[Bio-packaging] Using a shared Guix store (was RE: testing out guix)

[Cook, Malcolm]

> > However
> >
> > 	./pre-inst-env guix package -i hello
> >
> > Gives me
> >
> > 	guix package: error: build failed: the build users group
> > `guix-builder' has no members
> >
> > But, but, I do have a group `guix-builder`
> >
> > I think the problem may be that my guix-builder group was defined in NIS
> whereas its members are not in NIS.
> 
> What does ‘getenv group guix-builder’ return?  It should show something
> like: 
> guixbuild:x:30000:guixbuilder01,guixbuilder02,guixbuilder03,guixbuilder04,gu
> ixbuilder05,guixbuilder06,guixbuilder07,guixbuilder08,guixbuilder09,guixbuild
> er10

Answered below....

> Each build account must have ‘guix-builder’ in its supplementary group list.
> 
> > The daemon is running as user `guix` on host  ${GUIXHOST}
> 
> The daemon really needs to run as root, if possible:
> 
>   http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/html_node/Build-
> Environment-Setup.html

I guess my issues are arising from challenging this (soft?) requirement.

My SA has provided me /gnu as NFS network share owned by network user `guix` and group owned by `guix-builder`.

However it is 'root squashed' on all servers, including my GUIX_HOST.  In other works, the root account cannot write to it.

For this reason, I have tried 

	./configure --prefix=/gnu

rather than the suggested

	./configure --localstatedir=/gnu/var --exec-prefix=/gnu  

Since this suggestion results in `make install` needed to write to both the root-squashed network share and /usr/local which can only be done by root, an impossibility.

Or am I thinking about this wrong?

--prefix=/gnu has some additional advantage of getting the /share directory network wide, as presumably should be /etc/bashy_completion.d 

I am making guix from fresh `git pull` master passing all tests (except for SKIPPING the container test thanks to recent commit - last week it was failing this one)

However, with this configuration, after install, and running the daemon as user 'guix', I now get:

	bash-4.2$ guix build hello
	guix build: error: build failed: acquiring/releasing lock: No locks available

Oh, right, and, I am still doing by hand:
	su -c 'mkdir /gnu/var/guix/profiles/per-user; chmod a+rwx /gnu/var/guix/profiles/per-user' - guix

So, I think if I knew a little more about guix internals, I would expect that I could figure out a ./configuration that allows /gnu to reside on root-squashed network share.

Ricardo, you seem to have something _like_ this working.  I'm guessing that your /gnu was local to your GUIXHOST, and so you did not need to solve this root squash issue.  

Ricard & Ludo, do you mind thinking this through a little further with me?

Here is current my account setup

	getent group guix-builder
	guix-builder:!:20302:guix-builder1,guix-builder2,guix-builder3,guix-builder4,guix-builder5,guix-builder6,guix-builder7,guix-builder8,guix-builder9,guix-builder10

	getent passwd guix
	guix:$1$E5Ru3NpE$wZZY.cM8TwbRMHBI1UP110:3036:20302:Guix build user:/var/empty:/bin/bash

	getent passwd guix-builder1 ## and all the other guix-builder
	guix-builder1:!!:3048:20302:Guix build user 1:/var/empty:/sbin/nologin


~Malcolm


> 
> > However trying to --install is not successful
> >
> > 	/gnu/bin/guix package --install hello
> > 	accepted connection from pid 26597, uid 1232
> > 	error: while creating directory `/gnu/var/guix/profiles/per-
> user/mec': Permission denied
> > 	Please create the `/gnu/var/guix/profiles/per-user/mec' directory,
> with you as the owner.
> > 	Try "info '(guix) Invoking guix package'" for more information.
> >
> > Which leads me to think the documentation is in error where it says "The
> per-user directory is created when guix-daemon is started".
> 
> Well, /var/guix/profiles/per-user is created by the daemon, but .../mec is
> created by ‘guix package’.
> 
> > Creating it by hand (owned by guix, with write access to all) :
> >
> > 	mkdir /gnu/var/guix/profiles/per-user ## the doc says this should
> happen by the daemon but not!  FIXME! BUG?
> > 	chmod a+rwx /gnu/var/guix/profiles/per-user
> 
> Perfect.
> 
> The daemon really does create /gnu/var/guix/profiles/per-user, making it
> world-writable (see nix/libstore/local-store.cc:254.)
> 
> However, you mentioned guix-daemon was *not* running as root, in which
> case it does not attempt to create this directory.  That could be the reason. 
> 
> Thanks for your report,
> Ludo’.