jochen
a8d308d440
One machine ran another time zone and a German console keymap with no record why. The module writes /etc/locale.conf and /etc/vconsole.conf whole and sets the zone through a run-once step of its own Go binary (timedatectl, read back): /etc/localtime is a link the mesh may not write (hq ADR 0012) and a module may not declare an action (ADR 0005). Tools: localization_get, _time_zone, _locales, _keymaps (to-be 42 Phase 1).
47 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
47 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
# localization
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Locale, time zone and console keymap as one module (novox/hq to-be 42 Phase 1, research 027: the
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operator's choice of one module for the three).
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## What it owns
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- `/etc/locale.conf`, written whole: `LANG=en_US.UTF-8`. It takes effect at the next login.
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- `/etc/vconsole.conf`, written whole: `KEYMAP=us`. It takes effect at the next boot.
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- The time zone, `Europe/Brussels`, through a **step**. The host runs the module's own binary once
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per version of the bundle, as root: `localization-tools set-time-zone Europe/Brussels`. The step
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asks the time daemon (`timedatectl set-timezone`) only when the zone differs, and reads it back.
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## Why the time zone is a step
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`/etc/localtime` is a symbolic link into the zone database, and the mesh writes no symbolic links
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(ADR 0012). A copy of the zone file written there works for the C library, but timedatectl and
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everything else that reads the zone's *name* from the link then answers `n/a`. A module may not
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declare an action (ADR 0005). The step makes no link itself: the distribution's own time daemon keeps
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its link, and the step's answer is read back.
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The trade-off: the step runs again only when the bundle changes, not at every push. A zone changed
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by hand stays changed until then. `localization_get` shows it as not as declared.
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## What it improves
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One machine was on another time zone (the same offset, a different name) with a German console
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keymap, and nothing recorded why. Every machine is now the same.
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## What it leaves found
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- `/etc/locale.gen` and the generated locales. `en_US.UTF-8` was generated on all four machines on
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2026-10-04, so the module checks it (`lang_generated`) and does not generate it.
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- X11's keyboard settings, which belong to the display server's module (research 026).
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On a machine whose `/etc/locale.conf` carried more than `LANG` (one workstation also had
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`LANGUAGE=en_US`), the extra line goes. `LANG` alone means the same.
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## Tools
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| tool | | answers |
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|---|---|---|
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| `localization_get` | r | LANG and every `LC_*`, whether LANG is generated, the zone, whether the RTC keeps local time, NTP on and synchronised, the console keymap, X11 keyboard, and `as_declared` for each of the three |
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| `localization_time_zone` | r/a | the zone; the zones matching a word; or `set` one (sudo -n timedatectl, read back) |
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| `localization_locales` | r | generated, enabled in `locale.gen`, LANG and whether it is generated, and the locales glibc can generate (listed when narrowed) |
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| `localization_keymaps` | r | the keymap in force and the keymaps available, narrowed to a word |
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