+++ title = "BaguetteOS, tools and stuff" paginate_by = 5 +++ - [Overview](#overview) - [Technical choices](#technical-choices) - [Custom tools](#custom-tools) - [Slotting](#slotting) - [Roadmap](#roadmap) # 1. Concise overview BaguetteOS status: Work In Progress. A beta will be available circa mid-2020 for advanced users. End of the year for simple users. Warning: this documentation is currently mostly oriented towards advanced unix users. We provide insights on system administration, expose our ideas and point of view. Documentation for simple users will be split in another page, soon. ## Objectives, for simple users BaguetteOS aims at providing a simple unix-like system, with an **unified web interface**. **No command-line required for simple users.** *let users be just users*
Simplicity should not only come from an interface, but be inherent to the whole system. If the OS is simple, there is no need to hack it. **Unified interface is better than features.**
Our web interface will directly provide the basic features such as mail, instant messaging, etc. The list of features covered by our interface will grow-up continuously. We do not want a patchwork of very different software, each of them having its own particularities. **Online services.** *day-to-day use*
The web interface should cover online services, providing an unified experience for main usages: mails, calendar, instant messaging, personal website, file sharing, etc. **One-click management.** *service installs, updates, etc.*
The web interface should handle basic system and network configurations, such as adding users, dhcp, DNS, backups, etc. **Well-known, reliable software.** *for real*
BaguetteOS relies on robust and independent software. At no point the user should be forced to reinstall, a misconfiguration has to be easily fixable. We use static compilation for *(at least)* system tools: there is almost no chance an update break the system (yes, *almost*, people are creative these days). **Hardware support.** *new or old, fast or slow, it doesn't matter*
We provide support for RPi and other small cards: if our kernel runs on it, it has to work. Minimal hardware requirement should be around 100 MB RAM, 50 MB disk. **Documentation.** *simple, reliable, useful, all-in-one-place*
Similar to the OpenBSD FAQ: updated, complete, concise and well-written. **Constrained devices use case.** *wanna see what small systems can do?*
By default, we try to provide the smallest memory footprint: we do not provide manuals nor runtime libraries when not required. Our programs will never require you to download development libraries, nor alternative package managers. We choose all of our tools with size in mind. As a result, our system can be installed quickly even on slow machines. ## Objectives, for advanced users **A knowable OS.** *simplicity at (almost) all cost*
Any interested user should be able to understand the role of every part of the base system: no compromise. This means having a very small and consistent set of tools, easy to learn, easy to remember. **Basic system and network management.** *with the simplest tools ever*
We provide a web interface that should handle basic system and network configurations, such as adding users, firewall management, dhcp, DNS, backups, etc. CLI tools are available to manage services, they are designed to be simple, consistent and reliable. **Officially supported services.** *so you are sure to get them working*
We use some services for our own personal usage, so we will provide support for them. For instance: gitea, postgresql, etc. **One need, one tool.** *this time for real*
Installing an application or a library is done by [package][package]. Other methods are not supported **and the base system will never require them**. We avoid to rely on `pip`, `cpanm`, or other third party package manager and dependency tree. Starting, stopping, or configuring a service is done by [service][service]. This program alone is used to manage services on the OS. Users should not be required to manually configure each software; instead, most of the configuration should be done upstream using templates. Users should be able to change the default configuration through command-line options. Manual configuration is the last option. **Slotting.** *any software can be installed on any machine at any time, no extra tooling*
[Slotting](#slotting) by default helps to install many programs, even with peculiar library version requirements. The same program can be installed in several versions without conflicts. See more in the [technical section](#technical-choices). ## Objectives, for contributors **Simple to contribute to.** *you can focus on providing recipes for packages, we handle the tooling*
Packaging applications and libraries should be possible with the fewest and simplest tooling possible. BaguetteOS provides [a simple tool to package applications](#packaging) (`packaging`) which allows simple recipes for your packages. `packaging` handles [slotting](#slotting), compiling, stripping binaries and libraries, splitting the result into different packages (`-man`, `-lib`, `-doc`, etc.), authenticating, etc. All that, just by typing ```sh $ packaging app ``` nothing more. meanie meanie dev **No Makefile?** *no problem*
Your application or your library lacks a build system? Here is a [tool to create makefiles](#build.zsh). It works on any language. *yes, even that one* **Stable and development versions: same thing.** *slotting, again and again*
One of the coolest aspect of slotting is: you don't need to change your system *at all* to be on the development version of the OS. The newest version is just slotted in `/usr/baguette-dev` and that's it. Switching OS version is just a few environment variables away. **New OS, open to explore** *we are open to new ideas*
BaguetteOS does not suffer from cumbersome historical decisions: no overly engineered package format, no stupidly complex patchwork of mismatch tools. **Easy-to-write documentation.** *and hopefully less procrastination*
Online documentation and man pages are written in Markdown (thanks to `zola` and `scdoc`). Every tool has a man page: no man page = no integration in base. ## Inspiration - [CRUX][crux], [alpine][alpine]: simple-to-understand Linux systems - [OpenBSD][openbsd]: security-oriented system, therefore simple - [PFsense][pfsense]: advanced networking administration through a simple website - [Plan9][plan9] and [Inferno][inferno]: OS with an *everything is a file* philosophy *no seriously guys* - [suckless][suckless] and [cat-v][cat-v]: documentation and tools, all about simplicity, code readability and re-usability - [morpheus][morpheus]: OS based on statically compiled tools ## Why not use another system? This section could be expanded. **A few reasons why none of the candidates cover it all.**
1. **we want slotting**
So we could change the way we install and maintain packages. 2. **we want fast install and startup on dumb devices**
Coreutils shrank to bare minimum, thanks to `toybox`. We won't require a full-feature system with several hundred megabytes of disk-space used. 3. **documentation is important, but not for all installations**
Your 42nd test install on a virtual machine doesn't need a manual for CLI tools you won't use since you do everything through the web interface. Software and its documentation will be split: manual pages won't be provided by default. 4. **we want automatic tests, and to enable people to test our system**
We want easy chroot installs, on any system. 5. **we want to run on tiny ARM boxes, old laptops, top-notch servers**
So we need to run on any available kernel. 6. **we want to control software distribution releases**
We don't accept to follow updates from an upstream OS that could break our system at any time. --- **Now, let's take a look at each candidate.** **OpenBSD.** *we will get there quick, but will focus on Linux a bit before*
We definitively want to use OpenBSD, currently we just focus on Linux for hardware compatibility reasons (and out of habits) but it's not set in stone. We love OpenBSD big time, some of us use it daily. We aim at providing rootfs for running our system under an OpenBSD kernel and environment.
*(also, snapshots could be great, guys)* **PFsense.** *network focused*
Great system, does the job very well, but won't fit our objectives as it is way too focused on networking. **CRUX and Alpine.** *great source of inspiration*
We **do** use the CRUX's `rc` script, and as Alpine it is a source of inspiration for package recipes. However, since we have to change all packages to get slotting, the service manager to have tokenized services, the packaging software to get declarative recipes (...), why even bother use those systems? **GUIX (and Nix).** *not simple enough*
GUIX approach of package management is interesting, having to learn a language to make recipes isn't. And that sums up this technology pretty well. It's great, but not to put everywhere. Every part of BaguetteOS is simple to understand, GUIX is not simple *enough*. But keep it up guys, it's still awesome. **Plan9, Inferno, morpheus, etc.** *kinda abandoned systems*
That's it. # 2. Technical choices ## Base system **Linux kernel**, but we are lurking on the OpenBSD one.
Linux is compatible with most hardware and software, it is fast and we can easily compile a custom version to remove most of the bloat for server usage. Still, we don't want to rely on Linux-specific components. At some point, our system will be kernel-agnostic and will be able to run on any BSD as well. OpenBSD has `pledge` and `unveil` syscalls, which is an elegant way to provide a guarantee on the software behavior. **Musl.** *reasonable libc for Linux*
It has a reasonable amount of features, it is efficient, provides reasonable binary sizes and static compilation. Musl is simple, reliable and remove all glibc-specific functions. Others can be added easily, which is useful for compatibility and comparisons, through [slotting](#slotting). **Bootable system and rootfs available.**
A bootable system to install in virtual machines or bare metal, a rootfs to use BaguetteOS from any other OS, including non-Linux ones. **SysV-style init + [CRUX-like /etc/{rc,mdev.conf,...}][baguette-rc]**. *easy to read, easy to adapt*
The init could come from toybox or another minimalist project. The [rc script from CRUX][cruxinit] is simple to understand and to adapt to any requirements, so we use it. We also provide some other scripts, like for [profile][baguette-profile] so we can easily manage slotting. No systemd BS. **Toybox.** *the megabyte coreutils*
[Toybox][toybox] combines common unix command line utilities together into a single BSD-licensed executable. It is designed to be simple even to read, and is standards-compliant. For the base system, that's all we need. **ksh and zsh**. *the first for scripts and root, the other for users*
[Ksh][ksh] is a very stable and reliable shell from AT&T, trusted by the paranoid people of OpenBSD. That's a safe choice for a base system and the root account. On the other hand, we do use [zsh][zsh] daily, as for many users, so we may use it for development or build scripts but not in the base system. **[Service][service] for service management** *tokenized service description, templating and dumb cli tools for the win*
[See custom tools.](#custom-tools) **[Package][package] for package management** *simple-to-use, efficient, dead simple code*
[See custom tools.](#custom-tools) **OpenSSH.** *as we all know and love*
This is required for almost all usages, and for debug. Let's try not to shoot ourselves in the foot. That's all you need for starters. Web administrative interface will be added to the base when ready. ## Development, build tools **Default building tools** *every tool needed to bootstrap*
Clang (+ LLVM) is the default C (and C++) compiler. [Libarchive][libarchive] is required for tarballs, packages, webhooks from `packaging`, and both [bsdcpio][bsdcpio] and [bsdtar][bsdtar] (sane implementations of `cpio` and `tar`). [Auto-tools][autotools] are also required (for SysV init and libarchive). [m4][m4] and [gnu-make][gmake] are required for compatibility reasons. **Documentation.**
A full hand-book like the OpenBSD FAQ. Our software man-pages are written with `scdoc` so anyone can contribute. **[Packaging][packaging] for packaging software and libraries.** *dead simple, intuitive*
[See custom tools.](#custom-tools) **Slotting.** *custom file system hierarchy*
Our FS is not FHS-compliant, partially because of the origin-based slotting. There is a strict separation between core system and third party software.
[See slotting.](#slotting) - `/usr/baguette` for core system programs - `/usr/bad` for non slot-able software - `/usr/third-party` for other software ## Languages We are reluctant to add new languages to the base system. We will limit the number of languages required for a system bootstrap. For now, bootstrapping requires: `C`, `perl`, `m4`, `python` (for stupid reasons) and `crystal` (used for our software). However, we think that we can overcome C limitations, explore new possibilities. Now, more than ever, we have better alternatives for all non kernel-related tooling. That being said: we do not want dynamic languages. We need: - simple, small and efficient binaries - less possible dependencies (not to download half `cpan` or `pypi` for any freaking software) **Crystal language for system tools.** *syntax and productivity of Ruby, the speed of C*
It is as simple to learn as a dynamic (oriented object) language, while at the same time being almost as fast as C. Technically, Crystal is strongly typed so it catches errors at compilation-time, but with type inference so it is not cumbersome to use. Applications are compiled in a simple binary, easy to deploy. There is a good documentation, we have used it for long enough to tell. Technical choices are reasonable and documented. Finally, Crystal has a large library with all we need for our system components. There is not much of a drawback here. Yes, this is a language you have to learn to work with us on a couple of projects, but you can learn it in about a few days to a week and it increases our productivity like crazy. We heard about `nim` and a ton of other languages, lots of them are great candidates, but **choices needed to be made**. This is the one reaching the sweet spot between these parameters: - productivity (the package manager was mostly done in a few days, [and is just a few hundred lines long][package]) - easy learning (a developer with basic notions of oriented-object can read our code, no black magic here) - good documentation - reasonably deployable (no host dependencies) - execution speed We are also looking at [Zig][zig] for low-level stuff. Wait & see. ## naming convention ```sh name = application name version = application version release = recipe version $name-$version-r$release.pkg ``` Example: ```sh firefox-79.0-r8.pkg ``` # 3. BaguetteOS: custom tools **Simple ideas, simple implementations.**
Keep reminding to yourself while reading this section that our tools are implemented within just a few hundred lines of code (up to 1500 lines for `service` and `libipc`).
Also, they can easily run on other systems: nothing here is OS specific. [Feel free to provide a feedback.](#contact) Here is a few pointers: - [spec format](#spec-format) - [package](#package) - [packaging](#packaging) - [service](#service) - [build.zsh](#build.zsh) - [… and a few other tools](#other-tools) --- ## Main BaguetteOS tools ### Spec files: our declarative format Before presenting our tools, here is a file format named `spec` that we use when relevant. It is *declarative*: we do not write instructions on *how* to do things (copy this file here, download this, etc.). Instead, we describe what something is: the URL of the project is `https://example.com/xxx`, for example. The `spec format` is only composed of variables, lists, code blocks and named sections. Here is a quick example. ```yaml # This is a comment # This is a simple variable instanciation my-variable: value # This is an inlined list my-list: a, b, c # This is a multiline list my-list: - a - b - c ``` Up to this point, this looks a lot like YAML, but now we add `code blocks` to it: because sometimes we do want to tell instructions. ```yaml # We have the URL of the tarballs for a software software-url: 'https://example.com/my-software/' # ... and we want to get its last version number # and its tarballs on the website look like this: # 'https://example.com/my-software/2.6_my-software.tar.gz' # 'https://example.com/my-software/2.7_my-software.tar.gz' # 'https://example.com/my-software/2.8_my-software.tar.gz' # ... # "@watch" is a block # in the application reading the file, "watch" is a keyword meaning "command to run to check for new tarball versions" @watch # the following is simple shell scripting curl %{software-url} -o- 2>/dev/null | \ sed "s/_my-software.tar.gz//" | \ tail -1 ``` Sometimes, we want to refer to a file (or directory) and add metadata to it through `named sections`. ```yaml # as for "@watch", "%configuration" is a keyword for the application # this time, the block has an arbitrary name %configuration postgresql.conf # within a named section, variables are declared in the same way as outside the block name: database configuration creation-command: my-script.sh -a -b -c ``` Next, the usage in practice: [packaging](#packaging), [service](#service). [Back to top](#top) --- ### [Package][package]: our package manager `Package` covers the basics: install, remove, search and provide information about a package. `Package` can create minimal rootfs, to bootstrap BaguetteOS on another system or to create test environments for example. Package provides slotting by default: no need for custom environments for each software. Package format is a simple `tar` archive containing a `meta.spec` file describing all meta-data about the package (hash, manifest, etc.) and `files.tar.xz` with the files to install. The database format contains: - `world`, the file containing the list of available packages - `installed`, the list of installed packages - `[package-name]/[slot]/manifest`, the manifest of the installed package - `[package-name]/[slot]/meta.spec`, the meta-data of the installed package `Package` configuration consists of: - a list of repositories - authorized package signing keys - packaging variables (cflags, makeflags, and so on) Finally, `Package` can easily be expanded, as it is only a few hundred lines of Crystal code. [Back to top](#top) --- ### [Packaging][packaging]: the way to create packages for BaguetteOS Any OS needs a way to create packages to share software, either by sharing sources that need to be compiled or by sharing pre-compiled binaries. As BaguetteOS is designed to provide quickly usable systems, we choose to provide binaries. `Packaging` uses simple, declarative recipe files with the `spec format` [as we saw earlier](#spec-format). `Packaging` has a few advantages compared to most used packaging tools: - **declarative recipes abstract OS specifics**
The same recipe may work for many **native packaging systems** (on many OSs), as long as packagers provide the right target running dependencies. This only requires to provide a back-end for the package format of the target package manager (a back-end to write `.deb` files, for instance). - **packages are split automatically**
We need to separate binaries, libraries and documentation in different packages, so we can only install what's needed. Slow and testing systems only require strict minimum. - **binaries and libraries are stripped by default**
By default, a running system does not require debug symbols in its binaries. - **recipe readability is great**
A few variable declarations are better than a dozen lines of code. - **trivial shell script patterns become automated**
`Autotools` and `cmake` build systems are auto-detected; packagers should only provide specific parameters for each project. - **tooling may change, recipes won't**
Everybody wants to change its build system? *(Besides possibly broken tools and possible workarounds,)* this is not a problem for the recipe, just for `packaging`. - **packages are hashed and signed by default, no extra-tooling**
You need your own set of cryptographic keys, which is created at first use. - **repositories are created automatically at first compilation, helping people maintaining their own set of tools**
Change the first `prefix` in your [packaging configuration](#packaging-host-config), compile your first package and you have your repository. It's that simple. shell script is lava **`Packaging`'s build environments**
`Packaging` uses `package` to create build environments and to test packages before validation. It works as follow: 1. a `/tmp/packaging/build-UUID/` directory is created 2. sources are downloaded, extracted then compiled
Recipes and [`packaging` host configuration](#packaging-host-config) may change parameters to the build: adding steps before compilation, changing `configure` arguments, changing the default slotting (`/usr/baguette`), etc. 3. compiled applications and libraries are put in `/tmp/packaging/build-UUID/root` which is used to create the final package Build environments are low-cost since we hardlink binaries into the building rootfs, which is inspired by the [proot][proot] tool on OpenBSD. `Packaging` only installs the minimal set of binaries required by the package to build. Besides the target application, a building environment size is only a few kilobytes. **`Packaging` configuration**. *common configuration for your packages*
`Packaging` may be configured globally for your system with the file `/etc/packaging.conf` which contains the following: ```YAML # Configuration file for `packaging` # where to send built packages packages-directory: /usr/local/pkg/ # where to download sources sources-directory: /usr/local/src/ # the slot we want for our packages slotting: /usr/baguette # prefixes for `packaging` running environment and child processes # = where to search for binaries and libraries for the build prefixes: - /usr/baguette/ - / # list of environment variables we want to have when building environment: # we may choose another compiler, provide some CFLAGS, etc. - CC: clang - CFLAGS: -Os -Wall # next three parameters have special meaning # to provide parameters to the `./configure` script when building - configure: --disable-nls --without-gettext # to provide parameters to the `make` command - make: # to provide parameters to the final `make install` command - make install: # wanna build for another system? not a problem, just add the back-end (we currently have `apk` and `package`) package-manager: package ``` That's it. You know all about `packaging` configuration. These parameters may be overridden by recipes. **`Packaging` recipes.** *we need to create packages*
A recipe is the way to reproduce something; here, we want to create a package, the recipe should provide all data necessary to be able to reproduce the package. This means at least having a name for the software and a version (they appear in the package name) and sources (software code). Let's take an example. ```yaml # GNU Hello program name: hello # software name version: 2.10 # software version release: 2 # recipe release: incremented when the recipe changes for the current version of the software # the description will appear in the package information we can retrieve with `package` description: "This is the GNU Hello program." # sources may be multiple: you may want to add arbitrary files along the tarball (patches for example) sources: https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/hello/hello-%{version}.tar.gz # we provide running dependencies: the program needs these to `run` dependencies: - gettext # we provide build dependencies: these programs are needed to compile our recipe, not to run the application build-dependencies: - make # if we want to add or override compilation options options: - configure: --disable-nls # feels like déjà vu, right? # "watch" code block helps to check if the recipe covers the last software version @watch curl 'https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/hello/' -o- 2>/dev/null | sed -n "/hello-.*\.tar\.gz/{s/\.tar\.gz.*//;s/.*hello-//;p}" | tail -1 ``` This was [a real example][recipe-hello], and not the simplest one. Most of our recipes currently look like this: ```YAML name: dhcpcd version: 8.0.3 sources: https://roy.marples.name/downloads/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-%{version}.tar.xz description: "dhcp server" ``` That's it. Yes, we can add a few meta-data, but this is a working recipe. Configuration, compilation and packaging are done without needing anything else. The only required parameters are `name`, `version` and `sources`. Sometimes, developers are assholes and force you to fix their build system. When manual operations really are required, you can use `@configure`, `@build` and `@install` code blocks. Let's see an example with a special snowflake… like `perl` which has a non-standard build system. ```YAML # in our example, we want to configure the build @configure # we set some script execution parameters: exit at any error, print everything you do set -e -x # we currently are in `/tmp/packaging/build-UUID/` # now we enter the directory created by the tarball extraction, where the build occurs cd perl-%{version} # we can interpolate variables with this: %{} # Perl needs a few environment variables for configuration BUILD_ZLIB=0 BUILD_BZIP2=0 BZIP2_LIB=/usr/lib BZIP2_INCLUDE=/usr/include export BUILD_ZLIB BUILD_BZIP2 BZIP2_LIB BZIP2_INCLUDE # now we can launch the `configure` script… # … but wait kids, that's not `configure`, that is `Configure` (see the capitalized C?) # this is a totally different and very special script, but you should love it anyway ./Configure -des -Dcccdlflags='-fPIC' \ -Dcccdlflags='-fPIC' \ -Dccdlflags='-rdynamic' \ # ... some long and uninteresting list of very specific parameters because we are Perl, we are historic and stuff ``` Now you know how to deal with `@configure`, `@build` and `@install`: these are code blocks allowing you to fix this kind of problems. Non standard build operations happen from time to time, and code blocks help you overcome this. If a lot of packages have the same workarounds, we might add detection and integration into `packaging`, so that only specifics are kept into recipes. If you want to investigate a bit more, you can check [our recipe repository][recipes]. Feel free to improve these recipes with meta-data, `@watch` code blocks… contributions are welcome. **Future of `packaging`.** *let's be even more declarative*
As we saw, `packaging` allows maintainers to create very simple and **readable** recipes. Sometimes we have to confront ourselves to poorly designed build systems, but we can hack a bit. In the future, manual operations should be reduced even more by adding: - a few other parameters to the environment
This implies to check for patterns in the recipes and to provide workarounds. - new code blocks *before* the `configuration`, `build` and `install` steps
This would allow performing a few hacks in the directory (a quick `sed` in a file for instance) while still keeping automatic operations. Another possible addition to `packaging` could be to take cross-OS recipe as first-class citizen. It was part of the design process of spec files: `named sections` can be used to discriminate information based on the target OS. An example: ```YAML %OS Ubuntu-20.04 dependencies: libxxx ``` ```YAML %OS Debian-12 dependencies: lib-with-specific-naming-standard-for-reasons ``` This way, bootstrapping an application and providing it to any system with its own tools could be easy. It's actually what we did during the Baguette's bootstrap. Providing universal recipes could even become a game for patient system administrators. [Back to top](#top) --- ### [Service][service]: service management. *not just `kill` or start/stop/status wrapper* Service management often comes with: - default configuration files, users should learn how to configure them and do it manually - default user and group, so two instances may have security-involved issues - a single possible instance, otherwise the configuration has to be heavily changed - root-only management, simple users rarely run their own services (except on systemd, kudos for once) - no domain management These shortcomings imply manual configuration, scripting to manage databases and users, specific tooling for each database and service: this is heavy machinery. To overcome drawbacks of having simplistic tools, sys-admins developed all kind of monstrous architectures. - **LXC** *chroot + network + software limits* - **Qemu + KVM, Xen** *let's add software mimicking hardware's complexity to the mix, telling everyone it's for security and simplicity* - **docker** *I don't know how to do simple applications nor packages, so I give to you my whole dev environment*
Note: we have to admit, packaging on most OS is painful for absolutely no good reason. - **Chef and Puppet** *the 500 MB running Ruby code on our virtual machines just to check for configuration updates is okay 'cause memory is cheap, right?*
We talk about the importance of security from time to time, but running a software designed by people telling [it's okay not to free memory][ruby-memory-bp] is far from being wise. - **Ansible** *templating your applications… from another machine*
As Chef and Puppet, ansible provides templating for applications, this time configuration propagation is **way** simpler since it uses well-known, trusted and loved ssh. Still, templating is done for remote machines, as it is intended for server deployments: this is **a sys-admin tool**. The introduction page already talks about `cloud provisionning` and `intra-service orchestration` on the first line, telling that you really need to setup SSH keys, etc. As for many tools in IT: this is not for simple users. Simple users: 1. should only have to provide absolutely necessary information for their services 2. should be able to run as many services as they want 3. shouldn't have to learn configuration syntax for their services 4. shouldn't be afraid of updates 5. ... and should have BACKUPS! Where are they? We should have that **by default** on our systems over 20 years ago. And advanced users should have an uncomplicated CLI tool to do that. **Let's take an example with `service`** *better than a thousand words* ```sh # We want a wordpress service, proxied by an nginx and using postgresql as DBMS # 1. we add an nginx $ service add nginx ``` ```sh # 2. we add the database $ service add postgresql ``` ```sh # 3. we add the wordpress # by default, it uses available http proxy and database, but let's be "verbose" $ service add wordpress domain=example.com http=nginx database=postgresql ``` ```sh # 4. we start the wordpress $ service start wordpress ``` A bit of explanation: 1. first, we add `nginx` to the list of services we want on our system 2. same thing with `postgresql` 3. then we add `wordpress` and we pass parameters to the service configuration: `domain`, `http` and `database`
`domain` for the domain name, `http` for the HTTP proxy and then the `database` back-end. Up to this point, nothing even started. 4. Finally, we start the service.
Since `service` knows the dependence graph, it starts other services before wordpress (which actually doesn't have any binary to run *per se*). The configuration of a service is made when `service` starts it. In this case: 1. `nginx` is started as a proxy for `example.com` 2. `postgresql` is started, its internal directories and files are created, then a user, a database and a password for `wordpress` are created 3. a directory is created in `/srv/root/wordpress/` and wordpress files are copied into it, then its configuration is generated Stopping a service also stops its dependencies, unless specified otherwise. Of course, a service is not stopped if it is required elsewhere. Here are a few functionalities `service` brings. 1. **uncomplicated service configuration with shared information**
Services can share: - passwords (which are auto-generated) - user names (which follow a naming convention) - port numbers (auto-attributed unless specified) - ... etc. 2. **templates** *configuration files are generated by templates and a few parameters*
When we want a software, for instance a blog, we want to provide the minimum informations it requires to work and that's it. When `service` starts a service, it verifies if its configuration file is installed and up-to-date, and creates it otherwise. Users shouldn't need to manually change the configuration. Syntax may change at any time without breaking a single service, since the configuration will smoothly be regenerated with useful information at start-up. 3. **environments**
Each service can be installed in a specific environment, such as a custom rootfs, a virtual machine, etc. 4. **automatic user and group creation**
Each service needs to run with a unique user, dedicated to it, different from other users on the system for security reasons. Let's make it the default behavior. 5. **tokens** *service a needs b, b needs c, when a starts, b and c are configured then started*
`service` knows the relations between services, and uses them to configure services through the templates. *everything is smoother now* 6. **automatic backup solution**
Since we know each running database, service configuration and data directories, we can backup everything. We just need a backup server to be configured. Of course, we can add a lot of parameters to have a fine-grained backup solution. ```sh # not currently done, but will look like this $ backup add ssh:user@example.com:/srv/backup ``` 7. **unified way to configure the system** *best user experience possible*
It alleviates the need for manual configuration. The CLI tool is the same for every provided service.
Behind the scene, it's a simple token system with configuration templating!
No heavy machinery here, and we'll keep it that way. 8. **... and understandable tooling output** *for god's sake!*
```sh $ sudo service show my-awesome-gitea-instance Name: my-awesome-gitea-instance Type: gitea Environment: root (prefix) Consumes: - database root/postgresql - http root/nginx Ports: - http: 49155 ``` **`Service`: a service example.**
A service configuration has two parts: the service description and its configuration file template(s). Let's use `gitea` as example, the `git` web server handling [our repositories][baguette-gitea]. ```YAML # `gitea.spec` # The actual command to run to start the service command: gitea -C . -w . -c gitea.cfg # what tokens the service needs, see that http is optional consumes: database, http? # does the service requires a domain name to be configured? # this name may be used in the service configuration, or its (forward|backward) dependencies requires-domain: true # the service requires a simgle port to be open # by default, 80 ports: http # `%configuration` indicates the name of the configuration template %configuration gitea.cfg ``` *We **currently** use a bit more configuration for the database, but we will get there at some point.* Now, a quick look at its configuration template. *just a sample, we'll skip most, don't worry*
Templating is done with `Jinja2` templates: [see more about Jinja2 templating][crinja]. ```YAML [database] # providers = list of services behind the tokens # for example: behind 'database' there is a `postgresql` service # and we want the main port to use (for a database, 'ports.main' = port to access it remotely) # See the definition of the postgresql service for details. HOST = 127.0.0.1:{{ providers.database.ports.main }} # we have to enter the database name # by default, databases are configured with a name convention as follow: environment_service_db # service.id is 'environment/service', which identifies uniquely the service # to get the right database name, we should take the service.id template variable and replace the "/" by "_" then add "_db" NAME = {{ service.id | replace("/", "_") }}_db # by default, the user name is identical to the database name, but without the "_db" suffix USER = {{ service.id | replace("/", "_") }} # we have created the `random_password` function, taking a service id in parameter # `random_password` creates a unique password the first time it is called # after that, it provides the same password each time it is called with the same service id # `random_password` enables sharing a password between two service configurations PASSWD = {{ random_password( service.id ) }} [repository] # service.root indicates the service working directory: /srv/// ROOT = {{ service.root }}/repositories [server] # service.domain = provided domain token value # service.ports.http = provided ports.http token value ROOT_URL = http://{{ service.domain }}:{{ service.ports.http }}/ ``` **Current implementation of `service`**
It [currently works][working-service-asciinema], and we just need to add more services! Every new corner case will be thoroughly investigated to provide the smoothest experience possible under BaguetteOS. We currently use it for a few services, such as the nginx providing this very website. Currently, there are no fancy environments, just plain directories. **Future of `service`**
First, we want to work on databases, to export data and get a simple backup service. Then, we could let users manage their own services, but this is of little interest in practice since services are running under different users already. The most useful thing to do right now is to provide new services. [Back to top](#top) --- ### [Build.zsh][build.zsh]: makefile creation. *for mere mortals* A `Makefile` is very useful to share your project, whatever your project is, no matter if it is an application, a library, the language used, etc. Build.zsh creates a makefile from a simple declarative configuration file. A `Makefile` should: - **compile and link the application** - **handle dependencies** and **rebuild only updated parts of the application** *for incremental builds* - **allow users to rebuid any part of your project independently** - **install the application**
The default installation root directory is `/usr/local` but you should be able to change that easily (with an environment variable or through configuration). - **create a tarball of the project**
This tarball includes your application, its man-pages, the Makefile to build it, etc. - **have a `make help`** *everybody needs help* - *(BONUS)* have colors. I like colors. **How-to generate a Makefile using `Build.zsh`** ```zsh $ ls project.zsh # we need to create this file, we'll cover that in a moment project.zsh ``` ```zsh $ build.zsh -c # -c is for colors. I like colors. Really. ``` ```zsh $ ls Makefile # tadaaaaa you made a Makefile Makefile ``` You can invoke your newly created Makefile with `make help` to know what can it do for you. For example, it can create a tarball with `make dist`. **How-to make a `project.zsh` for `build.zsh`** ```zsh # File `project.zsh` package=my-application # Name of your package. version=2.18.3 # Version of the package (will follow the application version, probably). # targets = all the applications we want to compile in the project targets=(my-application) # Then, we tell the language of these applications. # Here, my-application is coded in Crystal. # build.zsh comes with a number of back-ends: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/build.zsh/src/branch/master/build type[my-application]=crystal # sources are the sources of the application sources[my-application]=src/main.cr # The application depends on a number of files. # Each modification of one of these files = we have to re-compile. depends[my-application]="$(find src -type f | grep -v main.cr)" # Finally, we want to know what are the files we want in the tarball (made though `make dist`). # Here, we want to provide in our tarball: # the application binary, # man-pages in man/ directory, # this project.zsh and the generated Makefile dist=(my-application man/*[1-9] project.zsh Makefile) ``` **`Build.zsh`: a real-life example** ```zsh package=build_zsh # Name of the package. version=0.2.1 # Version of the package. targets=(build.zsh) # The things to build or install. type[build.zsh]=script # How they’re built. # Using a for loop to add more targets. # In this example, we’re registering scripts for installation. for i in build/*.zsh; do targets+=($i) type[$i]=script # Installation in a non-default directory. install[$i]='$(SHAREDIR)/build.zsh' # Targets marked as “auto” won’t appear in `make help`. auto[$i]=true done # Files to add to tarballs through `make dist`. dist=(build.zsh.in build/*.zsh project.zsh Makefile) ``` **Another real-life example** *I like examples*
This time, we want to build a Makefile for a C library. ```zsh package=libipc # Package name. version=0.5.1 # Package version. # Our targets are the library and its documentation. targets=(libipc man/libipc.7) # The libipc target is a library ("for the C language" is implied). # The `library` type automatically adds tho targets: # `target`.so of type `sharedlib` # `target`.a of type `staticlib` type[libipc]=library # Sources are added by default to the tarball. sources[libipc]="$(ls src/*.c)" depends[libipc]=$(ls src/*.h) # We need to add extra compilation flags. variables+=(CFLAGS "-Wall -Wextra -g") # Let's add some CFLAGS, with another syntax. cflags[libipc]="-std=c11" # The man/libipc.7 target is a manual generated with `scdoc`. # `scdocman` is one of the many back-ends of build.zsh: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/build.zsh type[man/libipc.7]=scdocman # Finally, we tell what we want in the tarball, generated with `make dist`. dist=(libipc.so libipc.a) # The library in both shared and static versions. dist+=(man/*.scd man/*.[1-9]) # Manual pages (and sources). dist+=(Makefile project.zsh) # The generated Makefile and this project.zsh. ``` This example shows how to work with C libraries, but it wouldn't have changed much for an application: only the `type` of the target would change. This `project.zsh` comes from the [LibIPC repository][libipc] (a library we'll see soon). **What about now?**
Now you do not have any good reason avoiding Makefiles for your projects! ***But, I don't like Makefiles!***
You like the functionalities we presented here, but you want an alternative to the Makefile? We may add some other back-ends. Stay tuned! [Back to top](#top) --- ### [LibIPC][libipc]: an IPC communication library *nothing new, yet it still feels fresh* We use this communication library between our services. 1. Applications should talk to each other 2. We need services, not libraries
Therefore, languages are irrelevant: you can use *any* library in *any* language. LibIPC is currently used for the administration dashboard, the web interface for the services, [for a kanban][todod] and several other tools we use for collaboration. It provides a way to communicate between clients and services using simple unix sockets behind the scene. C library with Crystal bindings (other languages coming soon) ```Crystal require "ipc.cr" server = IPC::Service.new "MyService" server.loop do |message| # ... end ``` That's easy to write [even in plain C](https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/libipc/src/branch/master/examples/pongd.c). LibIPC explanation goes beyond the scope of this page… and may even deserve a whole website of its own but the tool is awesome and performances are crazy (we have to tell the world!). [Just go and check!][libipc] Explain remote communications. Remote remote communications are transparent. - clients and services do not need remote communication - any client can join remote services via any communication protocol - any service is implicitly accessible from anywhere, anyhow [Back to top](#top) --- ## Other tools ### [tap-aggregator][tap-aggregator]: quality assurance & test results aggregation [Back to top](#top) --- ### [Webhooksd][webhooksd]: verify recipes. Webhooksd provides an automatic verification of the recipes, based on new application or library version. Paired with a build system, new recipes received in the repository create packages for a couple of architectures (x86_64, ARM, others will follow). [Back to top](#top) --- ## Still in discussion For the simple users, we want to provide an unified web interface to manage the system and online services. We currently use `Crystal` to work on service back-ends for a variety of projects, we are satisfied on a technical level and we are productive, it is highly probable we continue using it. The front-end is still in discussion: we currently use `livescript` and it is way more usable than plain JS, but it is painful to debug. So, we need a language for both administration dashboard and online services, here are some examples we find interesting for the job: - Purescript - haskell-like syntax, with a smaller set of notions - strongly typed, with type inference - good documentation - useful compilation errors - no runtime error - Elm - as Purescript but with way fewer documentation (but reading the code is sometimes enough here) - less generic code (functions such as `fold` and `map` have hardcoded type), which feels a bit hacky - still very young - WASM - seems to be a very young tech, with no real good language or documentation - Zig has wasm as a Tier 1 support, we should investigate # 4. Slotting: providing software the right way The usual way to provide software is to maintain a version of a software or a library, package it into a distribution, then provide it as *the* OS version of the software. In the long run, software and libraries change, which is no big deal since maintainers verify the consistency of the different versions provided by the OS. ### Current set of problems - what happens when two programs need a different version of a library?
The installation of both may no be possible. See python from version 2 to 3 as an example: developers knew it will break OS systems. So, they provided by themselves new names for their binaries (`python-2.7`), and libraries are *by default* packaged into a directory specific for a python version, such as `/usr/lib/python3.8/` and this is a form of slotting. This is mostly done for languages, by what about other packaged applications and libraries? - what happens when two libraries are compatible but you want both on your system (see libressl and openssl)?
- what happens when you want to provide a **very** long term support for your users? *see companies running decade-old OSs and databases* BaguetteOS has a simple and safe way to let users and maintainers provide packages: `slotting`. ### What is slotting? Slotting is a lot like repositories, except that repositories provide packages in the same prefixes than your base system. **Without slotting**
Let's take an example with simple repositories. You add a non-official repository for my-overly-awesome-game to your Debian system. This newly installed program will be in `/usr/bin`, as every other program. 1. what if the game requires libraries?
These libraries are installed in `/usr/lib`. 2. what if the game requires libraries that are not in the official repository?
Either the repository for my-overly-awesome-game provides them directly, or you can find another repository providing them. In both cases these libraries will end-up in `/usr/lib`. **With slotting**
With slotting, the program will be in `/usr/`my-overly-awesome-game`/bin`. 1. What if requires libraries? These libraries will be installed in your base system so any of your non-official slot can use them. 2. What if the required libraries aren't available in the official `baguette` slot? Either the game slot provides them, or they are in another slot. In both cases the base system won't change a bit. Official OS packages are installed under `/usr/baguette/`, for non-essential programs. Here, the slot is `baguette`. Any package outside the official ones are in another named slot. Wanna support Python 2.7 **for life**? Just maintain a `python-2.7` slot and tell the world! If BaguetteOS do not provide required libraries for your slot, just add them in your slot. **This is nothing new, however not used directly in OSs, and still maybe the best way to handle the problem.** ### Why not use X? Others are doing slotting too: snap, flatpak, cpanm, pip, go, stack, cabal, ... *the list seems endless*
They all use slotting... *but*. Since they are *yet another package manager for your system*, you need to install all your software dependencies from their own dependency tree. You have now a shit-ton of ways to get software updates, and for *almost* all of them, it's just giving up the idea of having people testing the software before providing it. **Having an alternate package manager for your system is a fancy way of saying:**
*"I trust all the developers more than my OS maintainers. And fuck testing, who needs that anyway."* - **snap**
Snap maintains a `/snap` directory on your system, everything is in there. They even go to a slotting **per recipe version**, which is *kinda* per application version. See the readme in `/snap/README`, does it ring a bell? ``` /snap/bin - Symlinks to snap applications. /snap// - Mountpoint for snap content. /snap//current - Symlink to current revision, if enabled. ``` - **flatpak**: same as `snap` - cpanm, pip, stack, cabal, go... and other **developer tools**
These are tools for developers to overcome the relatively slow process of providing a library in an OS. But this process is **slow for a reason**, taking shortcuts is not safe. wanna the updates at all cost *But, BaguetteOS... I still need my last version of Blah!* We gotcha buddy.
You wanna go fast? Try sonic the good slot: `/usr/sonic`. With this slot, the BaguetteOS maintainers provide the last versions of a variety of applications and libraries. ### How slotting works in BaguetteOS TODO: this documentation is not available right now. Sure the project is still awesome anyway! ### How use and change slots used TODO: this documentation is not available right now. Sure the project is still awesome anyway! ### BaguetteOS file system hierarchy - usual directories under root: bin, sbin, lib, boot, dev, proc, sys, home, mnt, root, run, tmp - `/etc/rc` with `services` and `environments` for running service instances - `/etc/templates` for local service configuration templates - `/var/cache` - under `/srv/"env-name"` (see [service](#service)), these subdirs when required: `/etc`, `/data`, `/cache`, `/run` - under `/usr` - `/local`: things that are installed by the local system administrator without using packages - `/baguette`: things provided by the system that are not necessary for it to run (and boot, and restart, and do system things) - `/"repo"`: `/lib`, `/bin`, `/share`, `/man`, `/include` (`/libexec` but we try to avoid it whenever possible.) - `/bad`: things that cannot be properly installed or slotted somewhere else # 5. Roadmap We currently aim at providing a rootfs with our tools, when we will have enough spare time to contribute. **Web interface is for later**: we need more time to design its graphical components. On the other hand, back-end should be straightforward. # 6. Contact Do not hesitate to come on our [Mattermost][mattermost]. We will soon have bridges on XMPP and IRC, stay tuned! [mattermost]: https://team.baguette.netlib.re/ [service]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/service [package]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/package [packaging]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/packaging [build.zsh]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/build.zsh [libipc]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/libipc [todod]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/todod [webhooksd]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/ [tap-aggregator]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/tap-aggregator [baguette-gitea]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/ [baguette-rc]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/recipes/src/branch/master/rc [baguette-profile]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/recipes/src/branch/master/rc/profile [recipes]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/recipes/ [recipe-hello]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/recipes/src/branch/master/hello/recipe.spec [recipe-dhcpcd]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/recipes/src/branch/master/dhcpcd/recipe.spec [recipe-alsautils]: https://git.baguette.netlib.re/Baguette/recipes/src/branch/master/alsa-utils/recipe.spec [autotools]: https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/html_node/Autotools-Introduction.html [toybox]: http://www.landley.net/toybox/ [cruxinit]: https://crux.nu/gitweb/?p=ports/core.git;a=blob;f=rc/rc;h=26b8ca08d67208ceda4d4004c8333d362bcdc689;hb=HEAD [ksh]: https://github.com/att/ast [zsh]: https://www.zsh.org/ [libarchive]: https://libarchive.org/ [bsdcpio]: https://libarchive.org/ [bsdtar]: https://libarchive.org/ [m4]: https://www.gnu.org/software/m4/m4.html [gmake]: https://www.gnu.org/software/make/ [proot]: https://man.openbsd.org/proot [crinja]: https://github.com/straight-shoota/crinja [zig]: https://ziglang.org/ [openbsd]: https://openbsd.org/ [pfsense]: https://www.pfsense.org/ [alpine]: https://alpinelinux.org/ [crux]: https://crux.nu/ [inferno]: http://www.vitanuova.com/inferno/index.html [plan9]: https://9p.io/plan9/index.html [morpheus]: https://morpheus.2f30.org/ [suckless]: https://suckless.org/ [cat-v]: http://cat-v.org/ [working-service-asciinema]: https://asciinema.org/a/0p2vGNA1TUmvq0s61Lu0r4TN6 [ruby-memory-bp]: https://web.archive.org/web/20160329122617/http://blog.rubybestpractices.com/posts/ewong/005-Avoiding-system-calls.html