Salt: State user.present will fail to create home if user exists and homedir doesn't

[calvinhp]

Ran into this today, it appears that in one of our installs, the user got created at some point, but their home dir didn't. When I ran the highstate today, it errored out with the following:
local:

ID: xxxxxxx
Function: user.present
Result: False
Comment: These values could not be changed: {'homeDoesNotExist': '/home/xxxxxxx'}
Started: 11:30:43.057275
Duration: 6.189 ms
Changes:

It looks like here the change doesn't get made, but reports it back as a change that is remaining.

https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/2014.7/salt/states/user.py#L110

Should the user.add module be called to create the home dir or should user.chhome be modified to create a homedir if one doesn't exist.

[rallytime]

Thanks for the report @calvinhp! Can you post the output of salt --versions-report as well as let us know what OS and OS version you're running?

[calvinhp]

The Master:

salt01% salt --versions-report
       Salt: 2014.7.0
       Python: 2.7.8 (default, Dec  3 2014, 04:17:02)
       Jinja2: 2.7.3
       M2Crypto: 0.22
       msgpack-python: 0.4.2
       msgpack-pure: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.6.1
       libnacl: Not Installed
      PyYAML: 3.11
      ioflo: Not Installed
      PyZMQ: 14.3.1
      RAET: Not Installed
      ZMQ: 4.0.4
      Mako: Not Installed

The Minion:

 $ salt --versions-report
       Salt: 2014.7.0
       Python: 2.6.6 (r266:84292, Nov 21 2013, 10:50:32)
       Jinja2: 2.2.1
       M2Crypto: 0.20.2
       msgpack-python: 0.1.13
       msgpack-pure: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.0.1
       libnacl: Not Installed
       PyYAML: 3.10
       ioflo: Not Installed
       PyZMQ: 14.3.1
       RAET: Not Installed
       ZMQ: 3.2.4
       Mako: Not Installed

[rallytime]

Thanks! We'll get this fixed up.

[nmadhok]

@calvinhp Can you post your user state?

salt.modules.user.chhome already creates the home directory if one doesn't exist when persist is True as it specified -m flag which according to the documentation says If the -m option is given, the contents of the current home directory will be moved to the new home directory, which is created if it does not already exist. There is something else going on here. The logic seems to be too complicated.

[calvinhp]

Here is an example of a user state in our salt:

    xxxxxxx-user:
      user.present:
        - name: xxxxxxx
        - fullname: xxxxxxx xxxxxxx
        - uid: 11976
        - gid_from_name: True
        - home: /home/xxxxxxx
        - shell: /bin/zsh
        - groups:
          - staff
          {% if grains['os_family'] == 'Debian' -%}
          - sudo
          {% else %}
          - wheel
          {% endif %}
        - require:
          - pkg: zsh

[djs52]

Some additional analysis of this issue in #19250

[smithjm]

This is still broken in 2014.7.1. It seems odd this is closed in favor of #19250, when #19250 is marked as a duplicate of this bug! This issue still exists:

          ID: salt-minion-user-g2prefix
    Function: user.present
        Name: g2prefix
      Result: False
     Comment: These values could not be changed: {'homeDoesNotExist': '/home/g2prefix'}
     Started: 18:37:16.610962
    Duration: 307.768 ms
     Changes:   

state:

salt-minion-user-g2prefix:
  user.present:
    - name: g2prefix
    - fullname: Salt Owner Account
    - password: {redacted}
    - shell: /bin/bash
    - home: /home/g2prefix
    - uid: 4004
    - gid: 4004
    - require:
      - group: salt-minion-group-g2prefix

[rallytime]

@smithjm Thanks for the update. The bug referenced above was indeed closed in favor of this one as it was a duplicate, but this issue is still open. It's a bit confusing with "Closed" label right above your comment, so I can see why this issue would appear closed.

We haven't been abel to get a fix in for this yet, but we will get to it as soon as we can. The extra information and state you provided is definitely helpful!

@nmadhok Were you going to take a crack at this one? No worries if not, just curious.

[hvnsweeting]

I got the same error

salt-call --versions-report
           Salt: 2014.7.1
         Python: 2.7.3 (default, Dec 18 2014, 19:10:20)
         Jinja2: 2.6
       M2Crypto: 0.21.1
 msgpack-python: 0.1.10
   msgpack-pure: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.4.1
        libnacl: Not Installed
         PyYAML: 3.10
          ioflo: Not Installed
          PyZMQ: 13.0.0
           RAET: Not Installed
            ZMQ: 3.2.2
           Mako: Not Installed

        ID: web
    Function: user.present
        Name: www-data
      Result: False
     Comment: These values could not be changed: {'homeDoesNotExist': '/var/www'}
     Started: 05:46:14.205666
    Duration: 17.365 ms
     Changes:
              ----------
              shell:
                  /usr/sbin/nologin

[nmadhok]

@rallytime I was going to but haven't gotten the time yet. I will look at the earliest. Last time I looked, I remember the logic needed a drastic change.

[SEJeff]

Confirmed. I just ran into this exact same issue with:

# salt-call --versions
           Salt: 2014.7.2
         Python: 2.7.5 (default, Feb 11 2014, 07:46:25)
         Jinja2: 2.7.2
       M2Crypto: 0.21.1
 msgpack-python: 0.4.2
   msgpack-pure: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.6.1
        libnacl: Not Installed
         PyYAML: 3.10
          ioflo: Not Installed
          PyZMQ: 14.3.1
           RAET: Not Installed
            ZMQ: 4.0.4
           Mako: Not Installed

[gmcwhistler]

just throwing in a "me too"

# salt-call --versions-report
           Salt: 2014.7.2
         Python: 2.6.6 (r266:84292, Jan 22 2014, 01:49:05)
         Jinja2: unknown
       M2Crypto: 0.20.2
 msgpack-python: 0.1.13
   msgpack-pure: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.0.1
        libnacl: Not Installed
         PyYAML: 3.10
          ioflo: Not Installed
          PyZMQ: 2.2.0.1
           RAET: Not Installed
            ZMQ: 3.2.4
           Mako: Not Installed

[hvnsweeting]

this also hit 2015.2

 salt --versions-report
           Salt: 2015.2.0rc2
         Python: 2.7.6 (default, Mar 22 2014, 22:59:56)
         Jinja2: 2.7.2
       M2Crypto: 0.21.1
 msgpack-python: 0.3.0
   msgpack-pure: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.6.1
        libnacl: Not Installed
         PyYAML: 3.10
          ioflo: Not Installed
          PyZMQ: 14.0.1
           RAET: Not Installed
            ZMQ: 4.0.4
           Mako: 0.9.1

[h0jeZvgoxFepBQ2C]

Is this fixed in 2015.5? I still have this error

           Salt: 2015.5.0-128-gca7729d
         Python: 2.7.9 (default, Jan  7 2015, 11:50:42)
         Jinja2: 2.7.3
       M2Crypto: 0.22
 msgpack-python: 0.4.6
   msgpack-pure: 0.1.3
       pycrypto: 2.6.1
        libnacl: Not Installed
         PyYAML: 3.11
          ioflo: 1.2.1
          PyZMQ: 14.6.0
           RAET: Not Installed
            ZMQ: 4.0.5
           Mako: 1.0.1

----------
          ID: couchdb_user
    Function: user.present
        Name: couchdb
      Result: False
     Comment: These values could not be changed: {'home': '/var/lib/couchdb'}
     Started: 14:29:04.011125
    Duration: 23.977 ms
     Changes:

couchdb_user:
  user.present:
    - name: {{couchdb.user}}
    - fullname: CouchDB Admin
    - createhome: False
    - home: /var/lib/couchdb
    - shell: /bin/bash
    - empty_password: True
    - system: True

[hvnsweeting]

@lichtamberg is there any error log when you run that?
anw, this is not exactly the origin error of this issue:

Comment: These values could not be changed: {'homeDoesNotExist': '/home/xxxxxxx'}

New one:

Comment: These values could not be changed: {'home': '/var/lib/couchdb'}

[amontalban]

+1

                  Salt: 2015.5.0
                Python: 2.7.3 (default, Mar 13 2014, 11:03:55)
                Jinja2: 2.6
              M2Crypto: 0.21.1
        msgpack-python: 0.1.10
          msgpack-pure: Not Installed
              pycrypto: 2.6
               libnacl: Not Installed
                PyYAML: 3.10
                 ioflo: Not Installed
                 PyZMQ: 13.1.0
                  RAET: Not Installed
                   ZMQ: 3.2.3
                  Mako: 0.7.0
 Debian source package: 2015.5.0+ds-1~bpo70+1

         ID: www-data
    Function: user.present
      Result: False
     Comment: These values could not be changed: {'home': '/home/www-data'}
     Started: 18:36:32.334948
    Duration: 25.436 ms
     Changes:   

[DaveQB]

I've got this too.

                  Salt: 2014.7.5
                Python: 2.7.3 (default, Dec 18 2014, 19:10:20)
                Jinja2: 2.6
              M2Crypto: 0.21.1
        msgpack-python: 0.1.10
          msgpack-pure: Not Installed
              pycrypto: 2.4.1
               libnacl: Not Installed
                PyYAML: 3.10
                 ioflo: Not Installed
                 PyZMQ: 14.0.1
                  RAET: Not Installed
                   ZMQ: 4.0.4
                  Mako: Not Installed
 Debian source package: 2014.7.5+ds-1precise1

[hvnsweeting]

@DaveQB sure, because the fix is not on that version:

https://github.com/saltstack/salt/commit/c4e95b9f487671ee09252c966de6dca3653e7999

You need 2014.7.6+

[DaveQB]

@hvnsweeting
Oh bugger.

Thanks.

[hvnsweeting]

@DaveQB if you cannot upgrade to higher version for any reason, you can add this module to your states/_states : https://github.com/bclermont/states/blob/master/_states/user.py

It just ports the fix back to use with 2014.7.5

[ngrennan-inflection]

I am seeing this issue in 2015.5.3. I want to change an existing user's home directory.

[nmadhok]

@rallytime The logic needs some major refactoring/change. It's not correct.

[trananhkma]

I cannot reproduce this, how did you guys got this problem ?

root@trananhkma:/srv/salt# grep foo /etc/passwd
foo:x:1001:1001::/tmp/foo2:
root@trananhkma:/srv/salt# ls -l /tmp/foo2/
total 0

root@trananhkma:/srv/salt# ls -l /tmp/foo3
ls: cannot access /tmp/foo3: No such file or directory

root@trananhkma:/srv/salt# cat buguser.sls 
foo:
  user:
    - present
    - home: /tmp/foo3


local:
----------
          ID: foo
    Function: user.present
      Result: True
     Comment: Updated user foo
     Started: 11:07:34.981777
    Duration: 45.541 ms
     Changes:   
              ----------
              home:
                  /tmp/foo3

on version

root@trananhkma:/srv/salt# salt-call --versions-report
                  Salt: 2015.5.3
                Python: 2.7.6 (default, Jun 22 2015, 17:58:13)
                Jinja2: 2.8
              M2Crypto: 0.21.1
        msgpack-python: 0.3.0
          msgpack-pure: Not Installed
              pycrypto: 2.6.1
               libnacl: Not Installed
                PyYAML: 3.10
                 ioflo: Not Installed
                 PyZMQ: 14.0.1
                  RAET: Not Installed
                   ZMQ: 4.0.4
                  Mako: 1.0.1
               Tornado: Not Installed
 Debian source package: 2015.5.3+ds-1trusty1

[Dineshramk]

Hi Guys,
Has the fix been found? having the same issue in 2016.3.3 as well.

SLS File:
demo user creation:

• user.present:
  
  
  
  • name: demouser
  
  
  • shell: /bin/bash
  
  
  • home: /tmp/demouser
  
  

Output:
[root@saltstack ~]# salt '*' state.highstate

saltminion.example.com:

      ID: demo user creation
Function: user.present
    Name: demouser
  Result: False
 Comment: Failed to create new user demouser
 Started: 21:21:34.389190
Duration: 312.166 ms
 Changes:

Summary for saltminion.example.com

Succeeded: 0

Failed: 1

Total states run: 1
Total run time: 312.166 ms
ERROR: Minions returned with non-zero exit code

User is created but home directory doesn't.
[root@saltminion ~]# grep demouser /etc/passwd
demouser:x:1001:1001::/tmp/demouser:/bin/bash
[root@saltminion ~]# ls -ld /tmp/demouser
ls: cannot access /tmp/demouser: No such file or directory
[root@saltminion ~]#

[LHozzan]

Hello.
Same problem here:

          ID: apache
    Function: user.present
      Result: False
     Comment: These values could not be changed: {'home': '/var/www'}
     Started: 07:43:00.152834
    Duration: 203.725 ms
     Changes:   
              ----------
              groups:
                  - apache
                  - app

SLS:

apache:
  user.present:
    - name: apache
    - fullname: Apache
    - shell: /sbin/nologin
    - home: /var/www
    - uid: 48
    - groups:
      - app
  service.running:
    - name: httpd
    - enable: true
    - require:
      - user: apache
      - file: apache config
 ```

`/etc/passwd` > `apache:x:48:48:Apache:/usr/share/httpd:/sbin/nologin`
Problem is, that user Apache is installed with package random data and we need to have this data on all servers identical.
Target data is: `apache:x:48:48:Apache:/var/www:/sbin/nologin`

Fix for us is manually edit this file and reboot server, but it a little unhappy do this on many servers.

[root@3 ~]# salt-call --versions-report
Salt Version:
Salt: 2016.11.9

Dependency Versions:
cffi: Not Installed
cherrypy: Not Installed
dateutil: 2.6.1
docker-py: Not Installed
gitdb: 2.0.3
gitpython: 2.1.9
ioflo: Not Installed
Jinja2: 2.7.2
libgit2: Not Installed
libnacl: Not Installed
M2Crypto: Not Installed
Mako: Not Installed
msgpack-pure: Not Installed
msgpack-python: 0.5.1
mysql-python: 1.2.5
pycparser: Not Installed
pycrypto: 2.6.1
pycryptodome: Not Installed
pygit2: Not Installed
Python: 2.7.5 (default, Aug 4 2017, 00:39:18)
python-gnupg: Not Installed
PyYAML: 3.11
PyZMQ: 15.3.0
RAET: Not Installed
smmap: 2.0.3
timelib: Not Installed
Tornado: 4.2.1
ZMQ: 4.1.4

System Versions:
dist: centos 7.4.1708 Core
machine: x86_64
release: 3.10.0-693.21.1.el7.x86_64
system: Linux
version: CentOS Linux 7.4.1708 Core
```
Best regards.

[rongshengfang]

I am still having the same issue of changing an existing user's home directory with 2017.7.5:

nrpe-nagios_user:
  user.present:
    - name: nagios
    - home: /home/nagios
    - fullname: 'Nagios System User'
    - shell: /bin/bash
    - require:
      - pkg: nrpe-pkgs

```local:

      ID: nrpe-nagios_user
Function: user.present
    Name: nagios
  Result: False
 Comment: These values could not be changed: {'home': '/home/nagios'}
 Started: 16:52:04.045301
Duration: 94.0 ms
 Changes:

Salt Version:
Salt: 2017.7.5

Dependency Versions:
cffi: Not Installed
cherrypy: Not Installed
dateutil: 2.7.2
docker-py: Not Installed
gitdb: Not Installed
gitpython: Not Installed
ioflo: Not Installed
Jinja2: 2.8.1
libgit2: Not Installed
libnacl: Not Installed
M2Crypto: Not Installed
Mako: Not Installed
msgpack-pure: Not Installed
msgpack-python: 0.4.6
mysql-python: Not Installed
pycparser: Not Installed
pycrypto: 2.6.1
pycryptodome: Not Installed
pygit2: Not Installed
Python: 2.7.14 (default, Jan 31 2018, 02:12:13)
python-gnupg: Not Installed
PyYAML: 3.11
PyZMQ: 14.5.0
RAET: Not Installed
smmap: Not Installed
timelib: Not Installed
Tornado: 4.2.1
ZMQ: 4.0.5

System Versions:
dist: centos 6.9 Final
locale: UTF-8
machine: x86_64
release: 2.6.32-696.23.1.el6.x86_64
system: Linux
version: CentOS 6.9 Final

grep nagios /etc/passwd

nagios:x:498:498:Nagios System User,,,:/var/spool/nagios:/bin/bash
```

Any idea on a fix?

[gtmanfred]

@saltstack/team-triage can someone take a look at this?

[MightyMaveous]

Same here.

users/stack.sls

user_stack:
  user.present:
    - name: stack
    - fullname: stack
    - shell: /bin/bash
    - home: /opt/stack
    - uid: 1333
    - gid: 1333
    - groups:
      - sudo

output

----------                                                                                                            
          ID: user_stack                                                                                              
    Function: user.present
        Name: stack           
      Result: False           
     Comment: Failed to create new user stack
     Started: 15:38:02.059512 
    Duration: 52.886 ms       
     Changes:           

Version

Salt Version:
           Salt: 2018.3.3

Dependency Versions:
           cffi: Not Installed
       cherrypy: Not Installed
       dateutil: 2.5.3
      docker-py: Not Installed
          gitdb: 2.0.0
      gitpython: 2.1.1
          ioflo: Not Installed
         Jinja2: 2.9.4
        libgit2: Not Installed
        libnacl: Not Installed
       M2Crypto: Not Installed
           Mako: Not Installed
   msgpack-pure: Not Installed
 msgpack-python: 0.4.8
   mysql-python: Not Installed
      pycparser: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.6.1
   pycryptodome: Not Installed
         pygit2: Not Installed
         Python: 2.7.13 (default, Sep 26 2018, 18:42:22)
   python-gnupg: Not Installed
         PyYAML: 3.12
          PyZMQ: 16.0.2
           RAET: Not Installed
          smmap: 2.0.1
        timelib: Not Installed
        Tornado: 4.4.3
            ZMQ: 4.2.1

System Versions:
           dist: debian 9.6
         locale: UTF-8
        machine: x86_64
        release: 4.9.0-8-amd64
         system: Linux
        version: debian 9.6

[timwsuqld]

Still present in 2019.2.0

$ salt-minion --versions
Salt Version:
           Salt: 2019.2.0

Dependency Versions:
           cffi: Not Installed
       cherrypy: Not Installed
       dateutil: 2.6.1
      docker-py: Not Installed
          gitdb: Not Installed
      gitpython: Not Installed
          ioflo: Not Installed
         Jinja2: 2.10
        libgit2: Not Installed
        libnacl: Not Installed
       M2Crypto: Not Installed
           Mako: 1.0.7
   msgpack-pure: Not Installed
 msgpack-python: 0.5.6
   mysql-python: 1.3.10
      pycparser: Not Installed
       pycrypto: 2.6.1
   pycryptodome: Not Installed
         pygit2: Not Installed
         Python: 2.7.15rc1 (default, Nov 12 2018, 14:31:15)
   python-gnupg: 0.4.1
         PyYAML: 3.12
          PyZMQ: 16.0.2
           RAET: Not Installed
          smmap: Not Installed
        timelib: Not Installed
        Tornado: 4.5.3
            ZMQ: 4.2.5

System Versions:
           dist: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic
         locale: UTF-8
        machine: x86_64
        release: 4.15.0-1032-gcp
         system: Linux
        version: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic

[digitalcircuit]

I've run into a similar issue, and in the hopes of helping folks stumbling across this bug report, I've documented the steps I took to resolve it.

In brief

Try manually changing the user home directory with usermod and see if any errors are given.

To avoid this confusion, Salt could be more informative on why the values could not be changed.

Problem

----------
          ID: app.user-basic
    Function: user.present
        Name: existing-user
      Result: False
     Comment: These values could not be changed: {u'home': u'/path/to/new/home'}
     Started: 17:40:16.369636
    Duration: 20.876 ms
     Changes:

### Troubleshooting I found out the root cause by trying to manually run the command:

admin@box:~$ sudo usermod --home /path/to/new/home existing-user
usermod: user existing-user is currently used by process 18234

### Solution In this case, I needed to make sure the service was stopped (and the user not in use) before changing the home directory:

# Stop the service if running and changes will be made
app.user-basic.stop-for-changes:
  service.dead:
    - name: existing-user-service
    - prereq:
      # Stop service before making changes
      - user: app.user-basic

# Set up the user
app.user-basic:
  user.present:
    - name: existing-user
    - system: True
    - createhome: False # Handled below
    - home: /path/to/new/home

# [...removed other bits of configuration...]

# Start the service
app.service:
  service.running:
    - name: existing-user-service
    - enable: True

This resulted in success!

Excerpt of Salt call output

----------
          ID: app.user-basic.stop-for-changes
    Function: service.dead
        Name: existing-user-service
      Result: True
     Comment: Service existing-user-service was killed
     Started: 17:45:29.589417
    Duration: 100.504 ms
     Changes:   
              ----------
              existing-user-service:
                  False
----------
          ID: app.user-basic
    Function: user.present
        Name: existing-user
      Result: True
     Comment: Updated user existing-user
     Started: 17:45:29.693622
    Duration: 26.762 ms
     Changes:   
              ----------
              home:
                  /path/to/new/home
[...]
----------
          ID: app.service
    Function: service.running
        Name: existing-user-service
      Result: True
     Comment: Service existing-user-service is already enabled, and is running
     Started: 17:45:31.084540
    Duration: 121.158 ms
     Changes:   
              ----------
              existing-user-service:
                  True

If this does not fix your issue, try manually changing the home directory with usermod. There may be something else going on.

[jfindlay]

@digitalcircuit, that looks like the beginning of a fix, but I wonder if further corners are hiding as well. I agree that more articulate reporting that reaches closer to root causes comprises a major portion of the solution.