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(post
:title "Getting started with GNU Guix"
:date (string->date* "2015-06-21 00:00")
:tags '("gnu"
"planet-fsfe-en"
"free software"
"system administration"
"packaging"
"guix")
(list 'warning [,(strong [Feb 24, 2016:])
This post has been updated for the 0.9.0 release of GNU Guix.])
(p [,(ref "/posts/2015-04-17-gnu-guix.html" "Previously I wrote")
about how using GNU Guix in an HPC environment enables easy
software deployment for multiple users with different needs when
it comes to application and library versions. Although Guix comes
with an excellent manual which is also ,(ref
"https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/guix.html" "available
online"), some people may want to have just some simple
installation instructions in one place and some pointers to get
started. I’m attempting to provide just that with this article.])
(p [While Guix can be built from source it is much more convenient to
use the self-contained tarball which provides pre-built binaries
for Guix and all its dependencies. You need to have GNU tar and
xz installed to unpack the tarball. Note that the tarball will
only work on GNU/Linux systems; it will not work on MacOS.])
(p [Guix needs a little bit of setting up, which can be done in just
a couple of steps.])
(h2 [Download and check])
(p [,(em [First]), if you are using a 64 bit machine, download the
compressed ,(ref
"ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-binary-0.9.0.x86_64-linux.tar.xz"
"x86_64 archive from the FTP server"). There also is a ,(ref
"ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-binary-0.9.0.i686-linux.tar.xz"
"tarball for 32 bit machines") and ,(ref
"ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/guix/" "for other architectures").])
(p [For your own sake you really should also download the matching
cryptographic signature file (they all have the same name as the
archive you downloaded, but end on ,(code [.sig])) to ensure that
the tarballs are signed by release managers. Releases up to now
were signed by ,(ref
"https://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=vindex&search=0x090B11993D9AEBB5"
"Ludovic Courtès"). I suggest you fetch both Ludo's and my own
PGP key from PGP key servers, for example by doing this:])
(pre (code [# gpg2 --recv-keys 090b11993d9aebb5 197a5888235facac]))
(p [You only need to do this once. With these keys you can now check
that the file you downloaded is in fact legit. To verify that
the file is indeed signed by the release manager and the
signature is valid following command in the same directory that
holds the tarball and the signature file:])
(pre (code [# gpg2 --verify guix-binary-0.9.0.x86_64-linux.tar.xz.sig]))
(p [If you see something like “Good signature from "Ludovic Courtès
<ludo@gnu.org>” you’re safe (according to your trust in the keys you
downloaded).])
(h2 [Unpacking the archive])
(p [,(em [Second]), unpack the archive as root in the root directory:])
(pre (code [# cd /
# tar xf guix-binary-0.9.0.SYSTEM.tar.xz]))
(p [This creates a pre-populated store at ,(code [/gnu/store])
(containing the “guix” package and the complete dependency graph),
the ,(em [local state directory]) ,(code [/var/guix]), and a Guix
profile for the root user at ,(code [/root/.guix-profile]), which
contains the guix command line tools and the daemon.])
(h2 [Create dedicated build users])
(p [,(em [Third]), create a build user pool, as root:])
(pre (code [# groupadd --system guix-builder
# for i in `seq 1 10`;
do
useradd -g guix-builder -G guix-builder \
-d /var/empty -s `which nologin` \
-c "Guix build user $i" --system \
guix-builder$i;
done]))
(p [These are the restricted user accounts which are used by the
daemon to build software in a controlled environment. You may not
need ten, but it’s a good default.])
(h2 [Run the build daemon])
(p [,(em [Fourth]), run the daemon and tell it about the ,(code
[guix-builder]) group:])
(pre (code [# /root/.guix-profile/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guix-builder]))
(p [Note that this is a server process, so it will never return. I
suggest turning this into a system service and keep it running in
the background at all times. The archive unpacks a Systemd
service file to ,(code
[/gnu/store/632msbms2yald...-guix-0.9.0/lib/systemd/system/guix-daemon.service]),
which you can just copy to ,(code [/etc/systemd/system/]); run
the following commands to start and enable the service:])
(pre (code [# systemctl daemon-reload
# systemctl enable guix-daemon
# systemctl start guix-daemon]))
(p [The daemon is responsible to handle build requests from users, so
it is essential that it keeps running.])
(p [Since building all software locally can take a very long time,
the GNU Guix build farm hydra.gnu.org is by default authorised as
a source for so-called binary substitutes.])
(p [Note that hydra.gnu.org isn’t at all special. Packages are built
there continuously from source. Guix is flexible and can pull
binary substitutes from other locations as long as you authorise
them. Check the Guix Info manual for more information about
substitutes.])
(h2 [Guix for everyone])
(p [,(em [Fifth]), make the ,(code [guix]) command available to other users
on the machine by linking it to a location everyone can access,
such as ,(code [/usr/local/bin]).])
(pre (code [# mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
# cd /usr/local/bin
# ln -s /root/.guix-profile/bin/guix]))
(p [Now any user—not just the almighty root—can install software by
invoking ,(code [guix package -i whatever]). Yay!])
(h2 [Where to go from here])
(p [Congratulations! You now have a fully functional installation of
the Guix package manager.])
(p [To get the latest package recipes for Guix just run ,(code [guix
pull]), which will download and compile the most recent
development version for the current user. This allows users
(including root) to all have a different version of Guix.])
(p [I recommend reading the excellent Guix reference manual, which is
,(ref "https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/guix.html"
"available on the web") and, of course, included as an Info
document in your Guix installation. If you don’t have Emacs—the
best Info reader, which also happens to be an excellent text
editor—I encourage you to install it from Guix; it is just a
,(code [guix package -i emacs]) away!])
(p [If you have questions that are not covered by the manual feel free
to chat with members of the Guix community ,(ref
"https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#guix" "on IRC in the
#guix channel on Freenode"). For matters relating to using Guix
in a bioinformatics environment you are welcome to subscribe and
write to the ,(ref
"http://lists.open-bio.org/mailman/listinfo/bio-packaging"
"mailing list bio-packaging@mailman.open-bio.org").]))
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