Bug 1729296

I have reproduced the behavior (BUG) seen in BZ 1729296 on the latest workstation versions (RHEL7.7 and RHEL8.1) as well as a beta version (RHEL7.8).  What is required to get this addressed?  

I also believe the "FutureFeature" keyword to not be appropriate for this bug because this functionally worked previously.


To reproduce, I performed the following:
~~~
cat <<EOF>> /etc/dconf/db/local.d/10-logout
[org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power]
sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=90
sleep-inactive-ac-type='logout'
EOF

dconf update 

grubby --remove-args="rhgb quiet" --args="gnome.is_vm=0" --update-kernel $(grubby --default-kernel)
# ^because I'm testing on a VM^

reboot
~~~


Each version is effected by BZ 1729296.  While the RHEL7.x workstation systems result in a non-usable screen until GDM is manually restarted, the RHEL8.x version appears to restart GDM and ends back up at the login screen resulting in a never ending loop of restarting GDM if a system is left at the login screen...:

~~~
# RHEL7.7:
[root@rhel77 ~]# date; rpm -q gnome-settings-daemon redhat-release-workstation; dconf dump /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/
Fri Dec 20 12:44:26 EST 2019
gnome-settings-daemon-3.28.1-4.el7.x86_64
redhat-release-workstation-7.7-9.el7.x86_64
[/]
sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=90
sleep-inactive-ac-type='logout'

# RHEL7.8beta:
[root@rhel78 ~]# date; rpm -q gnome-settings-daemon redhat-release-workstation; dconf dump /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/
Fri Dec 20 12:20:47 EST 2019
gnome-settings-daemon-3.28.1-8.el7.x86_64
redhat-release-workstation-7.8-1.el7.x86_64
[/]
sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=90
sleep-inactive-ac-type='logout'

# RHEL8.1:
[root@rhel81 ~]# date; rpm -q gnome-settings-daemon redhat-release; dconf dump /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/
Fri Dec 20 13:00:50 EST 2019
gnome-settings-daemon-3.32.0-4.el8.x86_64
redhat-release-8.1-3.3.el8.x86_64
[/]
sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=90
sleep-inactive-ac-type='logout'
~~~

After reading that "A lot of design went into improving the login and unlock experience in GNOME" 3.36 [1] and understanding that this was the version in Fedora 32beta [2], I hoped against hope that this BZ would be addressed in that version of Gnome.  While the behavior is slightly different than what is experienced in RHEL7 and RHEL8, configuring a workstation to autologout per the settings as "verified" and published [3], results in a system logging out/crashing regardless of whether someone is logged in or not [4].

Based on the fact that the behavior around "autologout" is different between different versions of RHEL (and now Fedora) [5], I have to believe that changes are being made.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure what package is effecting the behavior, but how do I request that this be investigated further when those other changes are made?  Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.
-Daniel

[1] Introducing GNOME 3.36: “Gresik”
    > https://help.gnome.org/misc/release-notes/3.36/
[2] Announcing the release of Fedora 32 Beta
    > https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-the-release-of-fedora-32-beta/
[3] How to enable user Auto Login and Logout in GUI mode on RHEL7 ?
    > https://access.redhat.com/solutions/1756193
[4] Why does the login screen show an "Automatic logout" message when no one is logged in and then GUI crash?
    > https://access.redhat.com/solutions/4279501
[5] when the configuration outlined in Comment #7 are in place, I see the following behavior (when no one is logged in):
    RHEL7: the login page crashes after sleep-inactive-ac-timeout is reached.  no recovery possible, but switching to a
           different VT allows for a user to log in at command line
    RHEL8: the login page crashes after sleep-inactive-ac-timeout is reached, appearing to restart GDM.  this results in
           an infinite loop of restarting GDM when no one is logged into a workstation and is therefore useless
    F32b:  the login page crashes after sleep-inactive-ac-timeout is reached, but results in a black screen with a
           blinking cursor in upper left corner.  if I simply switch to an alternate VT, and back, GDM appears to
           restart...

Since Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.9 was released yesterday I thought I would attempt these settings in the latest RHEL7 version.  This OS version uses the same gnome-settings-daemon package version as RHEL7.8 and so, unsurprisingly, the behavior is the same...the logout method is invoked even when no user is logged in.

~~~
[root@rhel79 ~]# date; rpm -q gnome-settings-daemon redhat-release-workstation; dconf dump /org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/
Thu Oct  1 08:39:40 EDT 2020
gnome-settings-daemon-3.28.1-8.el7.x86_64
redhat-release-workstation-7.9-3.el7.x86_64
[/]
sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=90
sleep-inactive-ac-type='logout'
~~~

This is nothing more than my attempt at thoroughness.

OK, posted a relevant patch upstream that will fix it. From my side it is OK to backport this into 7.9. It is really simple and merged upstream already.

Since the problem described in this bug report should be
resolved in a recent advisory, it has been closed with a
resolution of ERRATA.

For information on the advisory (gnome-settings-daemon bug fix and enhancement update), and where to find the updated
files, follow the link below.

If the solution does not work for you, open a new bug report.

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHBA-2020:5436