Docker containers for building deviation

I just built a new docker image here:
hub.docker.com/r/deviationtx/deviation-docker/

The docker-file and build script can be found here:
github.com/DeviationTX/deviation-docker

1st pull the image:
docker pull deviationtx/deviation-docker

next make a directory where you want the builds to go on your host machine:
mkdir ~/devo_builds

now you can start the image in a couple ways:
As a developer where you already have a cloned deviation repo
docker run -it -v <path to git repo head>:/git -v ~/devo_builds:/release --name deviation_build deviationtx/deviation-docker
NOTE: <git repo head> is the directory above your repo (it should contain a subdirectory called 'deviation')

As a user without a cloned repo:
docker run -it -v ~/devo_builds:/release --name deviation_build deviationtx/deviation-docker

On subsequent runs, you can do:
docker start -i deviation_build

The scripts will 1st check whether there have been any updates to the build script recently. It will then update your deviation repo (or clone it if you didn't provide one). next it will show a menu that will let you choose what you want to build. Third it will fetch any additional files needed to run the build. Lastly it will build the selected targets and store the results in the ~/devo_builds dir on your host machine.

The build env will be cached, so the next time you run, it will be much faster.

The build script is still very crude. I will provide options to further configure the builds in the future. I also need to test building on Windows, and write some instructions, but my understanding is that I should be able to build a lightweight installer to automate all of that.

If this works, I plan to make it the only supported build system. This image should be nearly identical to the version used by our official and nightly builds, so there should be no cases where a build works in one place and not in another.

The primary downside is that the file image is quite large.

I'd like any feedback if you are successful with this method.

It should work on developer forks, and yes they are absolutely a use case. Ideally everyone will use these images (once they are fully baked). Note that you MUST use an external git repo and the '-v <...>:/git' option if you use a non-standard repo. It WILL run a 'git pull' 1st. Maybe I'll disable that if any modifications are detected.

The current proff of concept GUI is using 'dialog' which is very limited in its capability. I found something called 'snack' for python which allows building more complicated text-based GUIs. I'm going to rework the current script into a python script which will allow me to add some developer-centric options. I will take a look at the devo7e-256. Not sure why that wouldn't work.

the devo7e-256 thing was a deviation bug and had nothing to do with docker. If you run the image again, it should build now.

I updated the docker image today and replaced the shell based gui with a python based one. It doesn't actually work exactly as I want, but it is close, and will add a ot more flexibility for the future. You'll need a new image since I changed the pre-installed packages. Hopefully for the last time.

The issue I have is that I want the 'Update GIT' button to run a pull and return to the menu. This works fine on my linux machine, but for some reason in docker it hangs. I've temporarily changed the code to exit after an update to avoid the hang, which isn't ideal, but it will do for the time being until I figure out what is wrong in docker.

ok, I have tested out docker on Windows, and it seems to work.

Windows steps are nearly identical to linux:

Install docker for windows. You must have a 64-bit windows installation of a supported Windows variant:
Instructions here: docs.docker.com/engine/installation/windows/

If you already have VirtualBox installed, make sure it is at the latest version before you begin AND unselect it from the list during docker install. If you don't have the latest VirtualBox, the install will pass, but initialization will fail. It took me a while to figure out what was going on

now click 'Docker Quickstart Terminal'
When you eventually get a prompt (this is a one-time setup), run:
docker pull deviationtx/deviation-docker

And then:
mkdir /c/Users/<username>/Release
now:
docker run -it --name deviation_build -v /c/Users/<username>/Release:/release deviationtx/deviation-docker

and next time:
docker start -i deviation_build

Now the question is: Is this too much work to be worth it? Is there a better solution, or a way to simplify the process?

Even on Window we've had trouble with the build chain not working on occasion, so I really like the idea of only having a single build environment.

I think all docker images are by default 64-bit. I am not sure how to even change it. Why does BSD not support 64bit images?

I'm out of space on the current gui page. I'll need to think about how to add more options on a 2nd page. In developer mode, I assumed you would manage your git repo yourself, and just use the docker image for building. so just turn off auto-update and setup the repo as you want before you run it. I think switching branches is probably too much to ask of the little gui, but adding a shell option should be reasonably easy to to, so I'll look into that