Score:1

Ubuntu

Does add-apt-repository not support globs in source list?

oligofren

1/13/24, 3:53 PM

I usually add a repository like this:

add-apt-repository --no-update --yes "deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu jammy stable"

This works fine and when setting up Ubuntu machines, I run a setup script that loops through a list of repos and adds them using that command.

The problem is that it fails when encountering a repo source on this format:

deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/repo.charm.sh.gpg] https://repo.charm.sh/apt/ * *

It will then just fail with Unable to handle repository shortcut 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/repo.charm.sh.gpg] https://repo.charm.sh/apt/ * *'.

I can, of course, just work around this special case and do as the docs say and just paste the contents into a file, but I should not have to if Stuff Just Works as it should. So is there something about the format I am not handling correctly when using the utility command or does it simply fail to recognize it due to missing functionality in the internal parsing bits? If not, what do I do to have it not fail?

473

2 + 2

package-management

apt

repository

add-apt-repository

user535733

1/13/24, 4:24 PM

It's hard for me to think of a use case for globbing third party deb sources that doesn't end in disaster for the user. For stuff to "*Just Work as it should*," Ubuntu already offers two easy routes: The software could be distributed through the Ubuntu repositories or distributed as a Snap. Diligence checking a new source, in the Debian ecosystem, is a human admin responsibility (not an apt function).

oligofren

1/15/24, 10:27 PM

I have no idea how this applies to this question. The glob thingie is not something I came up with, it is just referenced from the installation docs: https://github.com/charmbracelet/glow#package-manager. In any case, it is supported by the file format, so should be handled by the tooling creating the files as well.

Score:5

Ubuntu

muru

1/13/24, 4:56 PM

The * is not actually a glob, but just a *.

However, that's not the problem here. A Python library that add-apt-repository uses, python-apt (maintained by the developers of apt), doesn't support anything except arch and trusted options for source lines.

From the source code of the v2.5.0 release:

if pieces[1].strip()[0] == "[":
    options = pieces.pop(1).strip("[]").split()
    for option in options:
        try:
            key, value = option.split("=", 1)
        except Exception:
            self.invalid = True
        else:
            if key == "arch":
                self.architectures = value.split(",")
            elif key == "trusted":
                self.trusted = apt_pkg.string_to_bool(value)
            else:
                self.invalid = True

In this case you could just write to a file yourself:

printf "%s\n" 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/repo.charm.sh.gpg] https://repo.charm.sh/apt/ * *' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/charm.list

+ 3

oligofren

1/15/24, 10:32 PM

Yeah, that's the solution I wrote about above (paste into file) that I ended up using: https://github.com/fatso83/dotfiles/commit/571e954ad5f5556652facf7a69e161cb0720ebdb#diff-2618323c72aa0cdb8530a40e4ab153ea538218717fa59259e26c45d6140eb2c3R42-R47 Too bad the project is not on Github: makes the threshold for supplying a stray PR that much higher :/ Thanks for the deep dive anyhow :)

muru

1/16/24, 5:07 AM

@oligofren in a sense, a stray PR is easier here. [Debian's bug reporting interface](https://bugs.debian.org) does not require an account (and can be operated entirely via email), so you could open a bug there and attach a patch with your proposed fix by email. It's just a different workflow than you're used to.

oligofren

1/16/24, 9:00 AM

Thanks for the tip and for providing some common sense. My experience so far when encountering issues in some Ubuntu or Debian package (like a bad translation in `ls`) is that I never figure out the right upstream or downstream place to provide the patch, so the attempt at providing a fix always just fizzles out, unlike when I can find some GH issue tracker with pull requests and a discussion interface. I _might_ give this one another go :)

Score:0

Ubuntu

radistao

6/16/24, 5:02 PM

Unfortunately, this is a known bug at debian, see add-apt-repository should use signed-by

+ 0

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