When layering at package, at commands fail

[rrenomeron]

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Describe the bug After layering the at package and rebooting, any attempt to run the at command results in the following error:

warning: commands will be executed using /bin/sh
Cannot open lockfile /var/spool/at/.SEQ: No such file or directory

To Reproduce Please describe the steps needed to reproduce the bug:

1. Install at with rpm-ostree install at
2. Reboot
3. Open terminal
4. Run at 21:00

Expected behavior An at> prompt for entering commands

warning: commands will be executed using /bin/sh
at Sat May 18 22:00:00 2024
at> 

Screenshots N/A

OS version:

State: idle
BootedDeployment:
● fedora:fedora/39/x86_64/silverblue
                  Version: 39.20240519.0 (2024-05-19T01:00:12Z)
               BaseCommit: 26fa4886e8496694890e1e8b6d7929fac418c6a9dd7f7b814db01772d12a4fe3
             GPGSignature: Valid signature by E8F23996F23218640CB44CBE75CF5AC418B8E74C
          LayeredPackages: at

Additional context Adding the file fixes the problem.

I also see a similar issue on Universal Blue/Bluefin/Custom Images (where I have put the at package in the container image), but with those, the entire /var/spool/at directory tree is missing (for whatever that is worth).

[miabbott]

I think this related to the packaging of the at RPM; specifically the package has a %post section that touches the /var/spool/at/.SEQ file and sets permissions on it.

https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/at/blob/rawhide/f/at.spec#_122-125

The state of /var isn't tracked as part of the ostree commit, so these actions will be discarded/ignored after rebooting into the new deployment.

The packaging should be changed to use systemd tmpfiles.d. For example, see how the cups package handles the creation of files under /var/spool/cups

https://src.fedoraproject.org/rpms/cups/blob/rawhide/f/cups.spec#_461-468

I'd recommend filing an issue with the at packaging in Fedora: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/enter_bug.cgi?product=Fedora&component=at

[travier]

+1 to what Micah said.

Alternatively, you can install and run this from a toolbox container or use systemd timer unit which are a better superset of this functionality.