Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Ludovic Courtèswrites: > Perhaps we need another command, like ‘guix system show’, which would > list the services used by a particular config? Thoughts? I like it, I think it's more relevant in terms of user interface than what Swedebugia suggest with 'guix show %desktop-services', because in the latter case the user must already know the variable, and it does not tell anything about the current system. -- Pierre Neidhardt signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Pierre Neidhardtskribis: > Ludovic Courtès writes: > >> If you’re using Emacs, the latest version of Emacs-Guix has this new >> ‘guix-default-services’ command that does exactly what you’re >> suggesting. > > It's great but it's not obvious enough for newcomers in my opinion. Sure. So there’s ‘guix system search’ and ‘guix system extension-graph’ which can help visualize what’s going on. Perhaps we need another command, like ‘guix system show’, which would list the services used by a particular config? Thoughts? Ludo’.
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
On May 23, 2018 5:45:53 PM GMT+02:00, Pierre Neidhardtwrote: > >Ludovic Courtès writes: > >> If you’re using Emacs, the latest version of Emacs-Guix has this new >> ‘guix-default-services’ command that does exactly what you’re >> suggesting. > >It's great but it's not obvious enough for newcomers in my opinion. > >We need something in the manual that makes explicit which service is >run, among which which network manager is currently running. > >Asking newcomers to install Emacs + Emacs-Guix is too much a stretch in >my opinion (as much as I love it!). Agreed. Emacs-Guix is a frontend in my opinion. We should make sure that everything it provides is possible on the command line as well. I would like to try to prepare a patch but this might be a little too challenging for me atm. to implement. (without guidance). Maybe a general command to query the current running system configuration is what we want and this listing of running services (and default services) is a subset of what it provides. -- Cheers Swedebugia
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Ludovic Courtèswrites: > If you’re using Emacs, the latest version of Emacs-Guix has this new > ‘guix-default-services’ command that does exactly what you’re > suggesting. It's great but it's not obvious enough for newcomers in my opinion. We need something in the manual that makes explicit which service is run, among which which network manager is currently running. Asking newcomers to install Emacs + Emacs-Guix is too much a stretch in my opinion (as much as I love it!). -- Pierre Neidhardt signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Hello, swedebugiaskribis: > Perhaps a new guix command is needed for this e.g.: > > % guix show %default-services > > getty | A service that serves tty > > cups | Printing service that enables printing ‘guix system search’ should help a bit, but it doesn’t show the value of ‘%default-services’ currently. If you’re using Emacs, the latest version of Emacs-Guix has this new ‘guix-default-services’ command that does exactly what you’re suggesting. HTH! Ludo’.
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
swedebugiawrites: > Perhaps a new guix command is needed for this e.g.: > > % guix show %default-services I like this! -- Pierre Neidhardt signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
You are very true, and while the manual hints at lightweight-desktop.scm, it does not go any further with respect to giving an outlook of what to expect from it: which services, which programs, etc. With little Scheme code the experienced users can investigate that by themselves, but it's not quite obvious for newcomers. If not only for nmcli, I would suggest we document more those pre-defined profiles for the sake of making GuixSD more approachable. -- Pierre Neidhardt Every path has its puddle. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Pierre Neidhardtwrites: > As far as I can remember, the documentation example did not work for me. > > I think it is because I had built a custom image on which nmcli was > running because the network-manager service was automatically started, > unbeknownst to me. > > Beyond the installation process, I think my example is also relevant for > at least one of the official "lightweight-desktop.scm" configuration > file for which the default way to connect is nmcli. The example in the manual is intended for the situation in which someone is installing GuixSD using the official installation image. If you're using a custom image, or if you're using an installed system built from lightweight-desktop.scm or something else, then the instructions may not apply. I think that's appropriate. Once a user installs whatever system they want to use, it's partially up to them to understand how to use it. For example, we don't fully document all the features of GNOME just because we package it as a desktop environment. I think the same goes for tools like nmtui. If a user wants to use it, they will figure out how to use it. The various methods for network management are described in the manual (see: "(guix) Networking Services"). I don't feel like there are any egregious omissions related to networking or nmtui in particular. If there is a common problem that people trip over during the official installation process, then it might be a different story. However, it doesn't sound like that's the case. Am I missing something? -- Chris signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Nils Gillmann transcribed 603 bytes: > swedebugia transcribed 391 bytes: > > > > > > On May 13, 2018 9:26:14 AM GMT+02:00, Nils Gillmann > >wrote: > > ... > > > > > >Gentoo has a neat little tool in their install image. > > >net-setup detects cards and prompts you for passwords etc. > > >https://gitweb.gentoo.org/proj/livecd-tools.git/tree/net-setup > > > > I saw no license declarations in those files or in the repo. > > Are they free software? > > They are meant to be included in the base of the installer image of Gentoo. > Gentoo's default license is GPL2, so I assume they will be licensed in > the context of the image's license. For reference: https://packages.gentoo.org/packages/app-misc/livecd-tools where they use the default Gentoo license (GPL2). You interact with this usually with portage, so you will see the license statement then. iirc the license file is then included on the system which builds the ebuild through the definition of the license in the package definition.
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
swedebugia transcribed 391 bytes: > > > On May 13, 2018 9:26:14 AM GMT+02:00, Nils Gillmann >wrote: > ... > > > >Gentoo has a neat little tool in their install image. > >net-setup detects cards and prompts you for passwords etc. > >https://gitweb.gentoo.org/proj/livecd-tools.git/tree/net-setup > > I saw no license declarations in those files or in the repo. > Are they free software? They are meant to be included in the base of the installer image of Gentoo. Gentoo's default license is GPL2, so I assume they will be licensed in the context of the image's license.
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
On May 13, 2018 9:26:14 AM GMT+02:00, Nils Gillmannwrote: ... > >Gentoo has a neat little tool in their install image. >net-setup detects cards and prompts you for passwords etc. >https://gitweb.gentoo.org/proj/livecd-tools.git/tree/net-setup I saw no license declarations in those files or in the repo. Are they free software?
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Devan Carpenter transcribed 1.4K bytes: > Pierre Neidhardt transcribed 1.1K bytes: > > > > Devan Carpenterwrites: > > > > > Oleg Pykhalov transcribed 1.8K bytes: > > > > > >> We could pick a ‘nmtui’ program as we pick ‘cfdisk’ instead of ‘fdisk’. > > > > > > +1 > > > > Is nmtui on the install image as well? > > I'm not sure. We should consider adding it, if not. > Yes, it is: readlink $(which nmtui) /gnu/store/kp99ls7p93j640ghsgfzma0fr9ql72p3-network-manager-1.8.4/bin/nmtui If I remember correctly NM had something about PAM and groups so that you could add connections. Gentoo has a neat little tool in their install image. net-setup detects cards and prompts you for passwords etc. https://gitweb.gentoo.org/proj/livecd-tools.git/tree/net-setup
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
As far as I can remember, the documentation example did not work for me. I think it is because I had built a custom image on which nmcli was running because the network-manager service was automatically started, unbeknownst to me. Beyond the installation process, I think my example is also relevant for at least one of the official "lightweight-desktop.scm" configuration file for which the default way to connect is nmcli. -- Pierre Neidhardt signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Pierre Neidhardtwrites: > During my first encounter with GuixSD, I could not connect to the > Internet for reasons that puzzled me, and I could not find any mention > of it in the manual either. > > At first I assumed I had done something wrong with the setup. > > I had tried to run wpa_supplicant manually, like I often do on other > distributions. It's only later that I understood why wpa_supplicant > failed: it was because it was already running! (It's stupid but > wpa_supplicant's error messages are extremely misleading.) > > The manual is extremely scarse about network configuration. Sure > enough, if nm-applet is running it's rather straightforward. But for a > desktop-environment-less setup and during the install, the default tool > is nmcli only (unless another manager is used, but then the user > probably knows what they are doing). > > I don't think any of this is mentioned at all in the manual: I believe > something so essential should be very explicitly documented. Did you know we have an example in the manual a (guix) Preparing for Installation? Here it is: --8<---cut here---start->8--- Wireless connection To configure wireless networking, you can create a configuration file for the ‘wpa_supplicant’ configuration tool (its location is not important) using one of the available text editors such as ‘nano’: nano wpa_supplicant.conf As an example, the following stanza can go to this file and will work for many wireless networks, provided you give the actual SSID and passphrase for the network you are connecting to: network={ ssid="MY-SSID" key_mgmt=WPA-PSK psk="the network's secret passphrase" } Start the wireless service and run it in the background with the following command (substitute INTERFACE with the name of the network interface you want to use): wpa_supplicant -c wpa_supplicant.conf -i INTERFACE -B Run ‘man wpa_supplicant’ for more information. --8<---cut here---end--->8--- What do you think of this example? I think it's good to add an example or two for common use cases and provide a reference for further reading, but I don't think we should try to provide an example in the manual for every possible situation. For example, if you need to connect over a WEP-"secured" network (which is not secure at all) using wpa-supplicant, you will need to adjust the config file, but I don't think even the official wpa-supplicant official documentation gives you an example of how to do it. As far as I know, WPA (WPA2, I guess?) is the preferred and common choice nowadays, so I think the example is appropriate. -- Chris signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Pierre Neidhardt transcribed 1.1K bytes: > > Devan Carpenterwrites: > > > Oleg Pykhalov transcribed 1.8K bytes: > > > >> We could pick a ‘nmtui’ program as we pick ‘cfdisk’ instead of ‘fdisk’. > > > > +1 > > Is nmtui on the install image as well? I'm not sure. We should consider adding it, if not. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Oleg Pykhalov transcribed 1.8K bytes: > […] > > > Comments? > > We could pick a ‘nmtui’ program as we pick ‘cfdisk’ instead of ‘fdisk’. +1 signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Devan Carpenterwrites: >> Is nmtui on the install image as well? > > I'm not sure. We should consider adding it, if not. I find nmcli well documented (nmcli help ...) and convenient to use with completion. Besides it works with Eshell! :) (Which is much more convenient for copy-pasting, among others.) -- Pierre Neidhardt signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Devan Carpenterwrites: > Oleg Pykhalov transcribed 1.8K bytes: > >> We could pick a ‘nmtui’ program as we pick ‘cfdisk’ instead of ‘fdisk’. > > +1 Is nmtui on the install image as well? -- Pierre Neidhardt Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum -- "I think that I think, therefore I think that I am." -- Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary" signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: On network management and documenting nmcli
Hello Pierre, Pierre Neidhardtwrites: […] > I don't think any of this is mentioned at all in the manual: I believe > something so essential should be very explicitly documented. > > I suggest we add some examples to the Installation info page, for instance: > >> nmcli device wifi >> sudo nmcli d w connect "foo SSID" password "foo password" I agree, except because of default user on an installation image is ‘root’ (as I remember) invoking a ‘sudo’ command is not required. Cannot confirm it without burning a USB with installation image and QEMU cannot boot it from my experience. […] > Comments? We could pick a ‘nmtui’ program as we pick ‘cfdisk’ instead of ‘fdisk’. Oleg. signature.asc Description: PGP signature
On network management and documenting nmcli
During my first encounter with GuixSD, I could not connect to the Internet for reasons that puzzled me, and I could not find any mention of it in the manual either. At first I assumed I had done something wrong with the setup. I had tried to run wpa_supplicant manually, like I often do on other distributions. It's only later that I understood why wpa_supplicant failed: it was because it was already running! (It's stupid but wpa_supplicant's error messages are extremely misleading.) The manual is extremely scarse about network configuration. Sure enough, if nm-applet is running it's rather straightforward. But for a desktop-environment-less setup and during the install, the default tool is nmcli only (unless another manager is used, but then the user probably knows what they are doing). I don't think any of this is mentioned at all in the manual: I believe something so essential should be very explicitly documented. I suggest we add some examples to the Installation info page, for instance: > nmcli device wifi > sudo nmcli d w connect "foo SSID" password "foo password" Mention that tab-completion can be use to complete SSIDs, which is useful in the event they contain special or invisible characters (trailing spaces are common). We should also hint at the (7)nmcli-examples man page. Unrelated question: why do I need to "sudo" to add a connection? If I recall correctly, nm-applet does not ask for extra privileges (could be wrong though). Comments? -- Pierre Neidhardt signature.asc Description: PGP signature