Newbie question on package management in a Fedora-based AppVM?

[viktor....@gmail.com]

Hello Qubes community,

I'm only a short-term user of Qubes-OS - and - I'm still struggling with all the details you have to know & understand.

How could it be explained, that a package, which was manually installed into an freshly created AppVM, get's removed?

I've tried to find an answer or explanation both in the Qubes - as well as - Fedora documentation myself, unfortunately without success.

Here's the timeline of the activities I performed in that particular AppVM:

###

    2020-04-10 ~ 12:45 - Install PHP & Composer

    2020-04-10 ~ 15:00 - Resolve the problem using the built-in web server

    <Next day>

    2020-04-11 ~ 16:10 - Read & execute the 'Installing Yii' section in 'The Definitive Guide to Yii2'

    * Unable to install Yii2, since PHP & Composer are no longer found :-(

    2020-04-11 ~ 16:50 - Analyze <?what?>

    * I guess it's time to learn / read more about 'DNF' ...

###

I did not further touch that AppVM, beside running a few DNF commands in order to understand the status a bit better ...

Any ideas, what might have happened to this Fedora 30-based AppVM - or - any pointers, what I could check/ do in order to resolve this issue?

With kind regards,

VR

[FredGarr]

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "qubes-users" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to qubes-users...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/qubes-users/777b323f-0708-4f9f-99a6-af89747f9ac0%40googlegroups.com.

Hello Viktor,

I'm not so old as a Qubes user too, but as far as I understand, is you install a packet with dnf (fedora) or apt (debian) in your appVM, it will disapear once you turn off the AppVM.

To keep your package from one reboot to another, you have to start a terminal on the TemplateVM your AppVM is based on.
Then you can add your package in the Template, power off the Template (don't forget this before next step) and start your AppVM.

This should work.

Kind regards,

Fred.

[unman]

On Sun, Apr 12, 2020 at 08:20:23AM -0700, viktor....@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello Qubes community,
>
> I'm only a short-term user of Qubes-OS - and - I'm still struggling with
> all the details you have to know & understand.
>

> *How could it be explained, that a package, which was manually installed
> into an freshly created AppVM, get's removed?*

>
> I've tried to find an answer or explanation both in the Qubes - as well as
> - Fedora documentation myself, unfortunately without success.
>
> Here's the timeline of the activities I performed in that particular AppVM:
>
> ###
>
> 2020-04-10 ~ 12:45 - Install PHP & Composer
>
> 2020-04-10 ~ 15:00 - Resolve the problem using the built-in web server
>
> <Next day>
>
> 2020-04-11 ~ 16:10 - Read & execute the 'Installing Yii' section in
> 'The Definitive Guide to Yii2'
>
> * Unable to install Yii2, since PHP & Composer are no longer found :-(
>
> 2020-04-11 ~ 16:50 - Analyze <?what?>
>
> * I guess it's time to learn / read more about 'DNF' ...
>
> ###
>
> I did not further touch that AppVM, beside running a few DNF commands in
> order to understand the status a bit better ...
>
> Any ideas, what might have happened to this Fedora 30-based AppVM - or -
> any pointers, what I could check/ do in order to resolve this issue?
>
> With kind regards,
>
> VR

Welcome to Qubes

When you use an appVM it is based on a template - almost all the file
system is derived from the template except for files and directories
stored in /rw which includes /home.
This means that when you close down the qube and restart it you get a
clean copy of the rest of the filesystem but any changes in /home/user
will be maintained.
If you install applications in the qube, they will (in most cases)
disappear on a reboot.
To avoid this you need to install the application in the template used
by the qube.

This is a core feature in Qubes and you can read about it at
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/template-implementation

unman

[viktor....@gmail.com]

Hello Fred,

Am Sonntag, 12. April 2020 18:10:29 UTC+2 schrieb facethefrag:

On 4/12/20 5:20 PM, viktor....@gmail.com wrote:

Hello Qubes community,

I'm only a short-term user of Qubes-OS - and - I'm still struggling with all the details you have to know & understand.

How could it be explained, that a package, which was manually installed into an freshly created AppVM, get's removed?

...

Hello Viktor,

I'm not so old as a Qubes user too, but as far as I understand, is you install a packet with dnf (fedora) or apt (debian) in your appVM, it will disapear once you turn off the AppVM.

To keep your package from one reboot to another, you have to start a terminal on the TemplateVM your AppVM is based on.
Then you can add your package in the Template, power off the Template (don't forget this before next step) and start your AppVM.

This should work.

I assumed, that I understood what is provided by the TemplateVM - and - what can / is taken care of by the AppVM.

I was wrong ...

Thanks for your explanation.

With kind regards,

VR

[viktor....@gmail.com]

Hello unman,

Am Sonntag, 12. April 2020 18:16:39 UTC+2 schrieb unman:

On Sun, Apr 12, 2020 at 08:20:23AM -0700, viktor....@gmail.com wrote:
> Hello Qubes community,
>
> I'm only a short-term user of Qubes-OS - and - I'm still struggling with
> all the details you have to know & understand.
>
> *How could it be explained, that a package, which was manually installed
> into an freshly created AppVM, get's removed?*
>

> ...

Welcome to Qubes

When you use an appVM it is based on a template - almost all the file
system is derived from the template except for files and directories
stored in /rw which includes /home.
This means that when you close down the qube and restart it you get a
clean copy of the rest of the filesystem but any changes in /home/user
will be maintained.
If you install applications in the qube, they will (in most cases)
disappear on a reboot.
To avoid this you need to install the application in the template used
by the qube.

This is a core feature in Qubes and you can read about it at
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/template-implementation

I misunderstood the responsibility split b/w TemplateVM & AppVM completely :-(

Thanks for your explanation & the link to the relevant documentation!

With kind regards,

VR