Windows development environment

[rolyp]

I don’t have a Windows machine, which takes developing Docker for Windows scripts from painful to painful squared. Debugging by trial-and-error through the GitHub VM means a 5-45min feedback loop for something like a missed quote.

• [x] reactivate Azure subscription (total wait: 8 days)
  • [x] email Tomas
  • [x] raise ticket on Turing Complete
  • [x] re-request subscription (credits used up)
• [x] check Docker ok in Azure VM
  • [x] not enough disk space after 1h15m – delete local copy of boost
  • [x] various “re-exec” errors – purge Docker caches (maybe some stale images from old versions) ✅
  • hcsshim::ImportLayer - failed failed in Win – 32The system cannot find the path specified
  • the command ‘cmd /S /C C:\TEMP\vs_buildtools.exe …‘ returned a non-zero code: 1
  • hcsshim::PrepareLayer - failed failed in Win32: The parameter is incorrect. (0x57)
  • hcsshim::PrepareLayer - failed failed in Win32: network resource or device no longer available. (0x37)
• [x] document usability issues of running in Azure:
  • screen doesn’t always update automatically – need to “poll” by pressing return
  • scrolling with mouse wheel sometimes scrolls wrong window (“inner” window rather than outer)
  • copy and paste shortcuts don’t work reliably
  • [x] upgrade to new Remote Desktop for MacOS – apparently improves this
  • [x] don’t seem to be able to paste into Docker terminal
  • Windows seems to run in all three of my monitors, but inside one virtual window
  • need to stop VM when not being used; destroys task context which is difficult to construct
• temporary Windows laptop (total wait: 15 days and counting) :x: abort
  • [x] get approval from Martin
  • [x] consider James’ suggestion of running local Windows VM :x: will grind my machine to a halt
  • [x] initial request :x: accidentially used Bristol email addess, can’t access issue on Turing Complete
  • [x] raise new issue, cross-reference old one
  • [x] neither issue exists in Turing Complete any more – chase again
  • IT Services looking into it; wait to hear back, then decide whether to proceed :x: no response

[rolyp]

Going to stick with Azure. Conda based install of MKL makes life so much easier. Not sure how to configure the Azure VM so that Miniconda is preinstalled, but probably don’t need to worry about that for now.