Summary

Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro.

Review Request #14869 — Created March 4, 2026 and updated March 5, 2026, 2:48 p.m.

Information

Owner

david

Repository

rbinstall

Branch

master

Bugs

Depends On

Reviewers

Groups

reviewboard

People

Description

Testing Done


Ran unit tests.
Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show

  the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.

Commits

Summary	ID
Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx

Summary

Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro.

Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.

mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx

Issues

Description	From	Last Updated
Since these aren't elifs, we should have a blank line between them. Or they could be elifs. That said, I …	chipx86	March 4, 2026, 10:34 p.m.
We never use this format anywhere else.	chipx86	March 4, 2026, 8:48 p.m.
This should go last in the class. Public before private.	chipx86	March 4, 2026, 8:47 p.m.
This is missing "Args".	chipx86	March 4, 2026, 8:47 p.m.
Maybe we could show the distro name and version so it's clear what we think we've seen, and to give …	chipx86	March 4, 2026, 10:34 p.m.
"Linux"	chipx86	March 5, 2026, 2:46 p.m.
"Linux"	chipx86	March 5, 2026, 2:46 p.m.
This can move to a global import.	chipx86	March 5, 2026, 2:47 p.m.

flake8 passed.

JSHint passed.

Summary:

Remove outdated distros from the installer.

Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro.

Description:

~		This change removes distros that are end-of-life from the installer:
~
~		Amazon Linux 2
~		CentOS 8
	~	Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are
	~	end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that
	~	support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new
	~	approach: printing a big ol' warning.
-		Debian 10
-		Fedora 36-39
-		Ubuntu 18.04 and 23.10
-
-		I haven't removed openSUSE Leap 15 because that's technically under
-		maintenance until the end of April. I'm open to getting rid of
-		it too.
-
-		This also adds in some missing tests for Debian 13.

Testing Done:

		Ran unit tests.
~		Ran install tests (limited to arm64 for this particular change, and there are some existing errors for some of the "latest" images which will be addressed in a future change).
	~	Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.

Commits:

	Summary	ID
	Remove outdated distros from the installer. This change removes distros that are end-of-life from the installer: - Amazon Linux 2 - CentOS 8 - Debian 10 - Fedora 36-39 - Ubuntu 18.04 and 23.10 I haven't removed openSUSE Leap 15 because that's technically under maintenance until the end of April. I'm open to getting rid of it too. This also adds in some missing tests for Debian 13. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Ran install tests (limited to arm64 for this particular change, and there are some existing errors for some of the "latest" images which will be addressed in a future change).	pplvtvyxzusqpqwzpolplouyvuuxxnuy
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	szkrzznwukpsnpszmokmuuwynzlsvxvr

Diff:

Revision 2 (+562 -18)

Show changes

	README.md
	rbinstall/state.py
	rbinstall/ui.py
	rbinstall/wizard.py
	rbinstall/tests/test_state.py

Checks run (2 succeeded)

flake8 passed.

JSHint passed.

rbinstall/state.py (Diff revision 2)

The issue has been resolved. Show all issues

Since these aren't elifs, we should have a blank line between them. Or they could be elifs.

That said, I don't love keeping EOL logic embedded in code here. I'd much rather we have a table that can provide this information in distro_info.py.

I know the Ubuntu logic is doing math to try to infer a LTS release, and that's valid with their versioning constraints, but I think for support purposes that we should be explicit. Something like:

DISTRO_SUPPORT = {
    'amzn': {
        'name': 'Amazon Linux',
        'is_supported': match_version(2, op=operator.gte),
        'is_lts': ...,
    },
    ...
}

Something along those lines.

One of the things I want to think about with this sort of notice is what we do when (not if) we miss EOL dates and fall behind. For distros where there are scheduled support timeframes, an option may be to include a field mapping versions to EOL dates, and if present, we could prioritize that and include the date. Mostly just a food for thought at this point, but we have to include the fall-behind factor.

rbinstall/state.py (Diff revision 2)
The issue has been resolved. Show all issues
```
We never use this format anywhere else.
```
rbinstall/tests/test_state.py (Diff revision 2)
The issue has been resolved. Show all issues
```
This should go last in the class. Public before private.
```
rbinstall/ui.py (Diff revision 2)
The issue has been resolved. Show all issues
```
This is missing "Args".
```

rbinstall/wizard.py (Diff revision 2)

The issue has been dropped. Show all issues

Maybe we could show the distro name and version so it's clear what we think we've seen, and to give them that information.

david March 4, 2026, 10:38 p.m.

This gets printed just below the info table, which has that in it:

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
 Welcome to the Review Board installer!
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

We'll walk you through installing Review Board on your system. You'll be asked
some questions about your install, and then we'll take care of installing Review
Board for you.

If you need to exit the installer, press Control-C at any time. If you need
help, contact support@beanbaginc.com.

First, let's confirm some details about your system:

    Linux distribution:  Amazon Linux 2 (aarch64)
     Package installer:  yum
                Python:  3.8.20 (/usr/bin/python3.8) 
          Review Board:  7.0.4 (latest)
            Power Pack:  5.3 (latest)
     Review Bot worker:  4.0 (latest)
  Review Bot extension:  4.0 (latest)

?  WARNING: Your Linux distribution has reached end-of-life and is no longer
            receiving updates. Review Board may not work correctly on
            unsupported distributions. We recommend upgrading to a supported
            distribution.


NOTE: The version of Python is important! If you need Review Board to use a
      different version of Python, you will need to re-run this installer using
      that version.

Does this look correct? [y/n] (y):

chipx86 March 5, 2026, 2:27 p.m.
```
Yeah that's true. Fair enough.
```

Commits:

	Summary	ID
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	szkrzznwukpsnpszmokmuuwynzlsvxvr
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx

Diff:

Revision 3 (+998 -26)

Show changes

	README.md
	rbinstall/distro_info.py
	rbinstall/state.py
	rbinstall/ui.py
	rbinstall/wizard.py
	rbinstall/tests/test_state.py

Checks run (2 succeeded)

flake8 passed.

JSHint passed.

Change Summary:

Simplify fedora list.

Commits:

	Summary	ID
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx

Diff:

Revision 4 (+988 -26)

Show changes

	README.md
	rbinstall/distro_info.py
	rbinstall/state.py
	rbinstall/ui.py
	rbinstall/wizard.py
	rbinstall/tests/test_state.py

Checks run (2 succeeded)

flake8 passed.

JSHint passed.

Commits:

	Summary	ID
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx

Diff:

Revision 5 (+990 -26)

Show changes

	README.md
	rbinstall/distro_info.py
	rbinstall/state.py
	rbinstall/ui.py
	rbinstall/wizard.py
	rbinstall/tests/test_state.py

Checks run (2 succeeded)

flake8 passed.

JSHint passed.

Change Summary:

Typo

Commits:

	Summary	ID
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx

Diff:

Revision 6 (+990 -26)

Show changes

	README.md
	rbinstall/distro_info.py
	rbinstall/state.py
	rbinstall/ui.py
	rbinstall/wizard.py
	rbinstall/tests/test_state.py

Checks run (2 succeeded)

flake8 passed.

JSHint passed.

This is looking really good. Three tiny cleanups.

rbinstall/distro_info.py (Diff revision 6)
The issue has been resolved. Show all issues
```
"Linux"
```
rbinstall/distro_info.py (Diff revision 6)
The issue has been resolved. Show all issues
```
"Linux"
```
rbinstall/state.py (Diff revision 6)
The issue has been resolved. Show all issues
```
This can move to a global import.
```

Commits:

	Summary	ID
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx
	Add a warning if installing on an end-of-life distro. Our installer still supports a variety of Linux distributions which are end of life, no longer receiving updates. I wanted to remove that support, but Christian argued that we shouldn't, so here's the new approach: printing a big ol' warning. Testing Done: - Ran unit tests. - Did a few install tests to spot check that the choice whether to show the warning was correct, and that it appeared visually nice.	mlumtrtwrytmvspmtltlwrpoysklrmtx

Diff:

Revision 7 (+990 -26)

Show changes

	README.md
	rbinstall/distro_info.py
	rbinstall/state.py
	rbinstall/ui.py
	rbinstall/wizard.py
	rbinstall/tests/test_state.py

Checks run (2 succeeded)

flake8 passed.

JSHint passed.