GNU bug report logs - #31467
switching from ntp to openntpd, openntpd fails to start

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Efraim Flashner <efraim <at> flashner.co.il>
To: bug-guix <at> gnu.org
Subject: switching from ntp to openntpd, openntpd fails to start
Date: Wed, 16 May 2018 10:38:21 +0300

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Currently `ntp' from `ntp' runs as ntpd:nobody, and `ntp' from
`openntpd' runs as root:root. ntp from ntp uses /var/empty as it's home
directory, which is owned by ntpd:nobody. When openntpd's ntp starts up,
it gives a permission error on its directory, /var/empty. When I changed
the directory's owner with `sudo chown -v root:root /var/empty' then
openntpd's ntp started working as expected.

Two possible solutions come to mind:
* Make openntpd run as user ntpd. This keeps the user separation
working, requires tweaking to openntpd's service (probably).

* Recreate /var/empty at boot, either as part of the start-up of
ntp/openntpd, or as a tmpfs. Neither ntp or openntpd store data that
needs to persist across reboots, so this might be worth doing anyway.
This would also prevent any suprises in the future like what I came
across.


-- 
Efraim Flashner   <efraim <at> flashner.co.il>   אפרים פלשנר
GPG key = A28B F40C 3E55 1372 662D  14F7 41AA E7DC CA3D 8351
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Message #10 received at 31467-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Efraim Flashner <efraim <at> flashner.co.il>
To: 31467-done <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#31467: switching from ntp to openntpd, openntpd fails to start
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 12:03:15 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Wed, May 16, 2018 at 10:38:21AM +0300, Efraim Flashner wrote:
> Currently `ntp' from `ntp' runs as ntpd:nobody, and `ntp' from
> `openntpd' runs as root:root. ntp from ntp uses /var/empty as it's home
> directory, which is owned by ntpd:nobody. When openntpd's ntp starts up,
> it gives a permission error on its directory, /var/empty. When I changed
> the directory's owner with `sudo chown -v root:root /var/empty' then
> openntpd's ntp started working as expected.
> 
> Two possible solutions come to mind:
> * Make openntpd run as user ntpd. This keeps the user separation
> working, requires tweaking to openntpd's service (probably).
> 
> * Recreate /var/empty at boot, either as part of the start-up of
> ntp/openntpd, or as a tmpfs. Neither ntp or openntpd store data that
> needs to persist across reboots, so this might be worth doing anyway.
> This would also prevent any suprises in the future like what I came
> across.
> 

I'm going to close this one. On my other Guix System machine /var/empty
is owned by root:root and it is using the default ntp client. I can only
assume that there is something specific about my own setup. If we get
another bug report about this then I'll look at it again.

-- 
Efraim Flashner   <efraim <at> flashner.co.il>   אפרים פלשנר
GPG key = A28B F40C 3E55 1372 662D  14F7 41AA E7DC CA3D 8351
Confidentiality cannot be guaranteed on emails sent or received unencrypted

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