Arch Linux

raggerv8

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2010-07-01

Posts: 112

Website

timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Pacman log

[2019-04-23 16:21] [ALPM] upgraded systemd-libs (241.93-1 -> 242.0-1)
[2019-04-23 16:21] [ALPM] upgraded systemd (241.93-1 -> 242.0-1)
[2019-04-23 16:21] [ALPM] upgraded lib32-systemd (241.93-1 -> 242.0-1)
[2019-04-23 16:21] [ALPM] upgraded systemd-sysvcompat (241.93-1 -> 242.0-1)

systemctl status systemd-timesyncd.service

● systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/systemd-timesyncd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2019-04-23 16:28:25 CEST; 9min ago
     Docs: man:systemd-timesyncd.service(8)
  Process: 3933 ExecStart=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-timesyncd (code=exited, status=238/STATE_DIRECTORY)
 Main PID: 3933 (code=exited, status=238/STATE_DIRECTORY)

Apr 23 16:28:25 noname systemd[1]: systemd-timesyncd.service: Service has no hold-off time (RestartSec=0), scheduling restart.
Apr 23 16:28:25 noname systemd[1]: systemd-timesyncd.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
Apr 23 16:28:25 noname systemd[1]: Stopped Network Time Synchronization.
Apr 23 16:28:25 noname systemd[1]: ^[[0;1;39m^[[0;1;39msystemd-timesyncd.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Apr 23 16:28:25 noname systemd[1]: ^[[0;1;39m^[[0;1;39msystemd-timesyncd.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 23 16:28:25 noname systemd[1]: ^[[0;1;39mFailed to start Network Time Synchronization.

journalctl -xe

Apr 23 16:22:02 noname systemd[503]: ^[[0;1;39msystemd-timesyncd.service: Failed to set up special execution directory in /var/lib: Not a directory
Apr 23 16:22:02 noname systemd[503]: ^[[0;1;39msystemd-timesyncd.service: Failed at step STATE_DIRECTORY spawning /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-timesyncd: Not a directory

I did find this bug report https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/12131 where it is asked if /var/lib is read only.

lrwxr-xr-x  27 root                   21 Dec  2017 timesync -> ../private/systemd/timesync

% xs -l /var/lib/private
"/var/lib/private": Permission denied (os error 13)

I don't want to blindly change ownership and permissions so, what is the appropriate way to go about this?

Edit: I did find this bug report https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/62161
It seems to be same issue but for another version. The fix is:

execute `rm /var/lib/systemd/timesync` to remove the old symlink

But this seems to be an issue you have to do after following updates. For the bug reported, it was between version 239 and 240. for me, and the most recent commenter, 241 to 242.

Last edited by raggerv8 (2019-04-23 14:51:03)

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Brottweiler@#archlinux

Tarqi

Member

From: Ixtlan

Registered: 2012-11-27

Posts: 179

Website

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Remove the symlink

/var/lib/systemd/timesync

and restart the service, it will create a directory instead.

Last edited by Tarqi (2019-04-23 16:02:39)

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amish

Member

Registered: 2014-05-10

Posts: 475

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Also cleanup:

rm -rf /var/lib/private/systemd/timesync

as its no more required

Last edited by amish (2019-04-23 16:07:47)

Maniaxx

Member

Registered: 2014-05-14

Posts: 757

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Shouldn't such issues be handled by an update hook?

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sys2064

raggerv8

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2010-07-01

Posts: 112

Website

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Also cleanup:

rm -rf /var/lib/private/systemd/timesync

as its no more required

I removed the symlink and also did this, thanks for letting me know.

Shouldn't such issues be handled by an update hook?

Yes, the distro should handle it but Arch hasn't. I suppose this could've been a manual intervention as well.

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Brottweiler@#archlinux

amhairghin

Member

Registered: 2015-10-14

Posts: 72

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Maybe add an announcement in News at main page?

wooque

Member

Registered: 2016-10-13

Posts: 14

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

+1 for announcement on home page, I also needed to do mentioned manual intervention to fix timesync issue

Spider.007

Member

Registered: 2004-06-20

Posts: 1,175

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

I've settled on this hook to distribute to my machines

[Trigger]
Type = Package
Operation = Upgrade
Target = systemd

[Action]
Description = Systemd 242 timesyncd upgrade
When = PostTransaction
Exec = /bin/sh -c '[[ -L var/lib/systemd/timesync && $(vercmp $(pacman -Q systemd|cut -d\  -f2) 242) -gt 0 ]] && /bin/rm -rfv var/lib/systemd/timesync var/lib/private/systemd/timesync'

DanielH

Member

From: Mar del Plata, Argentina

Registered: 2014-03-11

Posts: 28

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Thanks for your tips, Tarqui and amish!

I agree with amhairghin and wooque:
an announcement on home page including instructions for manual intervention is a must, if an update hook is not added by Arch systemd maintainers.

ugjka

Member

From: Latvia

Registered: 2014-04-01

Posts: 1,862

Website

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Didn't know this was broken until I opened this topic

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philo

Member

Registered: 2015-01-26

Posts: 267

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

an announcement on home page including instructions for manual intervention is a must, if an update hook is not added by Arch systemd maintainers.

No comment from the powers that be?

Last edited by philo (2019-04-24 17:33:14)

Slithery

Administrator

From: Norfolk, UK

Registered: 2013-12-01

Posts: 5,776

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

No comment from the powers that be?

And what makes you think that any of them read the forums?

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No, it didn't "fix" anything. It just shifted the brokeness one space to the right. - jasonwryan
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bulletmark

Member

From: Brisbane, Australia

Registered: 2013-10-22

Posts: 675

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

And what makes you think that any of them read the forums?

This is the primary forum is where Arch users communicate. Are you suggesting none of the Arch devs visit here?!

jasonwryan

Anarchist

From: .nz

Registered: 2009-05-09

Posts: 30,424

Website

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

And what makes you think that any of them read the forums?

This is the primary forum is where Arch users communicate. Are you suggesting none of the Arch devs visit here?!

The primary forum is the ML for devs. The only active dev here is arojas. One or two of the others will appear from time-to-time, but if you want to interact with them, use the ML.

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ngoonee

Forum Fellow

From: Between Thailand and Singapore

Registered: 2009-03-17

Posts: 7,358

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

And what makes you think that any of them read the forums?

This is the primary forum is where Arch users communicate. Are you suggesting none of the Arch devs visit here?!

He is not 'suggesting' anything. He is stating the practical fact.

The forums are essentially user support from interested volunteers. The devs are practical DEVelopment personnel, also from interested volunteers. For obvious reasons, there's not very much overlap between both of these.

Also these forums are only one of the communications mediums for Arch. The mailing lists are another (there's one specifically for devs), IRC is another, and the bug tracker is the primary medium for requests on packages. Joe Packager is only really 'required' (as far as a volunteer can be) to follow bugs on his/her packages, and the dev mailing list. Not spending time reading random forum posts (that's what the mods are for, heh).

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Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
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digitalone

Member

Registered: 2011-08-19

Posts: 350

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

Please, write something on the homepage next time, or maybe write two rows of text on the wiki.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 23,213

Re: timesyncd fails to start after systemd 242.0-1 update

It should be automatically fixed with 242.0-3