Stack complains about parent directory owned by different user

[W4RH4WK]

I just encountered an issue where stack complains (and exists with !=0) when it wants to create a stack-root in a location owned by another user. This would be fine in general but even happens when the --allow-different-user flag is provided. Of course the user executing stack has write permissions inside that other directory.

If I manually create the folder beforehand (mkdir) stack doesn't complain at all.

[agocorona]

I have a similar problem under Docker. But creating the folder doesn't help to solve it:

Dockerfile:

FROM heroku/cedar

RUN apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 575159689BEFB442 \
    && echo 'deb http://download.fpcomplete.com/debian jessie main'| tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/fpco.list \
    && apt-get update &&  apt-get install stack -y
RUN stack setup --allow-different-user --compiler ghc-7.10.3
RUN apt-get install nodejs -y \
    && ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node
USER root
RUN  echo  "allow-different-user: true" > stack.yaml \
     && echo "compiler: ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3" >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "resolver: lts-6.0 " >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "compiler-check: match-exact" >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "setup-info:"   >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "  ghcjs:" >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "    source:" >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "      ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3:" >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "         url: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ghcjs/ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3.tar.gz"  >> stack.yaml \
     && echo "         sha1: 6d6f307503be9e94e0c96ef1308c7cf224d06be3"  >> stack.yaml \
     && cat stack.yaml \
     && mkdir -p /root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3/src \
     && stack setup --allow-different-user   --compiler ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3

error:

.....
ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3:   10.82 MiB downloaded...
ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3:   10.91 MiB downloaded...
ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3:   11.02 MiB downloaded...
ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3:   11.09 MiB downloaded...
ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3:   11.13 MiB downloaded...
Downloaded ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3.
Unpacking GHCJS into /root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3/src/ ...
Setting up GHCJS build environment
You are not the owner of '/root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.20160414_ghc-7.10.3/src/'. Aborting to protect file permissions.
Retry with '--allow-different-user' to disable this precaution.
....

[buckie]

I've just run into this issue too, though it seems to be worse now. stack setup seemingly changes the permissions on the fly and then fails because of it. --allow-different-user has no effect:

root@e39d656bbcbe:/pact# stack setup
Downloaded lts-6.19 build plan.
Fetched package index.
Populated index cache.
Preparing to install GHCJS to an isolated location.
This will not interfere with any system-level installation.
Downloaded ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3.
Setting up GHCJS build environmentYou are not the owner of '/root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3/src/'. Aborting to protect file permissions.
Retry with '--allow-different-user' to disable this precaution.
root@e39d656bbcbe:/pact# ls -lart /root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3/src/
total 84
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 utils
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 test
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 src-bin
drwxr-xr-x  4 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 src
drwxr-xr-x  7 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 lib
drwxr-xr-x  3 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 include
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 doc
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 cbits
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000 10047 Sep 28 08:56 Setup.hs
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000  6309 Sep 28 08:56 README.markdown
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000  1098 Sep 28 08:56 LICENSE
drwxr-xr-x 10 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 .
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000    37 Sep 28 10:21 stack.yaml
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000 13744 Sep 28 10:21 ghcjs.cabal
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root  4096 Oct 20 19:13 ..
root@e39d656bbcbe:/pact# chown -R root:root /root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3/src/
root@e39d656bbcbe:/pact# ls -lart /root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3/src/
total 84
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 utils
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 test
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 src-bin
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 src
drwxr-xr-x  7 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 lib
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 include
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 doc
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 cbits
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 10047 Sep 28 08:56 Setup.hs
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  6309 Sep 28 08:56 README.markdown
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  1098 Sep 28 08:56 LICENSE
drwxr-xr-x 10 root root  4096 Sep 28 08:56 .
-rw-r--r--  1 root root    37 Sep 28 10:21 stack.yaml
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 13744 Sep 28 10:21 ghcjs.cabal
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root  4096 Oct 20 19:13 ..
root@e39d656bbcbe:/pact# stack setup
Preparing to install GHCJS to an isolated location.
This will not interfere with any system-level installation.
Already downloaded.
Setting up GHCJS build environmentYou are not the owner of '/root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3/src/'. Aborting to protect file permissions.
Retry with '--allow-different-user' to disable this precaution.
root@e39d656bbcbe:/pact# ls -lart /root/.stack/programs/x86_64-linux/ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3/src/
total 84
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 utils
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 test
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 src-bin
drwxr-xr-x  4 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 src
drwxr-xr-x  7 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 lib
drwxr-xr-x  3 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 include
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 doc
drwxr-xr-x  2 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 cbits
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000 10047 Sep 28 08:56 Setup.hs
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000  6309 Sep 28 08:56 README.markdown
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000  1098 Sep 28 08:56 LICENSE
drwxr-xr-x 10 1000 1000  4096 Sep 28 08:56 .
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000    37 Sep 28 10:21 stack.yaml
-rw-r--r--  1 1000 1000 13744 Sep 28 10:21 ghcjs.cabal
drwxr-xr-x  4 root root  4096 Oct 20 19:14 ..
root@e39d656bbcbe:/pact#

Here's the dockerfile and relevant stack.yaml:

FROM ubuntu:16.04
MAINTAINER Will <will@kadena.io>

RUN apt-get -y update && apt-get -y upgrade

RUN apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-keys 575159689BEFB442 && \
    echo 'deb http://download.fpcomplete.com/ubuntu xenial main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/fpco.list && \
    apt-get -y update && \
    apt-get install -y libtool pkg-config build-essential autoconf automake rlwrap htop tmux libevent-dev libncurses-dev stack wget curl npm

RUN cd && mkdir .stack

COPY ./stack.yaml /pact/stack.yaml
COPY ./pact.cabal /pact/pact.cabal

CMD ["/bin/bash"]

resolver: lts-6.19
# GHCJS build
compiler: ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3
compiler-check: match-exact

setup-info:
  ghcjs:
    source:
      ghcjs-0.2.0.9006019_ghc-7.10.3:
        url: http://ghcjs.tolysz.org/lts-6.19-9006019.tar.gz
        sha1: ef4264d5a93b269ee4ec8f9d5139da030331d65a

[dplusic]

Workaround: TAR_OPTIONS=--no-same-owner stack setup

[mgsloan]

@dplusic That's good to know, thanks! Makes sense to me to have stack just always pass in that flag.

[hasufell]

Still exists in 2020 and I don't understand why stack would care about the permissions.

[J4NS-R]

If anyone is experiencing this issue when trying to run stack in a GitHub Action, you can work around it by manually setting the file ownership to the running user. Just add this step before running stack:

- name: Permissions bug workaround
  run: "chown -R $(id -un):$(id -gn) ~"

[marcellodesales]

@

If anyone is experiencing this issue when trying to run stack in a GitHub Action, you can work around it by manually setting the file ownership to the running user. Just add this step before running stack:

- name: Permissions bug workaround
  run: "chown -R $(id -un):$(id -gn) ~"

I don't get that same problem using docker-compose builds :( This has to do on how the docker container is run by github actions... that really sucks ... I'm back to using docker-compose

[hasufell]

Workaround: TAR_OPTIONS=--no-same-owner stack setup

This doesn't work (anymore?).

[mpilgrem]

@hasufell, can you provide any more information about what you are experiencing? There is this code in Stack.Config.loadConfig (extract):

    unless config.allowDifferentUser $ do
      unless userOwnsStackRoot $
        throwM (UserDoesn'tOwnDirectory stackRoot)

but that is behind the unless config.allowDifferentUser test.

EDIT: There is also a distinct error Won'tCreateStackRootInDirectoryOwnedByDifferentUser, but that has a different text to the error reported by the original poster in 2016.

[mpilgrem]

Looking at its code, Stack can be configured (the default is otherwise) to use a Stack root 'owned' by another user, but it cannot currently create a Stack root on a absolute path where the user does not 'own' any directory on that path.

None of this applies on Windows, and I don't know enough about Unix-like operating systems to know if that is a prudent approach.

[mpilgrem]

Some history: https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/471

[simonmichael]

Here's a recent example of this, in a Github linux workflow. https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger/actions/runs/8730436402/job/23954254751

[simonmichael]

I should clarify: stack is doing the right thing in my example ("Preventing creation of Stack root '/github/home/.stack/"), but it's another way to trigger this error message in a Github workflow (when using a container, there is confusion about the HOME path. For more info, see https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/1146, https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/863. Worked around with https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/863#issuecomment-1027721398 and stack's --allow-different-user flag).