Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Documents error in vuc-browser.debug log

ShahbazKhan — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 14:21:09 GMT

Self Service Summary

When troubleshooting the Dynatrace Synthetic ActiveGate installation we encountered the below error messages in the logs.

2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Desktop 2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Downloads 2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Templates 2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Public 2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Documents 2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Music 2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Pictures 2023-12-22T10:23:37,604Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Videos 2023-12-22T10:23:37,630Z DEBUG [visitId=5][browser-gobbler-3] ChromeGobblerLogger: mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/snap/chromium/x1/.config’: Permission denied

These messages keep occurring even though the Synthetic ActiveGate works fine.

Root cause

These messages appear because of the missing home directory for the Synthetic user (dtuserag).
For security reasons, the installer does not create home directory when adding the user.
It is instead set to the root directory, where it doesn't have the permissions.

Solution

Unfortunately, these messages are going to be displayed. Because of snap confinements, there are some warnings reported by Chromium, but they do not impact the monitor's executions.

However, it is possible to install the ActiveGate and set a specific, existing user as the worker user. This user could have the home directory present.

/bin/bash Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux-x86-${VERSION}.sh --enable-synthetic USER=${CUSTOM_USER}

It is advisable to use the default user to have that extra level of security.

article Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Documents error in vuc-browser.debug log in Troubleshooting

Can't create dir /snap/chromium/x1/Documents error in vuc-browser.debug log

Self Service Summary

Root cause

Solution