Contributing

Hi there! We're thrilled that you'd like to contribute to this project. Your help is essential for keeping it great.

Contributions to this project are released to the public under the MIT license.

Please note that this project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By participating in this project, you agree to abide by its terms.

Contents

• Submitting a pull request
• Adding a new tool to an image
• Code style guide

Submitting a pull request

1. Fork and clone the repository.
2. Create a new branch: git checkout -b my-branch-name.
3. Make your changes, ensuring that they include steps to install, validate post-install, and update the software report (please see Adding a new tool to an image for details).
4. Test your changes by creating an image and deploying a VM.
5. Push to your fork and submit a pull request.

Here are a few things you can do that will increase the likelihood of your pull request being accepted:

• Follow the style guide for Powershell when writing Windows scripts. There is currently no set style for the Shell scripts that run Linux installs :soon:.
• Include complete details of why this is needed in the PR description.
• Keep your change as focused as possible. If there are multiple changes you would like to make that are not dependent upon each other, consider submitting them as separate pull requests.
• Write good commit messages.
• For new tools:
  • Make sure that the tool satisfies the Software Guidelines.
  • Create an issue and get approval from us to add this tool to the image before creating the pull request.

Adding a new tool to an image

General rules

• For every new tool, add validation scripts and update the software report script to ensure that it is included in the documentation.
• If the tool is available on multiple platforms (macOS, Windows, Linux), make sure you include it on as many as possible.
• If installing multiple versions of the tool, consider putting the list of versions in the corresponding toolset.json file. This will help other customers configure their builds flexibly. See toolset-windows-2022.json as an example.
• Use consistent naming across all files.
• Validation scripts should be simple and shouldn't change the image content.

Windows

• Add a script that will install the tool and put the script in the scripts/build folder. There are a bunch of helper functions that could simplify your code: Install-ChocoPackage, Install-Binary, Install-VSIXFromFile, Install-VSIXFromUrl, Invoke-DownloadWithRetry, Test-IsWin22, Test-IsWin25 (find the full list of helpers in ImageHelpers.psm1).
• Add a script that will validate the tool installation and put the script in the scripts/tests folder. We use Pester v5 for validation scripts. If the tests for the tool are complex enough, create a separate *.Tests.ps1. Otherwise, use Tools.Tests.ps1 for simple tests. Add Invoke-PesterTests -TestFile <testFileName> [-TestName <describeName>] at the end of the installation script to ensure that your tests will be run.
• Add changes to the software report generator images/windows/scripts/docs-gen/Generate-SoftwareReport.ps1. The software report generator is used to generate an image's README file, e.g. Windows2022-Readme.md and uses MarkdownPS.

Ubuntu

• Add a script that will install and validate the tool and put the script in the scripts/build folder. Use existing scripts such as install-github-cli.sh as a starting point.
  • Use helpers to simplify the installation process.
  • The validation part should exit 1 if there is any issue with the installation.
• Add changes to the software report generator images/ubuntu/scripts/docs-gen/Generate-SoftwareReport.ps1. The software report generator is used to generate an image's README file, e.g. Ubuntu2204-Readme.md and it uses MarkdownPS.

macOS

The macOS source lives in this repository and is available for everyone. However, the macOS image-generation CI doesn't support external contributions yet, so we are not able to accept pull requests for now. We are in the process of preparing the macOS CI to accept contributions. Until then, we appreciate your patience and ask that you continue to make tool requests by filing issues.

Code style guide

The principles of clean code apply to all languages. The main points are:

• Use meaningful names for variables, functions, files, etc.
• Keep functions short and simple.
• Use comments to explain what the code does.
• Use a consistent code style, naming convention, and file structure.

File structure

• Each file should have a header with a title and a short description of the file.
• Each file should have a newline at the end.
• Use blank lines to separate logical blocks of code, but don't abuse blank lines:
  • Don't add a blank line in the beginning and end of a block or function.
  • Don't add blank lines between logically connected statements.
• Avoid trailing whitespace.

Bash scripts

Naming convention for bash scripts

• Use lowercase letters for variable names.
• Use uppercase letters for constants.
• Use underscores to separate words in variable names.

Bash script structure

Each script should start with the following shebang:

#!/bin/bash -e

TODO: do we need to set pipefail?

This will make the script exit if any command fails.

After the shebang, add a header with the following format:

################################################################################
##  File:  <filename>
##  Desc:  <short description of what the script does>
################################################################################

Then import helpers that are used in the script.

For Linux:

source $HELPER_SCRIPTS/os.sh
source $HELPER_SCRIPTS/install.sh
source $HELPER_SCRIPTS/etc-environment.sh

For macOS:

source ~/utils/utils.sh

[!NOTE] You don't need to import all helpers, only the ones that are used in the script.

After that, add the script code.

Indentations and line breaks in bash scripts

• Use 4 spaces for indentation.
• Use 1 space between if/for/while and [[ and between [[ and the condition.
• Place then/do on the new line.
• For short if/for/while statements, use the one-line format.
• Break long pipelines using \.

Other recommendations for bash scripts

• For command substitution, use $() instead of backticks.
• Use [[ instead of [ for conditional expressions.
• Prefer using long options instead of short keys, but there are exceptions, e.g.:
  • tar -xzf
  • apt-get -yqq
  • curl -sSLf
  • wget -qO-

PowerShell scripts

Naming convention for PowerShell scripts

• Use camelCase for variable names.
• Use uppercase letters for constants.
• Use Verb-Noun and PascalCase for function names.

PowerShell script structure

Each script should start with the following header:

################################################################################
##  File:  <filename>
##  Desc:  <short description of what the script does>
################################################################################

Then declare functions that are used in the script.

TODO: do we need to set the error action preference and progress preference?

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
$ProgressPreference = "SilentlyContinue"

For Linux and macOS, import helpers that are used in the script:

For Linux:

Import-Module "$env:HELPER_SCRIPTS/Tests.Helpers.psm1" -DisableNameChecking

For macOS:

Import-Module "$env:HOME/image-generation/helpers/Common.Helpers.psm1"
Import-Module "$env:HOME/image-generation/helpers/Xcode.Helpers.psm1" -DisableNameChecking

[!NOTE] You don't need to import all helpers, only the ones that are used in the script.

After that, add the script code.

Indentations and line breaks in PowerShell scripts

• Use 4 spaces for indentation.

• Use 1 space between if/elseif/foreach and ( but not between ( and the condition.

• Add a space before and after pipe | and redirection > operators.

• Align properties in hash tables.

• Use 1TBS style for curly braces:

  • If block of statement is long, then place it on the new line, indent it, and add a closing curly brace on the new line.
  • If block of statement is short, then place it on the same line as the statement.

  function Show-Example1 {
      $exampleVariable = Get-ChildItem $env:TEMP
      $exampleVariable | ForEach-Object {
          $itemName = $_.Name
          $itemPath = $_.FullName
      }
  }
  
  $Example2 | Some-Function -Arguments @{Parameter1 = "Disabled"}
  

• Avoid using aliases.

• Break long pipelines using backticks or use splatting:

  # Instead of this
  Copy-Item -Path "test.txt" -Destination "test2.txt" -WhatIf
  
  # you can use this
  $HashArguments = @{
    Path = "test.txt"
    Destination = "test2.txt"
    WhatIf = $true
  }
  Copy-Item @HashArguments
  

  When using backticks be extra careful with trailing whitespace as they can cause errors.

Other recommendations for PowerShell scripts

• Verify exit codes of commands.
• When writing a function, provide a docstring that describes what the function does.

Resources

• How to Contribute to Open Source
• Using Pull Requests
• GitHub Help