Public bug reported: Auditd was working on my system (Ubuntu 18.04LTS, kernel 4.15.0-1065-aws) until recently. But after splitting off /var into a new filesystem it fails to launch.
running '/sbin/auditd -f' as root indicates a problem writing the pid file (no file exists even when it says one does) Post config load command output: Started dispatcher: /sbin/audispd pid: 16927 type=DAEMON_START msg=audit(1587280022.692:2019): op=start ver=2.8.2 format=raw kernel=4.15.0-1065-aws auid=878601141 pid=16925 uid=0 ses=24 subj=unconfined res=success config_manager init complete Error setting audit daemon pid (File exists) type=DAEMON_ABORT msg=audit(1587280022.692:2020): op=set-pid auid=878601141 pid=16925 uid=0 ses=24 subj=unconfined res=failed Unable to set audit pid, exiting The audit daemon is exiting. Error setting audit daemon pid (Permission denied) /var/runĀ is a symlink to /run /var/run permissions are 777 root:root /run permissions are 755f root:root no /run/auditd.pid and subsiquently no /var/run/auditd.pid exists (even though the error incorrectly reports otherwise. /var/log/audit/audit.log output type=DAEMON_START msg=audit(1587278222.942:5617): op=start ver=2.8.2 format=raw kernel=4.15.0-1065-aws auid=4294967295 pid=7529 uid=0 ses=4294967295 subj=unconf ined res=success type=DAEMON_ABORT msg=audit(1587278222.943:5618): op=set-pid auid=4294967295 pid=7529 uid=0 ses=4294967295 subj=unconfined res=failed I have been pulling my hair out over this one. So I ran 'strace /sbin/auditd -f' and found the following line in the output. "openat(AT_FDCWD, "/var/run/auditd.pid", O_WRONLY|O_CREAT|O_TRUNC|O_NOFOLLOW, 0644) = 4" I am grasping at straws, but suspect that the O_NOFOLLOW option is causing a failure in creating the pid file since /var/run is a symlink. I could be wrong but I can't find anything else to suspect. Since it is best practice to split/var into a separate file system to prevent filling the root filesystem in case of an unexpected increase in log collection I suspect this is a bug. So either the system needs to be able to follow symlinks or an option such as pid_file=[filepath] needs to be available in /etc/audit/auditd.conf. ** Affects: audit (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1873627 Title: auditd fails after moving /var it a new filesystem and turning /var/run into a symlink to /run To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/audit/+bug/1873627/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs