Test in Docker with Alpine Linux on CI #1826

With only one version of Python, currently 3.11.

This handles the "dubious ownership" error for the Alpine Linux container using safe.directory as is done in the Cygwin job. Another approach may be to actually use a limited user account in the container, though, and that may be better, since I expect some of the rmtree tests in test_util.py to fail due to the root user being able to perform a delete operation the tests assume cannot be done.

To overcome "This environment is externally managed" blocker.

- Add a note to the fixture in test_util.py that its ability to create files where rmtree will fail is contingent on not running as root (since root doesn't need to own a dir to delete from it). - Create a non-root user in the container. Give it the same UID as owns the repository files that are shared with the container. Also create a group with the GID of the repository files that are shared with the container and add the user to the group, though that is less important. Actually creating the user ensures it has a home directory and may help some commands work. Passing `options: --user 1001` under `container:` will not work because, even if we didn't make the user, the `apk add` commands still need to run as root. - Run all commands as the new non-root user, except for the system administration commands that install needed apk packages and set up the new non-root user account. To continue clearly expressing each step separately and have them automatically run in the container, this uses the hacky approach of having the default shell be a "sudo" command that runs the script step with "sh" (and passes the desired shell arguments). - Preserve environment variables that may have been set by or for the GHA runner, in commands that run as the non-root user. That is, pass those through, while still removing/resetting others. If this is not done, then the variables such as `CI`, which the init-tests-after-clone.sh uses to proceed without interactive confirmation, will not be set, and that step will fail. However, I think it is also a good idea to do this, which is why I've included all the relevant variables and not just `CI`. - Now that a non-root user is using "pip", stop using a venv, at least for now. The other test jobs don't use one, since the runners are isolated, and a container on a runner is even more isolated. But it may be best to bring the venv back, maybe even on the other test jobs, or alternatively to use "python -m pip" instead of "pip", to ensure expected version of pip is used. - Don't add safe.directory inside the container, in the hope that this may not be necessary because the cloned repository files should have the same UID (and even GID) as the user using them. But I expect this may need to be put back; it seems to be needed separately from that, as actions/checkout automatically attempts it for the git command it finds and attempts to use. This is not the only approach that could work. Another approach is to make use of the container explicit in each step, rather than using the `container` key. I think that would make the relationship between the commands here and in other test workflows less apparent and make the workflow a bit less clear, but it could also simplify things. A third approach is to create an image with the needed apk packages and user account, which switches to that user, by writing a Dockerfile and building in image, producing it in a previous job and sharing the image with the job that runs the tests so that `container` can still be used. That might be ideal if it could be done with upload-artifact and download-artifact, but I think `container` only supports getting images from registries.

As anticipated, it is still needed.

The "error: externally-managed-environment" stoppage occurs even when the Alpine Linux python command is run by a non-root user.

We chown the workspace, so this shouldn't be needed. This commit also removes the "Debug ownership" step.

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Test in Docker with Alpine Linux on CI #1826

Test in Docker with Alpine Linux on CI #1826

Commits on Feb 15, 2024