Bug#1038994: Upgrading systemd stopped GNOME session

[Josh Triplett]

Package: systemd
Version: 253-3
Severity: important
X-Debbugs-Cc: josh at joshtriplett.org

I'm not entirely sure which package this bug belongs to, but it happened
when upgrading systemd, and systemd is my best guess here. Please feel
free to reassign.

When upgrading to systemd 253-3, my GNOME session restarted. From the
logs:

Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: Reloading.
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: /lib/systemd/system/systemd-udevd.service:21: Failed to parse service type, ignoring: notify-reload
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: /lib/systemd/system/systemd-logind.service:63: Failed to parse service type, ignoring: notify-reload
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: /lib/systemd/system/systemd-networkd.service:50: Failed to parse service type, ignoring: notify-reload
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: /lib/systemd/system/user at .service:20: Failed to parse service type, ignoring: notify-reload
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: Stopping systemd-udevd.service - Rule-based Manager for Device Events and Files...
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: systemd-udevd.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: Stopped systemd-udevd.service - Rule-based Manager for Device Events and Files.
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: systemd-udevd.service: Consumed 7.243s CPU time.
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: Started systemd-udevd.service - Rule-based Manager for Device Events and Files.
Jun 24 00:24:07 o systemd[1]: Reloading.
...
Jun 24 00:24:10 o systemd[1]: Reloading requested from client PID 237159 (unit user at 1000.service)...
...
Jun 24 00:24:48 o gdm-autologin][824]: pam_unix(gdm-autologin:session): session closed for user josh
Jun 24 00:24:48 o systemd[840]: Stopped target gnome-session-wayland at gnome.target - GNOME Wayland Session (session: gnome).
Jun 24 00:24:48 o systemd[840]: Stopped target graphical-session.target - Current graphical user session.
Jun 24 00:24:48 o systemd[840]: Stopped target gnome-session.target - GNOME Session.
Jun 24 00:24:48 o systemd[840]: Stopped target gnome-session-wayland.target - GNOME Wayland Session.
Jun 24 00:24:48 o systemd[840]: Stopped target gnome-session at gnome.target - GNOME Session (session: gnome).
...

I'm wondering if this might have happened because
/lib/systemd/system/user at .service was changed (to use notify-reload, as
indicated in the above log messages)?

Yes, I'm aware of the general guidance to do upgrades from within a
screen/tmux/etc session or similar. However, ordinarily upgrading
systemd does not result in killing the whole session.


-- Package-specific info:

-- System Information:
Debian Release: trixie/sid
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Foreign Architectures: arm64

Kernel: Linux 6.3.0-1-amd64 (SMP w/12 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=C.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=C.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)

Versions of packages systemd depends on:
ii  libacl1            2.3.1-3
ii  libaudit1          1:3.0.9-1
ii  libblkid1          2.38.1-5+b1
ii  libc6              2.36-9
ii  libcap2            1:2.66-4
ii  libcryptsetup12    2:2.6.1-4
ii  libfdisk1          2.38.1-5+b1
ii  libgcrypt20        1.10.2-2
ii  libkmod2           30+20230519-1
ii  liblz4-1           1.9.4-1
ii  liblzma5           5.4.1-0.2
ii  libmount1          2.38.1-5+b1
ii  libp11-kit0        0.24.1-2
ii  libseccomp2        2.5.4-1+b3
ii  libselinux1        3.4-1+b6
ii  libssl3            3.0.9-1
ii  libsystemd-shared  253-3
ii  libsystemd0        253-3
ii  libzstd1           1.5.4+dfsg2-5
ii  mount              2.38.1-5+b1
ii  systemd-dev        253-3

Versions of packages systemd recommends:
ii  dbus [default-dbus-system-bus]   1.14.8-1
ii  systemd-timesyncd [time-daemon]  253-3

Versions of packages systemd suggests:
ii  libfido2-1            1.13.0-1
ii  libqrencode4          4.1.1-1
ii  libtss2-esys-3.0.2-0  3.2.1-3
ii  libtss2-mu0           3.2.1-3
pn  libtss2-rc0           <none>
ii  policykit-1           122-4
ii  polkitd               122-4
pn  systemd-boot          <none>
pn  systemd-container     <none>
pn  systemd-homed         <none>
pn  systemd-resolved      <none>
pn  systemd-userdbd       <none>

Versions of packages systemd is related to:
ii  dbus-user-session  1.14.8-1
pn  dracut             <none>
ii  initramfs-tools    0.142
pn  libnss-systemd     <none>
ii  libpam-systemd     253-3
ii  udev               253-3

-- no debconf information