autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud no longer works with precise or trusty

[Dan Streetman]

[impact]

creation of qemu imgs for use with autopkgtest-virt-qemu is done with the autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud program. This was dropped in version 5.6:

      [ Martin Pitt ]
      * autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud: Drop obsolete Ubuntu release names

diff --git a/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud b/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud
index 2ff475c..81b4304 100755
--- a/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud
+++ b/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ def parse_args():

 def download_image(cloud_img_url, release, arch):
- if release in ['precise', 'trusty', 'wily', 'xenial']:
+ if release in ['xenial']:
         diskname = '%s-server-cloudimg-%s-disk1.img' % (release, arch)
     else:
         # images were renamed in Ubuntu 16.10

however, precise and trusty are not 'obsolete Ubuntu release names' just yet.

[test case]

run autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud with either -r precise or -r trusty:

$ autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud -r trusty
Downloading https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/trusty/current/trusty-server-cloudimg-amd64.img...

No image exists for this release/architecture
$ autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud -r precise
Downloading https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/precise/current/precise-server-cloudimg-amd64.img...

No image exists for this release/architecture

[regression potential]

very little, as this is a simple change and using precise or trusty with the script does not work at all currrently. any regression would be around downloading the ubuntu-cloud image.

[other info]

this does not affect cosmic or earlier, as the precise/trusty removal was added in version 5.6 while those releases have earlier versions and still contain support for precise/trusty images in autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud.

* salsa autopkgtest repo:
https://salsa.debian.org/ci-team/autopkgtest/commit/9033ef10dc71a3cc65d153f9508cbd2ca0234342

[Martin Pitt (pitti)]

precise has been EOL for 2 years; trusty's support will end in about a month, so I don't think we need to bother about this now.

[Dan Streetman (ddstreet)]

> precise has been EOL for 2 years

it's actually still supported with security maintenance

> trusty's support will end in about a month

it actually will continue to be supported for another 3 years of security maintenance

> so I don't think we need to bother about this now.

i do think we need to. there's really no reason to remove those release names from the script - they don't hurt anything by being there - and not having them there makes users of the script hand-edit it to get it to work with those releases.

[Eric Desrochers (slashd)]

I agree that someone running disco today and/or after its release could still have the need to create a Ubuntu cloud image based VM for autopkgtest-virt-qemu with precise and trusty.

Especially in the context of our team (Canonical support eng team) + considering the fact that Precise and Trusty are the two first releases not going straight to EOL, but are eligible for ESM (Extended Security Maintenance) provided by UA --> https://www.ubuntu.com/esm

They are going EOL at Ubuntu community point of view, but not at Canonical point of view.

[1] - https://salsa.debian.org/ci-team/autopkgtest.git
$ git show 252c75b7
commit 252c75b767179546382538c5fdd3536783feea2f
Author: Martin Pitt <email address hidden>
Date: Thu Aug 16 16:52:32 2018 +0200

    autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud: Drop obsolete Ubuntu release names

    These are EOL.

diff --git a/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud b/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud
index 2ff475c..14eea3f 100755
--- a/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud
+++ b/tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ def parse_args():

 def download_image(cloud_img_url, release, arch):
- if release in ['precise', 'trusty', 'wily', 'xenial']:
+ if release in ['xenial']:
         diskname = '%s-server-cloudimg-%s-disk1.img' % (release, arch)
     else:
         # images were renamed in Ubuntu 16.10

[Eric Desrochers (slashd)]

Since we already entered a few freeze already, this bug is debatable as if it's a 'bugfix' or 'feature'. I'll coordinate with the SRU team next week and worst case I'll do the upload once Disco become stable (with no freeze restriction).

I'll put the sponsoring on hold until then.

- Eric

[Łukasz Zemczak (sil2100)]

With my release team member hat: since it's debatable whether this is a feature or bugfix, even in the case of it being a feature I'd be +1 on letting it in. Since it's only introducing series to the list, there should be no regression potential that it could delay the release. So feel free to upload it.

It might be also debatable if we need to support those series in autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud, but as Dan and Eric said, with precise being ESM and trusty joining in soon, it might make sense for them to stick around. I don't think there are currently any automated britney runs for packages in the precise ESM pocket, but I can still feel it might be somewhat useful to run such tests locally before doing ESM uploads.

[Eric Desrochers (slashd)]

The change has been reverted in debian, see:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=925966#10

[Eric Desrochers (slashd)]

Sponsored in Disco based on 'ACK' from release manager (with regard to current freeze schedule) + debian reverted the change + consideration about ESM, EOL different POV between Ubuntu and Canonical.

Thanks for everyone involve in the discussion !

- Eric

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package autopkgtest - 5.10ubuntu1

---------------
autopkgtest (5.10ubuntu1) disco; urgency=medium

  * tools/autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud:
    autopkgtest-buildvm-ubuntu-cloud: work with precise and trusty.
    they aren't dead yet! (LP: #1822331)

 -- Dan Streetman <email address hidden> Fri, 29 Mar 2019 10:19:18 -0400