Bug#966098: systemd: 'systemctl status' reports "access denied" after upgrade

[Dima Kogan]

Hi. Thanks for replying.

I just ran some tests, and I don't think sudo is the problem. And to be
clear, this isn't a "dist-upgrade". This machine is running sid, and an
"apt upgrade" triggered this issue.

The current state is that the machine is up-to-date with the exception
of systemd. Upgrading systemd causes the issue being reported, so I
downgrade it back to keep the box usable.

Latest sequence:

1. I logged in as root WITHOUT sudo, as suggested, and I upgraded the
   systemd packages:


   dima at snarky:~$ su

   Password: 


   root at snarky:/home/dima# sudo aptitude install systemd

   The following NEW packages will be installed:
     systemd-timesyncd{a} 
   The following packages will be upgraded:
     libsystemd0 systemd 
   2 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 515 not upgraded.
   Need to get 0 B/4817 kB of archives. After unpacking 2802 kB will be used.
   The following packages have unmet dependencies:
    libpam-systemd : Depends: systemd (= 239-15) but 246.4-1 is to be installed
    libnss-systemd : Depends: systemd (= 239-15) but 246.4-1 is to be installed
   The following actions will resolve these dependencies:

        Upgrade the following packages:                      
   1)     libnss-systemd [239-15 (now) -> 246.4-1 (unstable)]
   2)     libpam-systemd [239-15 (now) -> 246.4-1 (unstable)]



   Accept this solution? [Y/n/q/?] 
   The following NEW packages will be installed:
     systemd-timesyncd{a} 
   The following packages will be upgraded:
     libnss-systemd libpam-systemd libsystemd0 systemd 
   4 packages upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 513 not upgraded.
   Need to get 0 B/5285 kB of archives. After unpacking 2957 kB will be used.
   Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
   Reading changelogs... Done
   debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog
   debconf: (Dialog frontend will not work on a dumb terminal, an emacs shell buffer, or without a controlling terminal.)
   debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline
   (Reading database ... 208114 files and directories currently installed.)
   Preparing to unpack .../libnss-systemd_246.4-1_amd64.deb ...
   Unpacking libnss-systemd:amd64 (246.4-1) over (239-15) ...
   Preparing to unpack .../libpam-systemd_246.4-1_amd64.deb ...
   Unpacking libpam-systemd:amd64 (246.4-1) over (239-15) ...
   Preparing to unpack .../systemd_246.4-1_amd64.deb ...
   Unpacking systemd (246.4-1) over (239-15) ...
   Preparing to unpack .../systemd-timesyncd_246.4-1_amd64.deb ...
   Unpacking systemd-timesyncd (246.4-1) ...
   Preparing to unpack .../libsystemd0_246.4-1_amd64.deb ...
   Unpacking libsystemd0:amd64 (246.4-1) over (239-15) ...
   Setting up libsystemd0:amd64 (246.4-1) ...
   Setting up systemd (246.4-1) ...
   Installing new version of config file /etc/systemd/journald.conf ...
   Installing new version of config file /etc/systemd/resolved.conf ...
   Installing new version of config file /etc/systemd/system.conf ...
   Installing new version of config file /etc/systemd/user.conf ...
   Failed to enable unit: Access denied
   Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
   Failed to stop systemd-networkd.socket: Access denied
   See system logs and 'systemctl status systemd-networkd.socket' for details.
   Failed to try-restart systemd-networkd.service: Access denied
   See system logs and 'systemctl status systemd-networkd.service' for details.
   Failed to try-restart systemd-resolved.service: Access denied
   See system logs and 'systemctl status systemd-resolved.service' for details.
   Failed to try-restart systemd-journald.service: Access denied
   See system logs and 'systemctl status systemd-journald.service' for details.
   Setting up systemd-timesyncd (246.4-1) ...
   Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
   Failed to preset unit: Access denied
   /usr/bin/deb-systemd-helper: error: systemctl preset failed on systemd-timesyncd.service: No such file or directory
   Failed to reload daemon: Access denied
   Failed to get unit file state for systemd-timesyncd.service: Access denied
   Failed to retrieve unit state: Access denied
   systemd-timesyncd.service is a disabled or a static unit not running, not starting it.
   Setting up libpam-systemd:amd64 (246.4-1) ...
   debconf: unable to initialize frontend: Dialog
   debconf: (Dialog frontend will not work on a dumb terminal, an emacs shell buffer, or without a controlling terminal.)
   debconf: falling back to frontend: Readline
   Setting up libnss-systemd:amd64 (246.4-1) ...
   Processing triggers for man-db (2.9.3-2) ...
   Processing triggers for dbus (1.12.20-1) ...
   Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.31-1) ...
   [master 8c809f6] committing changes in /etc made by "aptitude install systemd"
    5 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
    delete mode 120000 systemd/system/systemd-timesyncd.service

   Current status: 513 (-4) upgradable.


You can see the errors in the upgrade. I can confirm that at this point
I can't talk to systemd:

2. root at snarky:/etc# systemctl status

   Failed to read server status: Access denied


To make my machine happy again, I downgrade:

3. root at snarky:/home/dima# dpkg -i /var/cache/apt/archives/*_239-15*.deb
   ... barfs about systemd-timesyncd dependency

   root at snarky:/home/dima# sudo apt remove systemd-timesyncd

Any suggestions appreciated.