Can not get `$CHECKBOX_RUNTIME` if no `environ`

[LiaoU3]

Bug Description

Description

I found that $CHECKBOX_RUNTIME is having wierd behavior with the field environ and user in remote and local run, so I performed some experiment to check the outcome.

Note: I only observed this issue in the environment variable $CHECKBOX_RUNTIME , so it may not be the only one. But I could be sure that this issue does not happened on $PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE, I suspect it is because $CHECKBOX_RUNTIME is only visible by a root user.

Test Method

I test remote and local run indiviually, with or without environ and with or without user: root . To check if under the conditions below if a job could get $CHECKBOX_RUNTIME this variable.

Remote run

	with 'environ'	without 'environ'
user: root	O	O
regular user	O	X

Local run

	with 'environ'	without 'environ'
user: root	O	X
regular user	O	O

Conclusion

In remote run

According to this page in checkbox tutorial, environ should be optional. However, when it comes to $CHECKBOX_RUNTIME, it seems like this field becomes mandatory.

In local run

It is such a mess because a root user is not able to get $CHECKBOX_RUNTIME without environ provided.

My suspect

I suspect that $CHECKBOX_RUNTIME is only visible by root user. That's why we got the results in remote run. Nevertheless, in local run, I have completely no idea why this is happeneing.

Submission:

• Remote: https://certification.canonical.com/hardware/202401-33387/submission/361508/
• Local: https://certification.canonical.com/hardware/202401-33387/submission/361507/

  Jira link

  https://warthogs.atlassian.net/browse/OEMQA-4114

To Reproduce

1. Clone the test jobs from my test-branch here.
   • git clone https://github.com/LiaoU3/checkbox.git -b test-branch
2. sideload the base provider
   • cp -r checkbox/providers/base /var/tmp/checkbox-providers
3. Run checkbox
   • Try local: checkbox.checkbox-cli
   • Try remote: checkbox.checkbox-cli control 127.0.0.1
4. Select this testplan
5. Run it and review the result

Environment

• Type: snap
• Version: 4.0.0-dev139

Relevant log output

# local run
=========[ Running job 1 / 4. Estimated time left (at least): 0:00:00 ]=========
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-with-root-with-environ
Category: com.canonical.plainbox::uncategorised
... 8< -------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: /snap/checkbox22/current
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/session_title-2024-03-22T10.23.19.session/session-share
------------------------------------------------------------------------- >8 ---
Outcome: job passed
=========[ Running job 2 / 4. Estimated time left (at least): 0:00:00 ]=========
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-with-root-without-environ
Category: com.canonical.plainbox::uncategorised
... 8< -------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: 
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/session_title-2024-03-22T10.23.19.session/session-share
------------------------------------------------------------------------- >8 ---
Outcome: job passed
=========[ Running job 3 / 4. Estimated time left (at least): 0:00:00 ]=========
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-without-root-with-environ
Category: com.canonical.plainbox::uncategorised
... 8< -------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: /snap/checkbox22/current
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/session_title-2024-03-22T10.23.19.session/session-share
------------------------------------------------------------------------- >8 ---
Outcome: job passed
=========[ Running job 4 / 4. Estimated time left (at least): 0:00:00 ]=========
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-without-root-without-environ
Category: com.canonical.plainbox::uncategorised
... 8< -------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: /snap/checkbox22/current
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/session_title-2024-03-22T10.23.19.session/session-share
------------------------------------------------------------------------- >8 ---
Outcome: job passed

# Remote run
-----------------------------[ Running job 1 / 4 ]------------------------------
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-with-root-with-environ
Category: Uncategorised
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: /snap/checkbox22/current
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/remote-2024-03-22T10.24.33.session/session-share
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outcome: job passed
-----------------------------[ Running job 2 / 4 ]------------------------------
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-with-root-without-environ
Category: Uncategorised
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: /snap/checkbox22/current
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/remote-2024-03-22T10.24.33.session/session-share
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outcome: job passed
-----------------------------[ Running job 3 / 4 ]------------------------------
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-without-root-with-environ
Category: Uncategorised
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: /snap/checkbox22/current
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/remote-2024-03-22T10.24.33.session/session-share
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outcome: job passed
-----------------------------[ Running job 4 / 4 ]------------------------------
---------------[ A job to print checkbox environment variables ]----------------
ID: com.canonical.certification::print-checkbox-env-without-root-without-environ
Category: Uncategorised
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHECKBOX_RUNTIME: 
PLAINBOX_SESSION_SHARE: /var/tmp/checkbox-ng/sessions/remote-2024-03-22T10.24.33.session/session-share
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outcome: job passed

Additional context

No response

[syncronize-issues-to-jira[bot]]

Thank you for reporting us your feedback!

The internal ticket has been created: https://warthogs.atlassian.net/browse/CHECKBOX-1332.

This message was autogenerated

[Hook25]

Upon initial analysis, this seems to be caused by plainbox.impl.execution.get_differential_execution_environment, if the user is switched all environment variables not explicitly set in the job env session or that don’t follow some arbitrary name are removed from the propagated environment. I don’t know why this is done, this needs more investigation.