Re: [Rd] Sys.timezone() fails on Linux under Microsoft WSL
One way to avoid the call to timedatectl is to set the `TZ` environment
variable on your machine to your local timezone, if this is set
`Sys.timezone()` uses this and does not try to query timedatectl for the
timezone.
This is a common issue as well in docker containers, as like on WSL in
docker timedatectl is present, but non-functional.
Jim
On Tue, Apr 13, 2021 at 9:19 AM Brenton Wiernik wrote:
> In Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL or WSL2), there is not
> system framework, so utilities that depend on it fail. This includes
> timedatectl which R uses in Sys.timezone(). The timedatectl utility is
> present on Linux systems installed under WSL/WSL2, but is non-functional.
> So, when Sys.timezone() checks for Sys.which("timedatectl"), it receives a
> false positive. The subsequent methods after this if () do work, however.
>
> This can be fixed if line 42 of Sys.timezone() were changed from:
> if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl"))) {
>
> to:
> if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl")) && !grepl("microsoft", system("uname
> -r", intern = TRUE), ignore.case = TRUE)) {
>
> "uname -r" returns for example:
> "5.4.72-microsoft-standard-WSL2"
>
> So checking for "microsoft" or "WSL" would probably work.
>
>
> Brenton Wiernik
>
>
>
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>
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Re: [Rd] Sys.timezone() fails on Linux under Microsoft WSL
That would work.
Sys.info()['release']
# release
# "5.4.72-microsoft-standard-WSL2"
Brenton
From: Martin Maechler
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 03:28
To: Brenton Wiernik
Cc: r-devel@r-project.org
Subject: Re: [Rd] Sys.timezone() fails on Linux under Microsoft WSL
>>>>> Brenton Wiernik
>>>>> on Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:15:50 -0400 writes:
> In Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL or WSL2),
> there is not system framework, so utilities that depend on
> it fail. This includes timedatectl which R uses in
> Sys.timezone(). The timedatectl utility is present on
> Linux systems installed under WSL/WSL2, but is
> non-functional. So, when Sys.timezone() checks for
> Sys.which("timedatectl"), it receives a false
> positive. The subsequent methods after this if () do work,
> however.
> This can be fixed if line 42 of Sys.timezone() were changed from:
> if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl"))) {
> to:
> if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl")) && !grepl("microsoft", system("uname
-r", intern = TRUE), ignore.case = TRUE)) {
> "uname -r" returns for example: "5.4.72-microsoft-standard-WSL2"
> So checking for "microsoft" or "WSL" would probably work.
> Brenton Wiernik
Thank you. This all makes sense.
However, using system("uname -r") creates another platform
dependency (it fails, i.e., signals an error, e.g., on our Windows Server).
Could Sys.info() be used instead?
What does it give on your platform?
> [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
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Re: [Rd] Sys.timezone() fails on Linux under Microsoft WSL
> Brenton Wiernik
> on Tue, 13 Apr 2021 09:15:50 -0400 writes:
> In Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL or WSL2),
> there is not system framework, so utilities that depend on
> it fail. This includes timedatectl which R uses in
> Sys.timezone(). The timedatectl utility is present on
> Linux systems installed under WSL/WSL2, but is
> non-functional. So, when Sys.timezone() checks for
> Sys.which("timedatectl"), it receives a false
> positive. The subsequent methods after this if () do work,
> however.
> This can be fixed if line 42 of Sys.timezone() were changed from:
> if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl"))) {
> to:
> if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl")) && !grepl("microsoft", system("uname
-r", intern = TRUE), ignore.case = TRUE)) {
> "uname -r" returns for example: "5.4.72-microsoft-standard-WSL2"
> So checking for "microsoft" or "WSL" would probably work.
> Brenton Wiernik
Thank you. This all makes sense.
However, using system("uname -r") creates another platform
dependency (it fails, i.e., signals an error, e.g., on our Windows Server).
Could Sys.info() be used instead?
What does it give on your platform?
> [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
> __
> R-devel@r-project.org mailing list
> https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
__
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https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
[Rd] Sys.timezone() fails on Linux under Microsoft WSL
In Microsoft’s Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL or WSL2), there is not system
framework, so utilities that depend on it fail. This includes timedatectl which
R uses in Sys.timezone(). The timedatectl utility is present on Linux systems
installed under WSL/WSL2, but is non-functional. So, when Sys.timezone() checks
for Sys.which("timedatectl"), it receives a false positive. The subsequent
methods after this if () do work, however.
This can be fixed if line 42 of Sys.timezone() were changed from:
if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl"))) {
to:
if (nzchar(Sys.which("timedatectl")) && !grepl("microsoft", system("uname -r",
intern = TRUE), ignore.case = TRUE)) {
"uname -r" returns for example:
"5.4.72-microsoft-standard-WSL2"
So checking for "microsoft" or "WSL" would probably work.
Brenton Wiernik
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