aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats

sb-builder

Desktop GUI for managing a Slackware SlackBuilds build VM from one place. It runs slackrepo builds, overlay syncs (sbpull, sbshadow), hintfile work (mkhint) and SBo orphan discovery on the VM over ssh, as background jobs that keep running when the GUI disconnects and can be reattached later. A dashboard shows VM and repository state, and the GUI can start the VM through libvirt when it is off.

Work in progress. See docs/superpowers/specs/ for the design.

Requirements

  • Desktop: Python 3.11 or newer, PyQt6 (with QtDBus), ssh access to the VM, optionally virsh for starting the VM
  • VM: Python 3.11 or newer, root ssh login, the slackrepo_setup tools (sbpull, sbshadow) and mkhint

Install

./install.sh             # ~/bin/sb-builder -> this repo, GUI config if missing
./install.sh --remote    # helper to the VM, its config if missing (asks first)

BINDIR changes the launcher directory, SBB_TARGET the ssh destination for --remote (default buildsystem). Configs:

  • GUI: ~/.config/sb-builder/config.toml, see config.example.toml
  • VM: /etc/sb-builder/config.toml, see remote/config.example.toml

Every key is optional. File > Reload config rereads the GUI config.

Usage

sb-builder
  • Dashboard: VM load, uptime and free disk, package counts, slackrepo build results, last overlay pull, recent jobs. Refreshes while visible.

  • Open > Jobs: start a job from the Start menu (sbpull <overlay> preview, sbshadow preview or apply), follow its log live, kill it. After a preview that lists shadow: or unshadow: lines, "Apply shadowing" runs sbshadow --yes.

  • Open > Packages (or click the Packages tile): every package of the repository, with built version and status (ok, failed, never, outdated). Search by name or summary, or with cat:, maint:, req:, status:; toggle the overlay and status chips. The detail pane shows the package's versions, its dependencies after hints (dropped ones struck through), and what its hint file does, section by section.

  • Tick packages (or select one row) and press Build, Update, Rebuild or Remove; Update all updates everything. Each first runs a slackrepo --preview job. When the preview is fine, Run it in the Jobs tab starts the real run; untick publish to keep the packages local and press Publish later to push them.
  • Results (ribbon, or click a result in the Dashboard's slackrepo bar or legend): slackrepo's last build attempt per package, newest first, filterable by result. Show build log (or double-click) opens the end of the log of the package's last attempt (slackrepo keeps one per command: build.log, update.log, rebuild.log, remove.log), where it reports the failure, with its resource.log (load, memory, tmp over the build).
  • Real runs sign the repository. When the package signing key is locked (status bar 🔒), the GUI asks for its passphrase first and hands it to the VM's gpg-agent; it is never stored.

Jobs run on the VM detached from the ssh session, one at a time. Closing the GUI or losing the connection does not stop them; reopening the job resumes the log. Job state and logs live in /var/lib/sb-builder/jobs/ on the VM.

When ssh fails and vm.domain is set, the status bar shows the libvirt state of the VM and offers to start or resume it. Desktop notifications report finished, failed, killed and lost jobs, and the VM coming up.

License

Copyright (C) 2026 Danilo M. danix@danix.xyz

GPLv2 only. See LICENSE for the full text.

Development Approach

This project is developed using AI-assisted tools. Code is generated with the help of AI based on human-provided specifications, design decisions, and iterative feedback.

All contributions are reviewed, tested, and curated by the maintainer before being included in the codebase. AI is used as a productivity and exploration tool, while human oversight remains central to all decisions.

The goal is to combine the flexibility of AI-assisted development with standard open-source practices such as transparency, review, and accountability.