singulariy search Fatal Error

[MGugli]

Hi,

As for documentation, I can use singularity search for
"Search a Container Library for container images matching the search query. (default cloud.sylabs.io)"

and the option --library URI should set the library.
The problem I have is that no matter which URI I put, I got a

FATAL:Error initialising library client: unsupported protocol scheme

Guessing I am using it wrong, can you give me an example on how to use it properly? Can you also add example USAGE in the documentation and man? Thanks

[dtrudg]

Hi @MGugli - what kind of library are you trying to point the search at? If it's not the Sylabs cloud, or a Singularity Enterprise installation then I'd like to check locally before adding docs.

An example of what you are trying (and that does not work) would be good, as It's not clear whether:

• The URL is valid and should just work
• The URL you are specifying is wrong
• The library service you are running against doesn't implement search etc.

[MGugli]

Hi @dtrudg,

The error I mentioned earlier is when I try with docker hub

singularity search --library https://hub.docker.com ubuntu
(note that the error is independent from the <search_query>)

But I am not sure if I can use the search command with docker hub.
Anyway, something that should work is to pass the Sylabs cloud URL (that should give the same output I got without the --library option, right?) but:

singularity search --library https://cloud.sylabs.io/library ubuntu
FATAL: Couldn't search library: error decoding results: invalid character '<' looking for beginning of value

So, the questions I have are: what libraries do I have to point to search? how to use this command properly?.
Thanks

[dtrudg]

Hi @MGugli - singularity search cannot be used with docker hub or another OCI registry. It is only for libraries that support the library:// protocol like cloud.sylabs.io. By default Singularity is configured with a remote to work against the Sylabs cloud library. You can just singularity search without using --library.

If you need to point it at a different library, it's best to use the singularity remote add and singularity remote use commands. The --library option can be used, but it expects the library server URL, and not the web URL. For the sylabs cloud this would be `https://library.sylabs.io'

See: https://sylabs.io/guides/3.8/user-guide/endpoint.html

And: https://sylabs.io/guides/3.8/user-guide/cloud_library.html#searching-the-library-for-containers

[MGugli]

Thank you for clarifying and suggesting singularity remote.