Hi, > Could you test this functionality for both the older and newer packages? > Open at least one terminal window that can receive log messages > (i.e., that is registered in utmp, possibly by starting "screen" > inside the terminal), and then run the syslogd tests in verbose mode > (make TESTS=syslogd.sh VERBOSE=yes check). Are log messages sent to > that terminal window?
With the newer package: I don't see anything, either in XTerm, screen, ... nothing... except when logging in directly in /dev/tty3 ! There I see messages (syslogd: /dev/seat0 errors, but notification messages nevertheless). With the older package: no message at all. So this confirms that the utmp functionality was just not seeing anything before, and is now able to see something else, either the linux virtual terminals or the seat0/sshd/graphical sessions. I'm not sure what to do now. After some internal discussions, it seems that everyone wants to just remove the utmp features of inetutils on Ubuntu, and go back to what was before (i.e. utmp functionality not seeing any session). I would like to keep the package as close as possible to Debian, and find a fix for that, but I'm not even sure what to fix. Should inetutils/syslogd be more careful about which sessions it uses? Should utmp/wtmp/something not expose those seat0/sshd sessions? Is that something to fix in systemd? I'm not sure. If you have any insights, feel free to share :) I will try to look into the relationship between systemd / utmp, and if there is a standard for what should be exposed there. Thanks, Valentin On Fri, 14 Nov 2025 at 09:15, Erik Auerswald <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi Valentin, > > On Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 02:13:58PM +0100, Valentin Haudiquet wrote: > > After some testing: > > - The newer package also fails the tests on Questing > > - The older package passes the tests on Questing and Resolute > > > > So there must be something part of that package. I studied the diff, > > and some parts got my attention: > > - debian/changelog 2.6-2, (I don't know how I missed that before...) > > > + * Enable libsystemd support to restore utmp functionality in > > > + syslogd and talkd, on systems running systemd. > > - debian/rules > > > + confflags += --enable-systemd > > > > So that "libsystemd" enablement to restore "utmp" fonctionality might > > be the root cause. I'm not completely sure what all of this changes, I > > will try to keep investigating. I guess libsystemd might have > > something to do with the tty sessions we mentioned earlier. > > Perhaps logging to users does not work with the older package? The tests > do not catch that problem, and syslogd cannot know if no one is logged in, > or if utmp is empty despite logged in users. Not all sessions with a TTY > that can receieve log messages are listed in utmp, e.g., GNOME Terminal > does not create a utmp entry. > > The "syslogd.sh" tests in verbose mode sends log messages to all sessions > of the testing user. Thus I see them in every XTerm (but not in GNOME > Terminals). GNU Screen also creates utmp entries, this can be used > inside a GNOME Terminal to receive the log messages. > > Could you test this functionality for both the older and newer packages? > Open at least one terminal window that can receive log messages > (i.e., that is registered in utmp, possibly by starting "screen" > inside the terminal), and then run the syslogd tests in verbose mode > (make TESTS=syslogd.sh VERBOSE=yes check). Are log messages sent to > that terminal window? > > If the in development Ubuntu 26.04 no longer supports terminal windows > with utmp entries, you could try to check if the log messages are received > on a Linux Virtual Terminal with a text based login. Ubuntu 22.04 still > has these, e.g., tty3 is available with CTRL+ALT+3 from a graphical login. > > <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2025-11/msg00012.html> > only showes utmp entries that cannot usefully receive log messages: > > - "tty2" is a correct TTY with device file "/dev/tty2", but the graphical > session running there prevents log messages from reaching the user; > - "seat0" does not stand for an existing TTY device file. > > Does this change with, e.g., XTerm, Screen, or Linux Virtual Terminal > logins? > > Thanks, > Erik
