68178405a8
facilitates using computer sorting to obtain a chronological order, which makes it easier to find things. note i also deleted a minutes file for a date that we had two copies for in the repo.
64 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
64 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
***Deployment workflow knowledge sharing (disguised as a usability test for our project documentation)***
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***Attendees:*** Koen, Kiara, Valentin, Nicolas, Kevin
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***Notes&moderation:*** Valentin
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* Kevin drives, Nicolas navigates
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* Task: deploy some program to an unsed VM
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* Start at Fediversity/Fediversity: README.md
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* Need to add public key to ./keys/contributors/keys
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* TODO: no docs there why we need the keys and how to add them:
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* keys used to decrypt secrets stored in the repo
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* https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/84
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* TODO: document that review process needs rekeying https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/85
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* TODO: use keys for machine access, too https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/83
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* Inspecting ./services
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* TODO: Rewrite the introduction https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/86
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* TODO: update Pixelfed service to use an actual secret https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/87
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* Added an SSH public key and re-keyed
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* Tried redeploying the VM to provide the newly added contributor with machine access
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* TODO: check NixOps4 interfaces in a test https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/90
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* A machine was not available any more and NixOps4 broke for us after an update
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* Workaround: https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/pulls/91
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* TODO: https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/90
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* Adding cowsay to a VM
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* Tested if it's already in the VM's environment: no
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* Added it to the VM's config
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* Ran into a code organisation issue that prevents the change as is
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* TODO: https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/93
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* Had some trouble getting `nixops4` to run
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* TODO: https://git.fediversity.eu/Fediversity/Fediversity/issues/94
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* For some reason NixOps4 is building Nix, takes a while
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* Ran cowsay after a successful deployment
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* Finished in 2:20h!
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* Debrief:
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* Koen: There were a lot of moving parts. Would like this to be more of a linear run-through guided by documentation.
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* Eventually I want to be able to do this myself, I'm exactly the target audience of this tooling
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* Target should be about 30 min to get from nothing to the deployment given solid Linux experience
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* Kiara: Learned the overall flow, should be able to get there a lot faster on Monday
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* I might be close to the target audience, but it's still very geared towards somewhat experienced Nix users
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* Kevin:
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* Most frustrating: Didn't know what I was doing, just following arbitrary-sounding instructions
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* Surprisingly easy: Applying the configuration to the deployment just worked (although getting there was hard)
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* What to change (assuming roadblocks removed): Nothing, seems about right. The problem were the roadblocks and lack of written sequential instructions
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* Nicolas:
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* Process felt painful; may be biased from having it working on my end.
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* Documentation is pretty much lacking, this is the biggest issue; far from being content with the current state
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* Part of it will be NixOps4 docs, part Nix docs
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* Leaking errors from any of those will confuse users not intimately familiar with both
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* Need to figure out how to factor those workflows in documentation; e.g. adding keys, factoring configurations are independent problems, can't put them in a meaningful sequence
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* Valentin:
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* Not surprised it took so long; the whole point was to reveal implicit assumptions
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* Since this project is largely a big integrator, we probably have to (co-)own the UX for each of the underlying tools our users interact with
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* Have to strike a balance with things we can fix upstream or where we have to paper over them with a custom wrapper/interface or documentation
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* We should probably map the entire user story starting with essentially two bare machines (client and deployment target), and then work through and iterate on it until it's smooth
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* Client: Freshly installed Debian machine with one user on it
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* Server: Empty machine
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* Decision: Do this once a week to derive tasks for the following days. Record the process and outcomes.
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* Next week:
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* Start with two fresh machines: Client (Debian) and server (empty)
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* Install Nix and configure a user environment on the client
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* Pull the Fediversity repo and create a minimal NixOS ISO
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* Install NixOS with Proxmox-nix on the server:
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* Boot the installer ISO
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* Deploy to the machine via NixOps4 from a config in Fediversity repo
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