macos-12: Remnant symlinks in /usr/local pointing to macOS frameworks

[bscottm]

Description

brew update on macOS should succeed and should not find remnant symlinks in /usr/local pointing back to macOS frameworks.

Platforms affected

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions - Standard Runners
• GitHub Actions - Larger Runners

Runner images affected

• Ubuntu 20.04
• Ubuntu 22.04
• macOS 11
• macOS 12
• macOS 13
• macOS 13 Arm64
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022

Image version and build link

Image: macos-12
Version: 20240218.1
Included Software: https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/macOS-12/20240218.1/images/macos/macos-12-Readme.md
Image Release: https://github.com/actions/runner-images/releases/tag/macOS-12%2F20240218.1

Link to build: https://github.com/bscottm/open-simh/actions/runs/8251807984

Is it regression?

Yes. Image: macos-12 Version: 20240218.1 (weirdly, same version, different build date), link: https://github.com/bscottm/open-simh/actions/runs/8183410587

Expected behavior

brew update should succeed and special steps to clear remnant /usr/local symlinks should not be necessary in workflow steps.

Actual behavior

Workflow executes a brew update and installs additional packages (pcre, SDL2 and others.) During the brew update, Python upgrades to 3.12, but fails because there are remnant symlinks in /usr/local. There should be no remnant symlinks in /usr/local pointing to macOS frameworks. Extract from the log:

2024-03-12T15:50:53.4987360Z ==> Pouring python@3.12--3.12.2_1.monterey.bottle.tar.gz
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4937910Z Error: The `brew link` step did not complete successfully
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4938780Z The formula built, but is not symlinked into /usr/local
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4942560Z Could not symlink bin/2to3
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4943450Z Target /usr/local/bin/2to3
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4944180Z already exists. You may want to remove it:
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4945480Z   rm '/usr/local/bin/2to3'
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4946600Z 
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4947680Z To force the link and overwrite all conflicting files:
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4950150Z   brew link --overwrite python@3.12
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4950790Z 
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4951980Z To list all files that would be deleted:
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4952770Z   brew link --overwrite python@3.12 --dry-run
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4953180Z 
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4953340Z Possible conflicting files are:
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4954720Z /usr/local/bin/2to3 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/2to3
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4958660Z /usr/local/bin/2to3-3.12 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/2to3-3.12
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4961130Z /usr/local/bin/idle3 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/idle3
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4963900Z /usr/local/bin/idle3.12 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/idle3.12
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4965790Z /usr/local/bin/pydoc3 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/pydoc3
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4967150Z /usr/local/bin/pydoc3.12 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/pydoc3.12
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4969700Z /usr/local/bin/python3 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/python3
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4972590Z /usr/local/bin/python3-config -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/python3-config
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4975440Z /usr/local/bin/python3.12 -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/python3.12
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4977070Z /usr/local/bin/python3.12-config -> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/bin/python3.12-config
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4980730Z /usr/local/share/man/man1/python3.1 -> /usr/local/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.7_1/share/man/man1/python3.1
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4991910Z /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/python3-embed.pc -> /usr/local/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.7_1/lib/pkgconfig/python3-embed.pc
2024-03-12T15:51:00.4995100Z /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/python3.pc -> /usr/local/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.7_1/lib/pkgconfig/python3.pc
2024-03-12T15:51:00.5001170Z /usr/local/Frameworks/Python.framework/Headers -> /usr/local/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.7_1/Frameworks/Python.framework/Headers
2024-03-12T15:51:00.5004350Z /usr/local/Frameworks/Python.framework/Python -> /usr/local/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.7_1/Frameworks/Python.framework/Python
2024-03-12T15:51:00.5008290Z /usr/local/Frameworks/Python.framework/Resources -> /usr/local/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.7_1/Frameworks/Python.framework/Resources
2024-03-12T15:51:00.5013180Z /usr/local/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/Current -> /usr/local/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.7_1/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/Current
2024-03-12T15:51:02.6557430Z ==>/usr/local/Cellar/python@3.12/3.12.2_1/bin/python3.12 -Im ensurepip
2024-03-12T15:51:07.7350290Z ==>/usr/local/Cellar/python@3.12/3.12.2_1/bin/python3.12 -Im pip install -v --n

Repro steps

Here is a simplified workflow file that can reproduce the issue:

name: Build

on:
  pull_request:

defaults:
  run:
    shell: bash

jobs:
  makefile:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [macos-12]
        simulators:
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
            brew update
            brew install pkg-config
            brew install pcre libpng libedit
            brew install sdl2 freetype2 sdl2_ttf
            brew install vde
            brew install cmake gnu-getopt coreutils

[mikhailkoliada]

Marking as duplicate of #9471

[bscottm]

Executing brew unlink followed by brew link --overwrite is a losing proposition. One actually has to remove the offending symlinks manually:

run: |
          for f in $(find /usr/local/bin -type l -print); do \
            (readlink $f | grep -q -s "/Library") && echo Removing "$f" && rm -f "$f"; \
          done || exit 0