[Bug 2091657] Re: systemd-localed requires read-only-etc hacks for /etc/vconsole.conf and /etc/locale.conf

[Andreas Hasenack]

Hello Nick, or anyone else affected,

Accepted systemd into noble-proposed. The package will build now and be
available at
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/systemd/255.4-1ubuntu8.6 in a few
hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package.  See
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how
to enable and use -proposed.  Your feedback will aid us getting this
update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug,
mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been
performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-
noble to verification-done-noble. If it does not fix the bug for you,
please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-
failed-noble. In either case, without details of your testing we will
not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification .  Thank you in
advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s)
fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in
-proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

** Changed in: systemd (Ubuntu Noble)
       Status: In Progress => Fix Committed

** Tags added: verification-needed verification-needed-noble

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2091657

Title:
  systemd-localed requires read-only-etc hacks for /etc/vconsole.conf
  and /etc/locale.conf

Status in systemd package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid
Status in systemd source package in Noble:
  Fix Committed

Bug description:
  [Impact]

  Ubuntu Core has a read-only /etc, but a writable partition in
  /etc/writable. In some versions of Ubuntu, the systemd package ships a
  patch to follow symlinks from /etc/ -> /etc/writable, e.g. for files
  like /etc/locale.conf.

  In Core24, this patch needs to be expanded for /etc/locale.conf and
  /etc/vconsole.conf in systemd-localed.

  [Test Plan]

  1. On a pristine Ubuntu Core system, run "localectl status". Verify
  that the system locale is set to the default (seems to be "C.UTF-8"
  based on the current core24 snap).

  2. Modify the system locale by running "localectl set-locale
  LANG=en_AU.UTF-8". The command should complete without error.

  3. Check that the locale has changed by running "localectl status".

  4. Check that the locale has been saved to /etc/locale.conf

  5. Reboot the system, and run "localectl status" again to check that
  the change has persisted.

  [Where problems could occur]

  This hack is designed to be a no-op in non-Ubuntu Core cases. I.e.,
  when /etc/writable does not exist or does not have a link for the
  given path in etc, the original path is used.

  As is evident by the ever-expanding nature of this patch, this is not
  a complete solution. It's possible that more cases will be found where
  this hack needs to be applied.

  [Other information]

  This patch is not carried in supported releases newer than Noble.
  While this patch is far from ideal, expanding this hack has become the
  go-to for existing stable releases.

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