info_tfgrid/docs/hero_mdbook_fullvm.md

Hero and mdbook on a Full VM

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Setting the Full VM
  • Remote Explorer Access
• Set the SSH Key Pair
• Install Hero, Crystallib and V
• Use Hero to Generate mdbooks
• Troubleshooting
  • Fix the error: "cli execution error: Cannot pull repo..."
  • Fix: Git hangs at "Cloning into..."
• Distinctions between mdbook and hero mdbook

---

Introduction

In this tutorial, we show all the steps to deploy an mdbook with the Hero tool.

For this guide, we show an example using the mdbook from the repository info_tfgrid. This setup can be done locally or on a VM. Note that it should be run as root.

We show the steps for a full VM deployed on the TFGrid with WireGuard. We use 10.20.4.2 as a WireGuard IP address. Adjust according to your own setup.

We will be using SSH to connect to the VM and to create an SSH tunnel between the local machine and the VM. This will allow the mdbook output to be displayed on a local browser.

To manage the mdbook files, we will be using the remote explorer feature of either VSCodium or VSCode.

We also include some troubleshooting tips.

Setting the Full VM

We start by deploying a full VM with WireGuard on the TFGrid. We also set an SSH tunnel.

• Deploy a full VM with WireGuard on the TFGrid
• Set an SSH tunnel, on port 5173 for both local and VM

  ssh -4 -L 5173:127.0.0.1:5173 root@10.20.4.2
  

Instead of working on the SSH tunnel terminal window, we will be using the remote explorer feature of a source-code editor.

Remote Explorer Access

You can use the remote explorer feature of both VSCode and VSCodium to manage the mdbook.

• Open the window Remote Explorer, click on Add New and write the following in the SSH config file:

  Host 10.20.4.2
      HostName 10.20.4.2
      User root
  

• Click on Connect to Host
• Open the main /root directory
• Right-click on the main window of the directory and select Open in Integrated Terminal
• Update and prepare the VM

  apt update && apt install curl -y && apt install openssh-client -y
  

Set the SSH Key Pair

• Generate an SSH key pair
  • To make it work with info_tfgrid, save it here: /root/.ssh/books

ssh-keygen

• Note the public key

cat /root/.ssh/books.pub

• Add the SSH public key on git.ourworld.tf and github
  • Optional: on git.ourworld.tf, verify the key. Make sure to put the proper token.

echo -n 'token' | ssh-keygen -Y sign -n gitea -f /root/.ssh/books

• Start the ssh agent

eval $(ssh-agent)

• Add private key to the agent

ssh-add /root/.ssh/books

Install Hero, Crystallib and V

We install hero, Crystallib and V with a script.

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/freeflowuniverse/crystallib/development/scripts/installer_hero.sh > /tmp/build_hero.sh
bash /tmp/build_hero.sh

Use Hero to Generate mdbooks

We generate mdbooks with Hero.

Download the git repository from a URL:

• Download the repository

hero mdbook -u https://git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid/info_tfgrid/src/branch/main/heroscript/bookname -gp

• The line above will clone the repository info_tfgrid at the path /root/code/git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid. The same result can be obtained by running the following lines:

  mkdir -p /root/code/git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid
  cd /root/code/git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid
  git clone https://git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid/info_tfgrid
  

For the next steps, you can either run the commands locally (with -p and the proper path) or remotely (with -u and the proper URL). Running the command locally is useful when you are doing changes to the mdbook and you want to test them before pushing the new files to the remote repository.

• Build the book

  • Note: add the parameter -o at the end of the line to open the book with your local browser
  • Option 1: Build the book with a URL

  hero mdbook -u https://git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid/info_tfgrid/src/branch/main/heroscript/bookname
  

  • Option 2: Build the book with a local path

  hero mdbook -p /path/to/tfgrid/info_tfgrid/src/branch/main/heroscript/bookname
  

Note: In all cases, make sure to replace bookname by the name of your book, e.g. test.

If you are running hero on a VM with an SSH tunnel, to preview the mdbook on a local browser (via the file index.html), run the following command and open a browser with the URL localhost:5173. Make sure to replace <book_name> with the name of the book.

pushd /root/hero/www/info/<book_name>/;  python3 -m http.server 5173; popd; 

Troubleshooting

Fix the error: "cli execution error: Cannot pull repo..."

If you get the following error: "cli execution error: Cannot pull repo: /root/code/git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid/info_tfgrid because there are changes in the dir.", you can try the following as a fix:

rm -r /root/code/git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid/info_tfgrid

Fix: Git hangs at "Cloning into..."

Run this command to fix this issue:

git config --global credential.provider generic

If it happens another time, you can try to download it manually:

mkdir -p /root/code/git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid && cd $_
git clone https://git.ourworld.tf/tfgrid/info_tfgrid

Distinctions between mdbook and hero mdbook

There are some distinctions between mdbook and hero mdbook. This is subject to change since hero is continually being improved.

• hero mdbook cannot use parentheses in tables of contents (e.g. in SUMMARY.md)
• hero mdbook uses the following include template:

  \!!wiki.include page:'collection_name:file_name.md'
  

• hero mdbook cannot parse codes with tabs or spaces
• list contents are parsed as paragraphs (e.g. defs, comments, text, links), they can't contain code blocks