[Bug 2088268] Re: systemd /tmp cleaning removes files that it shouldn't

[Juha Aatrokoski]

Also, full disclosure: I have the noatime mount option set for the root
filesystem, which certainly exacerbates the problem, e.g. the TigerVNC
issue would have been less likely (instead of certain) without noatime.
But noatime is not the cause of the problem: all the bad scenarios
listed are perfectly feasible (though maybe not as likely) even with
properly recorded atimes.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2088268

Title:
  systemd /tmp cleaning removes files that it shouldn't

Status in systemd package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  On Ubuntu 24.04.1, systemd 255.4-1ubuntu8.4, the fix for bug #2019026
  causes files under /tmp to be removed if their age is greater than 30
  days. However, there are files under /tmp that should not be removed
  at runtime regardless of their age (whether they belong in that
  directory at all is a separate question), for example those listed in
  /usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/x11.conf (I have witnessed the disappearance of
  X11 lock files, though the sockets are still there; /tmp/.XIM-unix and
  /tmp/.font-unix have also disappeared).

  I am not familiar enough with systemd-tmpfiles to figure out whether
  those files can be properly protected from removal with a tmpfiles.d
  configuration change, but I do know that the current configuration
  does not do that.

  I noticed this problem when a couple of TigerVNC sessions became
  inaccessible a month after starting them, which turned out to be
  because the "cached" password file in /tmp/tigervnc.XXXXXX/passwd was
  removed. This is at least partially a bug in tigervnc, but the problem
  also affects other critical not-to-be-removed-or-else files under
  /tmp.

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