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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")
(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.])
(h2 [Six simple steps])
(p [,(em [First]), if you are using a 64 bit machine, download the
compressed ,(ref
"ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-binary-0.8.2.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-0.8.2.i686-linux.tar.xz"
"tarball for 32 bit machines") and ,(ref
"ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-binary-0.8.2.mips64el-linux.tar.xz"
"one for the less common MIPS").])
(p [,(em [Second]), unpack the archive as root in the root directory:])
(pre (code [# cd /
# tar xf guix-binary-0.8.2.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.])
(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.])
(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 [,(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!])
(p [,(em [Finally]), if you do not want to build all software locally
(which can take a very long time) and you think you can trust the
GNU Guix build farm hydra.gnu.org, authorise it as a source for
so-called binary substitutes using the included public key:])
(pre (code [# guix archive --authorize < /root/.guix-profile/share/guix/hydra.gnu.org.pub]))
(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.])
(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.])
(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").]))
|
