argocd version --client does not work offline in --core mode

[jessesuen]

When using ArgoCD in --core mode, I had just wanted to see argocd client version, and I did not have a connection to k8s or argocd server. But argocd version --client still tries to connect:

When k8s access is unavailable:

$ argocd version --client
I1217 11:52:18.998450   63040 trace.go:205] Trace[425192877]: "Reflector ListAndWatch" name:pkg/mod/k8s.io/client-go@v0.22.2/tools/cache/reflector.go:167 (17-Dec-2021 11:51:50.485) (total time: 28513ms):
Trace[425192877]: [28.513512417s] [28.513512417s] END
I1217 11:52:18.999184   63040 trace.go:205] Trace[528268835]: "Reflector ListAndWatch" name:pkg/mod/k8s.io/client-go@v0.22.2/tools/cache/reflector.go:167 (17-Dec-2021 11:51:58.043) (total time: 20955ms):
Trace[528268835]: [20.955849917s] [20.955849917s] END

When k8s is available, but argocd is not installed:

$ argocd version --client
FATA[0000] configmap "argocd-cm" not found

The expectation is that argocd version --client should always work in an offline mode.

To reproduce:

k3d cluster start
argocd login --core
k3d cluster stop
argocd version --client

Affected Version:

argocd: v2.2.0+6da92a8
  BuildDate: 2021-12-14T18:11:55Z
  GitCommit: 6da92a8e8103ce4145bb0fe2b7e952be79c9ff0a
  GitTreeState: clean
  GoVersion: go1.16.11
  Compiler: gc
  Platform: darwin/amd64

[jannfis]

This affects much more parts of the CLI. E.g. when your kubectl context is not set up correctly, top level commands behave weird:

# Login should not work with a broken client config
vagrant@argocd-nutshell:~$ argocd login --core
Context 'kubernetes' updated
vagrant@argocd-nutshell:~$ argocd app 
FATA[0000] configmap "argocd-cm" not found              
vagrant@argocd-nutshell:~$ argocd repo
FATA[0000] configmap "argocd-cm" not found          
# etc etc

Surprisingly, explicitly calling a top level command with --help works:

vagrant@argocd-nutshell:~$ argocd app --help
Manage applications

Usage:
  argocd app [flags]
  argocd app [command]

...

[khalilswdp]

Hi, I'm interested in solving this problem since it is tagged good first issue. Can I get some more help or guidance on how to do contribute?

[ishitasequeira]

Thanks @khalilswdp. You can follow this link

[debu99]

any update?

[khalilswdp]

Hi @debu99, I found out that we're using cobra go client for the cli, and that this is the exact line in cobra that deals with the entered command

argo-cd/cmd/argocd/commands/version.go

Line 80 in b37eee1

versionCmd.Flags().BoolVar(&client, "client", false, "client version only (no server required)")

. I still need some more time and some help to get used to Go, Cobra, ArgoCD and reproduce the problem myself and try to understand why it happens and how I can fix it to suit the expected behavior. If you have any suggestions or guidance for me to follow I'll be greatly appreciative. If this issue is time sensitive and needs to be done faster then it's okay if someone else solves it, but if it is not, then I would really like to have a go at it and learn a ton along the way...

[khalilswdp]

I think we should find a way to deal with an error if one occurs especially in this line:

argo-cd/cmd/argocd/commands/version.go

Line 89 in b37eee1

errors.CheckError(err)

please, if you have advice or suggestions, let me know

[debu99]

haven't checked the root cause yet but my workaround is change the default namespace to arogcd then no more errors

[joebowbeer]

@jessesuen Dup of #7426?

I see several issues that at first glance seem related to this, or to one of the errors mentioned in the description.

#7721
#7426
#7226
#5473
#5219

They all involve the argocd namespace and/or context that the CLI uses.

[khalilswdp]

I think we can propose instead of checking the version and getting an error immediately afterwards if there's an error:

	errors.CheckError(err)

	return v

We check if there's no error, we return the version as usual, otherwise, we get it from common (which doesn't return an error):

	if err == nil {
		return v
	}
	vers := common.GetVersion()
	return &version.VersionMessage{Version: vers.Version}

I am sorry, i'm not really good at Go or Cobra or argocd, and I haven't fully understood how it works. I also don't know how to test the changes I've made even after reading the toolchain guide.
It shows me this error when writing make test:

FAIL
+ report
+ set -eux -o pipefail
+ go-junit-report
make: *** [Makefile:362: test-local] Error 1
make: *** [Makefile:357: test] Error 2

and:

--- FAIL: TestVerifyCommitSignature (98.67s)
    git_test.go:300: 
                Error Trace:    git_test.go:300
                Error:          Received unexpected error:
                                `git fetch origin --tags --force` failed timeout after 1m30s
                Test:           TestVerifyCommitSignature
    git_test.go:306: 
                Error Trace:    git_test.go:306
                Error:          Received unexpected error:
                                `git checkout --force cb1f06c72ad4e52b5a8df4d016010d738b3cb1c4` failed exit status 128: fatal: reference is not a tree: cb1f06c72ad4e52b5a8df4d016010d738b3cb1c4
                Test:           TestVerifyCommitSignature
    git_test.go:314: 
                Error Trace:    git_test.go:314
                Error:          "error: 28027897aad1262662096745f2ce2d4c74d02b7f: unable to read file." does not contain "gpg: Signature made"
                Test:           TestVerifyCommitSignature
    git_test.go:321: 
                Error Trace:    git_test.go:321
                Error:          Should be empty, but was error: 85d660f0b967960becce3d49bd51c678ba2a5d24: unable to read file.
                Test:           TestVerifyCommitSignature
FAIL

And

go mod vendor
go mod vendor: read /go/pkg/mod/github.com/!knetic/govaluate@v3.0.1-0.20171022003610-9aa49832a739+incompatible/MANUAL.md: input/output error
make: *** [Makefile:311: mod-vendor-local] Error 1
make: *** [Makefile:215: codegen] Error 2

when trying to run make codegen
How do I generate a binary of argocd or something similar that I can test on the fly and swap easily and run and test the commands against? (how do you guys develop and test your changes?)

[cwilkers]

I had more luck with the local toolchain on Fedora 35. Podman cannot quite manage the docker permissions the same as docker, so I had to switch. To make just the client, do make cli-local

[gdsoumya]

I was debugging where the error originates from and it appears that even for client version calls the PreRun hook tries to startup the local API server. I have added a check for version --client that skips this hook solving the issue. PR #8341