xdg-utils' xdg-open does not work in Toolbx

[A6GibKm]

This is a continuation of #147, at the moment xdg-open is not working as intended,

$ /usr/bin/xdg-open somepdf.pdf 

gio: file:somepdf.pdf: No application is registered as handling this file

/usr/bin/xdg-open "https://www.google.cl"

gio: https://www.google.cl: Operation not supported

The expected behaviour should be to open using the host default application, a possible fix is to create a xdg-open script in your path with contents

#!/bin/sh
${TOOLBOX_PATH:+flatpak-spawn --host} /usr/bin/xdg-open "$@"

[jdloft]

So, if I understand it correctly, from #147, the flatpak-spawn method is the intended solution (even though it was split from flatpak, the name is just for historical purposes). I guess this script would have to be dropped in the image somewhere where it can override the builtin xdg-open.

[poita66]

Having this script in the image would prevent a lot of headaches. I currently ran into this issue when trying to open links from VS Code running inside Toolbox. I'm happy to submit a PR if we can figure out where it should live.

[adrm]

This should work by default if toolbox is to be the required tool to do development work in a Fedora Silverblue or similar immutable systems. Many web development tools launch a browser when building, for example, and right now using toolbox with those tools throws really strange errors.

I am using the fix specified in the body of this issue, and it works for me, so at least a workaround is possible. Said that, I think it is pretty necessary for this to work by default.

[lukateras]

flatpak-xdg-open does work inside Toolbox, so the alternative fix is to use flatpak-xdg-utils as a drop-in replacement for xdg-utils specifically for Toolbox.

[lukateras]

For anyone still interested in this, here's my workaround (tested on Fedora Silverblue 35):

[yana@host ~]$ toolbox enter
[yana@toolbox ~]$ sudo dnf install flatpak-xdg-open
[yana@toolbox ~]$ sudo ln -s /usr/bin/flatpak-xdg-open /usr/bin/xdg-open

[616b2f]

For anyone still interested in this, here's my workaround (tested on Fedora Silverblue 35):

[yana@host ~]$ toolbox enter
[yana@toolbox ~]$ sudo dnf install flatpak-xdg-open
[yana@toolbox ~]$ sudo ln -s /usr/bin/flatpak-xdg-open /usr/bin/xdg-open

in Fedora Silverblue 39 this packages is called flatpak-xdg-utils now. Just in case someone has trouble to find it.

[notfirefox]

So we have a functioning workaround but not a proper upstream fix for it so far. Let me propose the following

Update the Fedora 39 container image

1. Add flatpak-xdg-utils to the extra-packages file of the container image
2. Link /usr/bin/xdg-open to /usr/bin/flatpak-xdg-open in the container file

There is however one thing I am not certain about. What happens when the xdg-utils package inside
of the container gets updated, e.g. through sudo dnf upgrade. Does it overwrite /usr/bin/xdg-open and
thus the link is gone?

The above concern is irrelevant, because the xdg-utils is not installed by default on the Fedora 39 image.

On a site note: Does it make sense to make this issue part of Project Pickle?

[Aegeontis]

Hey, so this doesn't seem to work anymore?

Here is what I did with a fresh container:

aegeontis@fedora:~$ cat /etc/os-release | grep OSTREE_VERSION
OSTREE_VERSION='41.20241231.0'
aegeontis@fedora:~$ toolbox create test
Created container: test
Enter with: toolbox enter test
aegeontis@fedora:~$ toolbox enter test
⬢ [aegeontis@toolbx ~]$ sudo dnf install flatpak-xdg-utils -y

Dnf install output

Updating and loading repositories:
 Fedora 41 - x86_64                                                                                                  100% |  12.6 MiB/s |  35.4 MiB |  00m03s
 Fedora 41 - x86_64 - Updates                                                                                        100% |   6.3 MiB/s |   8.1 MiB |  00m01s
 Fedora 41 openh264 (From Cisco) - x86_64                                                                            100% |   4.5 KiB/s |   6.0 KiB |  00m01s
Repositories loaded.
Package                                          Arch      Version                                           Repository                                  Size
Upgrading:
 flatpak-spawn                                   x86_64    1.0.6-1.fc41                                      updates                                 72.5 KiB
   replacing flatpak-spawn                       x86_64    1.0.5-7.fc41                                      228bc5ec4ee34a18b366fd937bb71de9        70.0 KiB
Installing:
 flatpak-xdg-utils                               x86_64    1.0.6-1.fc41                                      updates                                 68.5 KiB

Transaction Summary:
 Installing:         1 package
 Upgrading:          1 package
 Replacing:          1 package

Total size of inbound packages is 59 KiB. Need to download 59 KiB.
After this operation, 71 KiB extra will be used (install 141 KiB, remove 70 KiB).
[1/2] flatpak-xdg-utils-0:1.0.6-1.fc41.x86_64                                                                        100% | 146.6 KiB/s |  27.1 KiB |  00m00s
[2/2] flatpak-spawn-0:1.0.6-1.fc41.x86_64                                                                            100% | 171.1 KiB/s |  32.2 KiB |  00m00s
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2/2] Total                                                                                                          100% |  61.6 KiB/s |  59.3 KiB |  00m01s
Running transaction
[1/5] Verify package files                                                                                           100% |   0.0   B/s |   2.0   B |  00m00s
[2/5] Prepare transaction                                                                                            100% |  50.0   B/s |   3.0   B |  00m00s
[3/5] Upgrading flatpak-spawn-0:1.0.6-1.fc41.x86_64                                                                  100% |   2.4 MiB/s |  73.5 KiB |  00m00s
[4/5] Installing flatpak-xdg-utils-0:1.0.6-1.fc41.x86_64                                                             100% |   4.0 MiB/s |  70.2 KiB |  00m00s
[5/5] Erasing flatpak-spawn-0:1.0.5-7.fc41.x86_64                                                                    100% |  22.0   B/s |   6.0   B |  00m00s
Complete!

⬢ [aegeontis@toolbx ~]$ flatpak-xdg-open https://github.com

Nothing happens. I get no errors anywhere and no tab is opened in my browser.
If I try the same on my host it works:

⬢ [aegeontis@toolbx ~]$ exit
logout
aegeontis@fedora:~$ xdg-open https://github.com

A new tab with https://github.com is opened in my default browser.

[PiotrGolonka]

Just "pretend" to be running in flatpak, and then xdg-open will use DBUS to spawn the application on the host.
Once in toolbx, do:

touch $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/flatpak-info

This works with toolboxes based on ALMA/RHEL 10, which contain xdg-utils-1.2.0-3.el10.noarch .

Could we get it "pushed" to the container by toolbox's entrypoint?