Build and distribute Snappy packages

[Tyriar]

Ubuntu 16.04 is going to include a new type of package that installs the application in a more isolated manner.

• https://developer.ubuntu.com/en/desktop/
• https://developer.ubuntu.com/en/snappy/#tour
• http://www.pcworld.com/article/3056668/linux/ubuntu-1604-will-support-snaps-alongside-deb-packages-for-improved-software-installation.html

[sergiusens]

Hello there, I have something sort of working.

It is not on the store yet, but you can download it from http://people.canonical.com/~sergiusens/snappy/vscode_1.0_amd64.snap

There are two snappy related bugs still open for this (which are being worked on):

• LP: #1577514
• LP: #1577520

So it would need to be installed by running

sudo snap install --devmode vscode*.snap

The most important thing that I still need to resolve it plugin installation. That is an area I could use pointers for btw.

I have 4 commits here https://github.com/sergiusens/vscode/commits/release/1.0.0

This branch has:

• a gulp task to create the snap layout.
• snapcraft specific assets.
• a launcher (shell) specific to snapcraft (this won't be necessary for future builds though).
• a local plugin (parts/plugins/x-nodejs) until I (or someone else) adds support for either gulp as a top level plugin or clean up what I did here to also support gulp.

sergiusens@a840a34 you might want to cherry pick regarless.

[Tyriar]

Hey @sergiusens, thanks a lot for your work on this. The snap file size is 92mb compared to 30-45 for the other package types, are snaps not compressed by default or was this just left out?

We probably won't delve into distributing a snap until at least #1577514 is fixed. It sounds like it will be an Electron fix that will then take time for us to uplevel to.

I only thing I can see that's preventing your commits landing in master is moving the build resources (parts, snapcraft.yaml) to resources/linux/snap and the build artifacts to .build/linux/snap. If you get around to upleveling your branch and making those changes we'd be glad to merge a PR and add it to the CI build.

[sergiusens]

@Tyriar ok, sounds like a plan, I'll work on that

[sergiusens]

@Tyriar about size, we need to include things in which are not part of the core os which is the common dependency for everything. This could be much smaller but isn't yet as I haven't trimmed down all of it yet.

I'll get to the other items as soon as I look at it. I also based out of release/1.0.0 which I guess the intenton is to get this into master/devel instead?

[Tyriar]

@sergiusens yeah if you update your work to work on master with the tweaks I mentioned then we can push this and I'll get notified if it breaks. It will also make it convenient for anyone who wants to use snappy packages from an OSS build.

[flexiondotorg]

@Tyriar Microsoft Visual Studio Code is published as a snap in the store as vscode using classic confinement in the beta channel. We'd love for your team to take ownership of this snap and publish new versions directly to the store :-)

The rationale for using classic confinement is that vscode is a code editor and users may reasonably expect to be able to edit files anywhere on the system. Use classic confinement means that LP: #1577514 is no longer relevant and neither is LP: #1577520, although the later issue is also now resolved in snapd when applications are strictly confined.

Snaps have a number of useful characteristics such as being simple to create, support multiple Linux distributions, enable very simple installation instructions and provide access to install metrics via the Snap store. There are also various hooks and services [3] available to automate the build and publish pipeline.

[Tyriar]

@flexiondotorg thanks for reaching out again, could you email me the process for taking ownership and publishing?

[Ads20000]

Update for those interested:
VS Code now in the snappy store in the stable channel.
Can't be installed from Ubuntu/GNOME Software...yet (use sudo snap install vscode --classic for now), ownership needs to be transferred and it potentially needs to be renamed code (but there's already a snap called code in the store).

[vannitotaro]

Moreover there is no reference to Microsoft in snap detailed information. I think it should be there, to give a hint to the user that it is the right package to install.

me@pc:~$ snap info vscode
name:      vscode
summary:   "Code editing. Redefined."
publisher: flexiondotorg
contact:   snappy-canonical-storeaccount@canonical.com
description: |
  Visual Studio Code is a new choice of tool that combines the
  simplicity of a code editor with what developers need for the core
  edit-build-debug cycle.
  
channels:                                 
  latest/stable:    1.12.2-1494422229 (8) 122MB classic
  latest/candidate: 1.12.2-1494422229 (8) 122MB classic
  latest/beta:      1.12.2-1494422229 (8) 122MB classic
  latest/edge:      1.12.2-1494422229 (8) 122MB classic

[Ads20000]

@vannitotaro once Martin has transferred ownership to Microsoft, it will hopefully read
publisher: microsoft

[cossio]

Any news on this? Do we still need the --classic?

[Ads20000]

Classic is still needed (and will be until confinement is further improved, which requires further work on snapd by the snappy developers) and Martin has yet to transfer ownership to Microsoft. Also the snap is out-of-date but Martin has been informed about this so hopefully the existing vscode snap will be updated soon (should just require changing the version numbers referenced in the snapcraft.yaml for the snap) :)

[Tyriar]

Update from my side is that I've been a little stuck on the ownership transfer as I haven't had enough time to get around to setting this up.

[phillipsj]

Any updates? This would be awesome to have.

[Tyriar]

I'll be working on this in a couple of weeks, expect another update soon 😃

[ghisvail]

The current snap for vscode still lists Martin as publisher and is lagging behind upstream (Snap version is 1.15.1, current is 1.16.1). Is there anything else preventing the snap package to be updated to the latest version besides the transfer of ownership to Microsoft?

[Tyriar]

@ghisvail the new snap name is code to be consistent with the CLI. I'm currently at Ubuntu Rally with @flexiondotorg and the rest of the team working on the snap package build and integrating it into our CI.

[ghisvail]

@Tyriar Oh, I heard about the rally. So great your team is collaborating with Canonical directly.

[Tyriar]

PR to build snap packages: #35317

---

To build it in our CI we would need to run:

apt install -y snapcraft
export SNAPCRAFT_SETUP_CORE=1
export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
export LANG=C.UTF-8

And then

npm run gulp -- "vscode-linux-$ARCH-build-snap"

[ghisvail]

I saw the PR was merged. Does it mean we'll be getting an official snap package from the next release onwards then?

[Tyriar]

We need to verify some legal stuff and get it integrated into our CI, expect movement on this in the next 1-2 months 😃

[DarkLite1]

@Tyriar how is going with the integration in CI regarding the legal matters? The fix for the IME bug seems to be merged.

[Tyriar]

@DarkLite1 unfortunately we got blocked by a snap issue (which is now resolved) and other priorities took over. It's on hold currently as we enter endgame for the March release.

[chyzwar]

can we somehow help with snap package?

[Tyriar]

Update: I've had too much other work to focus on to take this to the finish line. One of the things that was really bugging me is that every time I went to get some work done on it I would run into another major issue that needed help from the snapcraft team like random crashes or things not working.

can we somehow help with snap package?

Potentially, here's the branch: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/tree/tyriar/snap

I think this is a complete list of current work left to do:

• Make sure update flow works; the update service needs to scan the relevant /snap folder to check for an update. Most of this is in place on the branch but I don't think it's working just yet https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/compare/tyriar/snap
• Figure out the crash/instant logout that occurs when launching on some 17.10 machines
• Investigate report of Chinese IME not working Cannot input Chinese #49733
• Integrate into our CI

[DarkLite1]

Thank you for working on the snap @Tyriar , I've just received the following update:

sudo snap list
vscode                  1.23.0-1525361119  34    stable    flexiondotorg  classic

So it seems like the integration into the CI is working now, unless someone else packaged a new snap manually.

[ghisvail]

flexiondotorg is Martin Wimpress from Canonical. Le sam. 12 mai 2018 à 17:27, DarkLite1 <notifications@github.com> a écrit :

…

Thank you for working on the snap @Tyriar <https://github.com/Tyriar> , I've just received the following update: sudo snap list vscode 1.23.0-1525361119 34 stable flexiondotorg classic So it seems like the integration into the CI is working now, unless someone else packaged a new snap manually. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#5458 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AB36b3GjnRPvKYbI0QlGvFbZ07B4oXphks5txw2KgaJpZM4IJ9QG> .

[Tyriar]

Yes that's not the one published by us, @flexiondotorg derives that one from the deb

[tomByrer]

At this time, the snap package is stuck at v1.24 while the main distos have had v1.25 for four days now. I know this is a US holiday weekend, but unfortunately my usual distro that I build VSCode manually crashes, since yarn won't build there.

[Ads20000]

@flexiondotorg

[Tyriar]

I reopened issues related to snap package and labelled them here: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/labels/install-update-snap

[joaomoreno]

This is now in master, planning to release for March.

[mightyiam]

Do you mean April, @joaomoreno?

[joaomoreno]

Actually, March! 🎆

No April Fools here. 😉