relenv attempts to create / extract files into the installation directory (no permission, not run as root)

[Sxderp]

When starting the salt-master I get the following traceback.

Error processing line 1 of /opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv.pth:
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site.py", line 195, in addpackage
      exec(line)
    File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 1072, in bootstrap
      install_cargo_config()
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 851, in install_cargo_config
      toolchain = common().get_toolchain()
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/common.py", line 231, in get_toolchain
      os.makedirs(DATA_DIR, exist_ok=True)
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/os.py", line 215, in makedirs
      makedirs(head, exist_ok=exist_ok)
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/os.py", line 225, in makedirs
      mkdir(name, mode)
  PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/opt/saltstack/salt/.local'
Remainder of file ignored
Error processing line 1 of /opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv.pth:
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site.py", line 195, in addpackage
      exec(line)
    File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 1072, in bootstrap
      install_cargo_config()
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 851, in install_cargo_config
      toolchain = common().get_toolchain()
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/common.py", line 231, in get_toolchain
      os.makedirs(DATA_DIR, exist_ok=True)
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/os.py", line 215, in makedirs
      makedirs(head, exist_ok=exist_ok)
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/os.py", line 225, in makedirs
      mkdir(name, mode)
  PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/opt/saltstack/salt/.local'
Remainder of file ignored

The process is run as non-root, so it does not have permissions to create directories. I am observing this behavior with Salt 3007.8 / relenv 20.6.

Salt Version:
          Salt: 3007.8
 
Python Version:
        Python: 3.10.18 (main, Sep  5 2025, 22:48:51) [GCC 11.2.0]
 
Dependency Versions:
          cffi: 1.16.0
      cherrypy: unknown
  cryptography: 42.0.5
      dateutil: 2.8.2
     docker-py: Not Installed
         gitdb: Not Installed
     gitpython: Not Installed
        Jinja2: 3.1.6
       libgit2: Not Installed
  looseversion: 1.3.0
      M2Crypto: Not Installed
          Mako: Not Installed
       msgpack: 1.0.7
  msgpack-pure: Not Installed
  mysql-python: Not Installed
     packaging: 24.0
     pycparser: 2.21
      pycrypto: Not Installed
  pycryptodome: 3.19.1
        pygit2: Not Installed
  python-gnupg: 0.5.2
        PyYAML: 6.0.1
         PyZMQ: 25.1.2
        relenv: 0.20.6
         smmap: Not Installed
       timelib: 0.3.0
       Tornado: 6.4.2
           ZMQ: 4.3.4
 
Salt Package Information:
  Package Type: onedir
 
System Versions:
          dist: rhel 9.6 Plow
        locale: utf-8
       machine: x86_64
       release: 5.14.0-570.41.1.el9_6.x86_64
        system: Linux
       version: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.6 Plow

[dwoz]

I think this is more of a salt packaging issue. In the salt package we create the salt user with a home directory of /opt/saltstack/salt but that user doesn't have write permissions to the directory. I think we'd be better off making the salt user's home directory /var/cache/salt instead.

[Sxderp]

Is there a followup issue for this or do I need to create one?

[dwoz]

@Sxderp can you create an issue in the salt repo for this please?

[dwoz]

@Sxderp has this been fully resolved?

[Sxderp]

Well, I'm no longer getting permission denied for /opt/salltstack/salt/.local but I am getting a different error. I'm not sure if the new error is just masking the old one. This is on Salt 3007.13.

Error processing line 1 of /opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv.pth:
  Traceback (most recent call last):
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site.py", line 195, in addpackage
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site.py", line 195, in addpackage
      exec(line)
      exec(line)
    File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
    File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 1280, in bootstrap
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 1280, in bootstrap
      install_cargo_config()
      install_cargo_config()
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 1035, in install_cargo_config
    File "/opt/saltstack/salt/lib/python3.10/site-packages/relenv/runtime.py", line 1035, in install_cargo_config
      if not toolchain:
      if not toolchain:
  UnboundLocalError: local variable 'toolchain' referenced before assignment
  UnboundLocalError: local variable 'toolchain' referenced before assignment