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-rw-r--r--doc/guix.texi184
1 files changed, 150 insertions, 34 deletions
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 153a41dd9c..125e5f0d62 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -567,6 +567,12 @@ guix import}).  It is of
 interest primarily for developers and not for casual users.
 
 @item
+@c Note: We need at least 0.10.2 for 'channel-send-eof'.
+Support for build offloading (@pxref{Daemon Offload Setup}) depends on
+@uref{https://github.com/artyom-poptsov/guile-ssh, Guile-SSH},
+version 0.10.2 or later.
+
+@item
 When @url{http://zlib.net, zlib} is available, @command{guix publish}
 can compress build byproducts (@pxref{Invoking guix publish}).
 @end itemize
@@ -814,9 +820,11 @@ available on the system---making it much harder to view them as
 
 @cindex offloading
 @cindex build hook
-When desired, the build daemon can @dfn{offload}
-derivation builds to other machines
-running Guix, using the @code{offload} @dfn{build hook}.  When that
+When desired, the build daemon can @dfn{offload} derivation builds to
+other machines running Guix, using the @code{offload} @dfn{build
+hook}@footnote{This feature is available only when
+@uref{https://github.com/artyom-poptsov/guile-ssh, Guile-SSH} is
+present.}.  When that
 feature is enabled, a list of user-specified build machines is read from
 @file{/etc/guix/machines.scm}; every time a build is requested, for
 instance via @code{guix build}, the daemon attempts to offload it to one
@@ -832,16 +840,18 @@ The @file{/etc/guix/machines.scm} file typically looks like this:
 (list (build-machine
         (name "eightysix.example.org")
         (system "x86_64-linux")
+        (host-key "ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3Nza@dots{}")
         (user "bob")
-        (speed 2.))    ; incredibly fast!
+        (speed 2.))     ;incredibly fast!
 
       (build-machine
         (name "meeps.example.org")
         (system "mips64el-linux")
+        (host-key "ssh-rsa AAAAB3Nza@dots{}")
         (user "alice")
         (private-key
          (string-append (getenv "HOME")
-                        "/.lsh/identity-for-guix"))))
+                        "/.ssh/identity-for-guix"))))
 @end example
 
 @noindent
@@ -875,31 +885,54 @@ The user account to use when connecting to the remote machine over SSH.
 Note that the SSH key pair must @emph{not} be passphrase-protected, to
 allow non-interactive logins.
 
+@item host-key
+This must be the machine's SSH @dfn{public host key} in OpenSSH format.
+This is used to authenticate the machine when we connect to it.  It is a
+long string that looks like this:
+
+@example
+ssh-ed25519 AAAAC3NzaC@dots{}mde+UhL hint@@example.org
+@end example
+
+If the machine is running the OpenSSH daemon, @command{sshd}, the host
+key can be found in a file such as
+@file{/etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub}.
+
+If the machine is running the SSH daemon of GNU@tie{}lsh,
+@command{lshd}, the host key is in @file{/etc/lsh/host-key.pub} or a
+similar file.  It can be converted to the OpenSSH format using
+@command{lsh-export-key} (@pxref{Converting keys,,, lsh, LSH Manual}):
+
+@example
+$ lsh-export-key --openssh < /etc/lsh/host-key.pub 
+ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAAEOp8FoQAAAQEAs1eB46LV@dots{}
+@end example
+
 @end table
 
 A number of optional fields may be specified:
 
-@table @code
+@table @asis
 
-@item port
-Port number of SSH server on the machine (default: 22).
+@item @code{port} (default: @code{22})
+Port number of SSH server on the machine.
 
-@item private-key
-The SSH private key file to use when connecting to the machine.
+@item @code{private-key} (default: @file{~/.ssh/id_rsa})
+The SSH private key file to use when connecting to the machine, in
+OpenSSH format.
 
-Currently offloading uses GNU@tie{}lsh as its SSH client
-(@pxref{Invoking lsh,,, GNU lsh Manual}).  Thus, the key file here must
-be an lsh key file.  This may change in the future, though.
+@item @code{daemon-socket} (default: @code{"/var/guix/daemon-socket/socket"})
+File name of the Unix-domain socket @command{guix-daemon} is listening
+to on that machine.
 
-@item parallel-builds
-The number of builds that may run in parallel on the machine (1 by
-default.)
+@item @code{parallel-builds} (default: @code{1})
+The number of builds that may run in parallel on the machine.
 
-@item speed
+@item @code{speed} (default: @code{1.0})
 A ``relative speed factor''.  The offload scheduler will tend to prefer
 machines with a higher speed factor.
 
-@item features
+@item @code{features} (default: @code{'()})
 A list of strings denoting specific features supported by the machine.
 An example is @code{"kvm"} for machines that have the KVM Linux modules
 and corresponding hardware support.  Derivations can request features by
@@ -915,7 +948,7 @@ machines, since offloading works by invoking the @code{guix archive} and
 this is the case by running:
 
 @example
-lsh build-machine guile -c "'(use-modules (guix config))'"
+ssh build-machine guile -c "'(use-modules (guix config))'"
 @end example
 
 There is one last thing to do once @file{machines.scm} is in place.  As
@@ -1209,6 +1242,56 @@ data in the right format.
 This is important because the locale data format used by different libc
 versions may be incompatible.
 
+@subsection Name Service Switch
+
+@cindex name service switch, glibc
+@cindex NSS (name service switch), glibc
+@cindex nscd (name service caching daemon)
+@cindex name service caching daemon (nscd)
+When using Guix on a foreign distro, we @emph{strongly recommend} that
+the system run the GNU C library's @dfn{name service cache daemon},
+@command{nscd}, which should be listening on the
+@file{/var/run/nscd/socket} socket.  Failing to do that, applications
+installed with Guix may fail to look up host names or user accounts, or
+may even crash.  The next paragraphs explain why.
+
+@cindex @file{nsswitch.conf}
+The GNU C library implements a @dfn{name service switch} (NSS), which is
+an extensible mechanism for ``name lookups'' in general: host name
+resolution, user accounts, and more (@pxref{Name Service Switch,,, libc,
+The GNU C Library Reference Manual}).
+
+@cindex Network information service (NIS)
+@cindex NIS (Network information service)
+Being extensible, the NSS supports @dfn{plugins}, which provide new name
+lookup implementations: for example, the @code{nss-mdns} plugin allow
+resolution of @code{.local} host names, the @code{nis} plugin allows
+user account lookup using the Network information service (NIS), and so
+on.  These extra ``lookup services'' are configured system-wide in
+@file{/etc/nsswitch.conf}, and all the programs running on the system
+honor those settings (@pxref{NSS Configuration File,,, libc, The GNU C
+Reference Manual}).
+
+When they perform a name lookup---for instance by calling the
+@code{getaddrinfo} function in C---applications first try to connect to
+the nscd; on success, nscd performs name lookups on their behalf.  If
+the nscd is not running, then they perform the name lookup by
+themselves, by loading the name lookup services into their own address
+space and running it.  These name lookup services---the
+@file{libnss_*.so} files---are @code{dlopen}'d, but they may come from
+the host system's C library, rather than from the C library the
+application is linked against (the C library coming from Guix).
+
+And this is where the problem is: if your application is linked against
+Guix's C library (say, glibc 2.24) and tries to load NSS plugins from
+another C library (say, @code{libnss_mdns.so} for glibc 2.22), it will
+likely crash or have its name lookups fail unexpectedly.
+
+Running @command{nscd} on the system, among other advantages, eliminates
+this binary incompatibility problem because those @code{libnss_*.so}
+files are loaded in the @command{nscd} process, not in applications
+themselves.
+
 @subsection X11 Fonts
 
 @cindex fonts
@@ -5172,10 +5255,19 @@ gnu/packages/gettext.scm:29:13: gettext would be upgraded from 0.18.1.1 to 0.18.
 gnu/packages/glib.scm:77:12: glib would be upgraded from 2.34.3 to 2.37.0
 @end example
 
-It does so by browsing the FTP directory of each package and determining
-the highest version number of the source tarballs therein.  The command
+Alternately, one can specify packages to consider, in which case a
+warning is emitted for packages that lack an updater:
+
+@example
+$ guix refresh coreutils guile guile-ssh
+gnu/packages/ssh.scm:205:2: warning: no updater for guile-ssh
+gnu/packages/guile.scm:136:12: guile would be upgraded from 2.0.12 to 2.0.13
+@end example
+
+@command{guix refresh} browses the upstream repository of each package and determines
+the highest version number of the releases therein.  The command
 knows how to update specific types of packages: GNU packages, ELPA
-packages, etc.---see the documentation for @option{--type} below.  The
+packages, etc.---see the documentation for @option{--type} below.  There
 are many packages, though, for which it lacks a method to determine
 whether a new upstream release is available.  However, the mechanism is
 extensible, so feel free to get in touch with us to add a new method!
@@ -5215,7 +5307,7 @@ usually run from a checkout of the Guix source tree (@pxref{Running
 Guix Before It Is Installed}):
 
 @example
-$ ./pre-inst-env guix refresh -s non-core
+$ ./pre-inst-env guix refresh -s non-core -u
 @end example
 
 @xref{Defining Packages}, for more information on package definitions.
@@ -5281,7 +5373,7 @@ In addition, @command{guix refresh} can be passed one or more package
 names, as in this example:
 
 @example
-$ ./pre-inst-env guix refresh -u emacs idutils gcc-4.8.4
+$ ./pre-inst-env guix refresh -u emacs idutils gcc@@4.8
 @end example
 
 @noindent
@@ -10025,7 +10117,7 @@ Return a service that runs @command{mysqld}, the MySQL or MariaDB
 database server.
 
 The optional @var{config} argument specifies the configuration for
-@command{mysqld}, which should be a @code{<mysql-configuraiton>} object.
+@command{mysqld}, which should be a @code{<mysql-configuration>} object.
 @end deffn
 
 @deftp {Data Type} mysql-configuration
@@ -10047,16 +10139,11 @@ For MariaDB, the root password is empty.
 @cindex mail
 @cindex email
 The @code{(gnu services mail)} module provides Guix service definitions
-for mail services.  Currently the only implemented service is Dovecot,
-an IMAP, POP3, and LMTP server.
+for email services: IMAP, POP3, and LMTP servers, as well as mail
+transport agents (MTAs).  Lots of acronyms!  These services are detailed
+in the subsections below.
 
-Guix does not yet have a mail transfer agent (MTA), although for some
-lightweight purposes the @code{esmtp} relay-only MTA may suffice.  Help
-is needed to properly integrate a full MTA, such as Postfix.  Patches
-welcome!
-
-To add an IMAP/POP3 server to a GuixSD system, add a
-@code{dovecot-service} to the operating system definition:
+@subsubheading Dovecot Service
 
 @deffn {Scheme Procedure} dovecot-service [#:config (dovecot-configuration)]
 Return a service that runs the Dovecot IMAP/POP3/LMTP mail server.
@@ -11412,6 +11499,35 @@ could instantiate a dovecot service like this:
                   (string "")))
 @end example
 
+@subsubheading OpenSMTPD Service
+
+@deffn {Scheme Variable} opensmtpd-service-type
+This is the type of the @uref{https://www.opensmtpd.org, OpenSMTPD}
+service, whose value should be an @code{opensmtpd-configuration} object
+as in this example:
+
+@example
+(service opensmtpd-service-type
+         (opensmtpd-configuration
+           (config-file (local-file "./my-smtpd.conf"))))
+@end example
+@end deffn
+
+@deftp {Data Type} opensmtpd-configuration
+Data type regresenting the configuration of opensmtpd.
+
+@table @asis
+@item @code{package} (default: @var{opensmtpd})
+Package object of the OpenSMTPD SMTP server.
+
+@item @code{config-file} (default: @var{%default-opensmtpd-file})
+File-like object of the OpenSMTPD configuration file to use.  By default
+it listens on the loopback network interface, and allows for mail from
+users and daemons on the local machine, as well as permitting email to
+remote servers.  Run @command{man smtpd.conf} for more information.
+
+@end table
+@end deftp
 
 @node Kerberos Services
 @subsubsection Kerberos Services