Storehelpers.go:413: cannot refresh:

cpollock · June 6, 2018, 8:40pm

apt-cache policy snapd
snapd:
Installed: 2.32.9
Candidate: 2.32.9

After upgrading snapd:amd64 (2.32.3.2, 2.32.9)the other day I now see
this

snapd[15552]: 2018/06/06 12:03:48.153532 storehelpers.go:413: cannot refresh:

systemctl status snapd
● snapd.service - Snappy daemon
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/snapd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-06-01 07:58:42 CDT; 5 days ago
Main PID: 15552 (snapd)
CGroup: /system.slice/snapd.service
└─15552 /usr/lib/snapd/snapd

Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: 2018/06/06 15:32:17.678417 storehelpers.go:413: cannot refresh:
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “dwarf-fortress”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “snappy-debug”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “speed-test”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “pubip”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “wallpaperdownloader”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “snapweb”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “nethack”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “hello-world”: snap has no updates available
Jun 06 15:32:17 localhost.localdomain snapd[15552]: snap “core”: snap has no updates available

Not sure if this is having an effect on refreshing the other snaps or not.

ogra · June 23, 2018, 10:56am

This simply tells you that there are no updates available for the list of snaps below… snapd regulary checks for updates with its store helper and refreshes snaps automatically if there are updates.

snaps are self-contained, rolling packages, getting updated automatically and independently from the system. you normally do not need to do anything manual (like running “snap refresh”), snapd cares for that on its own …

do you have a suggestion for a clearer message ?

hint: to see more information about snaps you can see snapd’s internal logs with the “snap changes” command (and look at an individual change with “snap change $CHANGE_ID”) there you should also see automatic refreshes that happened

cpollock · June 23, 2018, 2:47pm

Thanks ogra, I understand that there are no updates for the snaps I have installed, the message is very easy to understand, for instance, snap “hello-world”: snap has no updates available. The entry - 2018/06/06 15:32:17.678417 storehelpers.go:413: cannot refresh: has apparently been getting logged for awhile however I just seemed to notice it when I posted the above question. It actually started on 11 April this year. Prior to that I’d just get a simple one line
snapd[1123]: 2018/04/10 18:30:29.494915 autorefresh.go:338: auto-refresh: all snaps are up-to-date
So, my question still remains the same. What does storehelpers.go:387: cannot refresh trying to tell me?

ogra · June 23, 2018, 3:31pm

well, the comment above the function line 387 in storehelpers.go belongs to says:

“determine current snaps and collect candidates for refresh”

so it wants to tell you that your call to “snap refresh” was not successful because there are no snaps that can be refreshed …

github.com

snapcore/snapd/blob/master/overlord/snapstate/storehelpers.go#L375


		// the desired revision
		Revision: revision,
	}
	theStore := Store(st, deviceCtx)
	st.Unlock() // calls to the store should be done without holding the state lock
	res, _, err := theStore.SnapAction(context.TODO(), curSnaps, []*store.SnapAction{action}, nil, user, opts)
	st.Lock()
	sar, err := singleActionResult(curInfo.InstanceName(), action.Action, res, err)
	return sar.Info, err
}
func currentSnapsImpl(st *state.State) ([]*store.CurrentSnap, error) {
	snapStates, err := All(st)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	if len(snapStates) == 0 {
		// no snaps installed, do not bother any further

i can’t really tell why the message changed though, thats a question for someone from the core team …

cpollock · June 23, 2018, 4:36pm

Thanks, it does make sense now. In a round-about and kind of confusing way it’s telling me no snaps have updates.