[tex-live] Is the TeX Live 2018 installer (for Windows) considerably slower than previous years

[Philip Taylor]

On an Intel I7 machine with 16Gb RAM, the 2018 Tex Live installer, installing from a local Rsynch'ed repository, is less than 1/3 of the way through ("Installing elvish") after an hour and a quarter (1H15); this seems very much slower than I have experienced in the past with earlier TeX Live installers.  Is this to be expected, and if so, what is the cause please ?
--
<Signature>
Philip Taylor

[Philip Taylor]

Philip Taylor wrote:
> On an Intel I7 machine with 16Gb RAM, the 2018 Tex Live installer, installing from a local Rsynch'ed repository, is less than 1/3 of the way through ("Installing elvish") after an hour and a quarter (1H15); this seems very much slower than I have experienced in the past with earlier TeX Live installers.  Is this to be expected, and if so, what is the cause please ?

P.S.  What is the reason for the installer change whereby the root directory has to be specified as three separate parts (Drive letter, root, year) ?  This whole interface is very clunky in Windows (and has been for as long as I can remember, ignoring (e.g.,) select-all followed by overtype — nothing gets erased), requiring <return> rather than {OK] and so on), and is now three times worse since I have to interact with three clunky dialogue boxes rather than one. What is gained by this separation ?

** Phil.

[Norbert Preining]

Hi Phil,

you are soo late to install 2018, I am surprised! But maybe that was the
period of peace we had ;-)

> On an Intel I7 machine with 16Gb RAM, the 2018 Tex Live installer, installing from a local Rsynch'ed repository, is less than 1/3 of the way through ("Installing elvish") after an hour and a quarter (1H15); this seems very much slower than I have experienced in the past with earlier TeX Live installers.  Is this to be expected, and if so, what is the cause please ?

Not to expected, and nothing I have seen or has been reported till now.
Maybe your disk is full?

> P.S.  What is the reason for the installer change whereby the root directory has to be specified as three separate parts (Drive letter, root, year) ?  This whole interface is very clunky in Windows (and has been for as long as I can remember, ignoring (e.g.,) select-all followed by overtype — nothing gets erased), requiring <return> rather than {OK] and so on), and is now three times worse since I have to interact with three clunky dialogue boxes rather than one. What is gained by this separation ?

That was a decision taken by Siep in accordance with UI studies she
took. I cannot comment on that.

Norbert

--
PREINING Norbert http://www.preining.info
Accelia Inc. + JAIST + TeX Live + Debian Developer
GPG: 0x860CDC13 fp: F7D8 A928 26E3 16A1 9FA0 ACF0 6CAC A448 860C DC13

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

Norbert Preining wrote:
> Hi Phil,
>
> you are soo late to install 2018, I am surprised! But maybe that was the
> period of peace we had ;-)

I like things to become stable before I risk upgrading :-)  (but they
are not — see below) :-(

>
>> On an Intel I7 machine with 16Gb RAM, the 2018 Tex Live installer, installing from a local Rsynch'ed repository, is less than 1/3 of the way through ("Installing elvish") after an hour and a quarter (1H15); this seems very much slower than I have experienced in the past with earlier TeX Live installers.  Is this to be expected, and if so, what is the cause please ?
> Not to expected, and nothing I have seen or has been reported till now.
> Maybe your disk is full?

Well, 3.27Tb free space isn't massive by today's standards, but it
should suffice, and the scratch drive that the installer used has 268Gb
free ...

> That was a decision taken by Siep in accordance with UI studies she
> took. I cannot comment on that.

OK, perhaps if Siep is reading this thread she will be willing to
comment.  Now, the bad news :  the installation failed —

> Installing [2718/3646, time/total: 03:09:32/04:01:41]: psu-thesis [248k]
> TLUtils::check_file: removing
> C:\Users\SYSTEM~1\AppData\Local\Temp\PNVHdyE2RS\o6YejNaWel/psu-thesis.doc.tar.xz,
> checksums differ:
> TLUtils::check_file:
> TL=614ac6b980e3b384d56398034c0d942cfd9b96d738ab7af3f67a824c33cd87a4e35ef722889b45959739aaef0892d982e5f5cbcd8d0bf023db310b6b52ec15f1,
> arg=978ac91d16b044442d1b3a099abf0f0616503a0bd24a85fc2437b4baca479a6c3b87250b884fed9150ad1be59163b9648492fae7adaaf1ec2165a85fdbfff23b
> TLPDB::_install_package: downloading did not succeed
> Installation failed.
> Rerunning the installer will try to restart the installation.
> Or you can restart by running the installer with:
>   install-tl-windows.bat --profile installation.profile [EXTRA-ARGS]
> or
>   install-tl-advanced.bat --profile installation.profile [EXTRA-ARGS]
> C:\Users\SYSTEM~1\AppData\Local\Temp\nsk334.tmp\install-tl-20180827\install-tl:
> Writing log in current directory:
> C:/Users/SYSTEM~1/AppData/Local/Temp/nsk334.tmp/install-tl.log
> Completed

The cited log file does not exist, and an attempt to follow the
instruction " install-tl-advanced.bat --profile installation.profile"
results in :

> D:\>cd tex\live\repository
>
> D:\TeX\Live\Repository>install-tl-advanced.bat --profile
> installation.profile
> PATH=D:\TeX\Live\Repository\tlpkg\tlperl\bin;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\NVIDIA
> Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program
> Files (x86)\Common Files\Acronis\SnapAPI\
> "D:\TeX\Live\Repository\install-tl" -gui perltk --profile
> installation.profile
> Profile  not readable, continuing in interactive mode.
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Loading D:/TeX/Live/Repository/tlpkg/texlive.tlpdb
> Installing TeX Live 2018 from: D:/TeX/Live/Repository (not verified)
> Platform: win32 => 'Windows'
> Distribution: inst (compressed)
> Directory for temporary files:
> C:\Users\SYSTEM~1\AppData\Local\Temp\zTEWGutdHn
> D:\TeX\Live\Repository\install-tl: Writing log in current directory:
> D:/TeX/Live
> /Repository/install-tl.log
> D:\TeX\Live\Repository>

At which point I see that it has lost all my (directory) customisation.
** Phil.

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

So, having restarted the installation (successfully, by eschewing the
.bat file) I now see the reason for the slowth — the installer is
installing from http://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk rather than from the
local repository.  I don't /think/ that I am installing using a
different methodology to previous years, so what am I doing wrong and
how should I tell the installer to use my local repository ?

** Phil.

[Lars Madsen]

How exactly are you installing from the local copy?


Here is what I do


Inside the rsynced copy of the tlnet structure


I run the copy of the installer found there.


The installation material is automatically detected as being in a relative folder (relative to the location of install-tl-advanced.bat) and it automatically uses the local one.


Have you instead unzipped the rsynced copy of


install-tl.zip


and is running the installer from the generated folder? Because that will never pick up the local installation folder.


Go back to the root of the rsynced copy of tlnet, and run the copy of the installer that is right there. It should be the same as in the zip file anyway.




/Lars Madsen
Institut for Matematik / Department of Mathematics
Aarhus Universitet / Aarhus University
Mere info: http://au.dk/***@math<http://au.dk/***@imf> / More information: http://au.dk/en/***@math<http://au.dk/en/***@imf>

________________________________
From: tex-live <tex-live-bounces+daleif=***@tug.org> on behalf of Philip Taylor (RH-UoL) <***@Rhul.Ac.Uk>
Sent: 27 August 2018 16:50
To: Norbert Preining
Cc: tex-***@tug.org
Subject: Re: [tex-live] Is the TeX Live 2018 installer (for Windows) considerably slower than previous years

So, having restarted the installation (successfully, by eschewing the .bat file) I now see the reason for the slowth - the installer is installing from http://anorien.csc.warwick.ac.uk rather than from the local repository. I don't think that I am installing using a different methodology to previous years, so what am I doing wrong and how should I tell the installer to use my local repository ?

** Phil.

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

Hallo Lars —

Lars Madsen wrote:
>
> How exactly are you installing from the local copy?
>
> Here is what I do:
>
>
> Inside the rsynced copy of the tlnet structure I run the copy of the
> installer found there.
>
> The installation material is automatically detected as being in a
> relative folder (relative to the location of install-tl-advanced.bat)
> and it automatically uses the local one.
>
> Have you instead unzipped the rsynced copy of install-tl.zip
>
> and is running the installer from the generated folder? Because that
> will never pick up the local installation folder.
>

No, I haven't unzipped that file at all.  I am now re-installing using
"Install-TL-Advanced.bat", and all seems to be proceeding smoothly; I
suspect that on the previous occasion I may, in an attempt to avoid the
need to specify the root directory as three separate components, I ran
the installer executable directly rather than via the CMD file (I didn't
success in my attempt, but that is nonetheless probably what happened).

> Go back to the root of the rsynced copy of tlnet, and run the copy of
> the installer that is right there. It should be the same as in the zip
> file anyway.
>

Yes, it is indeed now installing cleanly — I just hope it completes
without error !
** Phil.

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

Hallo Lars —

Lars Madsen wrote:
>
> How exactly are you installing from the local copy?
>
> Here is what I do:
>
>
> Inside the rsynced copy of the tlnet structure I run the copy of the
> installer found there.
>
> The installation material is automatically detected as being in a
> relative folder (relative to the location of install-tl-advanced.bat)
> and it automatically uses the local one.
>
> Have you instead unzipped the rsynced copy of install-tl.zip
>
> and is running the installer from the generated folder? Because that
> will never pick up the local installation folder.
>

No, I haven't unzipped that file at all.  I am now re-installing using
"Install-TL-Advanced.bat", and all seems to be proceeding smoothly; I
suspect that on the previous occasion I may, in an attempt to avoid the
need to specify the root directory as three separate components, I ran
the installer executable directly rather than via the CMD file (I didn't
success in my attempt, but that is nonetheless probably what happened).

> Go back to the root of the rsynced copy of tlnet, and run the copy of
> the installer that is right there. It should be the same as in the zip
> file anyway.
>

Yes, it is indeed now installing cleanly — I just hope it completes
without error !
** Phil.

[Reinhard Kotucha]

On 2018-08-27 at 15:50:05 +0100, Philip Taylor (RH-UoL) wrote:

> I don't think that I am installing using a different methodology to
> previous years, so what am I doing wrong and how should I tell the
> installer to use my local repository ?

On Unix I invoke the installer with the -repository option.

>From the install-tl help message:

-repository url|path
Specify the package repository to be used as the source of the
installation. In short, this can be a directory name or a url using
http(s), ftp, or scp. The documentation for "tlmgr" has the details
(<http://tug.org/texlive/doc/tlmgr.html#OPTIONS>).

For installation, the default is to pick a mirror automatically, using
<http://mirror.ctan.org/systems/texlive/tlnet>; the chosen mirror is
used for the entire download. You can use the special argument "ctan"
as an abbreviation for this. (See <http://ctan.org> for more about
CTAN and its mirrors.)

After installation is complete, you can use that installation as the
repository for another installation. If you chose to install less than
the full scheme containing all packages, the list of available schemes
will be adjusted accordingly.

I can't try the Windows GUI installers here and thus don't know
whether you can avoid the command line.

If you have installed TL already, you can do

tlmgr option repository ...

in order to switch to your local repository.

You have to set the repository option every year because the URL or
path is stored in

texlive/<year>/tlpkg/texlive.tlpdb
^^^^^^

I'm sure that you did something like this in previous years too.

Regards,
Reinhard

--
------------------------------------------------------------------
Reinhard Kotucha Phone: [phone]
Marschnerstr. 25
D-30167 Hannover mailto:***@web.de
------------------------------------------------------------------

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

Thanks, Reinhard — mystery solved, I think :

> I am now re-installing using "Install-TL-Advanced.bat", and all seems
> to be proceeding smoothly; I suspect that on the previous occasion I
> may, in an attempt to avoid the need to specify the root directory as
> three separate components, have run the installer executable directly
> rather than via the CMD file (I didn't success in my attempt, but that
> is nonetheless probably what happened).

** Phil.

[Siep Kroonenberg]

On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 11:07:00PM +0900, Norbert Preining wrote:
> Hi Phil,
>
> That was a decision taken by Siep in accordance with UI studies she
> took. I cannot comment on that.

This design allows a directory browser.

This matters especially for people with localized versions of
windows. For example, in explorer, the `Users' directory may be
represented as 'Gebruikers', and users may not be aware that that is
not the actual name. The browser alway returns the actual name.

--
Siep Kroonenberg

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

Siep Kroonenberg wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 11:07:00PM +0900, Norbert Preining wrote:
>> Hi Phil,
>>
>> That was a decision taken by Siep in accordance with UI studies she
>> took. I cannot comment on that.
> This design allows a directory browser.
>
> This matters especially for people with localized versions of
> windows. For example, in explorer, the `Users' directory may be
> represented as 'Gebruikers', and users may not be aware that that is
> not the actual name. The browser alway returns the actual name.
>

Ah, interesting — thank you, Siep.  But there was no obvious way to
invoke the directory browser; how should I have gone about that ?
** Phil.

[Siep Kroonenberg]

On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 04:25:01PM +0100, Philip Taylor (RH-UoL) wrote:
> Siep Kroonenberg wrote:
> > On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 11:07:00PM +0900, Norbert Preining wrote:
> > > Hi Phil,
> > >
> > > That was a decision taken by Siep in accordance with UI studies she
> > > took. I cannot comment on that.
> > This design allows a directory browser.
> >
> > This matters especially for people with localized versions of
> > windows. For example, in explorer, the `Users' directory may be
> > represented as 'Gebruikers', and users may not be aware that that is
> > not the actual name. The browser alway returns the actual name.
> >
>
> Ah, interesting — thank you, Siep.  But there was no obvious way to invoke
> the directory browser; how should I have gone about that ?
> ** Phil.

That is what the Change... button under the C:\ component does.

--
Siep Kroonenberg

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

Siep Kroonenberg wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 04:25:01PM +0100, Philip Taylor (RH-UoL) wrote:
>
>> Ah, interesting — thank you, Siep.  But there was no obvious way to invoke
>> the directory browser; how should I have gone about that ?
>> ** Phil.
>
> That is what the Change... button under the C:\ component does.
>
Ah, I see.  I am so used to ignoring the GUI aspects of those dialogue
boxes that I failed even to register that I was being presented with
one.  But in that case, could you not allow the "New folder" option, and
one could then create-and-browse-to C:\texlive\2018 (or in my case,
D:\TeX\Live\2018) from a single dialogue box ?

** Phil.

[Siep Kroonenberg]

On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 04:56:10PM +0100, Philip Taylor (RH-UoL) wrote:
> Siep Kroonenberg wrote:
> > On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 04:25:01PM +0100, Philip Taylor (RH-UoL) wrote:
> >
> > > Ah, interesting — thank you, Siep.  But there was no obvious way to invoke
> > > the directory browser; how should I have gone about that ?
> > > ** Phil.
> >
> > That is what the Change... button under the C:\ component does.
> >
> Ah, I see.  I am so used to ignoring the GUI aspects of those dialogue boxes
> that I failed even to register that I was being presented with one.  But in
> that case, could you not allow the "New folder" option, and one could then
> create-and-browse-to C:\texlive\2018 (or in my case, D:\TeX\Live\2018) from
> a single dialogue box ?

I am stuck with the dialogs that perl/tk offers. I am a bit
disappointed myself that this option was not available. But I think
the current design accomodates most people, and it is always
possible to create D:\TeX outside the TL installer.

--
Siep Kroonenberg

[Philip Taylor (RH-UoL)]

Siep Kroonenberg wrote:
>
> I am stuck with the dialogs that perl/tk offers. I am a bit
> disappointed myself that this option was not available. But I think
> the current design accomodates most people, and it is always
> possible to create D:\TeX outside the TL installer.
>
Fair enough, Siep, fully understood.  In my case D:\TeX (\Live) already
exists, since it hosts D:\TeX\Live\2008..2017 (and now 2018 as well).
** Phil.