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Revision 104 as of 2014-04-29 12:00:01
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Editor: cjwatson
Comment: i386 -> amd64
Revision 112 as of 2017-09-22 08:30:24
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Editor: cjwatson
Comment: production is on 16.04 now
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This page explains how to set up and run Launchpad (for development) inside an LXC container. LXC is the recommended environment for doing Launchpad development in. We are currently transitioning to using LXC for our Continuous Integration setup. This page explains how to set up and run Launchpad (for development) inside an LXC container.  LXC is the recommended environment for doing Launchpad development in; the core Launchpad team and CI infrastructure all use LXC extensively. If your setup permits it, you should use [[Running/LXD]] instead, which is the recommended setup and what most developers currently use.
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These instructions should work on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and later. Older versions of LXC are significantly less reliable and polished, so if you've used a version of LXC older than 12.04 LTS's final release on your development machine, you'll want to remove `/var/cache/lxc` first to ensure that you don't have a broken cache. These instructions should work Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or later, and with some adaptation on any Linux distribution that uses LXC 1.0.0 or later. Older versions of LXC are significantly less reliable and polished, so we recommend upgrading to 14.04 LTS and removing `/var/cache/lxc` to ensure a clean, working start.
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 1. Create a container. You might want to use an HTTP proxy or alternate Ubuntu mirror; you can do this by specifying an http_proxy or MIRROR environment variable after `sudo`.  1. Create a container. You can use an HTTP proxy or alternate Ubuntu mirror by specifying an http_proxy or MIRROR environment variable after `sudo`. (amd64 works fine too, although it will use more RAM.)
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sudo lxc-create -t ubuntu -n lpdev -- -r precise -a amd64 -b $USER sudo lxc-create -t ubuntu -n lpdev -- -r xenial -a i386 -b $USER
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 1. Start the container. You'll probably see a few early warnings about boot processes dying -- they're normal and can be ignored as long as you end up at a login prompt.
 {{{
sudo lxc-start -n lpdev
}}}
    
 1. '''[Inside the container]''' Log in with your normal username and password. You'll have full sudo powers.

 1. '''[Inside the container]''' Install various packages needed to be able to connect easily (avahi-daemon) and run `rocketfuel-setup` [[#postgresql-locale-breakage|successfully]].
 {{{
 sudo apt-get install avahi-daemon bzr language-pack-en
}}}

 1. '''[Inside the container]''' Shut down by running `sudo poweroff` inside the container, and you should eventually be dumped back out to your host system. If it looks like it's hanging, force it to stop with `sudo lxc-stop -n lpdev` from outside the container.
 
 1. Start it up again, headless this time (`-d`). The same IP address will be used, so you don't need console access.
 1. Start the container in the background.
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 1. `ssh -A lpdev.local` to connect to the container. If your SSH key is in your local `authorized_keys` file you shouldn't be prompted for a password, as your home directory (including public and private keys) is bind mounted into the container. The `-A` permits you to access Launchpad code hosting from within the container without needing to reenter passphrases.  1. Find its IP address.
 {{{
sudo lxc-ls --fancy
}}}
    
1. `ssh -A IP_ADDRESS_FROM_LXC_LS` to connect to the container. Your username and password will match your account on the host system. If your SSH key is in your local `authorized_keys` file you shouldn't be prompted for a password, as your home directory (including public and private keys) is bind mounted into the container. The `-A` permits you to access Launchpad code hosting from within the container without needing to reenter passphrases.
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 1. '''[Inside the container]''' You can now follow the normal [[Getting|LP installation instructions]]. Be warned that changes in your home directory will also be seen outside the container and vice versa. If your home directory already has a Launchpad work area set up you'll want to run `rocketfuel-setup --no-workspace` to avoid trying to recreate it, but all subsequent steps are still required.  1. '''[Inside the container]''' Install Bazaar so you can run `rocketfuel-setup`.
 {{{
 sudo apt-get install bzr
}}}

 1. '''[Inside the container]'''
You can now follow the normal [[Running|LP installation instructions]]. Be warned that changes in your home directory will also be seen outside the container and vice versa. If your home directory already has a Launchpad work area set up you'll want to run `rocketfuel-setup --no-workspace` to avoid trying to recreate it, but all subsequent steps are still required.
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== Assigning a static IP to the container ==

If you would like to assign a static IP to the container via dhcp:

  1. In `/etc/default/lxc-net` ensure the following lines are uncommented:
  {{{
LXC_DHCP_CONFILE=/etc/lxc/dnsmasq.conf
LXC_DOMAIN="lxc"
}}}
  2. Create `/etc/lxc/dnsmasq.conf` and add the following line (change IP to suit):
  {{{
dhcp-host=lpdev,10.0.3.210
}}}
  3. Stop '''all''' lxc containers (lxc-net may not correctly restart if any containers are running):
  {{{
sudo lxc-stop --name lpdev
}}}
  4. Run `sudo service lxc-net restart` and start the container.

The lpdev container should restart with the specified IP.

Alternatively, a static IP can be configured directly in the container from `/var/lib/lxc/lpdev/rootfs/etc/network/interfaces`.
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You will know you need to do this if bzr or apt commands have been
spewing locale warnings.
Modern LXC container templates do this automatically, but you will know
you need to do it manually if bzr or apt commands have been spewing locale
warnings.
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you'll need to run `sudo pg_createcluster 8.4 main` afterwards to fix you'll need to run `sudo pg_createcluster 9.3 main` afterwards to fix
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== rabbitmq does not start up ==

rabbitmq may fail to start up. If that happens it appears to be a [[http://lists.rabbitmq.com/pipermail/rabbitmq-discuss/2010-April/007024.html|mnesia glitch]] best sorted by zapping mnesia.
 {{{
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/rabbitmq/mnesia/rabbit/*
sudo service rabbit-mq start
}}}

== lxc-start hangs ==

[[http://paste.ubuntu.com/772517/|The symptom looks like this]]. It hangs after that.

No fix or workaround identified yet, other than making a new lxc container.

To debug, try '''{{{lxc-start -n $containername -l debug -o outout}}}''' and look at output.

== DNS fails inside the container ==

After restarting in daemon mode and logging in as a regular user, DNS was not working.
Ensure there is a nameserver in the container's /etc/resolv.conf, which is created at startup by resolverconf. Stopping and starting the container solved the problem.

== Random flakiness ==

Using lxc via juju I ran into all sorts of problems with DNS, version mismatches, etc. Since it was via juju I wasn't able to muck around with /etc/resolv.conf (the damage was done before I got the chance to ssh to the guest.) I found {{{sudo rm -rf /var/cache/lxc}}} solved the problem. It is rather brutal but worked. Of course the next run took a long time as all of that previously cached stuff had to be refetched.

== Other problems ==

If other lxc users don't have an idea (known lxc users as of this writing include lifeless, wgrant, frankban and gary_poster) try asking hallyn or Spamaps on #ubuntu-server on freenode.

= References =


= Alternatively =

You can also run in a [[Running/Schroot|chroot]] environment or a [[Running/VirtualMachine|VM]].

This page explains how to set up and run Launchpad (for development) inside an LXC container. LXC is the recommended environment for doing Launchpad development in; the core Launchpad team and CI infrastructure all use LXC extensively. If your setup permits it, you should use Running/LXD instead, which is the recommended setup and what most developers currently use.

Why?

Launchpad development setup makes significant changes to your machine; it's nice to be unaffected by those when you're not doing such development. Also, multiple containers can be used to work around Launchpad's limitations regarding concurrent test runs on a single machine.

These instructions should work Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or later, and with some adaptation on any Linux distribution that uses LXC 1.0.0 or later. Older versions of LXC are significantly less reliable and polished, so we recommend upgrading to 14.04 LTS and removing /var/cache/lxc to ensure a clean, working start.

Create an LXC container

  1. Install LXC's userspace tools.
    sudo apt-get install lxc
  2. Create a container. You can use an HTTP proxy or alternate Ubuntu mirror by specifying an http_proxy or MIRROR environment variable after sudo. (amd64 works fine too, although it will use more RAM.)

    sudo lxc-create -t ubuntu -n lpdev -- -r xenial -a i386 -b $USER
  3. Start the container in the background.
    sudo lxc-start -n lpdev -d
  4. Find its IP address.
    sudo lxc-ls --fancy
  5. ssh -A IP_ADDRESS_FROM_LXC_LS to connect to the container. Your username and password will match your account on the host system. If your SSH key is in your local authorized_keys file you shouldn't be prompted for a password, as your home directory (including public and private keys) is bind mounted into the container. The -A permits you to access Launchpad code hosting from within the container without needing to reenter passphrases.

  6. [Inside the container] Install Bazaar so you can run rocketfuel-setup.

     sudo apt-get install bzr
  7. [Inside the container] You can now follow the normal LP installation instructions. Be warned that changes in your home directory will also be seen outside the container and vice versa. If your home directory already has a Launchpad work area set up you'll want to run rocketfuel-setup --no-workspace to avoid trying to recreate it, but all subsequent steps are still required.

  8. Follow Running/RemoteAccess to set up access from the host's applications to the container's Launchpad instance.

Assigning a static IP to the container

If you would like to assign a static IP to the container via dhcp:

  1. In /etc/default/lxc-net ensure the following lines are uncommented:

    LXC_DHCP_CONFILE=/etc/lxc/dnsmasq.conf
    LXC_DOMAIN="lxc"
  2. Create /etc/lxc/dnsmasq.conf and add the following line (change IP to suit):

    dhcp-host=lpdev,10.0.3.210
  3. Stop all lxc containers (lxc-net may not correctly restart if any containers are running):

    sudo lxc-stop --name lpdev
  4. Run sudo service lxc-net restart and start the container.

The lpdev container should restart with the specified IP.

Alternatively, a static IP can be configured directly in the container from /var/lib/lxc/lpdev/rootfs/etc/network/interfaces.

Troubleshooting

launchpad-database-setup fails

PostgreSQL will fail to create a cluster during installation if your locale is configured to something non-C but not supported by the container, so you need to install the relevant language pack.

Modern LXC container templates do this automatically, but you will know you need to do it manually if bzr or apt commands have been spewing locale warnings.

For instance, if your computer has a localised English locale, use this:

apt-get install language-pack-en

If you didn't install the language pack before running rocketfuel-setup, you'll need to run sudo pg_createcluster 9.3 main afterwards to fix the damage.