git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

[PATCH 0/4][Outreachy] Introduce os-version Capability with Configurable Options

From
Usman Akinyemi <usmanakinyemi202@gmail.com>
Date
Jan 6, 2025, 10:30 UTC
Message-ID
<20250106103713.1452035-1-usmanakinyemi202@gmail.com>

For debugging, statistical analysis, and security purposes, it can be valuable for Git servers to know the operating system the clients are using.

For example:
- A server noticing that a client is using an old Git version with
security issues on one platform, like macOS, could verify if the
user is indeed running macOS before sending a message to upgrade."
- Similarly, a server identifying a client that could benefit from
an upgrade (e.g., for performance reasons) could better customize the
message it sends to nudge the client to upgrade.

So let's add a new 'os-version' capability to the v2 protocol, in the same way as the existing 'agent' capability that lets clients and servers exchange the Git version they are running.

By default this sends similar info as `git bugreport` is already sending, which uses uname(2). The difference is that it is sanitized in the same way as the Git version sent by the 'agent' capability is sanitized (by replacing characters having an ascii code less than 32 or more than 127 with '.'). Also, it only sends the result of `uname -s` i.e just only the operating system name (e.g "Linux").

Due to privacy issues and concerns, let's add the `transfer.advertiseOSVersion` config option. This boolean option is enabled by default, but allows users to disable this feature completely by setting it to "false".

To provide flexibility and customization, let also add the `osversion.command` config option. This allows users to specify a custom command whose output will be used as the string exchanged via the "os-version" capability. If this option is not set, the default behavior exchanges only the operating system name, such as "Linux" or "Windows".

Planned Feature: osversion.format While the above configurations are already implemented, we will be introducing an additional config option, `osversion.format`. This option would allow users to fully customize the string sent to the other side using placeholders, similar to how git for-each-ref uses %() syntax.

For example:
Format: "OS: %(os_name), Distro: %(distro), Arch: %(arch)"
Result: "OS: Linux, Distro: Fedora, Arch: x86_64"

We are wondering if it's worth it for placeholders to use the %() syntax or if they could use another simpler syntax like $OS_NAME or just OS_NAME instead of %(os_name).

Note that, due to differences between `uname(1)` (command-line utility) and `uname(2)` (system call) outputs on Windows, `transfer.advertiseOSVersion` is set to false on Windows during testing. See the message part of patch 3/4 for more details.

My mentor, Christian Couder, sent a previous patch series about this before. You can find it here https://lore.kernel.org/git/20240619125708.3719150-1-christian.couder@gmail.com/

Usman Akinyemi (4):
  version: refactor redact_non_printables()
  version: refactor get_uname_info()
  connect: advertise OS version
  version: introduce osversion.command config for os-version output
 Documentation/config/transfer.txt |  16 ++++
 Documentation/gitprotocol-v2.txt  |  21 +++++
 builtin/bugreport.c               |  13 +--
 connect.c                         |   3 +
 serve.c                           |  14 +++
 t/t5555-http-smart-common.sh      |  41 ++++++++-
 t/t5701-git-serve.sh              |  45 +++++++++-
 t/test-lib-functions.sh           |   8 ++
 version.c                         | 136 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 version.h                         |  13 +++
 10 files changed, 291 insertions(+), 19 deletions(-)
-- 
2.47.1
Next: Usman Akinyemi
Message 1 of 107 in “[Outreachy] Introduce os-version Capability with Configurable Options”
  1. 0/4 [Outreachy] Introduce os-version Capability with Configurable OptionsUsman Akinyemi, Jan 6, 2025
  2. 1/4 version: refactor redact_non_printables()Usman Akinyemi, Jan 6, 2025
  3. Eric SunshineJan 6, 2025
  4. Usman AkinyemiJan 8, 2025
  5. 2/4 version: refactor get_uname_info()Usman Akinyemi, Jan 6, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoJan 6, 2025
  7. Usman AkinyemiJan 8, 2025
  8. 3/4 connect: advertise OS versionUsman Akinyemi, Jan 6, 2025
  9. Junio C HamanoJan 6, 2025
  10. Usman AkinyemiJan 8, 2025
  11. Junio C HamanoJan 8, 2025
  12. Usman AkinyemiJan 9, 2025
  13. Junio C HamanoJan 9, 2025
  14. Usman AkinyemiJan 10, 2025
  15. Junio C HamanoJan 10, 2025
  16. Usman AkinyemiJan 11, 2025
  17. Junio C HamanoJan 13, 2025
  18. Usman AkinyemiJan 13, 2025
  19. Junio C HamanoJan 13, 2025
  20. rsbecker@nexbridge.comJan 13, 2025
  21. Eric SunshineJan 6, 2025
  22. Usman AkinyemiJan 8, 2025
  23. 4/4 version: introduce osversion.command config for os-version outputUsman Akinyemi, Jan 6, 2025
  24. 0/6 [Outreachy] Introduce os-version Capability with Configurable OptionsUsman Akinyemi, Jan 17, 2025
  25. 1/6 version: refactor redact_non_printables()Usman Akinyemi, Jan 17, 2025
  26. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  27. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  28. Usman AkinyemiJan 20, 2025
  29. Christian CouderJan 21, 2025
  30. Junio C HamanoJan 21, 2025
  31. 2/6 version: refactor get_uname_info()Usman Akinyemi, Jan 17, 2025
  32. 3/6 version: extend get_uname_info() to hide system detailsUsman Akinyemi, Jan 17, 2025
  33. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  34. 4/6 t5701: add setup test to remove side-effect dependencyUsman Akinyemi, Jan 17, 2025
  35. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  36. Usman AkinyemiJan 20, 2025
  37. Junio C HamanoJan 20, 2025
  38. Usman AkinyemiJan 21, 2025
  39. 5/6 connect: advertise OS versionUsman Akinyemi, Jan 17, 2025
  40. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  41. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  42. rsbecker@nexbridge.comJan 17, 2025
  43. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  44. Usman AkinyemiJan 20, 2025
  45. Junio C HamanoJan 21, 2025
  46. 6/6 version: introduce osversion.command config for os-version outputUsman Akinyemi, Jan 17, 2025
  47. Eric SunshineJan 17, 2025
  48. Usman AkinyemiJan 20, 2025
  49. Eric SunshineJan 20, 2025
  50. Usman AkinyemiJan 20, 2025
  51. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  52. rsbecker@nexbridge.comJan 17, 2025
  53. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  54. rsbecker@nexbridge.comJan 17, 2025
  55. Usman AkinyemiJan 20, 2025
  56. Junio C HamanoJan 21, 2025
  57. rsbecker@nexbridge.comJan 21, 2025
  58. 0/6 [Outreachy] Introduce os-version Capability with Configurable OptionsUsman Akinyemi, Jan 24, 2025
  59. 1/6 version: replace manual ASCII checks with isprint() for clarityUsman Akinyemi, Jan 24, 2025
  60. Junio C HamanoJan 24, 2025
  61. 2/6 version: refactor redact_non_printables()Usman Akinyemi, Jan 24, 2025
  62. 3/6 version: refactor get_uname_info()Usman Akinyemi, Jan 24, 2025
  63. 4/6 version: extend get_uname_info() to hide system detailsUsman Akinyemi, Jan 24, 2025
  64. 5/6 t5701: add setup test to remove side-effect dependencyUsman Akinyemi, Jan 24, 2025
  65. Junio C HamanoJan 24, 2025
  66. 6/6 connect: advertise OS versionUsman Akinyemi, Jan 24, 2025
  67. 0/6 [Outreachy] extend agent capability to include OS nameUsman Akinyemi, Feb 5, 2025
  68. 1/6 version: replace manual ASCII checks with isprint() for clarityUsman Akinyemi, Feb 5, 2025
  69. 2/6 version: refactor redact_non_printables()Usman Akinyemi, Feb 5, 2025
  70. 3/6 version: refactor get_uname_info()Usman Akinyemi, Feb 5, 2025
  71. 4/6 version: extend get_uname_info() to hide system detailsUsman Akinyemi, Feb 5, 2025
  72. 6/6 agent: advertise OS name via agent capabilityUsman Akinyemi, Feb 5, 2025
  73. Junio C HamanoFeb 5, 2025
  74. Usman AkinyemiFeb 6, 2025
  75. Junio C HamanoFeb 6, 2025
  76. Usman AkinyemiFeb 7, 2025
  77. Junio C HamanoFeb 7, 2025
  78. Usman AkinyemiFeb 7, 2025
  79. 5/6 t5701: add setup test to remove side-effect dependencyUsman Akinyemi, Feb 5, 2025
  80. 0/6 [Outreachy] extend agent capability to include OS nameUsman Akinyemi, Feb 14, 2025
  81. 1/6 version: replace manual ASCII checks with isprint() for clarityUsman Akinyemi, Feb 14, 2025
  82. 2/6 version: refactor redact_non_printables()Usman Akinyemi, Feb 14, 2025
  83. 3/6 version: refactor get_uname_info()Usman Akinyemi, Feb 14, 2025
  84. 4/6 version: extend get_uname_info() to hide system detailsUsman Akinyemi, Feb 14, 2025
  85. 5/6 t5701: add setup test to remove side-effect dependencyUsman Akinyemi, Feb 14, 2025
  86. Junio C HamanoFeb 14, 2025
  87. 6/6 agent: advertise OS name via agent capabilityUsman Akinyemi, Feb 14, 2025
  88. Junio C HamanoFeb 14, 2025
  89. Usman AkinyemiFeb 15, 2025
  90. 0/6 [Outreachy] extend agent capability to include OS nameUsman Akinyemi, Feb 15, 2025
  91. 1/6 version: replace manual ASCII checks with isprint() for clarityUsman Akinyemi, Feb 15, 2025
  92. 2/6 version: refactor redact_non_printables()Usman Akinyemi, Feb 15, 2025
  93. 3/6 version: refactor get_uname_info()Usman Akinyemi, Feb 15, 2025
  94. 4/6 version: extend get_uname_info() to hide system detailsUsman Akinyemi, Feb 15, 2025
  95. 5/6 t5701: add setup test to remove side-effect dependencyUsman Akinyemi, Feb 15, 2025
  96. 6/6 agent: advertise OS name via agent capabilityUsman Akinyemi, Feb 15, 2025
  97. Junio C HamanoFeb 18, 2025
  98. Junio C HamanoFeb 18, 2025
  99. Junio C HamanoJan 24, 2025
  100. Christian CouderJan 27, 2025
  101. Junio C HamanoJan 27, 2025
  102. Christian CouderJan 31, 2025
  103. Junio C HamanoJan 31, 2025
  104. Usman AkinyemiJan 31, 2025
  105. Junio C HamanoJan 31, 2025
  106. Usman AkinyemiJan 31, 2025
  107. Junio C HamanoJan 31, 2025

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.