Requires internet connection for base install

[GabeAl]

This was supposedly fixed in 2019.

But with absolutely nothing configured or installed, no bundles selected, here's what the live installation CD does.

When it fails, I get kicked back to the installer and cannot progress.

Kernel 6.10.12 (very recent, build 42440) live desktop.

Clearly a bug

[GabeAl]

I was able to use my phone for hotspot and confirmed that 4GB of data was pulled. This is problematic, as I literally just downloaded an ISO of equal size that was completely up to date and contained the same packages, so what is going on here?

[bwarden]

Can you capture /root/clr-installer.log and add it here, please? This should contain more detailed messages about attempting offline installation.

[K1ngfish3r]

2024/10/19 07:33:17 [DBG] { "type" : "progress", "currentStep" : 2, "totalSteps" : 9, "stepCompletion" : 0, "stepDescription" : "download_packs" },
2024/10/19 07:33:17 [DBG] Target OS: : Setting progress for task download_packs
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : "Downloading packs (3969.87 MB) for:" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - os-core-plus" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - os-core-webproxy" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - btrfs-progs" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - openssh-client" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - iptables" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - wayland-server" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - python3-tcl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - PyYAML" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - cloud-api" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - Babel" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - Sphinx" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pypi-requests" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pypi-cython" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pypi-six" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - openblas" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pypi-numpy" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pandas" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - python-extras" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - file-roller" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - graphviz" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libva-utils" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - seahorse" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - baobab" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - connections" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - eog" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - evince" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - evolution" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - geary" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-calculator" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-color-manager" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-disk-utility" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-font-viewer" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-logs" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-music" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-photos" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-screenshot" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-system-monitor" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-text-editor" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - Endeavour" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-todo" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-weather" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - snapshot" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - totem" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - emacs-x11" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - firefox" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gvim" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - desktop-apps" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - desktop-assets" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - desktop-locales" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - openssl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - fuse" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pygobject" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - alsa-utils" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - tcl-basic" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - NetworkManager-extras" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - polkit" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - vte-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gphoto" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - mpfr-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - poppler" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - hardware-printing" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - xterm" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - x11vnc" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - xscreensaver" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - x11-tools" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - ghostscript" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnupg" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - flatpak" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libXpm-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gegl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - lib-poppler" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gimp" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gjs" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-characters" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - lib-samba" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - webkitgtk" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - audio-pipewire" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libssh-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - dav1d-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - not-ffmpeg-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - desktop-gnomelibs" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - fontconfig" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - fonts-basic" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - qt-core" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - qt-basic" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gnome-base-libs" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libarchive" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - nautilus" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - thermal_daemon" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - desktop" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - git-lfs" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libpsl-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - linux-firmware-wifi" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - wpa_supplicant" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - NetworkManager-tui" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - iproute2" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - sudo" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - which" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - acpica-unix2" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - accel-config" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - diffutils" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - file" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - glibc-locale" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gzip" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - htop" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - iperf" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - kbd" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - kernel-install" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - less" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - lsof" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - man-pages" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - minicom" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - parallel" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - patch" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - powertop" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - procps-ng" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - socat" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libunwind-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - strace" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libevent-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - tmux" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - tree" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - unzip" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - lz4" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - zstd" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libpcap-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pcre-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - clr-hardware-files" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - protobuf-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - aspell-es" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - aspell-fr" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - aspell-de" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - aspell" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - perl-basic" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - moreutils" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - bootloader-extras" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gobject-introspection" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - trurl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - curl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - lib-opengl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - pulseaudio" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gstreamer" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - lib-openssl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - openldap" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libX11client" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - icu4c-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - harfbuzz-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gdk-pixbuf" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - LibRaw-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - lib-imageformat" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - gmp-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - nettle-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - findutils" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - p11-kit" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - ncurses-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - sqlite" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - python3-basic" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libxml2" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libnl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - hardware-uefi" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - syslinux" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - popt-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - bootloader" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - linux-firmware" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - linux-firmware-extras" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libstdcpp" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - systemd" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - yaml" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - dbus-lib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - libglib" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - os-core" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - numactl" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - qemu-guest-additions" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - os-core-update" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - openssh-server" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - desktop-autostart" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - git" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - vim" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - NetworkManager" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - sysadmin-basic" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - tzdata" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - boot-encrypted" },
2024/10/19 07:34:15 [DBG] { "type" : "info", "msg" : " - kernel-native" },

installing from 42150
full log: https://gist.github.com/K1ngfish3r/4020a29c19c785d2ab68f624f73341e4

[GabeAl]

Mine looks very similar.

But still exists with latest ISO (guaranteed fully up to date). Completely ridiculous to deploy an entirely broken installer that ignores the 4gb download you just did, to download another 4gb from the net, with packages EXACTLY IDENTICAL to what's on the ISO.

I literally can't believe it's possible for a bug this ridiculous to exist.

You don't need a log to reproduce this. Just try it. This isn't some one off thing.

It also persists in the text mode installer. I change telemetry, set a user، change time zone, select destructive install on a disk, and literally nothing else. No packages selected.

[bwarden]

I literally can't believe it's possible for a bug this ridiculous to exist.

Because it's not a bug. I spent a while in the source code investigating this. That's just not what was implemented.

The --offline option is supported when performing a scripted (YAML) installation. Offline mode is not supported from the interactive installation. You can save the installation configuration to a YAML file and feed that right back to the installer on the command line, and that should work with --offline. Note that this would work just as well from the live server image, which is half the size.

[GabeAl]

Oh. Well, that works. But it's far from ideal, nor is it best practice to require a workaround for what should be a basic functionality (and is, in most other OS's).

It's definitely still an issue. It's never mentioned during the install, doesn't really adhere to common sense, negates the use of delta files and hammers the network system twice for every install (costing tremendous bandwidth waste for the default installation for users and you alike), and is generally not how any other distribution works. Since efficiency is king for clear Linux in many other ways, something so wildly antipathic to that ethos sticks out like a sore thumb.

How can one save the yaml file and get it to persist through a reboot into the command line installer mode? Alternatively, how can one call up the command line when already booted and point to the file?

What's implemented seems like a hack, and doesn't match the spirit of what was announced years ago, and doesn't make intuitive or UI design sense.

Rather than have users deeply research how to go through this runaround, why can't the installer simply proceed with an offline installation exactly like the command line one would? More fundamentally, what's the point of even having your own installer if it is so incomplete (yes, I use the superlative "so" because this is a gaping oversight in a graphical installer and violates most best principles) compared to other installers already out there?

I think this is still a bug. The desire to acknowledge it as a coding technicality or simply a (substantial) UI and usability misstep notwithstanding, it clearly needs to be fixed/improved to meet user expectations of basic functionality.

[K1ngfish3r]

I need a checkbox that adds the --offline flag to the install
Would be nice to have.

Unless the GUI installer and the CLI installer are different entities and operate in completely different fashions.

[bwarden]

How can one save the yaml file and get it to persist through a reboot into the command line installer mode? Alternatively, how can one call up the command line when already booted and point to the file?

• If you're using a live image (not the ISO), the filesystem is persistent.
• You don't need to reboot anyway; just open a terminal and run the installer from it -- whether a terminal window, or by switching to a different VT.

I need a checkbox that adds the --offline flag to the install Would be nice to have.

I agree, that makes sense. clr-installer is a single binary that implements GUI/TUI/CLI. The big difference is whether Wayland and the GUI libs are included in the image. I'll see what I can do, but I want to make sure this gets a lot more testing before it gets exposed as an easy checkbox. I'm not sure how many people have actually executed that code in the real world.

I do want to point out that offline installation in Clear Linux works completely differently than in other distributions. For an RPM-based distro, for example, they just need to include repodata and a pile of RPMs in the image, and ask dnf to go install them. swupd is designed to fetch the latest manifests from our CDN, then go download only exactly the pieces it needs to update (which for installation, means the complete contents of files, not deltas). Offline installation is instead a shortcut that copies files from the live filesystem within the image. In theory this should work, but we can't rely on the decades of experience from other distros' approaches to reveal nor address the hidden pitfalls. Other distros are shipping redundant content in their images, so for a given size, we're shipping way more functional software in the live filesystem than they are. One option is for us to try to weed that waaaaay down to make an installer-only image. That means breaking bundles down a lot more -- the live-server image only includes these:

• os-core
• os-core-update
• NetworkManager (critical for WiFi support)
• clr-installer
• telemetrics (nothing currently in there anyway)
• vim

But it's still about 2.5 GB.

[GabeAl]

Looks like there's some more chatter on the issue, and the --offline flag also doesn't work anymore.

There is a workaround script in the thread: #808

[malventano]

What's implemented seems like a hack, and doesn't match the spirit of what was announced years ago, and doesn't make intuitive or UI design sense.

Agree. Nothing in the announcement implies --offline or other requirements exist to perform an offline install, and in my case I was not even doing the live install - just the standard one (but I agree both should be able to offline install direct from the mounted iso as the default behavior, just like most other distros).

For test system environments, offline install is a thing that needs to work, and it being broken effectively removes Clear as a possible distro for use in any secure / air gapped environment.

why can't the installer simply proceed with an offline installation exactly like the command line one would?

I believe that is broken as well.

[GabeAl]

Just pinging to report that it doesn't work without the hacky workarounds, and is actually not supported by either the graphical installer OR the non-graphical installer on the latest release (43320).

One option is for us to try to weed that waaaaay down to make an installer-only image. That means breaking bundles down a lot more

@bwarden Hi Brett,
Any updates or progress on this? Can anybody do a 1:1 comparison between what files are pulled from the internet and what files are already available on the iso so you can know what extras to bundle? Seems this is the most straightforward way to go -- considering the problem on a purely file-by-file basis is as reductionist as you can get and should perfectly recapitulate what the installer would pull from the web anyway (between the files that already exist on the ISO and an "installation extras" tarball).

swupd is designed to fetch the latest manifests from our CDN, then go download only exactly the pieces it needs to update (which for installation, means the complete contents of files, not deltas).

Okay, and if that manifest can simply cross-reference with what already exists on the ISO, problem solved. It "downloads" from the ISO instead of the internet. Same exact files, same exact outcome.

Offline installation is instead a shortcut that copies files from the live filesystem within the image.

Sounds good. Better than copying from online if the files are identical.

In theory this should work, but we can't rely on the decades of experience from other distros' approaches to reveal nor address the hidden pitfalls.

Why just theory? Theory posits that if the actual files are identical, and the installation script proceeds identically, the result should be identical. I don't see any possibility that identical files copied in an identical way with an identical setup routine (with the only difference where to pull the files) would possibly result in any differences. By definition there would be none.

By the way, anybody encounter any hidden pitfalls in the direct copy method?

One option is for us to try to weed that waaaaay down to make an installer-only image. That means breaking bundles down a lot more -- the live-server image only includes these:

Also a good idea. Any more thought on this one?

[bwarden]

I don't want to destroy all hope here, but I do want to temper expectations a little bit.

• The team is far smaller than you might think, and we're all pretty tied up with other bigger impact work in the distro, including day-to-day operations.
• We lost the developer who wrote the installer a long time ago. I'm not up to speed with golang and I haven't had a chance between other work to deal with that. Other members on our team know golang, but again, have some heavy workloads.
• By design, swupd and our download mirrors don't provide individual files; they provide packs and deltas -- swupd uses those along with manifests to create the files in the installed partition, so copying individual files from one filesystem to another is an architectural addition.
• The most appropriate way to verify that directly-copied files are correct would be swupd diagnose/swupd repair, but swupd still needs the manifests to do that -- right now it always fetches those from our mirrors, so we'd have to include them in the live image and modify swupd to look for the local copies.
• Theory is merely theory until it's proven ;) Stuff breaks in new and exciting ways, so we need to write things in a way that handles all sorts of failures. We'd either have to add code to the installer that replicates checks that swupd does while it's installing, or add code to swupd to copy files from an existing filesystem instead of unpacking packs. Either is possible, but needs more intentional architecture than hacking something in.

If we get some time, hopefully someone in the team can pick this up, but right now it's just a people versus workload problem. I can see a way forward, but we just need time to hash it out.

[ratatosk85]

I am also confused by this installation order:

• download iso image from the network
• installer downloads files of the current version
• after installation it is updated to the latest version

It would be great if the installer allowed you to choose which version to install and download from the network, only if the selected version was different from the version booted from the ISO