The topic may sound minor but since Snapcraft decided to suppress logs by default in its new version (request to revert that in LP:2020892) it is quite relevant.
I can synthesize the issue in the following table:
| flag | core20 | core22 |
|---|---|---|
--verbose |
logs | no logs |
--verbosity=debug |
error | logs |
This table has yet another dimension, namely “Snapcraft version”. The result is stark confusion and a hit-and-miss approach to building snaps.
On core20, snapcraft 7.3.2, --verbosity fails despite being present in the help page.
% snapcraft --debug --verbosity=trace --use-lxd
...
Error: No such option: --verbosity (Possible options: --verbose, --version)
--verbose works.
On core22, snapcraft 7.3.2, --verbose is accepted but has no or limited effect, insofar as full logs aren’t present. --verbosity is the right choice instead.
What does snapcraft build --help have to say?
-v, --verbose: Show debug information and be
more verbose
-q, --quiet: Only show warnings and errors,
not progress
--verbosity: Set the verbosity level to
'quiet', 'brief', 'verbose',
'debug' or 'trace'
That elicits some questions:
- Why so many different arguments to control the same thing?
- What is the difference between ‘verbose’, ‘debug’ and ‘trace’?
I believe that the answer for 1 is: “Backwards compatibility”.
I believe that the answer for 2 is: “They order the options are listed is ‘crescent level of verbosity’”.