Bootstrap Test

You are testing a bootstrap or installation script inside a Docker container to verify it works on a fresh system and is idempotent (safe to re-run).

Prerequisites

• •Docker must be running on the host machine
• •The bootstrap script must exist in the target directory

Procedure

Step 1: Identify the target

Ask the user:

• •Which bootstrap script to test (default: ./bootstrap.sh)
• •Which Docker image to use (default: ubuntu:24.04)
• •Which directory contains the files to copy into the container
• •Any environment variables needed (e.g., TILDE_ALLOW_ROOT=1)

Step 2: Start a container

docker run --rm -d --name bootstrap-test <image> sleep infinity

Step 3: Install prerequisites

Install the minimum packages needed to run the bootstrap script. Typically:

docker exec bootstrap-test bash -c "apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq git curl ca-certificates"

Adapt for the base image (e.g., apk add for Alpine, dnf install for Fedora).

Step 4: Copy files into the container

Copy the project files into the appropriate location inside the container. For a home directory repo:

# Create directory structure first
docker exec bootstrap-test mkdir -p /root/<subdirs>
# Copy files
docker cp <local_path> bootstrap-test:<container_path>

Important: If the repo is private, you cannot git clone inside the container without credentials. Copy files directly instead.

Step 5: Run #1 — Fresh install

Run the bootstrap script and capture all output:

docker exec bootstrap-test bash -c "<env_vars> /path/to/bootstrap.sh"

Check for:

• • Exit code 0 (no errors)
• • All expected packages installed
• • All symlinks created and pointing to correct targets
• • Generated config files have correct content (absolute paths, platform-specific values)
• • File permissions are correct (600 for keys, 700 for .ssh, 755 for scripts)
• • No unexpected warnings or errors in output

Step 6: Verify state

Run verification commands inside the container:

docker exec bootstrap-test bash -c '
echo "=== Symlinks ==="
ls -la <expected symlink paths>

echo "=== Generated files ==="
cat <generated config files>

echo "=== Permissions ==="
stat -c "%a %n" <critical files>

echo "=== Config values ==="
git config --global --list
'

Report any discrepancies.

Step 7: Run #2 — Idempotency test

Run the exact same bootstrap command again:

docker exec bootstrap-test bash -c "<env_vars> /path/to/bootstrap.sh"

Verify:

• • Exit code 0
• • Output shows "OK" / "already exists" / "already installed" for everything
• • No files were backed up (no new backup directory created)
• • No duplicate entries in append-mode files (e.g., known_hosts line count unchanged)
• • Symlinks unchanged (same targets as after run #1)
• • Generated files unchanged (not overwritten)

Step 8: Cleanup

docker stop bootstrap-test

Step 9: Report

Present results in a table:

If any check fails, provide the specific error output and suggest fixes.

Notes

• •For containers running as root, remind the user about any ALLOW_ROOT environment variables
• •Symlink permissions always show 777 on Linux — check the target file permissions instead
• •The container has no YubiKey access, so SSH/signing tests will not work inside it — that's expected
• •If the bootstrap installs packages from external repos (Homebrew, GH CLI), expect network-dependent install times