Missing dot files in home folder after fresh install

malcolmlewis · August 1, 2024, 11:25am

@oxwrongagain in my test there was no su to the user, I logged in remotely and it created dot files as required.

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 11:37am

Hello @malcolmlewis ,

When you logged in remotely, was it a simple shell login or full desktop?

malcolmlewis · August 1, 2024, 11:42am

@oxwrongagain just a shell, no desktop environment.

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 11:57am

Hello,

I just created another test user, creatively named “test4”, using the gnome user utility embedded in gnome-settings. I then logged in with that user id on the console (not gui) … just a simple shell login and the results were the same as with the users created in yast.

root@orca# find /home/test4
/home/test4
/home/test4/.bashrc
/home/test4/.bash_history
/home/test4/bin
/home/test4/.xinitrc.template

The contents of /etc/skel are as expected.

root@orca# ls -l1 /etc/skel
total 48
-rw------- 1 root root    0 May 18  1996 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1177 May  7  2022 .bashrc
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 Mar 15  2022 .cache
drwx------ 3 root root 4096 Jun 13 21:53 .config
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1637 Apr  9  2018 .emacs
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Mar 15  2022 .fonts
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   73 May 25  2018 .i18n
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  861 Apr  9  2018 .inputrc
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 Mar 15  2022 .local
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1028 May  7  2022 .profile
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1951 May 25  2018 .xim.template
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1112 May  4  2019 .xinitrc.template
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Mar 15  2022 bin

That the gnome utility and yast both provided the same unexpected result, I can only conclude that something else is going … not a problem in the yast users module, unless opensuse has tweaked gnome to use yast under the covers .

arvidjaar · August 1, 2024, 12:20pm

What is the content of /etc/default/useradd?

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 12:24pm

# useradd defaults file
GROUP=100
HOME=/home
INACTIVE=-1
EXPIRE=
SHELL=/bin/bash
SKEL=/etc/skel
USRSKEL=/usr/etc/skel
CREATE_MAIL_SPOOL=yes

aggie · August 1, 2024, 12:45pm

aggie:

I did a test. I created a new user (yast2) and ONLY one sub-dir was created
/home/testus # ls -ld .!(|.)
drwx------ 1 testus users 0 Mar 15  2022 .cache
#
So, the only sub-dir in this instance is one, which is “.cache”.

I just now ran another test. I jumped to Runlevel three (you know, text-mode with networking, no DE). I ran “yast” - Users - Add User

Same result as in my first Reply … only the sub-dir “.cache” exists in the user’s home sub-dir.

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 12:54pm

In order to test my own sanity regarding how things are supposed to work, I created a test user on my tumbleweed box and the test user’s home directory was created as expected (no login necessary!).

On my Leap box, the directory /usr/etc/skel does not exist.

malcolmlewis · August 1, 2024, 12:58pm

@oxwrongagain it won’t usr merge was Tumbleweed (and I suspect Leap 16).

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 1:08pm

It by be worth noting that the original poster mentioned a fresh install. The account I actually use, the one created when I installed Leap 15.6 from the original release DVD image (build 709.1) appears to have created the home directory correctly. It certainly created .profile and .i18n, which are no longer created.

aggie · August 1, 2024, 1:36pm

I installed during the 15.6-Beta period, using a 15.6-Beta ISO (USB flash), then [eventually] moved to the GA-release using zypper.

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 3:32pm

Hello all,

I am mostly convinced that there is a problem with pam. Even using “useradd -k /etc/skel …” gives the same erroneous result. I even tried adding the line:

session required pam_mkhomedir.so skel=/etc/skel/ umask=0022

in each of

/etc/pam.d/login (as suggested by /usr/share/doc/packages/pam/modules/README.pam_mkhomedir)
/etc/pam.d/useradd
/etc/pam.d/newusers

arvidjaar · August 1, 2024, 5:26pm

-k is not enough.
I tested on 15.6 and

useradd -m test2

created user2 home directory and populated it from /etc/skel.

aggie · August 1, 2024, 6:33pm

I tried that:

# useradd -m utest16
# ls -Al /home/utest16
total 0
drwx------ 1 utest16 users 0 Mar 15  2022 .cache
#
#  ls -Al  /etc/skel
total 28
-rw------- 1 root root    0 May 18  1996 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1177 May  7  2022 .bashrc
drwx------ 1 root root    0 Mar 15  2022 .cache
drwx------ 1 root root    0 Mar 15  2022 .config
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1637 Apr  9  2018 .emacs
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root    0 Mar 15  2022 .fonts
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   73 May 25  2018 .i18n
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  861 Apr  9  2018 .inputrc
drwx------ 1 root root    0 Mar 15  2022 .local
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1028 May  7  2022 .profile
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1951 May 25  2018 .xim.template
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1112 May  4  2019 .xinitrc.template
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root    0 Mar 15  2022 bin
#
#  useradd -m -k /etc/skel utest24
#
# ls -Al /home/utest24
total 0
drwx------ 1 utest24 users 0 Mar 15  2022 .cache
#

, and I’m not the OP

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 6:35pm

Hello @arvidjaar ,

I am using an up to date Leap 15.6. If you are also using an “up to date” Leap 15.6, then there is something else going on …

With new user creation, whether I do it through yast, gnome, or useradd, I get the same result. A subset of /etc/skel gets created in the user dir.

root@orca# find /home/testtwo/
/home/testtwo/
/home/testtwo/.bashrc
/home/testtwo/bin
/home/testtwo/.xinitrc.template

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 6:48pm

Hello @aggie ,

I am not OP either!

It is interesting the you are getting a subset that is smaller and different.

aggie · August 1, 2024, 6:52pm

I just now executed this:

# nohup strace useradd -m newuser18 > uaddout.txt 2>&1

and currently examining the uaddout.txt file in Kate to see what low-level calls are failing. Might take me quite a few minutes, as there’s 624 lines of the strace output

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 7:08pm

HA!

I am about to do the same as google helped me find this bug from ubuntu:

aggie · August 1, 2024, 7:26pm

Hmmm. That post is from almost two years ago …

Anyway, I might have found a bit of a clue (blank lines added for readability):

close(13)                               = 0
close(14)                               = 0

utimensat(12, ".cache", [{tv_sec=1722456842, tv_nsec=152935545} /* 2024-07-31T15:14:02.152935545-0500 */, {tv_sec=1647344124, tv_nsec=0} /* 2022-03-15T06:35:24-0500 */], AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW) = 0

newfstatat(AT_FDCWD, "\300Jxe1V", 0x7ffc4cc4c6c0, AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)

mknodat(12, ".cache", S_IFDIR|000)  = -1 EPERM (Operation not permitted)

close(11)                               = 0
close(12)                               = 0

openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/etc/skel", 
[ ... ]

See the call to “utimensat” … there is a comment dated
/* 2024-07-31 T15:14:02.152935545-0500 */

… I assume there has been a change yesterday !!

Also notice the two calls just after it … to newfstatat and mknodat. (The argumenet to newfstatat is odd)

They both failed … then /etc/skel file is closed and , so nothing else happens.

oxwrongagain · August 1, 2024, 7:49pm

GREAT EYE @aggie …

The package “shadow”, which includes the useradd program updated from 4.8.1-150600.15.45 → 4.8.1-150600.17.3.1

The temporary fix is the obvious downgrade:

zypper in --oldpackage shadow-4.8.1-150600.15.45

After downgrading:

root@orca# useradd -m testone
root@orca# find /home/testone/
/home/testone/
/home/testone/.emacs
/home/testone/.bashrc
/home/testone/.i18n
/home/testone/.config
/home/testone/.config/autostart
/home/testone/.config/autostart/set_trusted.desktop
/home/testone/.cache
/home/testone/.xim.template
/home/testone/.inputrc
/home/testone/.fonts
/home/testone/.bash_history
/home/testone/bin
/home/testone/.profile
/home/testone/.xinitrc.template
/home/testone/.local

The expected result.