Snapcraft should be able to run in clean environment with pbuilder/cowbuilder
Metadata
Current evaluation
Cowbuilder/pbuilder support was abandoned in favor of clean LXC/LXD builds; --use-lxd later merged in canonical/snapcraft#2509 via 067024732.
Resolution: closed superseded
Reason: The maintainer redirected clean builds from pbuilder/cowbuilder to LXC/LXD and requested a more specific issue if that was insufficient. LXD build-provider support later merged in canonical/snapcraft#2509 as 067024732, providing clean lifecycle builds with --use-lxd.
Evaluated by: mr-cal-bot
No scores available.
Issue body
I was trying out snapcraft current head and found that it is not the tool i can use at the moment, as i cannot compile everything quickly on the target architecture in a clean environment.
For debian packages we use a combination of cowbuilder, cowdancer and pbuilder to provide clean repeatable build environment on the various target environments.
It should be evaluated how building of snaps can be integrated with gear like that so it is possible to build snaps with similar gear. Ultimatively something like "ARCH=armhf snapcraft --cowbuilder ..." should produce snaps using the defined environment.
Launchpad Details: [#LP1480144](https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1480144) Simon Eisenmann - 2015-07-31 05:28:36 -0300
Evaluation history
| Date | Model | Scores | Action | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed superseded | Cowbuilder/pbuilder support was abandoned in favor of clean LXC/LXD builds; --use-lxd later merged in canonical/snapcraft#2509 via 067024732. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed not a bug | Feature request for pbuilder/cowbuilder integration closed without implementation; maintainer redirected clean builds to LXC/LXD and asked for a more specific issue. | |
| stealth/space-bunny-alpha | — | closed stale | Requested pbuilder/cowbuilder integration was closed without implementation. Maintainers redirected clean builds to LXC/LXD and asked for a more specific issue if needed. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed without implementation. Maintainers recommended using LXC/LXD for clean builds instead of integrating pbuilder/cowbuilder, requesting a new issue if the alternative is insufficient. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Requested pbuilder/cowbuilder integration was closed. Maintainers suggested using lxc/lxd for clean builds instead and asked for a more specific issue if needed. The feature was deferred. | |
| qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b | — | — | Closed without implementation. Maintainers declined direct pbuilder/cowbuilder integration, recommending clean LXC/LXD containers instead, and requested a more specific report if the alternative failed. | |
| qwen3.6-35b-a3b-mtp-q6 | — | — | Closed without core implementation. A contributor created a custom plugin for cross-architecture builds. Maintainers recommended using lxc/lxd for clean environments instead and closed the issue, requesting a new report if lxd proves insufficient. |
Update history
No update history recorded yet.
Related work
-
Superseded By:
canonical/snapcraft#2509
(confidence 100%)
Merged as 067024732, adding LXD-backed clean builds that replaced the requested build path.
-
Related To:
snapcraft (launchpad)#1805221
(confidence 98%)
Launchpad's dedicated --use-lxd build-environment request tracked the LXD implementation.
Related issues
| Issue | Project | State | Summary | Similarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1480144 cleanbuild (through lxd) | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Wishlist request for cowbuilder/pbuilder-style clean cross-arch snap builds. Closed by moving it to GitHub ubuntu-core/snapcraft#5, where clean-room building was later delivered as the LXD build provider (--use-lxd, snapcraft#2509, commit 067024732). | |
| #1666735 snapcraft cleanbuild does not work with lxd installed via snap | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Fixed by merged canonical/snapcraft#1199 (commit 417989880), making cleanbuild LXD detection packaging-independent instead of relying on apt package metadata. | |
| #1746612 Snapcraft cleanbuild doesn't work if you're not using the LXD snap | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed after the missing hostfs behavior was fixed upstream in lxc/lxd#4183. Snapcraft PR #1912 offered a workaround but was not merged. | |
| #1570706 Snapcraft cleanbuild command doesn't work | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Fixed by merged canonical/snapcraft PR #458 (f78b1e3a3), which corrected Cleanbuilder constructor arguments so snapcraft cleanbuild could initialize its container. | |
| #1599578 Snapcraft cloudbuild | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Remote building was implemented by merged PR canonical/snapcraft#1121 (commit 834c24bb6), adding cleanbuild --remote for LXD hosts; PR #2500 later added Launchpad remote builds. | |
| #1697979 snapcraft fails on initial cleanbuild probe | snapcraft (launchpad) | closed | Closed as obsolete: cleanbuild was decommissioned, and standard Snapcraft builds now transparently use a clean build environment. |