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newsNinit: Minit on steroids
Ah, maybe I have found "the one"!
As I lamented in the previous blog post, I found the service managers derived from daemontools to be very restricted:
http://bkhome.org/news/201802/thinking-about-service-managers.html
Minit is one of them:
Ninit was forked from Minit, by Nikola Vladov, and considerable
thought has gone into extending the usefulness. Dependency options are
now looking very good.
Minit and Ninit are both intended to be compiled statically with
dietlibc, and I have done that. Host is Quirky Xerus64 8.4, which has
dietlibc in the "devx" PET.
A quick note on how to compile Ninit. I edited the 'Makefile', set "DIET=/usr/bin/diet", and had to create a symlink:
# ln -s lib /usr/lib/diet/lib-x86_64
# make
# make install
Back in the mists of time (2012 actually), I created a PET for Minit:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pet_packages-common/minit-0.10-i486.pet
http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pet_packages-common/minit_DOC-0.10-i486.pet
It has etc/minit, which which is a quick hack to make Minit work in an unchanged Puppy. It sets up a replacement for /etc/inittab and runs the usual /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.
I copied etc/minit/* to /etc/ninit/. Then inserted "init=/sbin/ninit" into the kernel boot parameters, then rebooted. Hey, it's working, back at the usual desktop!
Now, about Ninit. It is a dead project, however has been preserved here:
https://gitlab.com/notklaatu/ninit
If you download this, it is version 0.14.
More info is here:
http://without-systemd.org/wiki/index.php/Ninit_instructions
Thinking about service managers
These are just "out loud" thoughts...
There are many service managers that derive from, or were inspired by, a package called 'daemontools'. Runit is one of them.
I have been sifting so many of the service managers, with maybe init replacement, but have always been left discontented.
Trying to pin down why this discontent...
The emphasis on automatic restarting of daemons. Why? If a daemon
crashes for some reason, I don't want it to be automatically restarted.
The lack of support for one-shot services.
Incomplete dependency management. For example, I want a service to wait
until there is a network up. Nothing else to be held up. I know that I
can do it by examining /sys/class/net/dormant, but fitting this in as a
dependency is at best a klutz, as far as I can see, in the service
managers that I have looked at.
There are lots of init replacements with service management, such as
minit, ninit, cinit, myinit. Or, service management with optional init
replacement, such as runit and s6. Then there are some that are service
managers only, such as serel.
I got excited that Runit applets are in Busybox, until I realised how
limited it is. Not the Busybox implementation, the fundamental concept
of daemontools. Unless my understanding has not fully grasped the
capabilities, which is possible.
Here is another...
OpenRC
OpenRC is developed for Gentoo, and adopted by some other distros. It
is a service manager, though apparently can become an init-replacement.
What is particularly interesting is that thought has gone into using it
with Busybox and Busybox's init:
https://blog.flameeyes.eu/2012/03/using-busybox-with-openrc/
Download source:
https://github.com/OpenRC/openrc/releases
Docs;
https://www.calculate-linux.org/main/en/openrc_manuals
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/OpenRC
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/OpenRC
However, I was unable to compile it statically, so have taken it no further.
Will keep researching...
Busybox 1.25.1 Runit applets
There is a problem with all the puplets, including Easy and Quirky. Well, unless a developer has tackled in it their puplet.
The problem is the order of execution of service scripts at startup,
for example, those in /etc/init.d -- we execute those in a fixed order,
however, that is barely adequate.
It may be that a certain service script should only run after there
is a network connection, for example. Or sound is working, or X is
running, and so on.
I have been looking at various solutions, and liked the look of Runit. Homepage:
Then, surprise, surprise, I found that the Runit utilities are in Busybox. They are:
chpst, setuidgid, envuidgid, envdir, softlimit, runsv, runsvdir, sv, svlogd
Using Landley's Aboriginal Linux, the older chrootable filesystem
with uClibc (he has shifted to musl, unfortunately), I have compiled
Busybox statically with those Runit applets enabled. I also enabled
these network applets:
inetd, udpsvd, tcpsvd
Here is the PET:
...however, don't install it, as it will replace all the "full"
utilities with symlinks to busybox. For example, 'sort' and 'date'. If
you really want to use it, open it up with the 'pet2dir' utility, then
copy the 'busybox' executable, then the above applet symlinks.
I have also compiled 's6' statically, and there are PETs, however, it
is a solution that will add megabytes to the build. So, at this stage I
am favouring Busybox Runit. To actually use it, is next on the agenda.
Here is an interesting read:
woofQ uploaded, 2018-02-11
This is the latest woofQ, as used to build Quirky Xerus 8.4.
Uploaded as a tarball here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/easyos/project/woofq/
I also updated the woofQ Bones repository. Read about Bones here:
http://bkhome.org/archive/bones/
And woofQ and Bones here:
http://bkhome.org/news/201501/woofq-hosted-by-bones.html
Quirky Xerus x86_64 version 8.4 released
It has been awhile since the last release of Quirky. That was version 8.3, in July 2017:
http://bkhome.org/news/201707/quirky-xerus64-83-final.html
Now, a brand spanking new version. Announcement and release notes here;
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/releases/xerus-8.4/release-xerus64-8.4.htm
A brief announcement:
Quirky Linux 8.4 x86_64 is codenamed "Xerus" and is built using the
woofQ Quirky Linux build system, with the help of Ubuntu 16.04.3 binary
packages. Thus, Xerus has compatibility with all of the Ubuntu
repositories.
Quirky is a fork of Puppy Linux, and is mainly differentiated by
being a "full installation" only, with special snapshot and recovery
features, and Service Pack upgrades, though recently there is limited
support for live-CD session-saving and "frugal" installation.
Version 8.4 has many architectural improvements and package upgrades,
including new packages Sakura, Refind, EasyApps, PupControl, VTE and
EasyShare. EasyShare is a simple "one top shop" for network file sharing
and printing, using Samba and SSHFS. Upgraded applications include
Pclock (0.8.2) and seaMonkey (2.49.1). The Linux kernel is now version
4.14.17.
Quirky is shipped as an ISO file or a Flash-drive image file. Instructions to install are here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/releases/xerus-8.4/howto-install.htm
Primary download site:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/releases/xerus-8.4/
This is a third option, install scripts:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/quirky/quirky6/amd64/releases/xerus-8.4/alternatives/
...for experts only.
To join in with discussion on Xerus 8.4, go to the Puppy Forum:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=982545#982545
Have fun!
Tags: quirky
Busybox 1.27.2 compiled statically
The last time that i compiled Busybox statically, it was version
1.25.1, using Landley's Aboriginal Linux, chrootable root-filesystem.
That was late 2016, and i have been using that up until now.
I wanted to enable some more applets in Busybox, 'nsenter', 'dnsd' and 'inetd', so went through the exercise again.
I downloaded the latest stable source, version 2017.02.09, of Buildroot, from here:
https://buildroot.org/download.html
This defaults to using Busybox 1.27.2. I added my own 'busybox.config', and jamesbond's 'guess_fstype' applet patch.
Then ran:
# make menuconfig
# make uclibc-menuconfig
# make busybox-menuconfig
# make
I didn't change much. Chose target of x86_64 nocona CPU, and for uClibc turned on 'wchar' and 'locale' support.
There were a couple of fails. I had to replace /usr/include/limits.h
in the host system (EasyOS Pyro64 0.7) with limits.h from Xerus64.
Then Busybox compile failed and I had to disable 'nfs' support for
the 'mount' applet. I can live with that. It is probably something
lacking in the uClibc configure options.
Anyway, got there. If any pup builders want the latest Busybox,
statically compiled, with lots of applets, here is the PET (728KB):
EDIT 2018-02-09:
I reverted to the 1.25.1 busybox PET. Testing the above, something seemed not quite right (got a hang at bootup). When building with "make menuconfig", using the .config from 1.25.1, an incredible number of configure options were flagged as no longer valid, and maybe something has changed to cause the problem. I might have to advance the version number more gradually, and maybe go back to Landley's Aboriginal Linux as a precaution.
Another thing. The motivation to upgrade was to enable some more applets, including 'dnsd' (domain name server), however, it (dnsd) doesn't work. Really weird, but I did a search with google and it seems that "nobody" actually uses it. I have successfully used 'bind' and 'dnsmasq', so I think that I know what I am doing, regarding dns servers. The busybox dnsd does not respond to the port.
Easy network printing with CUPS
I have been trying all day to setup printing over a small
network, just two PCs running Easy 0.6.6, connected to an ethernet
router (and to the Internet via wi-fi wan, to my mobile phone hotspot).
One PC, my "midi-tower", has a Brother HL-2040 laser printer
connected via USB port. Local printing works fine. The other PC is my
Mele "mini-pc", and I want to be able to print from it.
The problem is, I cannot get the "ipp" protocol to work. I have
studied online documentation, and can get the client machine, my
mini-pc, to see the remote printer, however when do an actual print, get
the dreaded "Filter failed".
As stated, I have messed around all day, trying different things.
Then, I found something that "just works", very simple. I would like to
acknowledge "paulkerry" for this info:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=206669
Just a comment: there is a lot of outdated, vague, ambiguous and
misleading documentation about CUPS online. For example, one "very
official" site explained the format of the ipp protocol as:
ipp://hostname/printers/printername
...without explaining that only "hostname" and "printername" must be
substituted, and the text "printers" must be left as-is. There wasn't
even an example, nor was it properly explained how to find the
printername.
Anyway, I did learn how to specify ipp properly, but got stuck at "Filter failed".
The method described by paulkerry works, so here is a little tutorial
to explain how to set it up. Note, I plan to semi-automate this, by
extending QuickSamba, which I plan to rename to EasyShare. Anyway, the
tut...
1: Firewall
I ran the firewall setup on both client (my mini-pc) and server (my
midi-tower) PCs, so that the CUPS port (631) is enabled. In this
snapshot, I have also enabled Samba ports, but that isn't necessary for
just printing with CUPS:
On the server-PC, just setup the local printer as you normally would, but tick some extra boxes...
2: Server PC
You need to have the cupsd daemon running and point the web browser
at http://localhost:631. In Puppy/Quirky/Easy, you do this by running
the "CUPS Printer Wizard":
A window will popup asking if you want to add a new printer, and you click "Yes", then you will get the CUPS web interface:
...click on "Adding Printers and Classes", then the next window:
...click each of those, 1, 2, 3 and 4. Do not miss "Change Settings".
Probably "Allow remote administration" is optional, but I enabled it,
as I was then able to bring up the CUPS web interface of the server-PC
on my client-PC. Next window...
...well, anyone who has setup a local printer will be familiar with
this. Continuing, as per usual, except an important checkbox to tick...
...the first two boxes are pre-filled. It is not essential, but useful,
to fill "Location". And, you must tick "Share This Printer".
In the next window, you choose a driver...
And set some printer options...
That's it, the server-PC is setup. Before setting up the client, you
will need to know the IP-address of the server. A few ways of doing
that. Open a terminal and type "ifconfig", and you will see it -- in my
case it is "192.168.0.3":
In Puppy/Easy/Quirky, there is no need to edit the
/etc/cups/cupsd.conf main configuration file, as it is pre-configured
OK. Note, for this tutorial, I am running pristine EasyOS Pyro64 version
0.6.6.
Now for the client-PC...
3: Client PC
Over on my Mele mini-pc, setup is easy-peasy. I created file /etc/cups/client.conf...
...with content just one line, "ServerName <ip address of server>"
Finally, restart the cupsd daemon...
...and run "lpstat -t" to verify that the remote printer is found.
That's it, nothing more to do. If you ran an application and choose
"Print...", the remote printer will be offered, in my case, my Brother
HL-2040.
Also, the CUPS web interface of the server can be accessed from the
client, by going to "http://192.168.0.3:631" in the client web browser.
As stated, I have thoughts how this setup can be semi-automated,
including automatic creation and update (if the ip-address changes) of
/etc/cups/client.conf. Stay tuned.
Retrovol replaced with Aumix and Pnmixer
Retrovol is a combination audio mixer and tray applet. It has been working fine for me, until today.
Now that I am using a Radeon HD 6780 video card, suddenly Retrovol is
broken. The icon is sometimes in the tray, sometimes not. When not
displaying anything, there is still a space that responds to clicks.
Sometimes though, it dies completely. Even though it may respond to
clicks, the volume slider does not work.
A quick search on the Puppy Forum reveals that I am not alone;
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=97258
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=110613
What these people have not identified, is what video card they are
using. Given that I have been using retrovol for years on different PCs
and laptops without any problem, always Intel video, and suddenly broken
when I have changed to a AMD card, well, it is too much of a
coincidence.
So, Easy and Quirky have changed over to 'aumix' and 'pnmixer'. The former is a audio mixer, the latter a tray applet.
Which reminds me, my build of Quirky for the RPi had the same problem, retrovol was broken, and I used aumix and pnmixer.