Public bug reported: If a users home directory is an NFS server, KDE fails to start with the error "No write access to $HOME directory". The fact that the error is logged to .xsession-errors in the users home directory is a bit ironic.
This is reproducible on 20.04 and 18.04 kelleher@numbersix:~$ kelleher@numbersix:~$ lsb_release -rd Description: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Release: 20.04 kelleher@numbersix:~$ kelleher@numbersix:~$ apt-cache policy kubuntu-desktop kubuntu-desktop: Installed: 1.398 Candidate: 1.398 Version table: *** 1.398 500 500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status kelleher@numbersix:~$ kelleher@numbersix:~$ ls -la .xsession-errors -rw------- 1 kelleher kelleher 2816 May 14 22:33 .xsession-errors kelleher@numbersix:~$ kelleher@numbersix:~$ cat .xsession-errors Xsession: X session started for kelleher at Thu 14 May 2020 10:32:26 PM EDT dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/2000/bus dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:0 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XAUTHORITY=/vol/home/kelleher/.Xauthority localuser:kelleher being added to access control list dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting SHELL=/bin/bash dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=/etc/xdg/xdg-plasma:/etc/xdg:/usr/share/kubuntu-default-settings/kf5-settings dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_PATH=/org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Session2 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DESKTOP_SESSION=plasma dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PWD=/vol/home/kelleher dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=KDE dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LOGNAME=kelleher dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GPG_AGENT_INFO=/run/user/2000/gnupg/S.gpg-agent:0:1 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XAUTHORITY=/vol/home/kelleher/.Xauthority dbus-update-activation-environment: setting HOME=/vol/home/kelleher dbus-update-activation-environment: setting IM_CONFIG_PHASE=1 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LANG=en_US.UTF-8 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=KDE dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SEAT_PATH=/org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Seat0 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user dbus-update-activation-environment: setting USER=kelleher dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PAM_KWALLET5_LOGIN=/run/user/2000/kwallet5.socket dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:0 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting SHLVL=1 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/2000 dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share/plasma:/usr/local/share:/usr/share:/var/lib/snapd/desktop dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PATH=/vol/home/kelleher/.local/bin:/vol/home/kelleher/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/2000/bus dbus-update-activation-environment: setting _=/usr/bin/dbus-update-activation-environment kdeinit5: Aborting. No write access to $HOME directory (/vol/home/kelleher). The following installation problem was detected while trying to start KDE: No write access to $HOME directory (/vol/home/kelleher). KDE is unable to start. kelleher@numbersix:~$ ** Affects: kubuntu-meta (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: kde nfs -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1878742 Title: KDE - can't login with NFS $HOME To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kubuntu-meta/+bug/1878742/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs