Libvirtd.service fails to start

[Jungfred]

Hey Geekos,

from time to time I successfully used some VM’s on tumbleweed. Before i was able to boot into some VM’s with virtmanager, i had to enter:

sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd
sudo virsh net-start default
sudo systemctl start libvirtd

This used to work well, but suddenly i get this error when trying to start all of this:

sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd && sudo virsh net-start default
[sudo] password for root: 
A dependency job for libvirtd.service failed. See 'journalctl -xe' for details.

sudo systemctl start libvirtd
A dependency job for libvirtd.service failed. See 'journalctl -xe' for details.

As it says, this issue must be caused by some dependency.
Here are my trys to find the failing dependency:

sudo journalctl -u libvirtd
[sudo] password for root: 
Apr 02 13:04:17 localhost systemd[1]: Dependency failed for libvirt legacy monolithic daemon.
Apr 02 13:04:17 localhost systemd[1]: libvirtd.service: Job libvirtd.service/start failed with result 'dependency'.

systemctl --failed
  UNIT                                  LOAD   ACTIVE SUB    DESCRIPTION                                       
● virt-secret-init-encryption.service   loaded failed failed virt-secret-init-encryption.service

sudo systemctl start virt-secret-init-encryption.service
[sudo] password for root: 
Job for virt-secret-init-encryption.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status virt-secret-init-encryption.service" and "journalctl -xeu virt-secret-init-encryption.service" for details.

sudo systemctl status virt-secret-init-encryption.service
[sudo] password for root: 
× virt-secret-init-encryption.service
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/virt-secret-init-encryption.service; static)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2026-04-03 14:40:24 CEST; 15min ago
 Invocation: 1b7d6fca63064e779cd3e4fed9e3027f
    Process: 38131 ExecStart=/usr/bin/sh -c umask 0077 && (dd if=/dev/random status=none bs=32 count=1 | systemd-creds encrypt>
   Main PID: 38131 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
        CPU: 11ms

Apr 03 14:40:24 localhost systemd[1]: Starting virt-secret-init-encryption.service...
Apr 03 14:40:24 localhost systemd-creds[38134]: TPM TCTI driver not available.
Apr 03 14:40:24 localhost systemd[1]: virt-secret-init-encryption.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Apr 03 14:40:24 localhost systemd[1]: virt-secret-init-encryption.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 03 14:40:24 localhost systemd[1]: Failed to start virt-secret-init-encryption.service.

sudo journalctl -xeu virt-secret-init-encryption.service
[sudo] password for root: 
░░ The job identifier is 16799.
Apr 03 15:05:08 localhost systemd-creds[39683]: TPM TCTI driver not available.
Apr 03 15:05:08 localhost systemd[1]: virt-secret-init-encryption.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
░░ Subject: Unit process exited
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
░░ 
░░ An ExecStart= process belonging to unit virt-secret-init-encryption.service has exited.
░░ 
░░ The process' exit code is 'exited' and its exit status is 1.
Apr 03 15:05:08 localhost systemd[1]: virt-secret-init-encryption.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
░░ Subject: Unit failed
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
░░ 
░░ The unit virt-secret-init-encryption.service has entered the 'failed' state with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 03 15:05:08 localhost systemd[1]: Failed to start virt-secret-init-encryption.service.
░░ Subject: A start job for unit virt-secret-init-encryption.service has failed
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
░░ 
░░ A start job for unit virt-secret-init-encryption.service has finished with a failure.
░░ 
░░ The job identifier is 16799 and the job result is failed.

So from my understanding “virt-secret-init-encryption.service” is the root cause and failing dependency for libvirtd? And what means “TPM TCTI driver not available”. Why was it removed and how to reinstall it?

Libvirtd worked before, so i’m wondering if it’s now in some way outdated or replaced by any more modern system?

I’m by no means an expert, appreciate any help.

[pallaswept]

I also saw this after a recent update, I believe that it was the systemd update to v259.

I had recently updated my BIOS (Asus mobo) and had enabled TPM at the time as I’m going to need it in the near future. I wasn’t sure if that was what broke it, so I disabled it, and the errors from libvirtd went away. I checked the logs and it definitely was not the BIOS update that broke it, libvirt has been fine and no errors about TPM since the BIOS update. I was busy so I decided to come back to it later.

I saw this post today, so later is now. I rebooted into my BIOS and re-enabled TPM, booted, and… now it works fine. I don’t know if there has been another update since, or if the act of disabling it and re-enabling it was enough, maybe both, maybe neither, I don’t know. It’s just magically fixed itself.

Sorry I don’t have much detail OP, but I hadn’t seen anyone else report this, and I didn’t want to leave you all alone with no info, so I’m giving you what I got.

[Jungfred]

Hi @pallaswept

you’re my hero. This actually worked!
I disabled TPM in BIOS and was able to start libvirtd and boot into my VM’s without errors.
Even when i re-enable TPM it is still working now.

Thanks a lot!