You are not allowed to perform this action

mickee · 15 December 2022 19:42

I get this when I try to use the GUI software updater. I find myself wondering why I'm having these issues all of the sudden!

oh no! Now can't even install from Boutique:

I'm gonna reboot

That changed nothing. I noticed after launching the Software Updater the window shows up and briefly says "awaiting authentication' then displays the "not allowed to perform this action. Is this something to do with pam?

I also cannot view my USB external drives, get this message:
Screenshot at 2022-12-14 20-35-56

Seriously all was fine yesterday and I have installed no new software or made any changes in over 2 or more weeks, but have run sudo apt update/upgrade in terminal daily. Also my backups are also now failing due to access denied when trying to run. I cannot use grsync either. Same reason. I am in the sudo group and the only one in that group. (I have been told I am doing updates too often... not sure how that would break this>)

I have been doing som Google searches and more than one mention to check if gksudo is installed. If I run gksudo from CLI, it says basically not found. I think this is depricated.

so since everything works from the terminal and not when using GUI applications I can assume the app is not actually invoking the pop-up to authenticate in GUI. As I mentioned previously I did not perform the partial upgrade.

Is there something from the syslog I need to post?

Any help is definitely appreciated

pavlos_kairis · 15 December 2022 20:03

I cannot find software-updater as a command. When you select Software Updater from the menu, it starts a python3 update-manager process (if this is what you're looking for)

I can start sudo software-boutique from a terminal provided that I am in the GUI environment.

um22.04

OldStrummer · 15 December 2022 23:12

From a distant, dim, memory: I seem to recall having a similar issue with a menu-driven process (Firewall Configuration, I think). Turns out the problem isn't with permissions on the app (the firewall) but on the .desktop file (in /usr/share/applications, I think). What's odd in my case is that I can run the gufw app from the menu on my host machine, but not when I'm making a remote connection. That leads me to suspect the problem is a security/permissions issue.

mickee · 16 December 2022 13:55

I agree. I am not versed in security that deep. Is there a way to fix this? I checked and I am in sudo group and the only one in there. It works in terminal because its asking for sudo password. The GUI seems as if the graphical sudo (authentication) is not being asked?

mickee · 16 December 2022 14:15

mickee@mickeymouse:~$ sudo -l
[sudo] password for mickee: 
Matching Defaults entries for mickee on mickeymouse:
    env_reset, mail_badpass,
    secure_path=/usr/local/sbin\:/usr/local/bin\:/usr/sbin\:/usr/bin\:/sbin\:/bin\:/snap/bin,
    use_pty

User mickee may run the following commands on mickeymouse:
    (ALL : ALL) ALL

mickee · 16 December 2022 14:16

mickee@mickeymouse:~$ sudo -l
[sudo] password for mickee:
Matching Defaults entries for mickee on mickeymouse:
env_reset, mail_badpass,
secure_path=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin,
use_pty

User mickee may run the following commands on mickeymouse:
(ALL : ALL) ALL

mickee · 16 December 2022 14:28

I don't think The PolicyKit Authentication Agent is running but is in the Start up applications:

/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1

To be sure I ran that command in Terminal and got this output:


(polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1:830904): GLib-CRITICAL **: 08:27:44.712: g_variant_new_string: assertion 'string != NULL' failed

(polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1:830904): polkit-mate-1-WARNING **: 08:27:44.713: Failed to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.gnome.SessionManager was not provided by any .service files

mickee · 16 December 2022 14:39


mickee@mickeymouse:~$ sudo systemctl status polkit.service
[sudo] password for mickee: 
● polkit.service - Authorization Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/polkit.service; static)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2022-12-14 20:24:29 CST; 1 day 12h ago
       Docs: man:polkit(8)
   Main PID: 1739 (polkitd)
      Tasks: 3 (limit: 18908)
     Memory: 6.4M
        CPU: 1.770s
     CGroup: /system.slice/polkit.service
             └─1739 /usr/libexec/polkitd --no-debug

Dec 16 08:27:32 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authenti>
Dec 16 08:27:38 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authen>
Dec 16 08:27:38 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authen>
Dec 16 08:27:38 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authenti>
Dec 16 08:27:44 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authenti>
Dec 16 08:34:55 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authen>
Dec 16 08:35:26 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authenti>
Dec 16 08:35:33 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authen>
Dec 16 08:38:14 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authenti>
Dec 16 08:38:27 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authen

mickee · 16 December 2022 14:54

mickee@mickeymouse:~$ /usr/lib/mate-polkit/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1
bash: /usr/lib/mate-polkit/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1: No such file or directory

I am not sure how I removed that file. I didn't type that kind of command into Terminal

mickee · 16 December 2022 16:13

Is this going to be a nuke and pave scenario or is there a way to fix this? I seem to now be missing the mate polkit file. Anyway I can get a copy of that file maybe from your installation UM 22.04?

/usr/lib/mate-polkit/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1

You can email it to [email protected] or if you upload it somewhere where I can download it would be much appreciated. (I have since found this on the internet - will put in place and report back)

ricmarques · 16 December 2022 21:55

Hi, @mickee

In my case, in a fresh installation of Ubuntu MATE 22.04.1 LTS ("Jammy Jellyfish"), I have that "polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1" file in a different folder / directory from yours. In my case, that file is in the "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/" folder:

$ systemctl status polkit --full --no-pager
● polkit.service - Authorization Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/polkit.service; static)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2022-12-16 20:57:08 WET; 46min ago
       Docs: man:polkit(8)
   Main PID: 912 (polkitd)
      Tasks: 3 (limit: 18889)
     Memory: 5.9M
        CPU: 202ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/polkit.service
             └─912 /usr/libexec/polkitd --no-debug

dez 16 20:57:08 hostname systemd[1]: Starting Authorization Manager...
dez 16 20:57:08 hostname systemd[1]: Started Authorization Manager.
dez 16 20:57:08 hostname polkitd[912]: started daemon version 0.105 using authority implementation `local' version `0.105'
dez 16 21:00:18 hostname polkitd(authority=local)[912]: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:c2 (system bus name :1.81 [/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1], object path /org/mate/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8)

$ ls -l /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 55448 dez 11  2021 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1

$ sha256sum /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1
ecf57eda2a122719554cf81df64a668b094b3588f2b306f4f7dd337db7bc95d9  /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1

The package that provides that file is "mate-polkit":

$ dpkg --search /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1
mate-polkit:amd64: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1

mickee · 16 December 2022 23:27

Thanks, I will look there. Thanks for looking at the post

mickee · 17 December 2022 03:23

@ricmarques The polkit is indeed installed. In your opinion, should I try fixing this or reinstall UM?

mickee · 17 December 2022 06:55

@ricmarques My output is almost exactly the same as what you posted! I wonder why I am not getting authentication prompts?

mickee · 17 December 2022 16:57

mickee@mickeymouse:~$ systemctl status polkit --full --no-pager
● polkit.service - Authorization Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/polkit.service; static)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2022-12-14 20:24:29 CST; 2 days ago
       Docs: man:polkit(8)
   Main PID: 1739 (polkitd)
      Tasks: 3 (limit: 18908)
     Memory: 7.2M
        CPU: 3.593s
     CGroup: /system.slice/polkit.service
             └─1739 /usr/libexec/polkitd --no-debug

Dec 16 08:45:36 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-process:844567:13053242 (system bus name :1.804, object path /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8)
Dec 16 08:50:57 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-process:859078:13124859 (system bus name :1.813 [pkexec /usr/libexec/cpu-x-daemon], object path /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8)
Dec 16 08:51:01 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Operator of unix-process:859078:13124859 FAILED to authenticate to gain authorization for action org.cpu-x-daemon for unix-process:859078:13124859 [cpu-x -d] (owned by unix-user:mickee)
Dec 16 08:51:01 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-process:859078:13124859 (system bus name :1.813, object path /org/freedesktop/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8)
Dec 16 08:52:56 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-session:c3 (system bus name :1.741, object path /org/mate/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_CA.UTF-8) (disconnected from bus)
Dec 16 08:52:56 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:c3 (system bus name :1.819 [/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1], object path /org/mate/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_CA.UTF-8)
Dec 16 08:58:53 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Operator of unix-session:c3 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mickee to gain ONE-SHOT authorization for action com.ubuntu.pkexec.gdebi.gtk for unix-process:13096:19032 [/usr/bin/caja] (owned by unix-user:mickee)
Dec 16 09:00:58 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-session:c3 (system bus name :1.819, object path /org/mate/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_CA.UTF-8) (disconnected from bus)
Dec 16 09:01:48 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:c5 (system bus name :1.875 [/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1], object path /org/mate/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_CA.UTF-8)
Dec 16 09:02:00 mickeymouse polkitd(authority=local)[1739]: Operator of unix-session:c5 successfully authenticated as unix-user:mickee to gain TEMPORARY authorization for action org.freedesktop.systemd1.manage-units for system-bus-name::1.880 [systemctl --no-pager restart boinc-client.service] (owned by unix-user:mickee)

but mine has access erors

mickee · 17 December 2022 21:07

also, I am unable to mount and open my external disks. "Not authorized to perform this action" which could be why my backup is failing. What is syntax to run rsync in Terminal. I need to do that in case i have to reinstall. I think I also need to mount the external disks via terminal.

mickee · 17 December 2022 21:19

I created a new admin user. Everything seems to be fine there as far as this issue goes, however my new user does not have access rights to any of my old /home and external drives files. If i keep that new user (uuid 1001) I will need access to all files owned by uuid 1000, which I will need help doing. I can't just copy the backup (rsync) to my new /home directory as I do not have file access to the external disk containing it.

Cinthia_Ramona_Gonza · 17 December 2022 22:46

hola @mickey tengo un pequeño problema ¿me podrias ayudar? si no es molestia

ricmarques · 18 December 2022 15:03

Hi again, @mickee

Let's try something else first: log in to the user account where you are having that problem, open a Terminal window and run the following command:

sudo ps -ef | grep -i 'polkit'

... and paste the output. In my case, I get the following output:

$ sudo ps -ef | grep -i 'polkit'
root         906       1  0 14:03 ?        00:00:00 /usr/libexec/polkitd --no-debug
myusername     2315    1760  0 14:03 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1
myusername     8754    3389  0 14:57 pts/0    00:00:00 grep --color=auto -i polkit

If you don't have that line "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1" in the list of processes, my guess would be that indeed something is wrong with the "Polkit MATE Authentication Agent" in your Ubuntu MATE 22.04.1 installation for that user account.

In the "/var/log/syslog" file of my computer, the only lines that I get relate to the startup of the Polkit daemon ("polkitd"). See if you are getting the same output:

$ grep -i 'polkit' /var/log/syslog
Dec 18 14:03:32 mypc polkitd[906]: started daemon version 0.105 using authority implementation `local' version `0.105'

mickee · 18 December 2022 18:38

mickee@mickeymouse:~$ sudo ps -ef | grep -i 'polkit'
[sudo] password for mickee: 
root        1747       1  0 12:31 ?        00:00:00 /usr/libexec/polkitd --no-debug
mickee     10759    8731  0 12:33 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/polkit-mate/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1
mickee     21794   13978  0 12:36 pts/1    00:00:00 grep --color=auto -i polkit

mickee@mickeymouse:~$ grep -i 'polkit' /var/log/syslog
Dec 18 12:27:20 mickeymouse systemd-xdg-autostart-generator[3250799]: Exec binary '/usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1' does not exist: No such file or directory
Dec 18 12:27:20 mickeymouse systemd-xdg-autostart-generator[3250799]: Not generating service for XDG autostart app-polkit\x2dgnome\x2dauthentication\x2dagent\[email protected], error parsing Exec= line: No such file or directory
grep: /var/log/syslog: binary file matches

I see the file listing shows the file is missing. Right? Can I just get that file? I am wondering what I did to cause this?