Check for updates on Current

pfr

Currently I'm using pkg_chk -u -q after a cvs update -dP in my /usr/pkgsrc directory. This works well, however, I'd love to have the number of pending updates be piped to my status bar.

I know it would be silly to try to write a script that runs cvs update -dP more often than necessary. and I'm happy running that command manually to be quite honest. But I did try to cat the output of a text file, created with pkg_chk -u -q | wc -l > updates.txt.

the bar script (simplified):

[...]
PKGUP=$(cat updates.txt)
PKGUP=${PKGUP##* }        # strip leading spaces
[...]
echo $PKGUP > bar

This works, but I just wonder is there a better way that I'm not aware of?

rvp

pfr This should work just as well:

echo $(cat updates.txt) > bar

Since $(...) isn't double-quoted, the shell will strip off leading and trailing blanks for you.

In your script, you can leave out this line:

PKGUP=${PKGUP##* }        # strip leading spaces

pfr

Thanks @rvp

It's not necessarily the method of output that I'm concerned with (see the full script here for reference and feel free to point out any better ways of doing things there too).

I was more wanting to know if the use of pkg_chk was the best option here? It takes a a little while to run but I suppose that's to be expected.

I thought about running a cronjob to intermittently check for updates but that would be pointmless unless I'd updated my pkgsrc tree. so I came up with this:

chupdate.sh:

#!/bin/sh

set -e

# Check for an existing pkgsrc directory and run cvs update
# If no pkgsrc found then fetch and extract in /usr
if [ -d /usr/pkgsrc ]; then
	echo "Running cvs update, this could take a minute..." ;
	doas su bob -c "cd /usr/pkgsrc && cvs update -dP"
else
	echo "No pkgsrc directory found in /usr, fetching latest current tarball" ;
	echo "This might take a few minutes..." ;
	ftp ftp://ftp.NetBSD.org/pub/pkgsrc/current/pkgsrc.tar.gz ;
	doas tar -xzf pkgsrc.tar.gz -C /usr ;
	doas chown -R bob /usr/pkgsrc              # Bob the Builder...
fi

# Check for an existing pkgsrc/wip directory and update
# If not found then clone into pkgsrc directory
if [ -d /usr/pkgsrc/wip ]; then
	echo "Updating pkgsrc/wip..." ;
	doas su bob -c "cd /usr/pkgsrc/wip && git pull -r"
else
	echo "Cloning pkgsrc-wip to /usr/pkgsrc/wip" ;
	doas su bob -c "git clone git://wip.pkgsrc.org/pkgsrc-wip.git /usr/pkgsrc/wip ;
	git config --global --add safe.directory /usr/pkgsrc/wip"
fi

# Show number of available updates in bar using pkg_chk
if [ -f ~/.config/sdorfehs/updates.txt ]; then
	rm ~/.config/sdorfehs/updates.txt
fi
echo "Checking for available updates..."
pkg_chk -u -q | wc -l > ~/.config/sdorfehs/updates.txt

No AI was involved in making this script, just my little pea brain. Please let me know how to make this better 🤗
And obviously it's a little quirky because my user bob is the owner and builder so I've had to switch users inside the script.

EDIT
Ok, I couldn't help myself, I asked copilot how to improve the script and now I have this:

#!/bin/sh

set -e

# Define paths
PKGDIR="/usr/pkgsrc"
WIPDIR="/usr/pkgsrc/wip"
UPDATES_FILE="$HOME/.config/sdorfehs/updates.txt"

# Function to update pkgsrc
update_pkgsrc() {
    if [ -d "$PKGDIR" ]; then
        echo "Running cvs update, this could take a minute..."
        cd $PKGDIR
	doas -u bob cvs update -dP
    else
        echo "No pkgsrc directory found in $PKGDIR, fetching latest current tarball..."
        ftp ftp://ftp.NetBSD.org/pub/pkgsrc/current/pkgsrc.tar.gz
        doas tar -xzf pkgsrc.tar.gz -C $PKGDIR
        doas chown -R bob $PKGDIR
    fi
}

# Function to update pkgsrc/wip
update_wip() {
    if [ -d "$WIPDIR" ]; then
        echo "Updating pkgsrc/wip..."
        cd $WIPDIR
	doas -u bob git pull -r
    else
        echo "Cloning pkgsrc-wip to $WIPDIR..."
        doas -u bob git clone git://wip.pkgsrc.org/pkgsrc-wip.git $WIPDIR
        doas git config --global --add safe.directory $WIPDIR
    fi
}

# Update pkgsrc and wip
update_pkgsrc
update_wip

# Calculate available updates and show number in status bar
if [ -f "$UPDATES_FILE" ]; then
    rm "$UPDATES_FILE"
fi
echo "Checking for available updates..."
available_updates=$(pkgchkxx -u -q | wc -l)
echo "Number of available updates: $available_updates"
echo "$available_updates" > "$UPDATES_FILE"

thoughts?

disclaimer:
As we all know by now, the I scripts conjure up are generally ~~pointless or unnecessary~~ utterly useless, for me and especially for others. I do this because it's fun and I enjoy it, and in general I have nothing better to do 😘

rvp

pfr I was more wanting to know if the use of pkg_chk was the best option here? It takes a a little while to run but I suppose that's to be expected.

Switch to pkgchkxx (now out of WIP).

pfr [...] feel free to point out any better ways of doing things there too).

There should be no need to do doas su bob. doas should let you switch to bob directly. For example, with sudo: sudo -i -u bob sh -c '...' (The -i is to run as a login-shell: don't want the current user's umask, env. vars., current dir., or other junk to pollute things for bob.)
A.I. has done a better job here: it's thrown away all those redundant `;' ending the lines in your version.

pfr I thought about running a cronjob to intermittently check for updates

Check the mod-time of updates.txt and if it's older than some time, run pkgchkxx again. Like:

needupd.sh

#!/bin/sh

set -eu

DELTA=$((1 * 60 * 60))			# 1 hr.

must_update() {
	local FT NOW

	[ -f "$1" ] || return 0		# non-existent: update
	FT=$(stat -f %Sm -t %s "$1")	# GNU: stat -c %Y
	NOW=$(date +%s)
	[ $((NOW - FT)) -gt $DELTA ]
}

must_update "$1" && { S=yes; N=0; } || { S=no; N=1; }
echo "$1: $S"
exit $N

WS="$(expr $ $AWS + 1 $)" # because workspaces begin at '0'

Just use shell arithmetic here: WS=$((AWS + 1))

pfr

rvp Switch to pkgchkxx (now out of WIP).

Thanks I'll give it a try.

rvp doas should let you switch to bob directly.

Again, thank you! There doesn't appear to be an -i flag in doas. I noticed that the FreeBSD man page for doas includes the -S flag for login shell but this doesn't appear to be present in opendoas man page.. Will check later when I get a chance.

rvp A.I. has done a better job here

I think giving it a simple script to begin with and asking it to improve on it was a better idea than just asking it to write a script from scratch. Perhaps this is where copilot can be useful??

rvp Check the mod-time of updates.txt and if it's older than some time, run pkgchkxx again.

Without yet knowing exactly how pkgchkxx differs from pkg_chk I can't accurately I comment on this, but is there any use in running pkgchkxx more than once after updating the pkgsrc tree as the number of availably updates will remain the same until fetching another updated tree?

rvp Just use shell arithmetic here: WS=$((AWS + 1))

Again, thank you. Your helpful replies to my posts are always greatly appreciated.

rvp

pin [...] and I was wondering if you did some measure?

Never tried it. I just happened to recall @yeti's enthusiastic post--mostly on account of that delightfully ambiguous banner: "pkgchkxx is neigh!". Is that, nigh, neigh (horse), or nay? Our playful animal doesn't clarify.

Anyway, this is your dept. 😉

pfr There doesn't appear to be an -i flag in doas.

The OpenBSD doas says:

      By default, a new environment is created. The variables HOME, LOGNAME, PATH, SHELL,
      and USER and the umask(2) are set to values appropriate for the target user.

So, that looks OK (and I like it!).

pfr Perhaps this is where copilot can be useful?

That's the idea, I think: Co-pilot, not Pilot.

@rvp have you tried pkgchkxx vs. plain pkg_chk?
I remember when pho@ intruduced it but, I can't seem to find benchmarks now.

According to the README it's supposed to be a lot faster and I was wondering if you did some measure?

pfr

rvp The OpenBSD doas says:
By default, a new environment is created. The variables HOME, LOGNAME, PATH, SHELL,
and USER and the umask(2) are set to values appropriate for the target user.

Even if I have keepenv in mydoas.conf... ? I'd like to keep that there if possible.
Perhaps I can add another rule specifically for running doas -u bob command?
something like:

permit nopass keepenv :wheel
permit nopass keepenv setenv { PATH } bob as bob

Is this necessary?

pin
Just tested pkgchkxx and it's certainly quicker than pkg_chk

@rvp Not really statistical, as I only did 2 runs else, I'd be awaiting for hours but, here is a "quick" benchmark,

~> hyperfine --runs 2 'pkg_chk -u -q'
Benchmark 1: pkg_chk -u -q
  Time (mean ± σ):     328.340 s ±  0.474 s    [User: 168.849 s, System: 165.107 s]
  Range (min … max):   328.005 s … 328.676 s    2 runs

~> hyperfine --runs 2 'pkgchkxx -u -q'
Benchmark 1: pkgchkxx -u -q
  Time (mean ± σ):     108.847 s ±  0.542 s    [User: 158.440 s, System: 198.379 s]
  Range (min … max):   108.464 s … 109.231 s    2 runs

pfr Just tested pkgchkxx and it's certainly quicker than pkg_chk

"certainly quicker" is not a benchmark but, yes. See above, approximately 3 times faster.

rvp

pfr Even if I have keepenv in my doas.conf... ?

I don't know why you want to compromise security like that; nor why you want to contaminate Bob's environment from the outside... (Just set any env. vars. you want in Bob's ~/.profile or ~/.shrc, or in the script itself, or source it from another file, ...)

pfr is this avoidable, or should I include some shell arithmetic to [...]

Try this:

xx-massage.awk

#!/usr/bin/awk -f
#
# xx-massage -- no happy ending.

BEGIN {
	if (ARGV[1] == "-l") {	# pass `./-l' for literal file `-l'
		docount = 1	# print only line count
		ARGV[1] = ""	# awk... (sigh)
	}
}
{
	if ($0 == "Rechecking packages after deletions") {	# exact match
		N = 0		# just reuse LINES
		next		# skip sentinel
	}
	LINES[N++] = $0
}
END {
	if (docount)
		printf "%u\n", N
	else {
		for (i = 0; i < N; i++)
			print LINES[i]
	}
}

Use as: pkgchkxx -uq | xx-massage.awk | wc -l or more simply, pkgchkxx -uq | xx-massage.awk -- -l

pfr

So I just ran the script for the first time (with the few revisions to the the original above)

And it completed the first function, running cvs update -dP, but once that was complete the script exited without updating the pkgsrc/wip directory...

besides that, I just checked the output of pkgchkxx -u -q and it lists each package twice after "Rechecking packages after deletions"

~ λ pkgchkxx -u -q
devel/glib2 - glib2-2.80.2 < glib2-2.80.2nb2
devel/pkgconf - pkgconf-2.2.0 < pkgconf-2.2.0nb1
fonts/harfbuzz - harfbuzz-8.4.0 < harfbuzz-8.5.0
mail/aerc - aerc-0.17.0nb1 < aerc-0.17.0nb4
multimedia/libass - libass-0.17.1nb1 < libass-0.17.2
multimedia/ffmpeg6 - ffmpeg6-6.1.1nb4 < ffmpeg6-6.1.1nb5
net/yt-dlp - yt-dlp-2024.4.9 < yt-dlp-2024.5.27
pkgtools/pkgin - pkgin-23.8.1nb3 < pkgin-23.8.1nb4
security/gnutls - gnutls-3.8.5nb1 < gnutls-3.8.5nb2
security/gnupg2 - gnupg2-2.4.5 < gnupg2-2.4.5nb1
print/libcups - libcups-2.4.6nb4 < libcups-2.4.8
x11/libxkbcommon - libxkbcommon-1.7.0 < libxkbcommon-1.7.0nb1
x11/gtk3 - gtk3+-3.24.41nb2 < gtk3+-3.24.42
www/firefox - firefox-125.0.3 < firefox-126.0
Rechecking packages after deletions
devel/glib2 - glib2-2.80.2 < glib2-2.80.2nb2
devel/pkgconf - pkgconf-2.2.0 < pkgconf-2.2.0nb1
fonts/harfbuzz - harfbuzz-8.4.0 < harfbuzz-8.5.0
mail/aerc - aerc-0.17.0nb1 < aerc-0.17.0nb4
multimedia/libass - libass-0.17.1nb1 < libass-0.17.2
multimedia/ffmpeg6 - ffmpeg6-6.1.1nb4 < ffmpeg6-6.1.1nb5
net/yt-dlp - yt-dlp-2024.4.9 < yt-dlp-2024.5.27
pkgtools/pkgin - pkgin-23.8.1nb3 < pkgin-23.8.1nb4
security/gnutls - gnutls-3.8.5nb1 < gnutls-3.8.5nb2
security/gnupg2 - gnupg2-2.4.5 < gnupg2-2.4.5nb1
print/libcups - libcups-2.4.6nb4 < libcups-2.4.8
x11/libxkbcommon - libxkbcommon-1.7.0 < libxkbcommon-1.7.0nb1
x11/gtk3 - gtk3+-3.24.41nb2 < gtk3+-3.24.42
www/firefox - firefox-125.0.3 < firefox-126.0

is this avoidable, or should I include some shell arithmetic to somehow subtract one line (the "Rechecking packages after deletions" line) and also divide by two to get the true number of packages?

pfr What exactly do you mean?
I cannot really test this cause, I have no outdated packages but, I don't get the "Rechecking packages after deletions" part on my output.

pfr

pin yeah, I don't really know to be honest... 🤷

pfr

rvp Try this:
xx-massage.awk

The fact that @pin doesn't get the "Rechecking packages after deletions" stuff makes me wonder why I am. Before I use the awk script to tidy up the output I thought I'd simply ask the developer of pkgchkxx to see what happening

rvp I don't know why you want to compromise security like that

Do you mean the permit nopass :wheel ? yeah, a bit loose I know, but I'll take my chances for now. Honestly, that is simply so that I can run the fzf-pkgsrc script together with invoking doas in place of su in my mk.conf and I wont be prompted for a password. Perhaps I should just login as root 😆

rvp Just set any env. vars. you want in Bob's ~/.profile or ~/.shrc

Fair call. The only reason I had keepenv in the first-place is so that when editing files as root using vim I would retain my ~/.vimrc.. but I suppose I should probably just copy it over to /root and also /home/bob and source it.

Question: can I (or more specifically should I) source /home/dave/.vimrc from /root/.profile or /home/bob/.profile?? Or should I just copy the vimrc into each users home directory and source it from there?

My ~/.vimrc changes fairly regularly so it would just be a pain to keep 3 versions of it up to date... Unless I could symlink it across users?? 🤔

rvp

pfr Do you mean the permit nopass :wheel ?

No, the keepenv bit.

pfr My ~/.vimrc changes fairly regularly so it would just be a pain to keep 3 versions of it up to date... Unless I could symlink it across users?

Keep a master copy in /usr/local/etc/vimrc.local, then source it in ~/.vimrc

pfr

rvp
Cool, will do.

Back to my script, any idea why it executes update_pkgsrc then exits before executing update_wip ?

rvp

pfr Back to my script, any idea why it executes update_pkgsrc then exits before executing update_wip ?

I think A.I. goofed (the technical term is, I believe, hallucinated) in the re-write (relevant lines only):

set -e
PKGDIR="/usr/pkgsrc"
doas tar -xzf pkgsrc.tar.gz -C $PKGDIR

It's unpacking the tarball into the wrong directory; and on subsequent runs, cvs update probably fails when it encounters that extra dir.

(Forget Co-pilot mate; read any one of these instead.)

@pfr I'm getting the same recheck as you now ... back to pkg_chk for me.

pfr

pin I'll be sure to let you know if there is a solution to this.

rvp Your link is not working. I could edit it but, others have been pissed-off about such edits, so I'll leave it to you 😉

pfr

rvp Good spotting, but that's not it. my $PKGDIR is /usr/pkgsrc I haven't run this script yet without a current pkgsrc tree in /usr. Also, cvs up -dP succeeds, it's just that the script wont move on to pull from pkgsrc/wip and instead it exits