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RE: [cross-project-issues-dev] Producing downloadable p2 repositories

Hi John,
 
it would help if the Wiki page that you reference contained answers to the following questions:
  • How do I use a zipped repository for unattended (scripted) installs?
    • Can my scripted install directly install from the zipped repository? Why not?
    • How do I perform scripted install for platforms other than the one I'm running on (e.g. in order to assemble a product)?
  • What are known issues and workarounds?
Below is a commandline which I'm currently using for scripted install of CDT. I find it quite complex, is there any chance to simplify usage of p2 director?
 
./eclipse/eclipse -nosplash \
  -data install-ws -consolelog -clean \
  -application org.eclipse.equinox.p2.director.app.application \
  -metadataRepository file:${curdir}/install-ws/ \
  -artifactRepository file:${curdir}/install-ws/ \
  -installIU org.eclipse.cdt.feature.group \
  -vmargs \
    -Xms128M -Xmx256M -XX:PermSize=128M -XX:MaxPermSize=256M
 
Cheers,
--
Martin Oberhuber, Senior Member of Technical Staff, Wind River
Target Management Project Lead, DSDP PMC Member
http://www.eclipse.org/dsdp/tm
 
 


From: cross-project-issues-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:cross-project-issues-dev-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of John Arthorne
Sent: Dienstag, 10. Februar 2009 15:49
To: cross-project-issues-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cross-project-issues-dev] Producing downloadable p2 repositories


If you are responsible for your project's builds and packaging, please read on!

As you all know, providing update sites that include p2 metadata is a "must do" for the Galileo release.  Now that everyone is producing this metadata, the obvious question that arises is how do people building products and packages consume this metadata? Everyone is accustomed to consuming Eclipse project output in the convenient form of zip files:

* zips are easily replicated to company mirrors, which reduces bandwidth costs for both producers and consumers
* zips are a reliable and consistent input for builds. If you keep the input zips around, you can reproduce an old build easily and reliably
* power users can hack together applications by unzipping various zips into the Eclipse dropins folder

However, there are also numerous advantages to consuming project output in the form of p2 repositories:

* Repositories can use pack200 to drastically reduce transfer costs and disk footprint
* Repositories contain p2 metadata that would otherwise need to be generated on the fly by p2 on first startup
* As projects start to produce and exploit more advanced p2 metadata, it can no longer be generated on the fly (think chmod and sym-link metadata for example)
* A project can produce a single repository containing all of their project's output. Consumers then have the flexibility to install only the portions they need. In the past this consumer flexibility was only possible by having the producer provide numerous zip files containing the different permutations of their project output. These large collections of zips are a maintenance nightmare for producers, and lead to slower builds and higher disk usage.

On the other hand, remote repositories don't make for a reliable build input. They expose builds to transient communication failures, they may change or be deleted, they are difficult to mirror, they add to bandwidth costs if they are consumed remotely on every build, etc.

So, how do projects offer all of the advantages of both zips and p2 repositories? The answer: zipped p2 repositories. Simply take the p2 repositories you are producing today, zip them up, and make them available on your project download page. Consumers can then download these repositories, and use them offline in all the same ways they use either zips or remote repositories today.  The p2 team is now recommending this zipped repository format as the downloadable format of the future. For more details, see this wiki page:

http://wiki.eclipse.org/Equinox/p2/Metadata_Consumption

Thanks,
The p2 team

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