[Pkg-utopia-maintainers] Bug#824649: ostree: document how to prepare and update a .deb-based system root

[Simon McVittie]

Control: block 824650 by -1

On Fri, 18 May 2018 at 18:24:31 +0700, Arnaud Rebillout wrote:
> I played a bit with that lately, so I can also provide some additional
> documentation, a real step-by-step to use these scripts.

Yes please! What I would need to be able to test is something like:

* have one Debian root filesystem, without (say) the 'hello' package
* have another Debian root filesystem, with the 'hello' package
* make a bootable system with the first root filesystem
* "upgrade" to the second root filesystem
* successfully reboot into the second root filesystem

> Note that these scripts require access to the apt repository
> https://deb-ostree-test.endlessm.com/debian, that provides the
> ostree-boot package. If we wait for #824650 [1] to be solved, then we
> don't need a third-party repo, and we can simplify the procedure. So
> probably better to wait for that.

This bug is a prerequisite for #824650. I am not going to reinstate the
ostree-boot package in Debian and put it through the NEW queue until I
can confidently say it works, and I can't say it works until I know how
to test it!

Please branch the ostree package and patch it to produce ostree-boot,
then write your instructions with the assumption that your branch is
the one in use. Hopefully it should be as simple as this:

* append debian/ostree-boot.control to debian/control
* delete the section in debian/rules that deletes the files listed in
  debian/ostree-boot.install (look for TODO)
* rebuild
* publish with reprepro or apt-ftparchive or similar

but maybe further adjustments are needed; I don't know.

> BTW, how do you plan to publish the documentation? In a README in the
> packaging files, or Debian wiki?

I was thinking in the ostree package itself (debian/ostree-boot.README.Debian
or similar), so that the documentation can evolve alongside ostree.

If it's feasible to have this process be scripted and usable as an
automated test, that would of course be even better, but let's make sure
we can walk before we try to run.

    smcv