My friend is having trouble lighting the pilot on his gas water
heater.

I've looked ont the web and so far only found instructions for when
things are going well, which doesn't apply here.

It has a built=in sparker, like a gas grill. Should we be able to see
the spark that the sparker makes while looking through the hole?

If the sparker doesn't work, can I use a match? In that same hole?
Do I need s really long match? I have none. Can I light the straw
from a real straw broom?

He's been trying to sell this house for a year, finally has, and the
walk-through is on Monday. We're hoping to light the wh Sunday so the
water will be warm in time for the walk-thru.

We had the red button pressed all the way down for at least a minute
(not realizing it wasn't lit) but never smelled any gas. All the
valves in the supply pipe appear to be turned on, and the stove works.

Should we have smelled gas in just a minute?

Thanks a lot.