[Users] Updating the ET with GetComponents

[Roland Haas]

Hello Jordan,

Just closing this conversation due to discussion at the ET phone call.

> I wanted to update the Toolkit to the new release. When I use
> GetComponents with the updated thornlist, it properly checks out new
> components. However, on existing components, it doesn't seem to add
> the new ET_2026_05 branch, I only still have the previous one (in
> that case, ET_2023_05 on my machine). This is the case even when
> answering yes to the update prompt. However, the script does
> complain, for instance, if the URL of the repo has changed.

Yes, this is the documented behaviour. Upgrades of the ET are done by a
full fresh checkout

https://einsteintoolkit.org/about/releases/ET_2026_05_announcement.html

section "How to upgrade from Martin D. Kruskal Release (ET_2025_05)"

> Is that normal behavior? Looking at the options for GetComponents,
> it's not clear to me that another option would do the job. I
> understand that it could mess up local modifications of repos (added
> branches, remotes,...), but I guess I was expecting that at least it
> could add the new branch, or complain for repos that may have
> conflicts (like for the URL).

Yeah, tricky to get right. There was some discussion in the ET call
though and if you were to file an enhancement ticket request.

> I know I could just create a new Cactus directory, or move/remove the
> repos for which I want an automatic update (that's what I did for the
> URL case), and manually update the other ones, but that sounds like
> it defeats the purpose of GetComponents, doesn't it? Or am I
> misunderstanding the role and scope of that script?

Unfortunately the script is rather limited in what it can do beyond the
initial checkout (since at that point it has to deal with user changed
content and no longer a pristine empty directory).

Yours,
Roland

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