dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install fails to detect systemd unless $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is set first

[loop-evgeny]

Problem description

When I follow the rootless installation instructions on Linux Mint 20 (based on Ubuntu 20.04) it fails to detect systemd:

dockerd@emvc:~$ dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install
[INFO] systemd not detected, dockerd-rootless.sh needs to be started manually:

PATH=/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:$PATH dockerd-rootless.sh 

[INFO] Creating CLI context "rootless"
Successfully created context "rootless"

[INFO] Make sure the following environment variables are set (or add them to ~/.bashrc):

# WARNING: systemd not found. You have to remove XDG_RUNTIME_DIR manually on every logout.
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/home/dockerd/.docker/run
export PATH=/usr/bin:$PATH
export DOCKER_HOST=unix:///home/dockerd/.docker/run/docker.sock

Setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR as the script suggests does not help. systemctl --user still fails with "Failed to connect to bus: No such file or directory". Following this StackOverflow answer, what works is setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR to /run/user/... before running dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install:

export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u)
dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install

(I actually added it to .bash_profile - that would be helpful to add, too. Unlike .bashrc, .bash_profile gets loaded when using sudo -iu dockerd)

(I also enabled lingering for the user first, following that answer, but I don't know if that was strictly necessary.)

Problem location

https://docs.docker.com/engine/security/rootless/#install

Suggestions for a fix

I'm not sure if this is a problem with the documentation or the dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh script itself could handle this better, but assuming the script is not changed, it would help if the documentation page suggested setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR before running the script, or at least in the troubleshooting section if you get

[INFO] systemd not detected, dockerd-rootless.sh needs to be started manually

[loneboat]

Is this possibly an issue with how you are switching to the non-privileged user prior to running the installation? I just ran into this same issue when installing, and found various recommendations related to setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR manually. Then I found the following: https://serverfault.com/a/1047069 . This discusses a more general issue of systemctl --user not working correctly under certain conditions. Specifically:

If you login in the system using either of

• graphical session
• login on terminal (username and password)
• ssh

then the PAM machinery will call pam_systemd, and this will setup all needed hooks to use systemctl; if you switch user using sudo or su, this will not happen.

(emphasis mine)

In my case, I was switching to the user using su mydockeruser -, and was receiving the same error you were regarding systemd not being detected. However if I ssh in as mydockeruser directly, the installer works just fine without the error.

In other words:

Switching to user mydockeruser from another user (using su), systemctl --user does not work properly:

otheruser@myhostname:~$ su mydockeruser -
Password:
mydockeruser@myhostname:~$ systemctl --user status
Failed to connect to bus: Operation not permitted (consider using --machine=<user>@.host --user to connect to bus of other user)

Connecting directly as mydockeruser (via ssh), systemctl --user works properly:

> ssh mydockeruser@myhostname
mydockeruser@myhostname's password:
Linux myhostname 5.10.0-16-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 5.10.127-2 (2022-07-23) x86_64

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
mydockeruser@myhostname:~$ systemctl --user status
● myhostname
    State: running
     Jobs: 0 queued
   Failed: 0 units
    Since: Thu 2022-08-04 16:23:36 CDT; 4s ago
   CGroup: /user.slice/user-1001.slice/user@1001.service
           ├─app.slice
           │ ├─gvfs-goa-volume-monitor.service
           │ │ └─1641 /usr/libexec/gvfs-goa-volume-monitor
           │ ├─tracker-store.service
           │ │ └─1660 /usr/libexec/tracker-store
           │ ├─pulseaudio.service
           │ │ └─1577 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --daemonize=no --log-target=journal
           │ ├─gvfs-daemon.service
           │ │ ├─1602 /usr/libexec/gvfsd
           │ │ └─1614 /usr/libexec/gvfsd-fuse /run/user/1001/gvfs -f
           │ ├─gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor.service
           │ │ └─1621 /usr/libexec/gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
           │ ├─tracker-extract.service
           │ │ └─1579 /usr/libexec/tracker-extract
           │ ├─gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor.service
           │ │ └─1633 /usr/libexec/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
           │ ├─pipewire.service
           │ │ ├─1576 /usr/bin/pipewire
           │ │ └─1593 /usr/bin/pipewire-media-session
           │ ├─dbus.service
           │ │ ├─1592 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --session --address=systemd: --nofork --nopidfi>
           │ │ ├─1645 /usr/libexec/goa-daemon
           │ │ └─1653 /usr/libexec/goa-identity-service
           │ ├─tracker-miner-fs.service
           │ │ └─1580 /usr/libexec/tracker-miner-fs
           │ ├─gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor.service
           │ │ └─1637 /usr/libexec/gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor
           │ └─gvfs-afc-volume-monitor.service
           │   └─1628 /usr/libexec/gvfs-afc-volume-monitor
           └─init.scope
             ├─1561 /lib/systemd/systemd --user
             └─1562 (sd-pam)

[03juan]

https://rootlesscontaine.rs/getting-started/common/login/

Most Rootless Containers implementations need the $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environmental variable to be set. When the environment variable is not set, features related to systemd and cgroups are unlikely to work properly.

The value is typically set to /run/user/$UID automatically by systemd or elogind on logging into the host.

Run the following command to confirm:

$ echo $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
/run/user/1000
The $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR environmental variable is set when:

Logged in as a non-root user via the graphic console .
Logged in as a non-root user via ssh @ .
Logged in as the root, and then switched to a non-root user via machinectl shell @ .
The environmental variable is not set when:

Logged in as the root, and then switched to a non-root user via su -l
Logged in as the root, and then switched to a non-root user via sudo -u
Logged in as the root, and then switched to a non-root user via ksu

TL;DR

Don’t use su and sudo for switching from root to non-root.

Use machinectl shell @ or ssh @localhost instead.

[tillsanders]

In my case, I was switching to the user using su mydockeruser -, and was receiving the same error you were regarding systemd not being detected. However if I ssh in as mydockeruser directly, the installer works just fine without the error.

In other words:

Switching to user mydockeruser from another user (using su), systemctl --user does not work properly:

I experienced the same problem. I used su to switch to my non-root user and got that error. Using ssh as the same user worked flawlessly. Maybe it would be helpful to add that hint to the error message.

[marcovangijssel]

Hi,
I solved is to make a file /etc/profile.d/docker.sh with the content:

[[ -S /run/user/${UID}/docker.sock ]] && { export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/${UID} export PATH=/usr/bin:$PATH export DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/${UID}/docker.sock }

After a new 'su - ' it works for me. Hopefully I can help someone else with this solution.

[melroy89]

Instead of ssh, or the other "workarounds" above, you could also try to start an interactive login session using machinectl:

sudo machinectl shell testuser@

You might need to install this package first: sudo apt install systemd-container

[PabloCastellano]

I had the same issue trying to install docker rootless in a new user in my server.

My workaround was:

sudo loginctl enable-linger <username>
sudo reboot

After that, the user logged in again and found that XDG_RUNTIME_DIR was defined and dockerd-rootless-setuptool.sh install worked fine this time.

[ww7]

Hi, I solved is to make a file /etc/profile.d/docker.sh with the content:

[[ -S /run/user/${UID}/docker.sock ]] && { export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/${UID} export PATH=/usr/bin:$PATH export DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/${UID}/docker.sock }

After a new 'su - ' it works for me. Hopefully I can help someone else with this solution.

The last command in curly brackets should have ;, as { export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/${UID} export PATH=/usr/bin:$PATH export DOCKER_HOST=unix:///run/user/${UID}/docker.sock; }

[docker-robot]

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[gl-yziquel]

/remove-lifecycle stale

I just stumbled on this issue myself.

The following did solve it, but the problem is that this does not work out of the box.

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/587674/systemd-not-detected-dockerd-daemon-needs-to-be-started-manually/657714#657714

[DaanSelen]

I still encounter this issue, setting the export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/$(id -u) in ~/.bashrc worked. Thanks