ERROR : Called singularity_config_get_value on uninitialized config subsystem when building Singularity container - singularity-container

Question

I tried to build a singularity container from Singularity Hub as such:
sudo singularity pull shub://marcc-hpc/pytorch
And I got
ERROR : Called singularity_config_get_value on uninitialized config subsystem.
So, I copy pasted the recipe into a file called 'recipe', and executed
sudo singularity build --sandbox myimage recipe
It hung forever at 33.3% done, as shown here:
Using container recipe deffile: recipe
Sanitizing environment
Adding base Singularity environment to container
tar: ./.exec: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.run: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.shell: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/actions/exec: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/actions/run: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/actions/shell: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/actions/start: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/actions/test: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/actions: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/env/01-base.sh: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/env/90-environment.sh: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/env/95-apps.sh: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/env/99-base.sh: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/env: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/libs: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/runscript: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d/startscript: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.singularity.d: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./.test: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./dev: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./environment: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./etc/hosts: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./etc/resolv.conf: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./etc: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./home: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./proc: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./root: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./singularity: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./sys: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./tmp: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./var/tmp: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: ./var: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
tar: .: implausibly old time stamp -9223372036854775808
Docker image path: index.docker.io/marcchpc/pytorch_cuda9:latest
Cache folder set to /root/.singularity/docker
[7/21] |===========|-----------------------| 33.3%
Then, I figured I'd try to just get the hello world container:
singularity pull --name meatballs.img shub://vsoch/hello-world
...and I got the same error message.
Does anyone know what this error means, and why I can't get this running?

Answer 1

I've found the solution: the singularity version used is too old!
I got this version, which is too old:
$ singularity --version
2.4.2-dist
Download this script with content:
#!/bin/bash
VERSION=2.5.2
wget https://github.com/singularityware/singularity/releases/download/$VERSION/singularity-$VERSION.tar.gz
tar xvf singularity-$VERSION.tar.gz
cd singularity-$VERSION
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install
calling it:
sudo ./install_singularity
to get to v2.5.2
$ singularity --version
2.5.2-dist
and everything works as expected.

Answer 2

Same problem here. I notice if I run
sudo singularity build hello_world.simg shub://singularityhub/ubuntu
on Travis (see log) everythings works as expected:
Cache folder set to /root/.singularity/shub
Progress |===================================| 100.0%
Building from local image: /root/.singularity/shub/singularityhub-ubuntu-master-latest.simg
Building Singularity image...
Singularity container built: hello_world.simg
Cleaning up...
Running it locally, however, results in different behavior:
richel#sonic:~/GitHubs/singularity_example_1$ sudo singularity build hello_world.simg shub://singularityhub/ubuntu
[sudo] password for richel:
Cache folder set to /root/.singularity/shub
Progress |===================================| 100.0%
ERROR : Called singularity_config_get_value on uninitialized config subsystem
ABORT : Retval = 255
ERROR: Unsupported file type: /root/.singularity/shub/singularityhub-ubuntu-master-latest.simg
Cleaning up...
I know the versions between the one on Travis (2.5.2-HEAD.ddf3e31) and on my local computer (2.4.2-dist) differ, but I think that should be no problem [edit: I was wrong, see answer].
I hope this helps in finding the solution.
OS:
richel#sonic:~/GitHubs/singularity_example_1$ cat /etc/os-release
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="18.04.2 LTS (Bionic Beaver)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS"
VERSION_ID="18.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=bionic
UBUNTU_CODENAME=bionic