Adventures with Snap

And here comes another package format :) .

So as I was just getting used to docker and building debian/ubuntu packages (.deb), there is now a new format trying to become standard. This is snap packages. I know, I know...there is also flatpacks, but while I have investigated, seems like a bit higher barrier to entry than what snaps offer up front.

While I won't go through the entire process of building and setting things up, I just wanted to hit on a couple points I learned recently. For a full break down, feel free to head over to snapcraft.io to get all the details. The gist of things is that with a simple yaml file, you can create a snap package to distribute your code. For example, here is what I used for packaging up my bluetooth utility Bjarkan:

name: bjarkan
architectures: [amd64]
version: '1.2.0'
summary: Command line bluetooth utility
description: |
  A command line bluetooth utility that allows you to completely manage all
  things bluetooth. Scanning, pairing, listing of devices.

grade: stable # must be 'stable' to release into candidate/stable channels
confinement: strict # use 'strict' once you have the right plugs and slots

apps:
  bjarkan:
    command: env GI_TYPELIB_PATH=$SNAP/usr/lib/girepository-1.0:$SNAP/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/girepository-1.0 bjarkan

parts:
  bjarkan:
    plugin: python
    stage-packages:
      - gir1.2-gtk-3.0
      - python3-dbus
      - python3-gi

The point and learning curve I wanted to cover here is the confinement section to the yaml file and the comment that comes along with the file after you initialize the directory, I believe, doesn't help with things. The issue is when to use strict versus other options. When you are developing and testing your snap locally, you are recoomended to use confinement: devmode. Then just like the comment in the file states, you are recommeneded to use strict once you are ready to release. The big difference here is access and interaction with the rest of the operating system. This became really apparent when I went to snap up a package that I came across via reddit (exa).

So the problem here is that exa sole purpose is to be a simple replacement for ls which inherently interacts with the file system to give the user some feedback and details about their files. Well with a strict confinement, this completely falls apart. You are presented with OS and permission denied errors.

[wdeberry-linux ~]$ /snap/bin/exa /
/: Permission denied (os error 13)

This is because what is in a snap package, literally cannot interact with anything outside of it's own installation directory. However, there is an answer! Since snapd version 2.20, Canonical has introduced classic confinement. This allows you to still build a completely bundled and isolated package for installation purposes, but be able to interact with the rest of the system.

Such a simple change but something that can have huge impact on how you design your snap package going forward.

Note

I just have to take moment and highly recommend integration with https://snapcraft.io/. This simple service allows you to tie changes pushed to your project on github. Thus creating a new snap package ready for deployment within the snap store all for free :).