calex.org

Nix [Aside]

I am quite interested in learning more about package management using nix. In fact, I was just looking at the nix-in-place repository that allows one to install NixOS on top of a Linux distribution. Next step would be to experiment on a Digital Ocean droplet or on an ARM board.

Github Setup

Begin by forking the main repository for the feedstock. For instance, to update openpyxl, fork the openpyxl-feedstock repository.

The fork now resides within one’s personal account.

Local Setup

Clone the forked repository to one’s local machine.

git clone https://github.com/curtisalexander/openpyxl-feedstock/

Next, create a new branch for the new version. For clarity, branch names should be of the form package_name-version.

git branch openpyxl-2.5.0a2

Then switch to the new branch.

git checkout openpyxl-2.5.0a2

Update the Feedstock

To update the feedstock, simply edit the file recipe/meta.yaml.

Within the meta.yaml file, the following entries need to be updated:

{% set version = "2.5.0a1" %}
{% set sha256 = "fe00ef04c5560504c625cac9f18913a1d3fb414f0560e715af95d894a6b43d63" %}
...
build:
  number: 0

In order to update the sha256 value, the tar.gz file needs to be downloaded. For openpyxl, the file that needs to be downloaded can be found at pypi. The canonical link at the site is for the latest version. For instance, as of this writing the openpyxl link is for version 2.5.0b1.

Again, the canonical link is for the most recent version of the package. If older packages need to be downloaded, navigate to the following link for archived versions.

Once downloaded, the sha256 can be acquired by running the following.

openssl sha256 ~/Downloads/openpyxl-2.5.0a2.tar.gz

Local Commit |> Push |> Create a Pull Request

Commit the changes and push the branch to the origin remote and not the upstream remote. The origin remote points to the fork in one’s personal account and the upstream remote points to the original, or main, repository.

git add meta.yaml
git commit -m 'Update for version 2.5.0a2'
git push origin openpyxl-2.5.0a2

Now navigate back to the main openpyxl-feedstock site and create a pull request by clicking the button Compare & pull request.

Build (and wait)

After clicking Compare & pull request, a pull request will be created within the tab Pull requests within the main openpyxl-feedstock repository. The conda-forge build system will then take over, initiating builds on Linux (Travis CI), MacOS (CircleCI), and Windows (AppVeyor).

The builds can take a little bit of time to complete. Previously, AppVeyor took quite some time to complete but of late they have been running much quicker of late. At this time of this writing, Travis CI is lagging.

If one needs to trigger a rebuild — for whatever reason — then the easiest way to do so is noted at the conda-forge/staged-recipes repository.

git commit --amend
git push -f origin openpyxl-2.5.0a2

Merge

If there are no errors then the pull request can be merged! Just click on the Merge pull request button at the upstream site.

If there are errors, then read through the logs within the relevant CI system and make the necessary changes. When making these updates / changes, increment the build number within meta.yaml.

After merging, the just built packages are uploaded to the conda-forge repository for potential download.

Cleanup

There are three places where things need to be cleaned up.

• Locally
• Forked repository — the origin remote
• Main repository — the upstream remote

git fetch upstream
git checkout master
git merge upstream/master
git push origin master
git branch -d openpyxl-2.5.0a2
git remote prune origin
# alternative is git fetch -p