herman

Herman

Herman is a launcher for Java applications that uses Nix for dependency management and installation. When invoked via a symlink, it reads a corresponding JSON configuration file, installs the application if needed, and executes it.

How It Works

1. Herman is invoked via a symlink (e.g., a8-codegen)
2. It reads the configuration from a8-codegen.json in the same directory
3. It checks if the application is already installed in ~/.a8/herman/builds/
4. If not installed:
   • Discovers the latest version from the Maven repository's maven-metadata.xml
   • Fetches dependency information from the configured repository API
   • Fetches SHA256 hashes using nix store prefetch-file (adds files to Nix store)
   • Generates Nix files locally (default.nix with inline launcher script)
   • Writes the per-package flake.nix to the build directory
   • Runs nix build using the shared nixpkgs from the root flake
   • Caches the result
5. Executes the installed application, passing through all arguments

Configuration

Launcher Config (e.g., a8-codegen.json)

{
    "mainClass": "a8.codegen.Codegen",
    "organization": "io.accur8",
    "artifact": "a8-versions_3",
    "branch": "master",
    "jvmArgs": [],
    "args": [],
    "name": "a8-codegen",
    "repo": "repo",
    "webappExplode": false
}

Configuration Fields:

• mainClass (required): The Java main class to execute
• organization (required): Maven organization/group ID
• artifact (required): Maven artifact ID
• branch (required): Branch name for version resolution
• jvmArgs (optional): Array of JVM arguments (e.g., ["-Xmx2g"])
• args (optional): Array of default application arguments
• name (required): Application name (used for executable naming)
• repo (required): Repository prefix from ~/.a8/repo.properties
• webappExplode (optional): If true, extracts webapp/* from all JARs to $HERMAN_NIX_STORE/webapp-composite/

Repository Config (~/.a8/repo.properties)

repo_url=https://locus2.accur8.net/repos/all
repo_user=reader
repo_password=a_password

You can configure multiple repositories by using different prefixes:

repo_url=https://locus2.accur8.net/repos/all
repo_user=reader
repo_password=a_password

bob_url=https://another.example.com/repos
bob_user=user
bob_password=pass

Then in your launcher config, set "repo": "bob" to use the bob_* properties.

Note: user and password are optional.

Nix Flakes and Shared nixpkgs

Herman uses Nix flakes to ensure all managed packages share the same nixpkgs version, providing reproducibility and better caching.

Architecture

Herman maintains two flakes:

1. Root flake (~/.a8/herman/flake.nix): Defines the shared nixpkgs input with a pinned version
2. Per-package flakes: Each package's nix-build/flake.nix follows the root nixpkgs

This ensures all Herman-managed packages use the exact same nixpkgs version, defined by ~/.a8/herman/flake.lock.

Updating nixpkgs for All Packages

To update the shared nixpkgs version used by all Herman-managed packages:

cd ~/.a8/herman
nix flake update

This updates flake.lock with the latest nixpkgs. All subsequent builds will use this new version.

Checking Current nixpkgs Version

cd ~/.a8/herman
nix flake metadata

Or examine the flake.lock file:

cat ~/.a8/herman/flake.lock | grep -A 5 '"nixpkgs"'

Benefits

• Reproducibility: All packages share the same nixpkgs version
• Efficient caching: Nix can share builds across packages
• Easy updates: Update all packages' nixpkgs with one command
• Explicit dependencies: The exact nixpkgs version is recorded in flake.lock

Environment Variables

Herman sets the following environment variables for launched applications:

• HERMAN_NIX_STORE: Path to the Nix store directory for the application (e.g., /nix/store/xxx-a8-codegen). This is set at build time and available to the application at runtime, useful for locating resources relative to the installation directory.

Herman Flags

Herman supports special --herman-* flags that control the launcher itself, separate from the application's arguments:

Available Flags

• --herman-help - Show Herman help message and exit
• --herman-trace - Enable verbose trace output for debugging
• --herman-update - Check for and install updates, then run the app
• --herman-update-only - Check for and install updates, then exit without running
• --herman-version - Show version information, then run the app
• --herman-info - Show installation information, then run the app

Examples

# Show Herman help
a8-codegen --herman-help

# Run with trace mode to see what Herman is doing
a8-codegen --herman-trace --help

# Update to latest version, then run
a8-codegen --herman-update --some-app-flag

# Just update, don't run
a8-codegen --herman-update-only

# Show version and installation info
a8-codegen --herman-version
a8-codegen --herman-info

# Combine multiple Herman flags
a8-codegen --herman-trace --herman-update --help

Command Mode

When invoked directly as herman (not via symlink), Herman enters command mode for managing installations:

# Show command help
herman help

# Generate Nix files from a config file (for embedding in Nix builds)
herman generate app-config.json ./output-dir

# Update a specific installation
herman update ~/bin/a8-codegen

# List all installations
herman list

# Clean old versions
herman clean io.accur8/a8-versions_3

# Run Nix garbage collection
herman gc

# Show installation info
herman info ~/bin/a8-codegen

Generate Command

The herman generate command creates standalone Nix files from a launcher config without requiring Herman at runtime:

herman generate my-app.json ./nix-output

This is useful for:

• Embedding applications in other Nix builds
• Creating reproducible builds without Herman dependency
• Pre-generating Nix expressions for version control

The command:

1. Discovers the latest version from Maven metadata
2. Fetches dependency information from the API
3. Downloads SHA256 hashes from Maven .sha256 files (faster, no JAR downloads)
4. Generates default.nix with all dependencies in SRI hash format
5. Creates a flake.nix that references the root Herman flake

The generated files can be built with nix build without Herman installed.

Project Structure

herman/
├── src/              # Go source files
│   ├── main.go       # Entry point and main logic
│   ├── repo.go       # Repository configuration reader
│   ├── api.go        # API client
│   ├── install.go    # Installation and nix-build logic
│   └── *_test.go     # Unit tests
├── test/
│   └── integration/  # Integration test setup and examples
├── flake.nix         # Nix flake for development and building
├── go.mod            # Go module definition
└── README.md

Building

Using Nix (recommended)

# Enter development environment
nix develop

# Build the project
go build -o herman ./src

# Or build via Nix
nix build

Without Nix

# Requires Go 1.25+
go build -o herman ./src

Usage

1. Build herman:

   nix build
   

2. Create a symlink for your application:

   ln -s /path/to/herman /usr/local/bin/a8-codegen
   

3. Create the config file next to the symlink:

   cat > /usr/local/bin/a8-codegen.json <<EOF
   {
       "mainClass": "a8.codegen.Codegen",
       "organization": "io.accur8",
       "artifact": "a8-versions_3",
       "branch": "master",
       "jvmArgs": [],
       "args": [],
       "name": "a8-codegen",
       "repo": "repo"
   }
   EOF
   

4. Create the repo config:

   mkdir -p ~/.a8
   cat > ~/.a8/repo.properties <<EOF
   repo_url=https://locus2.accur8.net/repos/all
   repo_user=reader
   repo_password=a_password
   EOF
   

5. Run your application:

   a8-codegen --help
   

On first run, Herman will install the application via Nix and cache it. Subsequent runs will use the cached version.

Testing

Unit Tests

Run the automated unit tests:

nix develop --command go test -v ./src

The tests verify:

• Config file parsing (launcher config and version files)
• Repository properties reading
• Multi-repository support

Integration Testing

For manual/integration testing, see the test/integration/ directory which includes:

• Sample configuration files
• Test script (test-herman.sh)
• Detailed testing instructions

Quick test:

cd test/integration
./test-herman.sh

See test/integration/README.md for complete testing documentation.

Directory Structure

~/.a8/
├── repo.properties              # Repository configuration
└── herman/
    ├── flake.nix                # Root flake with shared nixpkgs
    ├── flake.lock               # Pinned nixpkgs version (source of truth)
    └── builds/
        └── <org>/
            └── <artifact>/
                ├── <version>/
                │   ├── metadata.json           # Build metadata (exec path, version info)
                │   ├── <name> -> /nix/store/.../bin/<name>  # Executable symlink
                │   └── nix-build/              # Nix build files and script
                │       ├── flake.nix           # Per-package flake (follows root)
                │       ├── default.nix         # Generated Nix build with inline launcher
                │       ├── nixBuildDescription-response.json  # Raw API response
                │       ├── build.sh            # Reproducible build script
                │       └── result -> /nix/store/...  # Build result (prevents GC)
                └── latest-<branch> -> <version>/    # Symlink to latest version

Example:

~/.a8/herman/
├── flake.nix
├── flake.lock
└── builds/io.accur8/a8-codegen_2.13/
    ├── 0.1.0-20250503_1316_master/
    │   ├── metadata.json
    │   ├── a8-codegen -> /nix/store/6kxpzdzxzhphnm0kpb0v2ii4qxb4ddqh-a8-codegen/bin/a8-codegen
    │   └── nix-build/
    │       ├── flake.nix
    │       ├── default.nix
    │       ├── nixBuildDescription-response.json
    │       ├── build.sh
    │       └── result -> /nix/store/6kxpzdzxzhphnm0kpb0v2ii4qxb4ddqh-a8-codegen
    └── latest-master -> 0.1.0-20250503_1316_master/

The nix-build/ directory contains:

• flake.nix: Per-package flake that follows the shared nixpkgs from ~/.a8/herman/flake.lock
• default.nix: Generated Nix build file with:
  • Dependency list with SRI format hashes (sha256-<base64>)
  • Inline launcher script with HERMAN_NIX_STORE environment variable
  • Java version selection (supports JDK 8, 11, 17, 21, 22, 23)
  • Optional webapp explosion for web applications
• nixBuildDescription-response.json: Raw API response for debugging
• build.sh: Reproducible build script using nix build
• result: Symlink to Nix store, preventing garbage collection

The executable symlink in the version directory (named from the launcher config's name field) provides a stable path for execution (e.g., latest-master/a8-codegen).

Garbage Collection

Herman creates symlinks to the Nix store paths (result symlinks in the nix-build/ directory) to prevent them from being garbage collected. If you want to clean up old versions:

# Remove old version directory
rm -rf ~/.a8/herman/builds/<org>/<artifact>/<old-version>

# Run Nix garbage collection
nix-collect-garbage

License

MIT