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Subject: bug#65471: home mcron service overwrites PATH with a GuixSD-only
 directory
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Reply-to:  Gary Johnson <lambdatronic@disroot.org>
From:  Gary Johnson via Bug reports for GNU Guix <bug-guix@gnu.org>
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Hi Guix,

The bug in which home-mcron-service-type overwrites the user's PATH with a =
single non-existent directory makes mcron completely unusable on foreign di=
stros. Since it seems to me that foreign distros are the main target for ho=
me mcron services (since there is no global shepherd to run mcron for you),=
 this really should be elevated to a high priority bug.

I see that earlier in this message thread questions were raised as to what =
the proper behavior should be for setting the PATH, but I think we can say =
with no reservations that setting PATH to a directory that is guaranteed no=
t to exist on a foreign distro is definitely not the correct choice. Also, =
setting it explicitly to directories not managed by Guix profiles or Guix H=
ome like /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/sbin,=
 and so on also isn't a great idea since users of the home-cron-service-typ=
e are obviously using it through Guix Home. The correct choice IMHO is to f=
ollow the principle of least surprise here.

Namely, in the Guix info pages at "(guix)Top > Home Configuration > Home Se=
rvices > Mcron Home Service", we have section "13.3.3 Scheduled User=E2=80=
=99s Job Execution". Under home-mcron-configuration, we see the "jobs" fiel=
d, which links us to "mcron job specifications(mcron)" for explanations of =
how to define our mcron jobs.

Following this link on to "(mcron)Top > Syntax > Guile Syntax", we encounte=
r section "3.1.1 Job specification". The final paragraph in this section re=
ads as follows:

> The second argument to the 'job' function can be either a string, a list,=
 or a function. The command is executed in the home directory and with the =
UID of USER. If a string is passed, it is assumed to be shell script and is=
 executed with the user's default shell. If a list is passed it is assumed =
to be Scheme code and is _eval_'d as such. A supplied function should take =
exactly zero arguments, and will be called at the pertinent times.

Note the third sentence:

"If a string is passed, it is assumed to be shell script and is executed wi=
th the user's default shell."

Reading that, I (and I imagine most mcron users) will infer that the enviro=
nment my job command will run in will be the same as what I would get if I =
spawned a new non-interactive shell. That is, the new mcron job shell shoul=
d inherit all the environment variables that were defined when the user's s=
heperd process was launched (which will be everything loaded into a standar=
d login shell, such as /etc/profile, ~/.bash_profile, and everything that t=
hey source like Guix Home's ~/.profile) plus a fresh run of ~/.bashrc (or t=
he equivalent non-interactive shell config file for whatever shell the user=
 has chosen). It seems to me that this is what most people reading the manu=
al are going to understand (and therefore expect) and that it is the most c=
ompatible with Guix Home since all environment variables set in the `home-e=
nvironment` will be available to our mcron jobs.

However, with the current behavior, it appears that the shell spawned for t=
he user mcron job actually reads /etc/profile and ~/.profile (but not ~/.ba=
sh_profile or ~/.bashrc). The ~/.profile file sources ~/.guix-home/setup-en=
vironment and then runs ~/.guix-home/on-first-login. While being very confu=
sing and unintuitive (because my default shell is /bin/bash and is reported=
 correctly within the mcron job environment as "SHELL=3D/bin/bash"), this a=
t least loads ~/.guix-home/profile/etc/profile and ~/.guix-profile/etc/prof=
ile. However, since mcron then promptly erases the correctly built up PATH =
from Guix Home and the user's main Guix profile, the commands executed in t=
his PATH-less shell are borked.

As others in this thread have previously noted, with the current behavior o=
f providing an unintuitive and completely unusable PATH to user mcron jobs,=
 the home-mcron-service-type is largely unusable except for the simplest co=
mmands in which you can use ungexp package directory expansion to build up =
the locations of a Guix-installed executable. However, if any job command e=
ver needs to shell out to any other executable, it will not be found, and t=
he job will crash and burn.

Please fix this, folks. And if you aren't willing to implement the intuitiv=
e, documented, and Guix Home compatible shell behavior described above, ple=
ase at the very least extend the "job" function with a keyword to allow us =
to pass environment variables into the mcron job shell along with something=
 like the "(default-environment-variables)" function that is available for =
shepherd service "start" functions.

Thanks!
  Gary

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