Fall 2012 DPI908/SBR600 Weekly Schedule
Previous semester: Winter 2012 SBR600 Weekly Schedule
Week 1 - Introduction
Wednesday (September 5)
Welcome
- About this course
- Introductions
Intro to DPI908/SBR600 - Software Build & Release
- Brief overview of the Build & Release process
- Introduction to the Fedora Project
- Fedora Project
- Fedora ARM Secondary Architecture project at Seneca and at the Fedora Project
- Course Layout
- Project-based course
- Working with Open Source
- Working with the Fedora Project
- Course Outline
- Course Outline
- How this Course Works
- DPI908/SBR600 Communication Tools
- How coursework is submitted
- Differences between DPI908 and SBR600
- Future
- Winter 2013 Semester
- Project continuation course
- Upcoming Events
- Winter 2013 Semester
To Do
By Monday, September 10:
Week 2 - Building from Source & RPM Packaging
Monday (September 10)
Using make
Building from Source
- Obtaining source code
- Configuring the build
- Performing the build
- Testing the build
- Installing the built software
RPM Packages
- Differences between managing RPMS and Installing from Source
- RPMS provide a database of installed software
- Let you determine what's installed
- Automatic management of dependencies
- Identify the origin of files
- Permit easy update or removal
- Enable you to verify installation (useful for spotting file corruption and intrusions)
- RPMS provide a database of installed software
- Contents of an RPM Package
The RPM Database
Using SSH
- Using SSH - a Review
- Using public/private keypairs
- Passphrase protection
- Keyrings
Resources
- Two simple makefile examples
- Fedora Package Maintainers page
- Fedora Linux chapter 5 (see Seneca Library website > eBooks > View All > Safari > Fedora Linux).
- rpmlint
To Do
By Wednesday, September 12:
- Build-from-Source Lab
- Send your SSH public key to your professors so they can create accounts for you on the CDOT Development Systems.
Wednesday (September 12)
Creating an RPM Package
To Do
By Monday, September 17:
Week 3 - Mock and Koji
Monday (September 17)
Mock
Mock is a tool which builds a package using rpmbuild in a 'cleanroom' environment. This has several advantages:
- it tests the completeness of the BuildRequires in the spec file
- it avoids the installation of a lot of tools (BuildRequires) on the main host system
- it permits different tools and tool versions to be used for the build than are installed on the host (e.g., building for F18 on an F16 system)
Background information on using Mock:
To Do
By Wednesday, September 19:
Wednesday (September 19)
Using Koji to Test on Multiple Architectures
To Do
By Wednesday, September 19:
Week 4
Monday (September 24)
Signing RPM packages
An RPM signature, like the digital signature used on many other software-signing systems, is a private key encryption of a checksum. RPM uses the GPG libraries for signing.
- Create a GPG key:
gpg --gen-key
- Add the e-mail address associated with your gpg key to the
%_gpg_name
macro in~/.rpmmacros
-- the line will look like this:%_gpg_name "e-mail-address"
- Find (or make) some packages to put in your repository. Make sure that the epoch-version-release is higher than that of any package with the same name in the Fedora repositories.
- Sign those packages with:
rpm --addsign packagefile
To Do
By Wednesday, September 26:
Wednesday (September 26)
Creating a YUM repository
A yum repository is just a directory of packages and some metadata.
To create a yum repository:
- Create a directory that can be served. The protocol used to serve that directory could be http, ftp, nfs, or something else (the files can be served by putting them on a DVD too!). For http, create the directory within
/var/www/html
- Put your signed packages in that directory.
- Create the repository metadata for that directory:
createrepo /name/of/directory
(typically:createrepo .
)
Notice that the repository metadata will be placed in a subdirectory named repodata
Testing
- Create a new repository file in
/etc/yum.repos.d
by copying and modifying an existing file in that directory. Keepgpgcheck=1
but comment out thegpgkey
file. - Confirm that you cannot install from that repository using yum, since the gpgkey is unavailable to yum/rpm.
- Uncomment the
gpgkey
line, and point it to a new file within/etc/pki/rpm-gpg/
- Create that file by running (as your regular user):
gpg --export --armour e-mail-address
and saving the output to the new filename (note: you'll need to be your regular user to perform the export, but the root user to install the file). - Confirm that you can now install from your repository. You should be asked whether you wish to import the key for your repo the first time you use a package from that repo.
Creating a Repository-release RPM
To make it easier for users to access your repository, create a RPM containing:
- Your repo file
- Your GPG key
You can link to this repository-release RPM from a web page, and users can install access to your repository by simply clicking on that link. You can also include this package in a Spin or Remix. If you ever need to move your repository's location or make other adjustments, you can provide an updated repository-release package which will be installed when your users perform a yum update
.
Take a look at the RPMFusion release RPM for an example.
ToDo
By Wednesday, September 26:
Lab
- Create a signed repository containing your RPM package.
- Create an RPM package that will install your repository configuration file and the key (repository-release package).
- Test it.
- Blog about this lab, and include a link to your repository-release package and the repository URL.
Week 5 (Feb 7)
Week 4 (Jan 31)
Tuesday/Thursday
Project Selection
This is a project-based course. These projects involve participation in an open-source community.
- Projects are listed on the SBR600 Potential Projects page.
- Select two or three projects that are of interest to you.
- Do some initial research into what the project involves.
- Find out who to talk to in the community (start with the initial contacts listed on the project description)
- See what work has already been done related to that project. Check the Seneca wiki for work by previous SBR600 semesters, the upstream project's wiki and mailing list archives for information about the current state of the project, and the web for related information (similar projects being done by other groups).
- Join the mailing lists and IRC channels of the upstream community.
- Update the Winter 2012 SBR600 Participants table with your project information, according to the instructions at the top of that page.
- Do some initial research into what the project involves.
- On Thursday we'll sort out project conflicts.
- Your professor will approve your project selection via the participants page.
- Link your project title on the participants page to a page of the same name to create a project page. Copy the contents of the Sample Project page to your project page and fill in the details.
Over the next 2 weeks, finalize your project plans and get started on your project:
- The project page must be filled in, including your 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 targets.
- Release 0.1: Proof of concept (e.g., a first draft of a package, a basic script, infrastructure set up on a test system) - Note that this must include the release of something, not just research, and must be done in consultation with the community.
- Release 0.2: Initial working state - Whatever you are working on -- package, script, infrastructure configuration -- should be working, although it may not be feature-complete, fully deployed, or fully documented. Feedback from the community should be solicited. If there is a review process required to submit upstream, it should be started.
- Release 0.3: Completed working state - The work is complete and documented. Any upstream review, whether formal or informal, has been completed, feedback has been incorporated into the project, and the work has been committed been
- You must have a strategy in place for reaching your targets.
You will make a brief (3-5 minute) presentation of your project plans on Thursday, February 9.
Thursday
Project Plan Presentations (0.0)
- Project pages are due. Link from the Projects column of the Winter 2012 SBR600 Participants table to a page for your project; use the Sample Project template for your project page, and fill in as much detail as possible.
- Be prepared to give a professional, detailed, but very brief (2- to 4-minute) presentation on your project plan. Include:
- Your approach to the problem.
- Contacts and resources you've identified.
- Your plans for each release. Note that at each release you will be expected to actually release something -- an RPM, a script, test results -- as appropriate to your project. Identify what you are intending to release at each stage:
- 0.1 Release - proof of concept
- 0.2 Release - initial functionality
- 0.3 Release - tested and usable
- Challenges and potential pitfalls that you have identified, and your approach to mitigating those challenges so that you can complete your project on time regardless of things beyond your control.
- Time for a brief Q&A/Feedback session at the end.
Week 6 (Feb 14)
Tuesday
Using GIT
Resources:
Thursday
To Do
GIT Lab
- Clone the repository at ssh://sbr600@scotland.proximity.on.ca/~/certs/
- Add your cert using the instructions in the readme.txt file.
- Blog about your experience.
Week 7 (Feb 21)
Tuesday
- Demo of packaging some odd real-world cases for the Raspberry Pi
Wednesday
- Raspberry Pi Fedora Remix launch event
Thursday
- Python
Break week!
- Please don't leave your 0.1 milestone work until the last minute!
Week 9-13
- Project work
- Schedule:
- 0.1 Milestone: March 9
- 0.2 Milestone: March 23
- 0.3 Milestone: April 13