support-architecture

name	support-architecture
description	Use this skill when the user asks to add support for a new Linux distribution or architecture flavour (e.g. "add support for rhel10 as slc10", "add ubuntu 24.04", "add rocky 10"). Guides through the two required changes: detection logic in utilities.py and test fixtures in test_utilities.py.

Adding Support for a New Architecture Flavour in alibuild

Architecture detection lives in two files:

• alibuild_helpers/utilities.py — the doDetectArch() function
• tests/test_utilities.py — fixtures and architecturePayloads test table

Step 1 — Understand how detection works

doDetectArch() receives:

• hasOsRelease — whether /etc/os-release was readable
• osReleaseLines — lines of /etc/os-release
• platformTuple — (name, version, codename) from distro.linux_distribution()
• platformSystem, platformProcessor

The function:

1. If platformTuple's distribution is already in a known list → uses it directly.
2. Otherwise falls back to /etc/os-release, reading ID → distribution and VERSION_ID → version.
3. Applies any distro-name remapping (e.g. mapping a distro name to another prefix).
4. Returns "{distro}{major_version}_{arch}" e.g. slc10_x86-64.

Step 2 — Edit alibuild_helpers/utilities.py

Look at the doDetectArch function and follow the existing pattern for the family the new distro belongs to.

• If the new distro is identified via /etc/os-release ID field (i.e. distro.linux_distribution() doesn't return it directly), add its ID value to the appropriate elif branch that maps distro names to the desired prefix.
• If the distro needs its own new remapping rule, add a new elif branch following the same structure as the existing ones.

Only change what is necessary — if the distro's NAME (from distro.linux_distribution()) already appears in an existing branch, no change is needed in utilities.py.

Step 3 — Add a fixture in tests/test_utilities.py

Add a constant with the contents of the new distro's /etc/os-release. Follow the format of the existing fixtures (e.g. ALMA_9_OS_RELEASE, ROCKY_9_OS_RELEASE). The two fields that matter for detection are ID and VERSION_ID:

NEW_DISTRO_OS_RELEASE = """
NAME="Distro Name"
VERSION="10.0 (Codename)"
ID="distro-id"
VERSION_ID="10.0"
...
"""

Step 4 — Add a row to architecturePayloads

Each row is:

[expected_arch, hasOsRelease, osReleaseLines, platformTuple, platformSystem, platformProcessor]

Add one entry per distro variant being tested:

['prefix10_x86-64', True, NEW_DISTRO_OS_RELEASE.split("\n"), ('Distro Name', '10.0', 'Codename'), 'Linux', 'x86_64'],

• expected_arch — the string doDetectArch should return
• hasOsRelease=True — os-release is available
• osReleaseLines — the fixture split into lines
• platformTuple — what distro.linux_distribution() returns for this distro
• platformSystem — 'Linux'
• platformProcessor — use 'x86_64' (the function converts underscores to hyphens)

Checklist

• utilities.py updated if the distro's name/ID is not already handled
• /etc/os-release fixture constant added in test_utilities.py
• Row(s) added to architecturePayloads in test_utilities.py
• Tests pass (tox or CI)