Debian Trixie: locale.system: localectl: Access Denied #68356

tpokorra · 2025-09-27T05:58:12Z

tpokorra
Sep 27, 2025

On Debian Trixie, I am trying to set the system locale, according to https://docs.saltproject.io/en/3006/ref/states/all/salt.states.locale.html

But I get:

[ERROR   ] Command 'localectl' failed with return code: 1
[ERROR   ] stdout: Failed to issue method call: Access denied

Even when I run it locally:

localectl set-locale en_US.UTF-8
Failed to issue method call: Access denied

The reason is described here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/systemd/+bug/2102028
in /usr/share/dbus-1/system.d/systemd-localed-read-only.conf there is a rule for root, deny for SetLocale

It would work:

update-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8

Alternatively, I am trying to allow root to SetLocale in the file systemd-localed-read-only.conf, but that only works after I call localectl once manually for some reason. stdout: Failed to issue method call: Locale assignment data=(unset) not valid, refusing.

tpokorra · 2025-09-27T21:15:23Z

tpokorra
Sep 27, 2025
Author

my solution for the moment is like this:

/usr/share/dbus-1/system.d/systemd-localed-read-only.conf:
  file.managed:
    - source: salt://{{ slspath }}/systemd-localed-read-only.conf
    - mode: 644
    - user: root
    - group: root

systemd_reload_localed:
  cmd.run:
    - name: systemctl daemon-reload
    - name: systemctl daemon-reload && localectl set-locale en_US.UTF-8
    - onchanges:
      - file: /usr/share/dbus-1/system.d/systemd-localed-read-only.conf

us_locale:
  locale.present:
    - name: en_US.UTF-8

default_locale:
  locale.system:
    - name: en_US.UTF-8
    - require:
      - locale: us_locale

while systemd-localed-read-only.conf contains:

<busconfig>
        <policy user="root">
                <allow send_destination="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_interface="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_member="SetLocale"/>
                <deny send_destination="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_interface="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_member="SetVConsoleKeyboard"/>
                <deny send_destination="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_interface="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_member="SetX11Keyboard"/>
        </policy>
        <policy context="default">
                <deny send_destination="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_interface="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_member="SetLocale"/>
                <deny send_destination="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_interface="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_member="SetVConsoleKeyboard"/>
                <deny send_destination="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_interface="org.freedesktop.locale1" send_member="SetX11Keyboard"/>
        </policy>
</busconfig>

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Debian Trixie: locale.system: localectl: Access Denied #68356

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Debian Trixie: locale.system: localectl: Access Denied #68356

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tpokorra Sep 27, 2025

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tpokorra Sep 27, 2025 Author

tpokorra
Sep 27, 2025

tpokorra
Sep 27, 2025
Author