    tar --extract --file "$pkg" && _msg "${PAS}unpacked archive"
-
     _msg "${INF}Installing /var/guix and /gnu..."
-    mv "${tmp_path}/var/guix" /var/
-    mv "${tmp_path}/gnu" /
+    tar --extract --file "$pkg" -C /
 
     _msg "${INF}Linking the root user's profile"
     mkdir -p ~root/.config/guix

base-commit: 1b6e251ed1bae7aa2f544e8ccb6b4aaf872e77e6
-- 
2.38.1

Message #8 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me <at> tobias.gr>
To: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, guix-patches <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: [bug#60068] [PATCH 1/2] guix-install.sh: Add
 GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE environment variable.
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 17:16:19 +0100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hi Maxim,

Nice!  More steps towards world domination.

Maxim Cournoyer 写道：
> +# Environment variables

These sound like they should be command-line arguments.

[…]

Actually, I'm not totally sold on GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE.  It's not 
solving much a problem.

Instead, the error message could be specific about what it 
considers a ‘previous Guix installation’ — which would be a good 
idea regardless — and tell the admin exactly what needs to be 
removed to continue.

>      "groupadd"
> +    "useradd"

Good catch, but separate patch.  (♪)

> -    if [[ -e "/var/guix" || -e "/gnu" ]]; then
> +    if [[ -z $GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE && (-e /var/guix || -e /gnu) 
> ]]; then
>          die "A previous Guix installation was found.  Refusing 
>          to overwrite."
> +    else
> +        _msg "${WAR}Overwriting existing installation!"
>      fi
>  
>      cd "$tmp_path"
> -    tar --extract --file "$pkg" && _msg "${PAS}unpacked 
> archive"
> -
>      _msg "${INF}Installing /var/guix and /gnu..."
> -    mv "${tmp_path}/var/guix" /var/
> -    mv "${tmp_path}/gnu" /
> +    tar --extract --file "$pkg" -C /

I'm still in favour of using something like ‘mktemp -d 
/gnu.XXXXXX’ here if there's no security flaw I missed.  WDYT?

If the overwrite functionality is kept, we should remove the old 
directories before re-populating them.

Kind regards,

T G-R

[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Message #14 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me <at> tobias.gr>
Cc: 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, guix-patches <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: [bug#60068] [PATCH 1/2] guix-install.sh: Add
 GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE environment variable.
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 13:25:06 -0500

Hi Tobias,

Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me <at> tobias.gr> writes:

> Hi Maxim,
>
> Nice!  More steps towards world domination.

Eh :-)

> Maxim Cournoyer 写道：
>> +# Environment variables
>
> These sound like they should be command-line arguments.

I agree, but that'd require a loop, or GNU getopt, and I'm not motivated
enough in the moment to re-design it :-).  When we get there, we could
add an --uninstall option too.

> […]
>
> Actually, I'm not totally sold on GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE.  It's not
> solving much a problem.

The problem it solves for me was that I needed to use 'guix pack'd
dependencies such as gpg, glibc for getent, and shadow's
groupadd/useradd, etc. to satisfy the install script dependencies on my
weird target OS (minimal busybox embedded OS); which are needed to be
unpacked under /gnu, thus conflicting with the requirement that /gnu
doesn't exist.

I tried a relocatable pack, but it didn't work, at least for gpg (file
not found error).

> Instead, the error message could be specific about what it considers a
> ‘previous Guix installation’ — which would be a good idea regardless —
> and tell the admin exactly what needs to be removed to continue.
>
>>      "groupadd"
>> +    "useradd"
>
> Good catch, but separate patch.  (♪)

OK!

>> -    if [[ -e "/var/guix" || -e "/gnu" ]]; then
>> +    if [[ -z $GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE && (-e /var/guix || -e /gnu) ]];
>> then
>>          die "A previous Guix installation was found.  Refusing
>> to overwrite."
>> +    else
>> +        _msg "${WAR}Overwriting existing installation!"
>>      fi
>>       cd "$tmp_path"
>> -    tar --extract --file "$pkg" && _msg "${PAS}unpacked archive"
>> -
>>      _msg "${INF}Installing /var/guix and /gnu..."
>> -    mv "${tmp_path}/var/guix" /var/
>> -    mv "${tmp_path}/gnu" /
>> +    tar --extract --file "$pkg" -C /
>
> I'm still in favour of using something like ‘mktemp -d /gnu.XXXXXX’
> here if there's no security flaw I missed.  WDYT?
>
> If the overwrite functionality is kept, we should remove the old
> directories before re-populating them.

Hopefully the reason the above makes more sense is also covered by my
use case explanation above.

Is the use case/change motivation a bit clearer now?

-- 
Thanks,
Maxim

Message #20 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 1/3] guix-install.sh: Add missing "useradd" command.
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:46:38 -0500

* etc/guix-install.sh: (REQUIRE): Add missing "useradd" command.
---
 etc/guix-install.sh | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/etc/guix-install.sh b/etc/guix-install.sh
index f008593d84..b8ea9e54c3 100755
--- a/etc/guix-install.sh
+++ b/etc/guix-install.sh
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ REQUIRE=(
     "chmod"
     "uname"
     "groupadd"
+    "useradd"
     "tail"
     "tr"
     "xz"

base-commit: fa23fb86f7741570d194bba1f227016d9aa25881
-- 
2.38.1

Message #23 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 2/3] guix-install.sh: Add GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE environment
 variable.
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:46:39 -0500

The need for this use case appeared when attempting to install Guix on a truly
minimal image made with Buildroot, which lacked enough GNU components that I
had to extract a guix pack to /gnu before attempting installation, which would
then refuse to proceed because of the existing /gnu.

* etc/guix-install.sh: Document environment variables.
(sys_create_store) [GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE]: Skip pre-existing installation
checks and output a warning.  Extract the tarball directly to /.
---
 etc/guix-install.sh | 25 ++++++++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 20 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/etc/guix-install.sh b/etc/guix-install.sh
index b8ea9e54c3..62d85e765a 100755
--- a/etc/guix-install.sh
+++ b/etc/guix-install.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,22 @@
 
 # We require Bash but for portability we'd rather not use /bin/bash or
 # /usr/bin/env in the shebang, hence this hack.
+
+# Environment variables
+#
+# GUIX_BINARY_FILE_NAME
+#
+# Can be used to override the automatic download mechanism and point
+# to a local Guix binary archive filename like
+# "/tmp/guix-binary-1.4.0rc2.armhf-linux.tar.xz"
+#
+# GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE
+#
+# Instead of aborting to avoid overwriting a previous installations,
+# allow copying over /var/guix or /gnu.  This can be useful when the
+# installation required the user to extract Guix packs under /gnu to
+# satisfy its dependencies.
+
 if [ "x$BASH_VERSION" = "x" ]
 then
     exec bash "$0" "$@"
@@ -338,16 +354,15 @@ sys_create_store()
 
     _debug "--- [ ${FUNCNAME[0]} ] ---"
 
-    if [[ -e "/var/guix" || -e "/gnu" ]]; then
+    if [[ -z $GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE && (-e /var/guix || -e /gnu) ]]; then
         die "A previous Guix installation was found.  Refusing to overwrite."
+    else
+        _msg "${WAR}Overwriting existing installation!"
     fi
 
     cd "$tmp_path"
-    tar --extract --file "$pkg" && _msg "${PAS}unpacked archive"
-
     _msg "${INF}Installing /var/guix and /gnu..."
-    mv "${tmp_path}/var/guix" /var/
-    mv "${tmp_path}/gnu" /
+    tar --extract --file "$pkg" -C /
 
     _msg "${INF}Linking the root user's profile"
     mkdir -p ~root/.config/guix
-- 
2.38.1

Message #26 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2 3/3] guix-install.sh: Directly exit in case of errors in
 chk_require.
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 15:46:40 -0500

* etc/guix-install.sh (chk_require): Directly exit in case of errors in
chk_require, instead of relying on 'set -e'.
---
 etc/guix-install.sh | 6 ++----
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/etc/guix-install.sh b/etc/guix-install.sh
index 62d85e765a..ea10f35250 100755
--- a/etc/guix-install.sh
+++ b/etc/guix-install.sh
@@ -137,10 +137,8 @@ chk_require()
         command -v "$c" &>/dev/null || warn+=("$c")
     done
 
-    [ "${#warn}" -ne 0 ] &&
-        { _err "${ERR}Missing commands: ${warn[*]}.";
-          return 1; }
-    
+    [ "${#warn}" -ne 0 ] && die "Missing commands: ${warn[*]}."
+
     _msg "${PAS}verification of required commands completed"
 }
 
-- 
2.38.1

Message #31 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org>
To: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, 60069 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#60069: [PATCH 2/2] guix-install.sh: Directly exit in case
 of errors in chk_require.
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:41:17 +0100

Hi,

Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com> skribis:

> * etc/guix-install.sh: (REQUIRE): Add missing "useradd" command.

[...]

> * etc/guix-install.sh (chk_require): Directly exit in case of errors in
> chk_require, instead of relying on 'set -e'.

These two patches LGTM; you can add them to ‘master’ and that way people
will benefit from it when installing 1.4.0.

Thanks!

Ludo’.

Message #34 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org>
To: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, 60069 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#60069: [PATCH 2/2] guix-install.sh: Directly exit in case
 of errors in chk_require.
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:43:16 +0100

Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com> skribis:

> The need for this use case appeared when attempting to install Guix on a truly
> minimal image made with Buildroot, which lacked enough GNU components that I
> had to extract a guix pack to /gnu before attempting installation, which would
> then refuse to proceed because of the existing /gnu.
>
> * etc/guix-install.sh: Document environment variables.
> (sys_create_store) [GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE]: Skip pre-existing installation
> checks and output a warning.  Extract the tarball directly to /.

Like Tobias, I’m reluctant to adding environment variables; I’m also
skeptical about the use case (I think it’s fine to let users remove
their previous installation if that’s what they want).

I also think we’d rather minimize changes to the script since we’re a
couple of days before the release.

Thanks,
Ludo’.

Message #37 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org>
To: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, 60069 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#60069: [PATCH 2/2] guix-install.sh: Directly exit in case
 of errors in chk_require.
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2022 15:44:54 +0100

Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com> skribis:

> The need for this use case appeared when attempting to install Guix on a truly
> minimal image made with Buildroot, which lacked enough GNU components that I
> had to extract a guix pack to /gnu before attempting installation, which would
> then refuse to proceed because of the existing /gnu.
>
> * etc/guix-install.sh: Document environment variables.
> (sys_create_store) [GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE]: Skip pre-existing installation
> checks and output a warning.  Extract the tarball directly to /.

Like Tobias, I’m reluctant to adding environment variables; I’m also
skeptical about the use case (I think it’s fine to let users remove
their previous installation if that’s what they want).

I also think we’d rather minimize changes to the script since we’re a
couple of days before the release.

Thanks,
Ludo’.

Message #40 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org>
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, 60069 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#60069: [PATCH 2/2] guix-install.sh: Directly exit in case
 of errors in chk_require.
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:07:24 -0500

Hi Ludovic,

Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org> writes:

> Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com> skribis:
>
>> The need for this use case appeared when attempting to install Guix on a truly
>> minimal image made with Buildroot, which lacked enough GNU components that I
>> had to extract a guix pack to /gnu before attempting installation, which would
>> then refuse to proceed because of the existing /gnu.
>>
>> * etc/guix-install.sh: Document environment variables.
>> (sys_create_store) [GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE]: Skip pre-existing installation
>> checks and output a warning.  Extract the tarball directly to /.
>
> Like Tobias, I’m reluctant to adding environment variables; I’m also
> skeptical about the use case (I think it’s fine to let users remove
> their previous installation if that’s what they want).

Removing my previous installation wouldn't have helped (it would have
cleared the guix packs I needed to be able to run the installer).
Without this change, I wouldn't have been able to install guix using
guix-install.sh.  It's niche, but I bet it'd help folks trying to
install Guix on Alpine and similar minimal OSes.

> I also think we’d rather minimize changes to the script since we’re a
> couple of days before the release.

The change seems fairly small to me and would be easy to revert if it
causes a problem.  But I'll let you do the call, given you're the one
pushing the release forward (thank you!).

-- 
Thanks,
Maxim

Message #43 received at 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org>
Cc: me <at> tobias.gr, 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#60069: [PATCH 2/2] guix-install.sh: Directly exit in case
 of errors in chk_require.
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:24:16 -0500

Hi Ludo,

Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org> writes:

> Hi,
>
> Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com> skribis:
>
>> * etc/guix-install.sh: (REQUIRE): Add missing "useradd" command.
>
> [...]
>
>> * etc/guix-install.sh (chk_require): Directly exit in case of errors in
>> chk_require, instead of relying on 'set -e'.
>
> These two patches LGTM; you can add them to ‘master’ and that way people
> will benefit from it when installing 1.4.0.

Done, for the two patches mentioned above, leaving the
GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE one open for further discussions.

-- 
Thanks,
Maxim

Message #46 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com>
To: Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me <at> tobias.gr>
Cc: Ludovic Courtès <ludo <at> gnu.org>,
 60068 <at> debbugs.gnu.org, guix-patches <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: [bug#60068] [PATCH 1/2] guix-install.sh: Add
 GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE environment variable.
Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2023 23:36:59 -0500

Hi Tobias and Ludovic,

Had you seen my reply below?  It seems you had perhaps misunderstood the
use case at hand?

Maxim Cournoyer <maxim.cournoyer <at> gmail.com> writes:

> Hi Tobias,
>
> Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me <at> tobias.gr> writes:
>
>> Hi Maxim,
>>
>> Nice!  More steps towards world domination.
>
> Eh :-)
>
>> Maxim Cournoyer 写道：
>>> +# Environment variables
>>
>> These sound like they should be command-line arguments.
>
> I agree, but that'd require a loop, or GNU getopt, and I'm not motivated
> enough in the moment to re-design it :-).  When we get there, we could
> add an --uninstall option too.
>
>> […]
>>
>> Actually, I'm not totally sold on GUIX_ALLOW_OVERWRITE.  It's not
>> solving much a problem.
>
> The problem it solves for me was that I needed to use 'guix pack'd
> dependencies such as gpg, glibc for getent, and shadow's
> groupadd/useradd, etc. to satisfy the install script dependencies on my
> weird target OS (minimal busybox embedded OS); which are needed to be
> unpacked under /gnu, thus conflicting with the requirement that /gnu
> doesn't exist.
>
> I tried a relocatable pack, but it didn't work, at least for gpg (file
> not found error).

-- 
Thanks,
Maxim

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