Build ubuntu-core-desktop images

[Łukasz Zemczak]

[Impact]

We want to be able to build iso installer images that would install Ubuntu Core Desktop to target device. This is a completely new image and product, but it's important to get building as early as possible.

The first core series that we want to support here is 24. However, due to issues with the ubuntu-core-desktop installer snap, the snap does not work on noble (which would be the best place to build the images from). However, since Ubuntu Core Desktop is a separate entity outside of the archive, it actually does not matter which Ubuntu series the 'installer' part is. We can install Ubuntu Core Desktop 24 with no problems from a mantic installer.

And this is what we want to do: backport the ubuntu-core-desktop build changes to mantic and, for now, use it for building the mantic images. We can switch to noble once noble works with the snap again.

[Test Case]

Run an image build on cdimage of ubuntu-core-desktop and see that the image builds and boots into the installer.

[Regression Potential]

Since some code-paths needed to be changes, there is a very low risk of other ubuntu-image based builds failing. So a re-check of all ubuntu-image based images would be recommended.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package livecd-rootfs - 24.10.1

---------------
livecd-rootfs (24.10.1) oracular; urgency=medium

  [ Łukasz 'sil2100' Zemczak ]
  * Add experimental support for building ubuntu-core-desktop installer images
    (LP: #2063203)

  [ Philip Roche ]
  * Re-enable ability to build HyperV desktop images (LP: #2064280)

 -- Philip Roche <email address hidden> Tue, 30 Apr 2024 17:58:43 +0100

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

This has been uploaded to the noble-proposed queue yet the bug description explicitly mentions this being fixed in Mantic first. Has that happened?

Or more importantly - Does noble work with the snap again? (Also mentioned in the description.)

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Hello Łukasz, or anyone else affected,

Accepted livecd-rootfs into noble-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/livecd-rootfs/24.04.71 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-noble to verification-done-noble. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-noble. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

Because this is an entirely new image type that we are not currently building, the risk of regression for this image type in particular is effectively nil; and there are other changes included in this SRU that are time-sensitive; so regardless of what the bug description says, I am not going to hold up the SRU for this.

- LB_UBUNTU_IMAGE_CHANNEL="${LB_UBUNTU_IMAGE_CHANNEL:-candidate}"
+ LB_UBUNTU_IMAGE_CHANNEL="${LB_UBUNTU_IMAGE_CHANNEL:-stable}"

Well that is a change that is entirely appropriate, and entirely undocumented in the changelog!

[Philip Roche (philroche)]

Based on vorlon's comments above and so as not to delay SRU I am marking this as verified