canonical/multipass

delete is all-or-nothing

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#687 opened on Mar 19, 2019

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Description

If I call multipass delete -p vm1 vm2 vm3, it only succeeds if all three machines exist. If one of the machines doesn't exist, the entire command aborts without doing anything.

#!/bin/bash
multipass delete -p vm1 vm2 vm3
multipass launch daily:bionic --name vm1
multipass launch daily:bionic --name vm2
multipass launch daily:bionic --name vm3

This fails if vm2 was already deleted, but the others still exist:

delete failed: The following errors occurred:
instance "vm2" does not exist
launch failed: instance "vm1" already exists

This becomes tedious in scripts, because you now have to delete each machine individually to make sure it succeeds:

multipass delete -p vm1
multipass delete -p vm2
multipass delete -p vm3
...

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate the multipass delete command implementation to understand why it aborts on any failure. Consider implementing a flag or behavior that allows partial deletion (deleting existing instances and skipping non existent ones). Trace the error handling in the delete command code.
Tech stack
cpp
Domain
clidevops
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GitMultipass basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70