## Development environment setup for first-time contributors This section guides first-time contributors through installing the Zulip dev environment on Windows 10, OS X El Capitan, Ubuntu 14.04, and Ubuntu 16.04. The recommended method for installing the Zulip dev environment is to use Vagrant with VirtualBox on Windows and OS X, and Vagrant with LXC on Ubuntu. This method creates a virtual machine (for Windows and OS X) or a Linux container (for Ubuntu) inside which the Zulip server and all related services will run. Contents: * [Requirements](#requirements) * [Step 1: Install Prerequisites](#step-1-install-prerequisites) * [Step 2: Get Zulip code](#step-2-get-zulip-code) * [Step 3: Start the dev environment](#step-3-start-the-dev-environment) * [Step 4: Developing](#step-4-developing) * [Troubleshooting & Common Errors](#troubleshooting--common-errors) If you encounter errors installing the Zulip dev environment and they are not addressed in [Troubleshooting & Common Errors](#troubleshooting--common-errors), send a note to the [Zulip-devel Google group](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/zulip-devel) or [file an issue](https://github.com/zulip/zulip/issues). ### Requirements Installing the Zulip dev environment requires downloading several hundred megabytes of dependencies. You will need an active internet connection throughout the entire installation processes. (See [Specifying a proxy](brief-install-vagrant-dev.html#specifying-a-proxy) if you need a proxy to access the internet.) - **All**: 1.5GB available RAM, Active broadband internet connection. - **OS X**: OS X (El Capitan recommended, untested on previous versions), Git, [VirtualBox][vbox-dl], [Vagrant][vagrant-dl]. - **Ubuntu**: 14.04 64-bit or 16.04 64-bit, Git, [Vagrant][vagrant-dl], lxc. - **Windows**: Windows 64-bit (Win 10 recommended; Win 7 untested), hardware virtualization enabled (VT-X or AMD-V), administrator access, [Cygwin][cygwin-dl], [VirtualBox][vbox-dl], [Vagrant][vagrant-dl]. Don't see your system listed above? Check out: * [Brief installation instructions for Vagrant development environment](brief-install-vagrant-dev.html) * [Installing manually on UNIX-based platforms](install-generic-unix-dev.html) [cygwin-dl]: http://cygwin.com/ ### Step 1: Install Prerequisites Jump to: * [OS X](#os-x) * [Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty](#ubuntu-14-04) * [Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial](#ubuntu-16-04) * [Windows](#windows-10) #### OS X 1. Install [VirtualBox][vbox-dl] 2. Install [Vagrant][vagrant-dl] Now you are ready for [Step 2: Get Zulip Code.](#step-2-get-zulip-code) #### Ubuntu 14.04 If you're in a hurry, you can copy and paste into your terminal after which you can jump to [Step 2: Get Zulip Code](#step-2-get-zulip-code): ``` sudo apt-get purge vagrant wget https://releases.hashicorp.com/vagrant/1.8.1/vagrant_1.8.1_x86_64.deb sudo dpkg -i vagrant*.deb sudo apt-get install git lxc lxc-templates cgroup-lite redir vagrant plugin install vagrant-lxc ``` For a step-by-step explanation, read on. ##### 1. Install Vagrant For 14.04 Trusty you'll need a more recent version of Vagrant than what's available in the official Ubuntu repositories. First uninstall any vagrant package you may have installed from the Ubuntu repository: ``` christie@trusty-desktop:~ $ sudo apt-get purge vagrant ``` Now download and install the most recent .deb package from [Vagrant][vagrant-dl]: ``` christie@trusty-desktop:~ $ wget https://releases.hashicorp.com/vagrant/1.8.1/vagrant_1.8.1_x86_64.deb christie@trusty-desktop:~ $ sudo dpkg -i vagrant*.deb ``` ##### 2. Install remaining dependencies Now install git and lxc-related packages: ``` christie@trusty-desktop:~ $ sudo apt-get install git lxc lxc-templates cgroup-lite redir ``` ##### 3. Install the vagrant lxc plugin: ``` christie@trusty-desktop:~ $ vagrant plugin install vagrant-lxc Installing the 'vagrant-lxc' plugin. This can take a few minutes... Installed the plugin 'vagrant-lxc (1.2.1)'! ``` Now you are ready for [Step 2: Get Zulip Code.](#step-2-get-zulip-code) #### Ubuntu 16.04 If you're in a hurry, you can copy and paste into your terminal after which you can jump to [Step 2: Get Zulip Code](#step-2-get-zulip-code): ``` sudo apt-get install git vagrant lxc lxc-templates cgroup-lite redir vagrant plugin install vagrant-lxc vagrant lxc sudoers ``` For a step-by-step explanation, read on. ##### 1. Install git, vagrant, lxc, and related dependencies: ``` christie@xenial-desktop:~ $ sudo apt-get install git vagrant lxc lxc-templates cgroup-lite redir ``` ##### 2. Install the vagrant lxc plugin: ``` christie@xenial-desktop:~ $ vagrant plugin install vagrant-lxc Installing the 'vagrant-lxc' plugin. This can take a few minutes... Installed the plugin 'vagrant-lxc (1.2.1)'! ``` If you encounter an error when trying to install the vagrant-lxc plugin, [see this](#nomethoderror-when-installing-vagrant-lxc-plugin-ubuntu-1604). ##### 3. Configure sudo to be passwordless Finally, [configure sudo to be passwordless when using Vagrant LXC][avoiding-sudo]: ``` christie@xenial-desktop:~ $ vagrant lxc sudoers [sudo] password for christie: ``` [vagrant-dl]: https://www.vagrantup.com/downloads.html [vagrant-lxc]: https://github.com/fgrehm/vagrant-lxc [vbox-dl]: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads [avoiding-sudo]: https://github.com/fgrehm/vagrant-lxc#avoiding-sudo-passwords Now you are ready for [Step 2: Get Zulip Code.](#step-2-get-zulip-code) #### Windows 10 1. Install [Cygwin][cygwin-dl]. Make sure to install default required packages along with **git**, **curl**, **openssh**, and **rsync** binaries. 2. Install [VirtualBox][vbox-dl] 3. Install [Vagrant][vagrant-dl] ##### Configure Cygwin In order for symlinks to work within the Ubuntu virtual machine, you must tell Cygwin to create them as [native Windows symlinks](https://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using.html#pathnames-symlinks). The easiest way to do this is to add a line to `~/.bash_profile` setting the CYGWIN environment variable. Open a Cygwin window and do this: ``` christie@win10 ~ $ echo 'export "CYGWIN=$CYGWIN winsymlinks:native"' >> ~/.bash_profile ``` Next, close that Cygwin window and open another. If you `echo` $CYGWIN you should see: ``` christie@win10 ~ $ echo $CYGWIN winsymlinks:native ``` Now you are ready for [Step 2: Get Zulip Code.](#step-2-get-zulip-code) ### Step 2: Get Zulip Code If you haven't already created an ssh key and added it to your Github account, you should do that now by following [these instructions](https://help.github.com/articles/generating-an-ssh-key/). 1. In your browser, visit https://github.com/zulip/zulip and click the `fork` button. You will need to be logged in to Github to do this. 2. Open Terminal (OS X/Ubuntu) or Cygwin (Windows; must run as an Administrator) 3. In Terminal/Cygwin, clone your fork: ``` git clone git@github.com:YOURUSERNAME/zulip.git ``` This will create a 'zulip' directory and download the Zulip code into it. Don't forget to replace YOURUSERNAME with your git username. You will see something like: ``` christie@win10 ~ $ git clone git@github.com:YOURUSERNAME/zulip.git Cloning into 'zulip'... remote: Counting objects: 73571, done. remote: Compressing objects: 100% (2/2), done. remote: Total 73571 (delta 1), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 73569 Receiving objects: 100% (73571/73571), 105.30 MiB | 6.46 MiB/s, done. Resolving deltas: 100% (51448/51448), done. Checking connectivity... done. Checking out files: 100% (1912/1912), done.` ``` Now you are ready for [Step 3: Start the dev environment.](#step-3-start-the-dev-environment) ### Step 3: Start the dev environment Change into the zulip directory and tell vagrant to start the Zulip dev environment with `vagrant up`. ``` christie@win10 ~ $ cd zulip christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vagrant up ``` The first time you run this command it will take some time because vagrant does the following: - downloads the base Ubuntu 14.04 virtual machine image (for OS X and Windows) or container (for Ubuntu) - configures this virtual machine/container for use with Zulip, - creates a shared directory mapping your clone of the Zulip code inside the virtual machine/container at `/srv/zulip` - runs the `tools/provision.py` script inside the virtual machine/container, which downloads all required dependencies, sets up the python environment for the Zulip dev environment, and initializes a default test database. You will need an active internet connection during the entire processes. (See [Specifying a proxy](brief-install-vagrant-dev.html#specifying-a-proxy) if you need a proxy to access the internet.) Once `vagrant up` has completed, connect to the dev environment with `vagrant ssh`: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vagrant ssh ``` You should see something like this on Windows and OS X: ``` Welcome to Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS (GNU/Linux 3.13.0-85-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/ System information as of Wed May 4 21:45:43 UTC 2016 System load: 0.61 Processes: 88 Usage of /: 3.5% of 39.34GB Users logged in: 0 Memory usage: 7% IP address for eth0: 10.0.2.15 Swap usage: 0% Graph this data and manage this system at: https://landscape.canonical.com/ Get cloud support with Ubuntu Advantage Cloud Guest: http://www.ubuntu.com/business/services/cloud 0 packages can be updated. 0 updates are security updates. ``` Or something as brief as this in the case of Ubuntu: ``` Welcome to Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS (GNU/Linux 4.4.0-21-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com/ ``` Congrats, you're now inside the Zulip dev environment! You can confirm this by looking at the command prompt, which starts with `(zulip-venv)`. Next, start the Zulip server: ``` (zulip-venv)vagrant@vagrant-ubuntu-trusty-64:~ $ /srv/zulip/tools/run-dev.py --interface='' ``` As you can see above the application's root directory, where you can execute Django's command line utilities is: ``` /srv/zulip/ ``` You will see several lines of output starting with something like: ``` 2016-05-04 22:20:33,895 INFO: process_fts_updates starting Recompiling templates 2016-05-04 18:20:34,804 INFO: Not in recovery; listening for FTS updates done Validating Django models.py... System check identified no issues (0 silenced). Django version 1.8 Tornado server is running at http://localhost:9993/ Quit the server with CTRL-C. 2016-05-04 18:20:40,716 INFO Tornado loaded 0 event queues in 0.001s 2016-05-04 18:20:40,722 INFO Tornado 95.5% busy over the past 0.0 seconds Performing system checks... ``` And ending with something similar to: ``` http://localhost:9994/webpack-dev-server/ webpack result is served from http://localhost:9991/webpack/ content is served from /srv/zulip webpack: bundle is now VALID. 2016-05-06 21:43:29,553 INFO Tornado 31.6% busy over the past 10.6 seconds 2016-05-06 21:43:35,007 INFO Tornado 23.9% busy over the past 16.0 seconds ``` Now the Zulip server should be running and accessible. Verify this by navigating to [http://localhost:9991/](http://localhost:9991/) in your browser on your main machine. You should see something like [(this screenshot of the Zulip dev environment)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zulip/zulip/master/docs/images/zulip-dev.png). ![Image of Zulip dev environment](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zulip/zulip/master/docs/images/zulip-dev.png) The Zulip server will continue to run and send output to the terminal window. When you navigate to Zulip in your browser, check your terminal and you should see something like: ``` 2016-05-04 18:21:57,547 INFO 127.0.0.1 GET 302 582ms (+start: 417ms) / (unauth via ?) [04/May/2016 18:21:57]"GET / HTTP/1.0" 302 0 2016-05-04 18:21:57,568 INFO 127.0.0.1 GET 301 4ms /login (unauth via ?) [04/May/2016 18:21:57]"GET /login HTTP/1.0" 301 0 2016-05-04 18:21:57,819 INFO 127.0.0.1 GET 200 209ms (db: 7ms/2q) /login/ (unauth via ?) ``` Now you're ready for [Step 4: Developing.](#step-4-developing) ### Step 4: Developing #### Where to edit files You'll work by editing files on your host machine, in the directory where you cloned Zulip. Use your favorite editor (Sublime, Atom, Vim, Emacs, Notepad++, etc.). When you save changes they will be synced automatically to the Zulip dev environment on the virtual machine/container. Each component of the Zulip development server will automatically restart itself or reload data appropriately when you make changes. So, to see your changes, all you usually have to do is reload your browser. More details on how this works are available below. Don't forget to read through the [code style guidelines](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/code-style.html#general) for details about how to configure your editor for Zulip. For example, indentation should be set to 4 spaces rather than tabs. #### Understanding run-dev.py debugging output It's good to have the terminal running `run-dev.py` up as you work since error messages including tracebacks along with every backend request will be printed there. See [Logging](http://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/logging.html) for further details on the run-dev.py console output. #### Committing and pushing changes with git When you're ready to commit or push changes via git, you will do this by running git commands in Terminal (OS X/Ubuntu) or Cygwin (Windows) in the directory where you cloned Zulip on your main machine. If you're new to working with Git/Github, check out [this guide](https://help.github.com/articles/create-a-repo/#commit-your-first-change). #### Maintaining the dev environment If after rebasing onto a new version of the Zulip server, you receive new errors while starting the Zulip server or running tests, this is probably not because Zulip's master branch is broken. Instead, this is likely because we've recently merged changes to the development environment provisioning process that you need to apply to your development environmnet. To update your environment, you'll need to re-provision your vagrant machine using `vagrant reload --provision` (or just `python tools/provision.py` from `/srv/zulip` inside the Vagrant guest); this should be pretty fast and we're working to make it faster. See also the documentation on the [testing page](http://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/testing.html#manual-testing-local-app-web-browser) for how to destroy and rebuild your database if you want to clear out test data. #### Rebuilding the dev environment If you ever want to recreate your development environment again from scratch (e.g. to test as change you've made to the provisioning process, or because you think something is broken), you can do so using `vagrant destroy` and then `vagrant up`. This will usually be much faster than the original `vagrant up` since the base image is already cached on your machine (it takes about 5 minutes to run with a fast Internet connection). #### Shutting down the dev environment for use later To shut down but preserve the dev environment so you can use it again later use `vagrant halt` or `vagrant suspend`. You can do this from the same Terminal/Cygwin window that is running run-dev.py by pressing ^C to halt the server and then typing `exit`. Or you can halt vagrant from another Terminal/Cygwin window. From the window where run-dev.py is running: ``` 2016-05-04 18:33:13,330 INFO 127.0.0.1 GET 200 92ms /register/ (unauth via ?) ^C KeyboardInterrupt (zulip-venv)vagrant@vagrant-ubuntu-trusty-64:/srv/zulip$ exit logout Connection to 127.0.0.1 closed. christie@win10 ~/zulip ``` Now you can suspend the dev environment: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vagrant suspend ==> default: Saving VM state and suspending execution... ``` If `vagrant suspend` doesn't work, try `vagrant halt`: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vagrant halt ==> default: Attempting graceful shutdown of VM... ``` Check out the Vagrant documentation to learn more about [suspend](https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/cli/suspend.html) and [halt](https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/cli/halt.html). #### Resuming the dev environment When you're ready to work on Zulip again, run `vagrant up`. You will also need to connect to the virtual machine with `vagrant ssh` and re-start the Zulip server: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vagrant up $ vagrant ssh /srv/zulip/tools/run-dev.py --interface='' ``` #### Next Steps At this point you should [read about using the development environment][using-dev-environment.html]. ### Troubleshooting & Common Errors Zulip's `vagrant` provisioning process logs useful debugging output to `/var/log/zulip_provision.log`; if you encounter a new issue, please attach a copy of that file to your bug report. #### The box 'ubuntu/trusty64' could not be found (Windows/Cygwin) If you see the following error when you run `vagrant up` on Windows: ``` The box 'ubuntu/trusty64' could not be found or could not be accessed in the remote catalog. If this is a private box on HashiCorp's Atlas, please verify you're logged in via `vagrant login`. Also, please double-check the name. The expanded URL and error message are shown below: URL: ["https://atlas.hashicorp.com/ubuntu/trusty64"] ``` Then the version of curl that ships with Vagrant is not working on your machine. The fix is simple: replace it with the version from Cygwin. First, determine the location of Cygwin's curl with `which curl`: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ which curl /usr/bin/curl ``` Now determine the location of Vagrant with `which vagrant`: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ which vagrant /cygdrive/c/HashiCorp/Vagrant/bin/vagrant ``` The path **up until `/bin/vagrant`** is what you need to know. In the example above it's `/cygdrive/c/HashiCorp/Vagrant`. Finally, copy Cygwin's curl to Vagrant `embedded/bin` directory: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ cp /usr/bin/curl.exe /cygdrive/c/HashiCorp/Vagrant/embedded/bin/ ``` Now re-run `vagrant up` and vagrant should be able to fetch the required box file. #### os.symlink error If you receive the following error while running `vagrant up`: ``` ==> default: Traceback (most recent call last): ==> default: File "./emoji_dump.py", line 75, in ==> default: ==> default: os.symlink('unicode/{}.png'.format(code_point), 'out/{}.png'.format(name)) ==> default: OSError ==> default: : ==> default: [Errno 71] Protocol error ``` Then Vagrant was not able to create a symbolic link. First, if you are using Windows, **make sure you have run Cygwin as an administrator**. By default, only administrators can create symbolic links on Windows. Second, VirtualBox does not enable symbolic links by default. Vagrant starting with version 1.6.0 enables symbolic links for VirtualBox shared folder. You can check to see that this is enabled for your virtual machine with `vboxmanage` command. Get the name of your virtual machine by running `vboxmanage list vms` and then print out the custom settings for this virtual machine with `vboxmanage getextradata YOURVMNAME enumerate`: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vboxmanage list vms "zulip_default_1462498139595_55484" {5a65199d-8afa-4265-b2f6-6b1f162f157d} christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vboxmanage getextradata zulip_default_1462498139595_55484 enumerate Key: VBoxInternal2/SharedFoldersEnableSymlinksCreate/srv_zulip, Value: 1 Key: supported, Value: false ``` If you see "command not found" when you try to run VBoxManage, you need to add the VirtualBox directory to your path. On Windows this is mostly likely `C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\`. If `vboxmanage enumerate` prints nothing, or shows a value of 0 for VBoxInternal2/SharedFoldersEnableSymlinksCreate/srv_zulip, then enable symbolic links by running this command in Terminal/Cygwin: ``` vboxmanage setextradata YOURVMNAME VBoxInternal2/SharedFoldersEnableSymlinksCreate/srv_zulip 1 ``` The virtual machine needs to be shut down when you run this command. #### Connection timeout on `vagrant up` If you see the following error after running `vagrant up`: ``` default: SSH address: 127.0.0.1:2222 default: SSH username: vagrant default: SSH auth method: private key default: Error: Connection timeout. Retrying... default: Error: Connection timeout. Retrying... default: Error: Connection timeout. Retrying... ``` A likely cause is that hardware virtualization is not enabled for your computer. This must be done via your computer's BIOS settings. Look for a setting called VT-x (Intel) or (AMD-V). If this is already enabled in your BIOS, double-check that you are running a 64-bit operating system. For further information about troubleshooting vagrant timeout errors [see this post](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/22575261/vagrant-stuck-connection-timeout-retrying#22575302). #### npm install error The `tools/provision.py` script may encounter an error related to `npm install` that looks something like: ``` ==> default: + npm install ==> default: Traceback (most recent call last): ==> default: File "/srv/zulip/tools/provision.py", line 195, in ==> default: ==> default: sys.exit(main()) ==> default: File "/srv/zulip/tools/provision.py", line 191, in main ==> default: ==> default: run(["npm", "install"]) ==> default: File "/srv/zulip/zulip_tools.py", line 78, in run ==> default: ==> default: raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(rc, args) ==> default: subprocess ==> default: . ==> default: CalledProcessError ==> default: : ==> default: Command '['npm', 'install']' returned non-zero exit status 34 The SSH command responded with a non-zero exit status. Vagrant assumes that this means the command failed. The output for this command should be in the log above. Please read the output to determine what went wrong. ``` Usually this error is not fatal. Try connecting to the dev environment and re-trying the command from withing the virtual machine: ``` christie@win10 ~/zulip $ vagrant ssh (zulip-venv)vagrant@vagrant-ubuntu-trusty-64:~ $ cd /srv/zulip (zulip-venv)vagrant@vagrant-ubuntu-trusty-64:/srv/zulip $ npm install npm WARN optional Skipping failed optional dependency /chokidar/fsevents: npm WARN notsup Not compatible with your operating system or architecture: fsevents@1.0.12 ``` These are just warnings so it is okay to proceed and start the Zulip server. #### NoMethodError when installing vagrant-lxc plugin (Ubuntu 16.04) If you see the following error when you try to install the vagrant-lxc plugin: ``` /usr/lib/ruby/2.3.0/rubygems/specification.rb:946:in `all=': undefined method `group_by' for nil:NilClass (NoMethodError) from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/bundler.rb:275:in `with_isolated_gem' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/bundler.rb:231:in `internal_install' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/bundler.rb:102:in `install' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/plugin/manager.rb:62:in `block in install_plugin' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/plugin/manager.rb:72:in `install_plugin' from /usr/share/vagrant/plugins/commands/plugin/action/install_gem.rb:37:in `call' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/action/warden.rb:34:in `call' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/action/builder.rb:116:in `call' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/action/runner.rb:66:in `block in run' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/util/busy.rb:19:in `busy' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/action/runner.rb:66:in `run' from /usr/share/vagrant/plugins/commands/plugin/command/base.rb:14:in `action' from /usr/share/vagrant/plugins/commands/plugin/command/install.rb:32:in `block in execute' from /usr/share/vagrant/plugins/commands/plugin/command/install.rb:31:in `each' from /usr/share/vagrant/plugins/commands/plugin/command/install.rb:31:in `execute' from /usr/share/vagrant/plugins/commands/plugin/command/root.rb:56:in `execute' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/cli.rb:42:in `execute' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant/environment.rb:268:in `cli' from /usr/bin/vagrant:173:in `
' ``` And you have vagrant version 1.8.1, then you need to patch vagrant manually. See [this post](https://github.com/mitchellh/vagrant/issues/7073) for an explanation of the issue, which should be fixed when Vagrant 1.8.2 is released. In the meantime, read [this post](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/36811863/cant-install-vagrant-plugins-in-ubuntu-16-04/36991648#36991648) for how to create and apply the patch. It will look something like this: ``` christie@xenial:~ $ sudo patch --directory /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/vagrant < vagrant-plugin.patch patching file bundler.rb ``` #### Permissions errors when running the test suite in LXC See ["Possible testing issues"](testing.html#possible-testing-issues).