pkg-triggers and the --rootdir option

[jlduran]

When a package that is installed with the --rootdir option contains triggers, those triggers get deferred.
In order to run the deferred triggers, the --chroot option must be used with pkg-triggers(8). If we want to install packages to a specified directory as a user (INSTALL_AS_USER) there is no way to run the triggers as a user.

[jlduran]

Thank you @grahamperrin for pointing that out. It is somewhat the same thing.
In my particular case, I want to manually run the triggers as a user so that everything under --rootdir can be shipped as an image already triggered (NanoBSD specifically).
I can manually run pkg-triggers(8) and --chroot as root, I see no obvious reason why this can't be also accomplished as a user using --rootdir.

[bapt]

I don't even know how this would be possible, the goal of the rootdir is to cross install (mainly), the triggers might do many things which I don't control including running binaries inside the rootdir, which mean by design that can only be run during firstboot, not that for the one which are not executing binaries, they are not deferred anymore, but I can't do more.

Sorry but except of you come with a design which works in most case, I will not change the trigger behaviour.

[jlduran]

I don't even know how this would be possible, the goal of the rootdir is to cross install (mainly), the triggers might do many things which I don't control including running binaries inside the rootdir, which mean by design that can only be run during firstboot, not that for the one which are not executing binaries, they are not deferred anymore, but I can't do more.

A simple, concrete example for pkgbase would be the mandoc package (src/usr.bin/mandoc/mandoc.ucl), the trigger runs makewhatis:

I am building a FreeBSD image under destdir. To populate this directory, I am installing packages using pkg --rootdir <destdir> ... install. So far so good.

The mandoc package defers its triggers:

1. As root, I can pkg --chroot <destdir> ... triggers and effectively, both mandoc.db files will be generated.
2. But unprivileged, how can I manually execute the lua script inside the trigger, so that it runs makewhatis under destdir as a regular user, generates both mandoc.db files and remove the temporary trigger file?
   Why pkg --rootdir <destdir> ... triggers is not a thing?

Sorry but except of you come with a design which works in most case, I will not change the trigger behaviour.

No problem. I'm mostly filing issues as I understand better pkg. Not that I was requesting pkg to do something it is not intended to.

[bapt]

to have pkg --rootdir working I would need to have the concept of rootdir aware triggers, and this will not cover the case of for example and arm64 rootdir on an amd64 box, maybe we can relax some triggers by allowing them to be run if they are explicitly flagged at rootdir safe. which should only be set of it is truely safe endianness of the generated stuff etc.