Switch from Python AutoPkg

This page shows you how to install Russet next to Python AutoPkg on a Mac, check that your recipes and overrides work, and move your scheduled runs to Russet. Russet doesn’t change Python AutoPkg, so you can go back to it at any time.

Before you begin

Make a recipe list file that names every recipe that you run, one per line. If your scheduled runs already use a recipe list, use that file. For the format, see Run recipes.
Make sure that you can run commands with sudo.

What Russet shares with Python AutoPkg

Russet uses the same preference keys and file formats as Python AutoPkg, but it keeps its own preferences in the com.github.russet domain. Russet doesn’t read Python AutoPkg’s preferences when it runs recipes, so you copy them once with russet migrate. For the steps, see Copy your preferences to Russet.

After you copy your preferences, Russet uses the following items without changes:

Your recipe repositories, overrides, and their trust information, in the folders that your preferences name.
Your cache, if your preferences set CACHE_DIR, including the download metadata that avoids repeat downloads.

When a preference doesn’t set a folder, Russet uses its own default under ~/Library/Russet, not Python AutoPkg’s folder under ~/Library/AutoPkg. For the defaults, see Files and paths.

Russet saves preference changes, such as the recipe repositories that russet repo-add adds, to its own domain. It never changes Python AutoPkg’s preferences, so Python AutoPkg doesn’t see these changes.

Russet keeps its own installation separate. It installs in /opt/russet, adds the russet command at /usr/local/bin/russet, and runs its own helper services. Python AutoPkg’s /Library/AutoPkg folder, its autopkg command, and its autopkgserver and autopkginstalld services stay unchanged. The russet command accepts the same verbs and options as the autopkg command.

Russet and Python AutoPkg can run side by side. If both tools use the same cache, don’t run the same recipe with both tools at the same time.

Russet doesn’t run custom processors that recipe repositories supply in Python. For the processors that Russet implements, see Processors.

Install Russet

Build and package Russet, and then follow the macOS installation steps. For details, see Install Russet. The installer doesn’t change Python AutoPkg, your preferences, your recipes, or your cache.

To confirm that the installer added the russet command, run the following command:

russet version

The output is 3.0.0, the AutoPkg version that Russet is compatible with.

Copy your preferences to Russet

Russet starts with empty preferences. To bring your Python AutoPkg settings over, copy them into Russet’s preferences:

See what Russet would copy:
Terminal window
```
russet migrate --dry-run
```
Each line of the output names a preference key and what would happen to it, such as copied or unchanged. Russet doesn’t write anything.
Copy the preferences:
Terminal window
```
russet migrate
```
Confirm that Russet reads your preferences:
Terminal window
```
russet info
```
The output starts with Current preferences: and lists the keys that Russet copied.

russet migrate copies preferences only. Nothing on disk moves. Paths such as RECIPE_REPOS and RECIPE_SEARCH_DIRS that point into ~/Library/AutoPkg keep pointing there, so Russet uses the recipe repositories and overrides that you already have. Python AutoPkg’s preferences don’t change, so Python AutoPkg keeps working side by side with Russet.

If you change Python AutoPkg’s preferences later, Russet doesn’t see the change. Run russet migrate again to copy keys that Russet doesn’t have, or russet migrate --force to replace values that differ. For details, see russet migrate.

Check your overrides and recipes

Before you rely on Russet, check that it can run your recipes. Run the following commands from the folder that holds your recipe list:

Verify the trust information of your overrides:
Terminal window
```
russet verify-trust-info --recipe-list RECIPE_LIST
```
Replace RECIPE_LIST with the path to your recipe list file. Each line of the output ends with OK or FAILED.
Run the check phase of every recipe:
Terminal window
```
russet run --check --recipe-list RECIPE_LIST
```
If a recipe uses a processor that Russet doesn’t implement, Russet runs none of the recipes and prints the following error:
```
Custom or unknown processor 'NAME' is not supported
```
Remove that recipe from the list, or find a recipe that uses only supported processors, and run the command again.
Run a few recipes completely, and compare the results with what Python AutoPkg produced, such as the packages that it built or the pkginfo files that it imported.

Move scheduled runs to Russet

Scheduled jobs keep running Python AutoPkg until you change them. In each job, replace autopkg with russet, or /usr/local/bin/autopkg with /usr/local/bin/russet. The verbs and options stay the same. For an example, see Schedule recipe runs.

Check how each job handles exit statuses. If Russet can’t find a recipe, or a recipe fails trust verification or uses an unsupported processor, Russet runs none of the recipes and exits with status 1. For details, see Exit codes.

Go back to Python AutoPkg

If Russet doesn’t work for your recipes, change your scheduled jobs back to autopkg. Python AutoPkg is still installed, so it works as it did before. To remove Russet as well, see Roll back or remove Russet.