Bug 2511997 - gnome-initial-setup: tmpfiles.d fails - sysusers.d creates group but not user
Summary: gnome-initial-setup: tmpfiles.d fails - sysusers.d creates group but not user
Keywords:
Status: ON_QA
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: gnome-initial-setup
Version: 45
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: GNOME SIG Unassigned
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2026-08-06 11:54 UTC by Petr Sklenar
Modified: 2026-09-04 00:51 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

Fixed In Version: gnome-initial-setup-51~beta-2.fc46
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed:
Type: ---
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Petr Sklenar 2026-08-06 11:54:55 UTC
Description of problem:
The gnome-initial-setup package ships a tmpfiles.d configuration that references a user "gnome-initial-setup", but the corresponding sysusers.d configuration only creates a group, not a user. This causes systemd-tmpfiles to fail with: "Failed to resolve user gnome-initial-setup: Unknown user" during systemd reinstall/upgrade or any tmpfiles --create run.

Version-Release number of selected component:
gnome-initial-setup-51~alpha-2.fc45.aarch64

How reproducible:
Always (100%)

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Install Fedora 45 Workstation (Rawhide)
2. Run: dnf5 reinstall systemd
3. Or run: systemd-tmpfiles --create /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf
4. Observe error in output

Actual Results:
Error: /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf:1: Failed to resolve user gnome-initial-setup: Unknown user

Expected Results:
The tmpfiles.d configuration should succeed. The sysusers.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf should create both the group AND the user, or the tmpfiles.d configuration should use a user that exists (e.g. root).

Additional info:
- Root Cause: sysusers.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf contains only: "g gnome-initial-setup -" (creates group only). But tmpfiles.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf contains: "d /var/lib/gnome-initial-setup 0755 gnome-initial-setup gnome-initial-setup -" which requires both user and group to exist.
- Suggested Fix: Add a user line to /usr/lib/sysusers.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf: "u gnome-initial-setup - GNOME Initial Setup /var/lib/gnome-initial-setup" before the group line.
- OS: Fedora Linux 45 (Workstation Edition Prerelease)
- Kernel: 7.2.0-0.rc6.48.fc45.aarch64
- Architecture: aarch64 (Cortex-A72)
- systemd: systemd-261.2-1.fc45.aarch64

Comment 1 Petr Sklenar 2026-08-06 11:56:36 UTC
Complete!
root@fedora:~# systemd-tmpfiles --create /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf
/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf:1: Failed to resolve user 'gnome-initial-setup': Unknown user
root@fedora:~# systemd-tmpfiles --create /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf
/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/gnome-initial-setup.conf:1: Failed to resolve user 'gnome-initial-setup': Unknown user

Comment 2 Vitezslav Humpa 2026-08-21 11:13:44 UTC
Confirming this is still reproducible on gnome-initial-setup-51~beta-1.fc45 with the Fedora-Workstation-Live F45 ISO.

Additionally, the missing user has a side effect beyond the tmpfiles warning: during the live ISO boot, the gnome-initial-setup session runs under a dynamically allocated UID (60578 in my case). When that session is shut down, gnome-session-service fails to stop within the systemd timeout, triggering TimeoutStopFailureMode=abort (from Fedora's 10-timeout-abort.conf drop-in). This results in a SIGABRT and a coredump:

coredumpctl:
  PID: 1582 (gnome-session-s)
  UID: 60578
  GID: 970 (gnome-initial-setup)
  Signal: 6 (ABRT) si_code: SI_USER
  Command Line: /usr/libexec/gnome-session-service --session=gnome-initial-setup
  Package: gnome-session/51~beta-1.fc45

So the missing user causes not just a tmpfiles error on every boot, but also a coredump on the live ISO.

Comment 3 Fedora Update System 2026-08-26 16:13:25 UTC
FEDORA-2026-94e4327d35 (gnome-initial-setup-51~beta-2.fc45) has been submitted as an update to Fedora 45.
https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2026-94e4327d35

Comment 4 Fedora Update System 2026-08-27 02:13:30 UTC
FEDORA-2026-94e4327d35 has been pushed to the Fedora 45 testing repository.
Soon you'll be able to install the update with the following command:
`sudo dnf upgrade --enablerepo=updates-testing --refresh --advisory=FEDORA-2026-94e4327d35`
You can provide feedback for this update here: https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2026-94e4327d35

See also https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Updates_Testing for more information on how to test updates.

Comment 5 Fedora Update System 2026-09-04 00:51:42 UTC
FEDORA-2026-494d8c11bd has been pushed to the Fedora 45 testing repository.
Soon you'll be able to install the update with the following command:
`sudo dnf upgrade --enablerepo=updates-testing --refresh --advisory=FEDORA-2026-494d8c11bd`
You can provide feedback for this update here: https://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/updates/FEDORA-2026-494d8c11bd

See also https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Updates_Testing for more information on how to test updates.


Note You need to log in before you can comment on or make changes to this bug.