rdctl command not working right after installing Rancher Desktop

[mmartin24]

Actual Behavior

After installing Rancher Desktop in Linux (both in Ubuntu 22.04 and in openSUSE TW) I can't initiate it using rdctl start; I have to use rancher-desktop instead.

See attached screenshots:

Steps to Reproduce

Basically following installation steps from https://docs.rancherdesktop.io/getting-started/installation (except I am not creating pass Setup)

1. Ensure right privileges are met for kvm [ -r /dev/kvm ] && [ -w /dev/kvm ] || echo 'insufficient privileges'
2. Install RD using:

   curl -s https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:/Rancher:/stable/deb/Release.key | gpg --dearmor | sudo dd status=none of=/usr/share/keyrings/isv-rancher-stable-archive-keyring.gpg
   echo 'deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/isv-rancher-stable-archive-keyring.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/isv:/Rancher:/stable/deb/ ./' | sudo dd status=none of=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/isv-rancher-stable.list
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install rancher-desktop

3. Attempt to start Rancher Desktop using rdctl start (it is not possible because .rd directory is not created)

Result

manuel@manuel-Standard-PC-Q35-ICH9-2009:~$ rdctl start
Command 'rdctl' not found, did you mean:
  command 'grdctl' from deb gnome-remote-desktop (42.3-0ubuntu1)
  command 'ndctl' from deb ndctl (72.1-1)
  command 'wdctl' from deb util-linux (2.37.2-4ubuntu3)
Try: sudo apt install <deb name>

Expected Behavior

rdctl start should initiate Rancher Desktop after installl

Additional Information

No response

Rancher Desktop Version

1.5.0

Rancher Desktop K8s Version

1.24.3

Which container engine are you using?

containerd (nerdctl)

What operating system are you using?

Ubuntu

Operating System / Build Version

22.04

What CPU architecture are you using?

x64

Linux only: what package format did you use to install Rancher Desktop?

deb

Windows User Only

No response

[gaktive]

Without /.rd, the rdctl command would need to exist elsewhere since it should be under /.rd/bin/.

Checking if we can repro this but I'm curious with the UI and app being launchable, what steps were done. Maybe an install log would help? @prabalsharma can you check if the steps followed here are correct?

[ericpromislow]

rdctl start really isn't intended as a first-run command. As explained above, on first-run Rancher Desktop creates the ~/.rd subtree, populates the bin subdir, and adds code to ~/.bashrc (or equivalent) unless told not to.

[prabalsharma]

Closing this, as this is by design

[jandubois]

I'm going to reopen this issue because I think when we have a real installer for RD, it should set things up so that rdctl start can work for a first start.

We will need an installer on macOS to create the privileged helper application, and we'll eventually need it on Linux when we support a routable IP address and need to create a TUN device on the host.

Adding this issue to the area/installer category.