Install 64-bit gin-cli on 64-bit systems

[achilleas-k]

Do we default to the 32-bit gin-cli for Windows?

We should use the 64-bit version on Win64.

[gwappa]

Hi,

has there been any progress about 64-bit WinGIN?

[JiriVanek]

hello, currently WinGIN is 32-bit and it is using 32-bit gin. I am not sure if there are any benefits of migrating to 64-bit...

[gwappa]

Hi,

there seems to be a file-size limit on the 32 bit systems (2GB). This often hinders me (using the 32-bit gin CLI) when trying to upload large files. Using the 64-bit gin CLI, I don't have that issue.

So I presume:

• there must be the file-size issue on 32-bit WinGIN.
• if there is a 64-bit WinGIN, one would not encounter this issue.

[achilleas-k]

I experimented a bit with this just now and I think this this can be solved with a few packaging changes. It's possible we don't even need to compile WinGIN for 64-bit for this to work, though it might be a good idea to do it at some point anyway.

@gwappa Can you try the following and let me know if it works for you (as a temporary workaround):

1. Install the Windows GIN client/service (WinGIN).
2. Download the 64-bit CLI release and extract it.
3. Copy the git directory from the 64-bit CLI archive to the corresponding directory for WinGIN. By default it should be in C:\Program Files (x86)\G-Node\WinGIN\gin-cli. This directory should already contain a git folder, so delete or rename it and copy the other one over.

Then test some uploads and downloads of large files (if it's not too much trouble).

To clarify the situation (and the solution), WinGIN uses the GIN CLI internally and the CLI in turn runs git and git-annex commands. Git and git-annex take care of all the file operations, so as long as those binaries are 64-bit, this should work and those binaries are installed in the gin-cli\git subdirectory of the WinGIN installation.

It's possible there might be some operations or status checking that might require gin.exe and WinGIN to be 64-bit. Basic commit, pull (download), and push (upload) operations should work though.

[gwappa]

Sure, I think I can try in a week.

[gwappa]

Thanks @JiriVanek !
I still have not checked the 64 bit issue yet. Probably another week... or two...

[gwappa]

Hi, I finally tested WinGIN on my Windows 10 computer.
As @achilleas-k suggested, I substituted the gin-cli in the WinGIN directory with a amd64 build.

Results was not nice:

• From Task Manager, at least the 64-bit git (and 32-bit git-annex) was working during upload.
• It was possible to commit and upload smaller files (text file, ~7 MB video file)
• Complains "error: N operations failed" (N=1, 2 or 3) when I tried to upload ~7 GB video file.
• Upload was successful when I used the CLI (installed in a separate, user directory).

Do you guys have any suggestions on how to change the situation?

[achilleas-k]

We made a new release recently that automatically downloads the 64-bit gin-cli on 64-bit Windows. Can you test that without any modifications instead? (just get the latest Windows release from here: https://gin.g-node.org/G-Node/wingin-installers/).

I don't know if it will make a difference, but I'd like to eliminate a few possibilities before digging deeper.

[gwappa]

Actually I downloaded from thewingin-installers repository yesterday (24.11.2019).
Running the setup script directed me to install WinGIN in the 32-bit program directory, and the gin/git running with WinGIN looked like the 32-bit versions.

ADDED

The results were the same before and after substituting to the 64-bit version.

[achilleas-k]

Ah, thanks for getting back with the results. Let me look into it a bit more and get back to you then.

[JiriVanek]

@gwappa
so the issue could be wrong repository settings...
you could try to "reset" repository

gin rm-remote origin
gin add-remote origin gin:NAME/REPO
gin use-remote origin

[achilleas-k]

Some more info for clarity:
In some cases a download might fail and depending on the reason for the failure, git-annex might mark the remote as not having git-annex installed. If you get in this situation, the remote can be re-enabled by editing the configuration file (or using git config ...).

Using the commands posted by Jiri above is an easier way to reset the remote settings and more reliable. The git add-remote command will also trigger a check that the remote repository exists before being added.

I'm still checking all the combinations and trying to see what other failures can occur with WinGIN. One major change I'm preparing now is better error reporting from the GIN CLI that WinGIN can then display so that users don't just get cryptic error messages that mean nothing.