nRF Connect Toolchain Installation fails silently because of local .gitconfig

[Nils Z.]

Reproduce issue:

• Windows 10 21H2
• Set global git option gpg.format to ssh

  • git config --global gpg.format ssh

• Install nRF Connect SDK v2.0.2 with Toolchain Manager v1.1.3

This seems to complete successfully as implied by the Toolchain Managers log at the bottom:

But starting a build failes with

west: error: argument <command>: invalid choice: 'build' (choose from 'init', 'update', 'list', 'manifest', 'diff', 'status', 'forall', 'help', 'config', 'topdir', 'selfupdate')

Looking at C:\ncs\v2.0.2 shows there are folders missing:

Reason for issue:

The option ssh for the git config gpg.format was introduced in git 2.34 (Compare https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config/2.33.0 and https://git-scm.com/docs/git-config/2.34.0).

The Toolchain Manager seems to use an old git version (bash/cmd show 2.26). Calling 'git show' with gpg.format set to ssh fails with

$ git show
error: unsupported value for gpg.format: ssh
fatal: bad config variable 'gpg.format' in file 'C:/Users/N/.gitconfig' at line 10

Opening the log file of the Toolchain Manager shows this error causes the installation to fail:

2022-09-09T13:03:34.684Z DEBUG west.manifest: "git show refs/heads/manifest-rev:west.yml" exit code: 128 stdout: b'' stderr: b"error: unsupported value for gpg.format: ssh\nfatal: bad config variable 'gpg.format' in file 'C:/Users/N/.gitconfig' at line 10\n"

Additional Notes

Adding this option to my global git config destroyed my toolchain even without launching nRF Connect for Desktop or the Toolchain Manager. I use VSCode for development. Perhaps the VSCode Plugins update the toolchain in the bachground which can also destroy them?

Questions / Requests

• How can I keep this git config value without destroying the toolchain?
• Please show a clear message in the Toolchain Manager if the installation fails. Without opening the log file (the small grey button at the bottom left), everything seems fine, but the toolchain is not working.
• If possible, please ignore the global git config when installing the toolchain.

Thank you!

Related topic

•  RE: VS Code+nRF Connect: "west invalid build choice" during sample project config 

[dejans]

Hi,

Since your toolchain has been installed successfully, west tool is available from the command line opened from the Toolchain Manager. 

Does ssh commit signing work for you in general? You can check if your configuration is correct by looking at signing commits with ssh keys.

Best regards,
Dejan

[Nils Z.]

Thank you for the answer, but this does not solve the problem. Git commit signing works fine for me.

I described a bug in the toolchain installer which causes toolchain installation to fail if git config --global gpg.format ssh is set, as recommended in your link.

Even worse, the Toolchain Manager reports a successful installation, although it failed, which can be confirmed by checking the log file.

The cause for the failed installation is the installer using the old git version 2.26, which does not support gpg.format ssh.

For me, it is not possible to install the toolchain while having set git config --global gpg.format ssh

[dejans]

Hi,

We are planning for our new bundler to provide any git version as specified in NCS requirement files.

Meanwhile, you could try replacing the git from the toolchain with a newer version which supports your config (for example, v2.34). You would need to copy git binary as well as its subcommands. In theory, this should work fine. 

Best regards,
Dejan

[napei_]

Found this with googling, as I am currently having this issue still with SDK 2.1.1. Not only can I not update the SDK with an ssh signing config in my gitconfig, I can't even build projects as they just fail immediately. Removing the following from my .gitconfig works fine. I use 1Password's SSH agent and signing tools.

[gpg]
	format = ssh
[gpg "ssh"]
	program = C:\\Users\\natty\\AppData\\Local\\1Password\\app\\8\\op-ssh-sign.exe
[commit]
	gpgsign = true

[dejans]

Hi,

Thank you for sharing what is currently working for you.

Best regards,
Dejan

[Nils Z.]

I also use 1Password's ssh agent, thus needing this config line.

Until nordic has fixed this, you can remove this from the global config and add it to the local config of each repo you are currently working on. Of course this is annoying, but currently seems the only option for me to use 1Password's ssh agent.

Building projects did only fail for me after any toolchain manager operations with this config enabled. It damaged the toolchain (without showing an error besides the log file), thus making builds fail.

[napei_]

We are planning for our new bundler to provide any git version as specified in NCS requirement files.

Is there any update on this? It's not really a good solution currently, regardless of if it just "works" especially in large teams.

EDIT: I see that a commit has just been added for a change in git version. https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf/commit/cee3523e199d33a7b964a437769605d982c454ff