NUT Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied EATON

abs0new · Aug 31, 2023, 2:25 PM

Hi folks

Hope you're doing well.

I got this issue with my nut configuration. I'm tryining to use the usbhid driver to make it work.

i've read those interesting posts about the usb permissions issues :

https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/trying-to-get-nut-to-work.59966/
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/nut-port-configuration-no-such-file.35205/
https://people.freebsd.org/~thierry/nut_FreeBSD_HowTo.txt

but after applying the advices and changed the conf i'm still stucked with a non-functionning nut daemon.

Main problem is permission problem :

[2.7.0-RELEASE][root@pf]/root: upsdrvctl start ups
Network UPS Tools - UPS driver controller 2.8.0
Network UPS Tools - Generic HID driver 0.47 (2.8.0)
USB communication driver (libusb 1.0) 0.43
Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied
Driver failed to start (exit status=1)

[2.7.0-RELEASE][root@pf]/root: upsdrvctl -u root start ups
Network UPS Tools - UPS driver controller 2.8.0
Network UPS Tools - Generic HID driver 0.47 (2.8.0)
USB communication driver (libusb 1.0) 0.43
Using subdriver: MGE HID 1.46
                                                                               
Broadcast Message from root@pf-mery.mery                                       
        (no tty) at 14:45 CEST...                                              
                                                                               
Communications with UPS ups established

When i define the -u root user it works for a moment.

I defined a rule and applied a conf in /etc/devfs.rules and /etc/devfs.conf restarted the services as mentionned but with no luck.

but after restarting the services some files popped up in /var/db/nut/ with thos permissions.

total 13
drwxrwx---  2 uucp  wheel   256B Aug 31 16:01 .
drwxr-xr-x  9 root  wheel   832B Aug 31 15:56 ..
-rwxrwx---  1 uucp  wheel     6B Aug 31 15:58 upsd.pid
-rwxrwx---  1 uucp  wheel     6B Aug 31 16:03 upsmon.pid
srwxrwx---  1 root  nut       0B Aug 31 16:01 usbhid-ups-ups
-rwxrwx---  1 root  wheel     6B Aug 31 16:01 usbhid-ups-ups.pid

I'm a little puzzled now.
As pfsense is different from freebsd i was curious if i should apply the conf/rules of /etc/devfs.rules and /etc/devfs.conf with

root:uucp
uucp:wheel
root:nut
nut:uucp

or if i should instead play with the /var/db/nut wich seems to change permissions of files within on the fly.

Do some wizard here have a magic hint for me ?

Thank you very much.

Have a nice day.

Regards.

Gertjan · Aug 31, 2023, 2:35 PM

@abs0new said in NUT Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied EATON:

total 13
drwxrwx--- 2 uucp wheel 256B Aug 31 16:01 .
drwxr-xr-x 9 root wheel 832B Aug 31 15:56 ..
-rwxrwx--- 1 uucp wheel 6B Aug 31 15:58 upsd.pid
-rwxrwx--- 1 uucp wheel 6B Aug 31 16:03 upsmon.pid
srwxrwx--- 1 root nut 0B Aug 31 16:01 usbhid-ups-ups
-rwxrwx--- 1 root wheel 6B Aug 31 16:01 usbhid-ups-ups.pid

Mine :

login-to-view

Why would you have to start stop manipulate processes like this manually ,

dennypage · Sep 1, 2023, 6:34 AM

@abs0new Please try this:

chown nut /var/db/nut

And then re-save your UPS configuration.

Gertjan · Sep 1, 2023, 6:34 AM

@dennypage

'nut' is the owner when installed :

[23.05.1-RELEASE][root@pfSense.bhf.net]/var/db: ls -al | grep 'nut'
drwxr-x---   2 nut       nut             6 Aug 31 15:54 nut

abs0new · Sep 1, 2023, 9:21 AM

@Gertjan said in NUT Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied EATON:

ls -al | grep 'nut'

Thank you for your answers @Gertjan and @dennypage

I did :

chown nut /var/db/nut

now i got :

ls -lah /var/db/nut

drwxrwx---  2 nut   wheel   128B Sep  1 10:46 .
drwxr-xr-x  9 root  wheel   832B Sep  1 02:55 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel     6B Sep  1 10:45 upsd.pid
-rwxrwxr--  1 root  wheel     6B Sep  1 10:45 upsmon.pid

then i resaved the conf, it automaticaly restart the services.
I still got this logs errors :

2023-09-01 10:45:53.791053+02:00 	upsmon 	47178 	UPS ups is unavailable
2023-09-01 10:45:53.791015+02:00 	upsmon 	47178 	Poll UPS [ups] failed - Driver not connected
2023-09-01 10:45:53.790711+02:00 	upsd 	49368 	User local-monitor@::1 logged into UPS [ups]
2023-09-01 10:45:49.815818+02:00 	upsd 	49368 	Startup successful
2023-09-01 10:45:49.786932+02:00 	upsd 	49091 	Can't connect to UPS [ups] (usbhid-ups-ups): No such file or directory

but now when i try do launch manually with :

upsdrvctl -D start ups

i got this slightly different messages :

Network UPS Tools - UPS driver controller 2.8.0
   0.000000	[D1] Starting UPS: ups
Network UPS Tools - Generic HID driver 0.47 (2.8.0)
USB communication driver (libusb 1.0) 0.43
libusb1: Could not open any HID devices: no USB buses found
No matching HID UPS found
   0.003886	Driver failed to start (exit status=1)

the permission denied disappeared that's a good start.

You may need to check my configuration (done from GUI)

*usb type : local usb
ups name : ups
enable notifications : true
driver : usbhid

upsd.users :
[monuser]
password = secret*

i tried to keep it simple but it seems to be a driver problem not a communication between server and pfsense.

from server i can contact the specified port :

nc -zv 10.0.200.2 3493
Connection to 10.0.200.2 3493 port [tcp/nut] succeeded!

EDIT : for a more verbose log output :

Network UPS Tools - Generic HID driver 0.47 (2.8.0)
USB communication driver (libusb 1.0) 0.43
   0.000000	[D3] main_arg: var='driver' val='usbhid-ups'
   0.000030	[D3] main_arg: var='port' val='auto'
   0.000051	[D5] send_to_all: SETINFO driver.parameter.port "auto"
   0.000077	[D1] debug level is '5'
   0.000672	[D5] send_to_all: SETINFO device.type "ups"
   0.000691	[D2] Initializing an USB-connected UPS with library libusb-1.0.0 (API: 0x1000102) (NUT subdriver name='USB communication driver (libusb 1.0)' ver='0.43')
   0.000699	[D1] upsdrv_initups (non-SHUT)...
   0.000961	[D2] libusb1: No appropriate HID device found
   0.000975	libusb1: Could not open any HID devices: no USB buses found
   0.000981	No matching HID UPS found

Gertjan · Sep 1, 2023, 9:02 AM

@abs0new said in NUT Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied EATON:

I did :

chown nut /var/db/nut

now i got :

ls -lah /var/db/nut

drwxrwx--- 2 nut wheel 128B Sep 1 10:46 .
drwxr-xr-x 9 root wheel 832B Sep 1 02:55 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 6B Sep 1 10:45 upsd.pid
-rwxrwxr-- 1 root wheel 6B Sep 1 10:45 upsmon.pid

The chown command doesn't touch/changes the files IN the /var/db/nut/ folder, the ones you've shown.
It changes the owner of the nut folder, see my example above.

abs0new · Sep 1, 2023, 9:30 AM

@Gertjan right

so i need to change the file's permission within the /var/db/nut directory ?

like :

chown -R nut:nut /var/db/nut/

?

EDIT: maybe reinstalling the package can restore the initial permissions ?

i think i restored the correct permissions on the directory as foolows :

ls -lah /var/db/nut/
total 9
drwxrwx---  2 nut   nut     128B Sep  1 11:15 .
drwxr-xr-x  9 root  wheel   832B Sep  1 02:55 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root  nut       6B Sep  1 10:45 upsd.pid
-rw-r--r--  1 root  uucp      6B Sep  1 10:45 upsmon.pid

Gertjan · Sep 1, 2023, 1:12 PM

@abs0new said in NUT Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied EATON:

EDIT: maybe reinstalling the package can restore the initial permissions ?

abs0new · Sep 1, 2023, 1:12 PM

@Gertjan

That's a good news.
but unfortuntely i still can't roperly start the driver.

/usr/local/libexec/nut/usbhid-ups -a ups -DD

Network UPS Tools - Generic HID driver 0.47 (2.8.0)
USB communication driver (libusb 1.0) 0.43
   0.000000	[D3] main_arg: var='driver' val='usbhid-ups'
   0.000030	[D3] main_arg: var='port' val='auto'
   0.000051	[D5] send_to_all: SETINFO driver.parameter.port "auto"
   0.000077	[D1] debug level is '5'
   0.000672	[D5] send_to_all: SETINFO device.type "ups"
   0.000691	[D2] Initializing an USB-connected UPS with library libusb-1.0.0 (API: 0x1000102) (NUT subdriver name='USB communication driver (libusb 1.0)' ver='0.43')
   0.000699	[D1] upsdrv_initups (non-SHUT)...
   0.000961	[D2] libusb1: No appropriate HID device found
   0.000975	libusb1: Could not open any HID devices: no USB buses found
   0.000981	No matching HID UPS found

it may be related with the /etc/devfs.conf /etc/devfs.rules.

I think i should reboot the pfsense as mentionned in troubleshooting here :

https://blog.victormendonca.com/2020/10/28/how-to-setup-ups-on-pfsense/

but as it is in production i need to wait .

I'll try to tweak the devfs rules/conf .

dennypage · Sep 1, 2023, 3:06 PM

@Gertjan said in NUT Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied EATON:

'nut' is the owner when installed

Look at line 57 in nut.inc.

It's one of the things I need to fix in the transition from using a release version of nut to using the development version of nut.

I won't be able to get to it until end of next week.

dennypage · Sep 1, 2023, 3:20 PM

@abs0new said in NUT Can't chdir to /var/db/nut: Permission denied EATON:

I'll try to tweak the devfs rules/conf .

Should not be needed.

Can you run the following:

disable the UPS service and save
unplug the usb connection and wait a few seconds
re-plug the usb connection
run "usbconfig -v" in a shell
re-enable the UPS service and save
run the usbconfig command again

And post the results please?

abs0new · Sep 5, 2023, 2:15 PM

@dennypage

Thank you it worked !

I changed the usb cable in case it was malfunctioning.
I also changed the usb port : from ugen1.3 to ugen0.6

at some point i needed to chown back the /var/db/nut directory to nut:nut with

chown -R nut:nut: /var/db/nut/

here is the output of usbconfig -v :

ugen0.6: <EATON Eaton 5P> at usbus0, cfg=0 md=HOST spd=FULL (12Mbps) pwr=ON (20mA)

  bLength = 0x0012 
  bDescriptorType = 0x0001 
  bcdUSB = 0x0110 
  bDeviceClass = 0x0000  <Probed by interface class>
  bDeviceSubClass = 0x0000 
  bDeviceProtocol = 0x0000 
  bMaxPacketSize0 = 0x0008 
  idVendor = 0x0463 
  idProduct = 0xffff 
  bcdDevice = 0x0202 
  iManufacturer = 0x0001  <EATON>
  iProduct = 0x0002  <Eaton 5P>
  iSerialNumber = 0x0003  <G117L13177>
  bNumConfigurations = 0x0001 


 Configuration index 0

    bLength = 0x0009 
    bDescriptorType = 0x0002 
    wTotalLength = 0x0022 
    bNumInterfaces = 0x0001 
    bConfigurationValue = 0x0001 
    iConfiguration = 0x0000  <no string>
    bmAttributes = 0x00a0 
    bMaxPower = 0x000a 

    Interface 0
      bLength = 0x0009 
      bDescriptorType = 0x0004 
      bInterfaceNumber = 0x0000 
      bAlternateSetting = 0x0000 
      bNumEndpoints = 0x0001 
      bInterfaceClass = 0x0003  <HID device>
      bInterfaceSubClass = 0x0000 
      bInterfaceProtocol = 0x0000 
      iInterface = 0x0000  <no string>

      Additional Descriptor

      bLength = 0x09
      bDescriptorType = 0x21
      bDescriptorSubType = 0x10
       RAW dump: 
       0x00 | 0x09, 0x21, 0x10, 0x01, 0x21, 0x01, 0x22, 0x25, 
       0x08 | 0x04

     Endpoint 0
        bLength = 0x0007 
        bDescriptorType = 0x0005 
        bEndpointAddress = 0x0081  <IN>
        bmAttributes = 0x0003  <INTERRUPT>
        wMaxPacketSize = 0x0008 
        bInterval = 0x0014 
        bRefresh = 0x0000 
        bSynchAddress = 0x0000

when i restarted the driver with :

/usr/local/libexec/nut/usbhid-ups -dddd -a up

i got :

Network UPS Tools - Generic HID driver 0.47 (2.8.0)
USB communication driver (libusb 1.0) 0.43
Using subdriver: MGE HID 1.46
                                                                               
Broadcast Message from root@pf                                       
        (no tty) at 15:26 CEST...                                              
                                                                               
Communications with UPS ups established

i also restarted the service via the webui and it worked.

So i'm monitoring the service in case anything goes wrong.

Do you think i may need to tweak the driver's conf with some of this option :

for example :

waitbeforereconnect=30

i'll keep this post open so i can confirm it works flawlessly next week after another reboot.

Thank you very much for help.

dennypage · Sep 5, 2023, 4:29 PM

@abs0new Unfortunately, the issue of ownership of /var/db/nut will currently arise every time you reboot.

To remediate, you can either edit nut.inc, add a boot time shell script, or wait until I can fix the package.