Windows support about engine-deprecated HOT 5 CLOSED

I wasn't able to complete the task, but here are my findings that could be useful for when we're going to work on it again.

I'm using a Macbook, so everything that follows assumes that you're using a Macbook (maybe some statements applies also for other systems).

Windows VM using VirtualBox

TL;DR: Don't do it (you could give it a try if VBox supports nested virtualization)

• I've downloaded the image from here: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/virtual-machines
• I've installed docker, git, go
• I wasn't able to run Docker properly, even the docker run hello-world was not working
• I tried to find the reason why by looking at issues and reading docker's documentation
• By carefully reading the docker's for Windows documentation regarding the requirements it states that the system requires to support virtualization, which is a requirement that I assumed was satisfied
• I was wrong 😭
• The virtualization is required as it spins up a VM using Hyper-V running a Linux system
• I discovered that the reason is that at time of writing VBox doesn't support nested virtualization for 64-bit VMs (I didn't even know that this was an issue)
• In particular the guest VM doesn't recognize the CPU as supporting VT-x which is required for virtualization
• Actually there's a legacy installation for systems not meeting the requirements, but I hadn't tried it and moved to VMware instead

Windows VM using VMWare Fusion

TL;DR: I had problems in bind-mounting directories and wasn't able to make engine work

• I've downloaded the image from here: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/virtual-machines
• I've installed docker, git, go
• I was able to run docker by enabling virtualization (there's an option on VMware)
• The initial build of the image of srcd-server was a pain due to some pseudo-random errors 😡:

Step 7/10 : RUN apk update &&     apk add ca-certificates libstdc++ libxml2-dev &&     rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*
 ---> Running in 207c364255be
fetch http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.8/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
fetch http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.8/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz
v3.8.2-10-g3fc272643e [http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.8/main]
v3.8.2-8-g684f341f68 [http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.8/community]
OK: 9545 distinct packages available
(1/7) Installing ca-certificates (20171114-r3)
ERROR: ca-certificates-20171114-r3: temporary error (try again later)
(2/7) Installing libgcc (6.4.0-r9)
(3/7) Installing libstdc++ (6.4.0-r9)
ERROR: libgcc-6.4.0-r9: temporary error (try again later)
(4/7) Installing pkgconf (1.5.3-r0)
ERROR: libstdc++-6.4.0-r9: temporary error (try again later)
(5/7) Installing zlib-dev (1.2.11-r1)
ERROR: pkgconf-1.5.3-r0: temporary error (try again later)
(6/7) Installing libxml2 (2.9.8-r1)
ERROR: zlib-dev-1.2.11-r1: temporary error (try again later)
(7/7) Installing libxml2-dev (2.9.8-r1)
ERROR: libxml2-2.9.8-r1: temporary error (try again later)
ERROR: libxml2-dev-2.9.8-r1: temporary error (try again later)
7 errors; 4 MiB in 13 packages
The command '/bin/sh -c apk update &&     apk add ca-certificates libstdc++ libxml2-dev &&     rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*' returned a non-zero code: 7

• Honestly I don't remember how I solved it, I think by just trying again and again as I hadn't find any other working solution
• I successfully ran srcd init using docker configured to use Linux containers
• I failed to run srcd web sql, unable to run gitbase
• At some point docker suddenly stopped working complaining of a very weird error 🤷‍♂️
• I tried using Docker configured to use Windows containers but that made even srcd init fail
• I then started from a fresh VM and now everything seems more "stable" without pseudo-random errors:
  • Enabled virtualization (VMWare setting)
  • Synced time between host and guest (VMWare setting)
  • Installed Docker
  • Installed srcd
  • Installed git (by making it available in from shell)
  • Installed Go
• After some investigation I realized the problem was related to bind-mounting a directory when starting gitbase
• It seemed that only c:/ and c:/Users are bind-mountable, but even if mounted the guest can only see the first level of the mounted directory
• I also tried changing the format of the directory as explained in some issues such as replacing "/" with "", replacing "c:/" with "//c/" or with "c/" and many other combinations
• I found many issues regarding mounting volumes and directories on Docker for Windows, such as the followings that may be related:
  • docker/for-win#1560
  • docker/for-win#2620
• The impression is that docker for Windows is not actually much usable, or that the problem is actually related to running Windows on a VM

Windows from a USB

TL;DR: Ensure you have an external keyboard and mouse (maybe I won't need them if you're lucky)

• I made a bootable USB with Windows 10 by following a mix of the following guides:
  • guide 1
  • guide 2
• Here are the steps:
  1. Follow guide 1, but replace step 1 by using Windows running on VMware (yes you still need Windows on VMware to make a bootable USB)
  2. Download Windows 10 ISO file from here
  3. As time of writing there are:
     • Windows 10 October 2018 Update
     • Windows 10 April 2018 Update
       I've downloaded the newest one (read note at 5.)
  4. Install WinToUSB
  5. Follow steps from 23 to 28 of guide 2 (note that at step 27 the program told me that for the specific build I was using I had to use WinToUSB Enterprise, maybe the other ISO image doesn't need it)
  6. Follow steps from 6 to 11 of guide 1 (note that step 8 will take long time, I was actually near to killing the VM as I was thinking it hanged at 0%)
• I was able to boot Windows from USB! 🎉 (even in this case it took a long time and it seems to hang with the Windows logo and a spinner)
• After 1 or 2 restarts (I don't remember) the Windows installation process assisted by Cortana starts
• That's when I realized that nor the keyboard nor the mouse were working 🤦‍♂️

I'm putting back this issue to backlog as I currently don't have nor an external keyboard nor an external mouse.

from engine-deprecated.

I got me both a wired keyboard and a wired mouse to try to continue from where I left.

Good news:

• both mouse and keyboard work

Bad news:

• really sloooooooooow
• the network adapter seems to be not recognized. 🤦‍♂️

I wanted to try using the ethernet cable, but I don't have the adapter to connect it to the Macbook Pro. On the other hand I have the adapter to connect it to my Macbook Air, then I tried there.

Good news:

• built-in trackpad and keyboard work

Bad news:

• even slower
• even with the cable, internet is not working.

I'm putting this issue back to TODO again, and if I happen to get an USB network adapter I'm gonna try it again.

from engine-deprecated.

@se7entyse7en can't we just get a Windows cloud instance for this?
A second alternative is installing Windows in some spare source{d} laptop (Dell, Lenovo).

from engine-deprecated.

There is already a request for a windows machine here https://github.com/src-d/infrastructure/issues/413.

from engine-deprecated.

Also asked Esther about any available laptops we could use for this.

from engine-deprecated.