nixos/pelican-panel: init, nixos/tests/pelican-panel: init, nixos/pelican-wings: init, pelican-panel: init at 1.0.0-beta38, pelican-wings: init at 1.0.0-beta29

[oskardotglobal]

This PR adds a NixOS module for https://pelican.dev, including a module for their Wings control plane and packages for both. I have been running this very module on a handful of servers for a few months now.

Things done

• Built on platform:
  • x86_64-linux
  • aarch64-linux
• Tested, as applicable:
  • NixOS tests in nixos/tests.
  • Package tests at passthru.tests.
  • Tests in lib/tests or pkgs/test for functions and "core" functionality.
• Ran nixpkgs-review on this PR. See nixpkgs-review usage.
• Tested basic functionality of all binary files, usually in ./result/bin/.
• Nixpkgs Release Notes
  • Package update: when the change is major or breaking.
• NixOS Release Notes
  • Module addition: when adding a new NixOS module.
  • Module update: when the change is significant.
• Fits CONTRIBUTING.md, pkgs/README.md, maintainers/README.md and other READMEs.
• Follows the automation/AI policy.

[Hythera]

Reopening to fix CI.

[felbinger]

run nixfmt / treefmt on your changes to fix linting issues, reported by ci

[oskardotglobal]

No idea why CI is failing now? Gonna try reopening

[nullcubee]

Okay, I got the wings running and almost everything seems to work, uploading files (surprisingly) works, creating a server works, running it works, the console works, the stats work, and connecting and playing on it works.

However, the one major issue I am running into is that uploading anything via the sftp connection will cause the server to fail to start with java.nio.file.AccessDeniedException for one of the files I uploaded, I was having this issue with nix-pelican too. I'm not sure why this happens, it's possible it's an issue with pelican itself but I can't find any issues relating to it in the pelican github or discord. I don't think it has anything to do with the reverse proxy I'm using, as I'm connecting directly to the server with it's IP address. That might also be the issue but I'd need to do some further testing.

I thought this would be a bigger issue than it actually is though, since I didn't know you could drag and drop whole folders into the file list in the web panel, so that works for now I guess. Still wish I knew what was going on with SFTP though.

edit: Wait I just realized these errors are showing up in the wing's logs while I'm connected via sftp:

Aug 15 02:29:28 hostname wings[4036693]:  WARN: [Aug 15 02:29:28.449] Error response from Panel: HttpForbiddenException: Authorization credentials were not correct, please try again. (HTTP/403) ip=localaddress:37288 subsystem=sftp username=nullcube.0fef47d0
Aug 15 02:29:28 hostname wings[4036693]:  WARN: [Aug 15 02:29:28.450] failed to validate user credentials (invalid username or password) ip=localaddress:37288 method=public_key subsystem=sftp username=nullcube.0fef47d0

This is probably related lol...?

Nevermind, I figured I should try a different SFTP client, and it works fine with FileZilla, I was just using Dolphin previously, I should have known better. Oops. I've never had that problem before though, so maybe the wings are just extra sensitive.

[oskardotglobal]

I've addressed all your comments. Regarding the setup: I think it's best if the user just creates the first admin using the CLI, I've added pelican-artisan to PATH. Regarding the secretEnvironmentFile, it forces users to do somewhat proper secrets handling so it should stay. I've documented it more, though.

[nullcubee]

Regarding the secretEnvironmentFile, it forces users to do somewhat proper secrets handling so it should stay. I've documented it more, though.

I still don't think it shouldn't be required, for a few reasons:

• It makes it easier for testing
• Most other nixpkgs services don't force you to include a secrets file
• If someone really doesn't want to include it, and have their secrets readable in the nix store and config, I don't think they should have to create a dummy file in order to bypass it/work around it.

[nullcubee]

Okay, hopefully this is my last review cycle, everything else looks good to me! Sorry about pestering you so much with reviews and comments lol

[oskardotglobal]

Regarding the secrets: some services do require it (onlyoffice, nextcloud) and I think it's a good idea. If the user wants them to be world-readable, they can just use writeText to write the secrets into the store and replace it with a path outside the store later on

[nullcubee]

sorry for the delay, I guess I accidentally lied lol, I was reading over the documentation again, and have some more changes I wanted to make, but I went ahead and made them on my own branch since they were a lot more extensive/specific: oskardotglobal/nixpkgs@nixos/pelican-module...nullcubee:nixpkgs:nixos/pelican-module

Feel free to edit as you see fit

EDIT: Changed a bit of the documentation around, since plugins stopped being able to be installed at all somewhere along my testing.

EDIT 2: Actually I might have figured out how to make plugins work inside the panel, but I might want to work on that in a separate PR anyways...?

EDIT 3: yeah idk if the plugins actually work, I'll just work on the plugins in a new PR.

[nullcubee]

I went ahead and added all the module (and test/package) changes I wanted to make here, just for easier review and discussion. The main thing I realized was that the APP_URL was forced to be https, and that you were forced to set the domain option in the first place.

You don't technically need a domain for a minimal installation, and setting one just causes the panel to try to redirect you to said domain, regardless if it's reachable or not. Having APP_URL be empty seems to disable this behavior, so you can access the panel via the server's local IP. This allows it to be used easier with like, tailscale, on a local network, or for testing.

Maybe this option should also be renamed to url with this change, I'm not sure.

I also have documentation changes I'd like to make, but those are linked in my last comment already.

[oskardotglobal]

I've updated the docs and pulled in your changes, good work; I've kept the option name as domain though

[nullcubee]

Everything looks good to me! Thank you!

[oskardotglobal]

Thanks to you for helping with this PR!

[Svenum]

Hi, any clues how long this will take to get merged?

[nixos-discourse]

This pull request has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/prs-ready-for-review/3032/7667

[nixpkgs-ci]

Thanks for contributing to the documentation

Make sure you follow the documentation style guide, most notably:

• Show, don't tell: lead with a minimal working example; explanation follows the code.
• No meta-commentary: don't write "This section explains how to…", just do it.
• Imperative mood and active voice: "Run the command", not "The user should run the following command".
• Present tense: "This creates a folder", not "This will create a folder".
• Be confident: no hedging with "should", "might", "typically", "usually".
• Cut filler words: "simply", "just", "easily", "basically"; "to", not "in order to".

For larger changes, like adding or removing whole sections, ask the NixOS documentation team for a review.