bug#29707: "guix system search" doesn't show how to start/stop service

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi Clément,

Clément Lassieur <address@hidden> skribis:

> The "guix system search" command doesn't show how we are supposed to
> start/stop the searched service.
>
> For example, I think it would be useful to know that "herd stop
> xmpp-daemon" stops the XMPP server and "herd stop xorg-server" stops the
> Xorg server.
>
> Neither "guix system search xorg" nor "guix system search slim" says
> anything about "xorg-server".

Commit 6ac8b7359a1ac80e558f41dd37004ffa727dd3c6 does roughly what you
suggested:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
$ ./pre-inst-env guix system search slim
name: slim
location: gnu/services/xorg.scm:510:2
extends: shepherd-root pam profile
shepherdnames: xorg-server
relevance: 3
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Note that there are limitations: here ‘shepherdnames’ is just the list
of names of the _default_ Shepherd services for that service type.  But
due to the way service extensions work, actual Shepherd service names
can very well depend on the configuration of the service.  For example,
‘console-font-service-type’ generates a Shepherd service whose name
depends on its configuration: ‘console-font-tty1’, etc.

Besides, ‘guix system search xmpp’ currently returns nothing, but it
will return something as soon as you’ve added a ‘description’ to
‘prosody-service-type’.  If you add a ‘default-value’, you’ll get
‘shepherdnames’ as well.  Hint hint.  ;-)

Cheers,
Ludo’.