Ubuntu: gitweb always looks for projects in /var/cache/git (“404 - no projects found”)

Ubuntu: gitweb always looks for projects in /var/cache/git (“404 - no projects found”)

[Alfonso Muñoz-Pomer Fuentes]

I’ve discovered this weird behaviour in gitweb and documented a workaround in
StackOverflow:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13609475/ubuntu-gitweb-always-looks-for-projects-in-var-cache-git-404-no-projects-f

Basically, the variable $projectroot in gitweb.cgi in the beginning is reset to
the system default value in git_get_projects_list, when it is declared again.

Is this a known bug? Or am I missing something?

Re: Ubuntu: gitweb always looks for projects in /var/cache/git (“404 - no projects found”)

[Jeff King]

On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 01:55:57PM +0000, Alfonso Muñoz-Pomer Fuentes wrote:

> I’ve discovered this weird behaviour in gitweb and documented a workaround in
> StackOverflow:
> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13609475/ubuntu-gitweb-always-looks-for-projects-in-var-cache-git-404-no-projects-f
> 
> Basically, the variable $projectroot in gitweb.cgi in the beginning is reset to
> the system default value in git_get_projects_list, when it is declared again.
> 
> Is this a known bug? Or am I missing something?

I think the analysis in that stack overflow post is wrong. The use of
"our" in git_get_projects_list is not the culprit.

The problem is that one should not edit gitweb.cgi directly; its
built-in defaults (which you are tweaking) are overridden by
/etc/gitweb.conf, which is shipped by the Ubuntu package. You should
be making your changes in the config file, not the CGI script.

-Peff

Re: Ubuntu: gitweb always looks for projects in /var/cache/git (“404 - no projects found”)

[Alfonso Muñoz-Pomer Fuentes]

Thank you very much for the clarification. Noticing how this wasn’t 
documented anywhere I had the feeling that I was missing something.

On Thu 29 Nov 2012 19:28:26 CET, Jeff King wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 01:55:57PM +0000, Alfonso Muñoz-Pomer Fuentes wrote:
>
>> I’ve discovered this weird behaviour in gitweb and documented a workaround in
>> StackOverflow:
>> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13609475/ubuntu-gitweb-always-looks-for-projects-in-var-cache-git-404-no-projects-f
>>
>> Basically, the variable $projectroot in gitweb.cgi in the beginning is reset to
>> the system default value in git_get_projects_list, when it is declared again.
>>
>> Is this a known bug? Or am I missing something?
>
> I think the analysis in that stack overflow post is wrong. The use of
> "our" in git_get_projects_list is not the culprit.
>
> The problem is that one should not edit gitweb.cgi directly; its
> built-in defaults (which you are tweaking) are overridden by
> /etc/gitweb.conf, which is shipped by the Ubuntu package. You should
> be making your changes in the config file, not the CGI script.
>
> -Peff

--
Alfonso Muñoz-Pomer Fuentes
Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut
Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei
Institut für Forstgenetik
Sieker Landstrasse 2
22927 Grosshansdorf

Telefon: +49 (0)4102/696-145
Fax:     +49 (0)4102/696-200
Email:   alfonso.munozpomer@vti.bund.de
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