mattscilipoti / compile_sysinfo

Provides executables of the sysinfo package, on the host computer, using a docker container to isolate dependencies

Compiles executables of sysinfo, using docker

Provides executables of the sysinfo package, on the host computer, using a docker container to isolate dependencies.

Sysinfo is a Go library providing Linux OS / kernel / hardware system information (as json).

No dependencies are installed on the host computer (except for docker).

To compile executables (for linux 386/amd64) in ./bin/

tl;dr

docker-compose up

Use the executables in ./bin/

Complete Instructions

1. Install docker (once you see this, you will want docker for other projects)
2. Clone this repo from https://github.com/mattscilipoti/compile_sysinfo
3. Go to the repo: cd compile_sysinfo
4. Run: docker-compose up
5. The executables are in the ./bin dir on your computer
6. Run one on a linux system to see a json payload of System Information.

You just compiled go executables without installing anything (except for docker).

Environment Variables

• GO_OUTPUT_DIR: specifies the directory, in the container, where the executables are generated. The container side of the shared volume.
  • default: /app/bin
• GOARCHs: space-delimited list of architectures (one executable per).
  • default: 386 amd64
• GOOS: configures the executables target OS
  • default: linux (the only supported OS)
• HOST_OUTPUT_DIR: specifies the directory, on the host, to receive the executables. Used as a shared volume.
  • default: ./bin

Explanation

The docker image contains all the dependencies needed to run make and compile go. We use docker-compose to setup a shared volume and run make sysinfo within the container. This generates the executables in the host computer's ./bin dir.

! Each run overwrites existing files in ./bin

The environment variables, in the .env file, indicate the executable's architecture and specify the output dir on both the host and container. This provides a single-point-of-truth for info used in the docker-compose.yml and Makefile.

All files in docker_support/ are copied into the WORKDIR of the image (and called within the image).

• How do the executable files, compiled within the docker container, get to the host computer?
  • Answer: The file is actually compiled directly into the host computer's bin/ dir by directing the output to a shared volume (defined in docker-compose.yml).
• Why use the .env file, instead of naming directly in docker-compose.yml?
  • In order to reference the environment variables in teh docker-compose.yml file, for the volume data, they needed to be passed at the command line or put in the .env file.
• Do I need use docker-compose.yml?
  • Nope. You could call docker run, passing the appropriate values for the shared volume, environment variables, and execute make sysinfo inside the container. We felt docker-compose up was easier to get right, every time.

License

This code is released under the MIT License.