Re: Install `guix pull'ed Guix to target partition on system install

[zimoun]

Hi Carlo,

On Tue, 22 Dec 2020 at 22:51, Carlo Zancanaro <carlo@zancanaro.id.au> wrote:

> On Tue, Dec 22 2020, zimoun wrote:
>> It is.  If you do:
>>
>>   (live) guix pull
>>   (live) guix system init
>>
>> then it appears expected to install what the system describes 
>> *and* the current guix used to install them.  Therefore, after 
>> reboot, the first “guix pull” will not fetch all the substitutes 
>> Guix requires, because you already did.
>
> Part of the issue here is that "guix system init" installs into 
> the system the version of Guix that the "guix" package refers to, 
> which is always older than the version that you are using to do 
> the installation. The "guix" package points to a specific commit 
> (4f621a2b003e85d480999e4d0630e9dc3de85bc3 in my current guix 
> version) which must have come prior to the commit of the guix that 
> is running (which for me is 
> 5795f566fae85023c6be86fe62388c29e6ac5c51).

We are describing the same issue but worded differently; or I am sorry
but I cannot express differently.  Well, IIUC, you are explaining why it
is not as I expect.  So bug?

(And if it is not, I am going to take a break because then I do not
understand what you and I are both saying.)

>>   (live) guix pull
>>   (live) guix describe
>>   (live) guix system init
>>   (live) reboot
>>   (real) login as root
>>   (real) guix describe
>>
>> The 2 ’describe’ should be the same commit and apparently they 
>> are not.
>
> This expectation is wrong. The two "describe"s should return 
> different commits, and the second one should be earlier than the 
> first.

Your description is the current situation.  And that’s why the first
“guix pull” after the first log is so long.  It should not work like
that.  Because I did my homework, let reuse your own words ;-) «I don't
think "expected" is the right way to put this. I think "explainable" is
more accurate.»

Even if the second “describe” return an earlier commit than the first,
all the store items should be already in the final store because they are
in the live store.

Otherwise, the same substitutes are pulled twice.


> Unfortunately, I am not aware of a solution to the issue Pierre 
> has raised.

One way is to transfer the store items from the live store to the disk
store somehow via “guix archive --export -r” then “guix archive
--import”.  IMHO.


All the best,
simon