installation via chroot guide

[jeffayle]

This guide is not quite complete. I would like feedback on what is and isn't included, and whether any steps are confusing (or wrong).

There are three areas in particular that I am unsure of (they are currently marked in the text with TODO)

• what is the purpose of the base-voidstrap package, when would you choose it over base-minimal and when would you choose it over base-system ? (are there other metapackages that I'm unaware of someone might want to use instead?)
• installing grub for uefi can be done with only grub-install. The guides in the wiki include a number of switches that are either default or automatically configured. are any of these automatic configurations liable to break, should the switches be included in the instructions?
• xbps-reconfigure is used to run kernel post-install hooks to make dracut and grub work. is there a way to do this without having to lookup the proper package to reconfigure?

[jeffayle]

I've worked out the issues I was having before,

• I'm still unsure about the three different meta-packages, but I wrote a description based on what's in them and where they're used (base-system by the interactive installer and base-voidstrap by rootfs builds)
• grub install in fact doesn't need all those switches if grub is installed in the way that I outline (checked with the grub manual)
• you can just xbps-reconfigure everything instead of finding out what kernel is installed. this is probably a good idea anyway, any other software that was installed outside the chroot needs to be reconfigured inside the chroot anyway.

If the team is satisfied with the quality of the guide, it's ready to be merged.

[bobertlo]

This is moving in a good direction :)

I'm sure I'll have more nitpicks when I have time to review again. I just want to keep this down to basics. I'm fine with adding information elsewhere and referencing, but I'd like to keep this in the spirit of bootstrapping a system. It's going well so far.

I think just using /mnt as the chroot and not using variables/etc would be simpler. I think a lot of people using this as a quick reference would just be doing that anyway. Anyone doing something different should be able to keep track of it.

[jeffayle]

I think just using /mnt as the chroot and not using variables/etc would be simpler

That's reasonable, I've made that change.

I read through the guide again and made some small edits, mostly aiming at consistency in punctuation and style, also removing filler words. I changed my "NB"s to "Note:" and put them in block quotes, copying the style of config/networking/iwd.md

[bobertlo]

Cool. I'm really busy but will do another review ASAP

[ericonr]

@bobertlo it would probably be a whole lot of work for @jeffayle, but don't you think it would be a good idea to try and prune the chroot information from the FDE guide and refer it to this one? I could give that a try after this PR is accepted.

[bobertlo]

@ericonr yes, my intention was to get this merged, then move incrementally from there. I certainly don't have time so any help would be appreciated :)

[jeffayle]

• removed doas recommendation. base-system install sudo, it doesn't make sense to recommend an alternative here
• fixed a handful of typos

[ericonr]

You also seem to have mistakenly included a .bak file in the commit.

[ericonr]

Just realized it would be great if you included how to set up services when the system isn't booted. Something like:

if you need a service to be active the first time you boot, do ...

Then refer them to this page https://docs.voidlinux.org/config/services/managing.html#enabling-services

[ericonr]

This one was a bit more nit-picky. It's looking pretty good!

[flexibeast]

@jeffayle: Okay, thanks. i've just done another review pass; once those are addressed, i'd like @ericonr to do (what i hope will be) a final review to check if i've missing anything.

[ericonr]

Bootstrapping refers to the process of compiling your whole system (or most of it). In our case, I'd write for " for creating the new installation" or similar.

[jeffayle]

how about "for installing the base distribution"? I've used that wording elsewhere in this guide

[ericonr]

distribution -> system, perhaps?

[ahesford]

"Bootstrapping" does not imply compilation to me; it is simply the process of getting something running from nothing. In xbps-source, the bootstrap command does compile all of the base packages, but there is also binary-bootstrap to bootstrap a chroot from prebuilt binary packages.

If there is still resistance to "bootstrapping", I do agree that "for installing the base system" is an appropriate alternative.

[jeffayle]

I don't think "bootstrapping" is incorrect here, but I do agree that it could cause confusion with compiling the whole thing from source. I'm good with "installing the base system"

[ericonr]

Well, I think I had been in a bootstrapping from zero mood when I made that comment, but after re-reading I feel like bootstrapping fits just fine.

[glats]

I found a typo in this line:
This guide can be used to createa a "typical"
Says createa instead of create.

[jeffayle]

thank you @glats !

[ericonr]

Final nitpick, I guess: "perform a system update". I'm excited to merge this, thanks a lot for the effort!

[jeffayle]

I copied that line out of installation/live-images/guide.md. I prefer "perform a system update" as well. Can I change both?

[ericonr]

Sure!

[jeffayle]

this is ready to go

[ericonr]

Well, CI failed because OpenBSD websites are down. Didn't expect this one.

[jeffayle]

ah, that makes sense. I couldn't make sense of the error, but I figured out it wasn't my fault since other recent PRs were failing too. Once it's back up, do I need to do something to trigger ci to run again?

[flexibeast]

i've just manually re-run CI for this, and it's now passing. :-)

[ericonr]

I can make a final review over the weekend and merge it. If @flexibeast can do it earlier, I am fine with it being merged. Thanks!!

[flexibeast]

There are still some formatting issues (e.g. the link to xbps-install under the "XBPS Method" heading should say "xbps-install(1)"), but i don't want to delay merging this any longer; i'd rather have this information in the Handbook asap. So i'm going to merge this, and create a separate PR for the (nitpicky) formatting issues as soon as i can.

@jeffayle: Thank you for all the time and work you've put into this! i really appreciate it. :-)