Ensure /home/nix and .nix-profile are accessible for non-root users,
create /usr/local/bin/nix symlink with fail-fast behavior, and replace
silent permission fixes with explicit checks, clear error messages,
and deterministic exit codes.
https://chatgpt.com/share/693c29d9-9b28-800f-a549-5661c783d968
Refactor CI to clearly separate virtualenv-based container tests from pure Nix flake tests across all distros (arch, debian, ubuntu, fedora, centos).
Introduce dedicated test-env-nix workflow and Makefile targets, rename former container tests to test-env-virtual, and update stable pipeline dependencies.
Improve Nix reliability in containers by fixing installer permissions and explicitly validating nix availability and version during image build and tests.
Refactored the Nix initialization script to reduce duplicated code and
centralize the installation workflow. The core functionality remains
unchanged, but all installer calls now use a unified function with retry
support to ensure resilient downloads in CI and container environments.
Key improvements:
- Added download retry logic (5 minutes total, 20-second intervals)
- Consolidated installer invocation into `install_nix_with_retry`
- Reduced code duplication across container/host install paths
- Preserved existing installation behavior for all environments
- Maintained `nixbld` group and build-user handling
- Improved consistency and readability without altering semantics
This prevents intermittent failures such as:
“curl: (6) Could not resolve host: nixos.org”
and ensures stable, deterministic Nix setup in CI pipelines.
https://chatgpt.com/share/693b13ce-fdcc-800f-a7bc-81c67478edff
Implement `ensure_nix_build_group()` and use it in all code paths where Nix is installed as root.
This resolves Nix installation failures on Ubuntu containers (root, no systemd) where the installer aborts with:
```
error: the group 'nixbld' specified in 'build-users-group' does not exist
```
The fix standardizes creation of the `nixbld` group and `nixbld1..10` build users across:
* container root mode
* systemd host daemon installs
* root-on-host without systemd (Debian/Ubuntu CI case)
This makes Nix initialization deterministic across all test distros and fixes failing Ubuntu E2E runs.
https://chatgpt.com/share/693b0e1a-e5d4-800f-8a89-7d91108b0368
The init-nix.sh script previously hardcoded /usr/bin/bash as the login shell
for the 'nix' user, which exists on Arch but not on Debian. This caused the
Nix single-user installer (run via `su - nix`) to fail silently or break in
unpredictable ways on Debian-based images.
We now resolve the shell dynamically via `command -v bash` and fall back to
/bin/sh on minimal systems. This makes Nix installation deterministic across
Arch, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS and CI containers.
https://chatgpt.com/share/6939e97f-c93c-800f-887b-27c7e67ec46d
In GitHub's Fedora-based CI containers the directory /nix may already exist
(e.g. from the base image or a previous build layer) and is often owned by
root:root. In this situation the Nix single-user installer aborts with:
"directory /nix exists, but is not writable by you"
This caused the container build to fail during `init-nix.sh`, leaving no
working `nix` binary on PATH. As a result, the runtime wrapper
(pkmgr-wrapper.sh) reported:
"[pkgmgr-wrapper] ERROR: 'nix' binary not found on PATH."
Local runs did not show the issue because a previous installation had already
created /nix with correct ownership.
This commit makes container-mode Nix initialization fully idempotent:
• If /nix does not exist → create it with owner nix:nixbld (existing logic).
• If /nix exists but has wrong owner/group → forcibly chown -R nix:nixbld.
• A warning is emitted if /nix remains non-writable after correction.
This guarantees that the Nix installer always has writable access to /nix
and prevents the installer from aborting in CI. As a result, `pkgmgr --help`
works again inside Fedora CI containers.
https://chatgpt.com/share/69384149-9dc8-800f-8148-55817ece8e21
References:
- Current ChatGPT conversation: https://chatgpt.com/share/6935d6d7-0ae4-800f-988a-44a50c17ba48
- Extended discussion: https://chatgpt.com/share/6935d734-fd84-800f-9755-290902b8cee8
Summary:
This commit performs a major cleanup and modernization of the installation pipeline:
1. Introduced a new capability-detection subsystem:
- Capabilities (python-runtime, make-install, nix-flake) are detected per installer/layer.
- Installers run only when they add new capabilities.
- Prevents duplicated work such as Python installers running when Nix already provides the runtime.
2. Removed deprecated pkgmgr.yml manifest installer:
- Dependency resolution is now delegated entirely to real package managers (Nix, pip, make, distro build tools).
- Simplifies layering and avoids unnecessary recursion.
3. Reworked OS-specific installers:
- Arch PKGBUILD now uses 'makepkg --syncdeps --cleanbuild --install --noconfirm'.
- Debian installer now builds proper .deb packages via dpkg-buildpackage + installs them.
- RPM installer now builds packages using rpmbuild and installs them via rpm.
4. Switched from remote GitHub flakes to local-flake execution:
- Wrapper now executes: nix run /usr/lib/package-manager#pkgmgr
- Avoids lock-file write attempts and improves reliability in CI.
5. Added bash -i based integration test:
- Correctly sources ~/.bashrc and evaluates alias + venv activation.
- ‘pkgmgr --help’ is now printed for debugging without failing tests.
6. Updated unit tests across all installers:
- Removed references to manifest installer.
- Adjusted expectations for new behaviors (makepkg, dpkg-buildpackage, rpmbuild).
- Added capability subsystem tests.
7. Improved flake.nix packaging logic:
- The entire project source tree is copied into the runtime closure.
- pkgmgr wrapper now executes runpy inside the packaged directory.
Together, these changes create a predictable, layered, capability-driven installer pipeline with consistent behavior across Arch, Debian, RPM, Nix, and Python layers.
