#76928 User accounts are shared between system generations

Message #5 received at submit@debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ian Eure <ian@retrospec.tv>

To: bug-guix@gnu.org

Subject: User accounts are shared between system generations

Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2025 15:46:45 -0700

Found this one on accident today and was surprised.  To reproduce:

- Remove your user account from your system configuration on 
accident.
- `sudo guix system reconfigure'
- Realize your mistake.  Observe that neither `su' nor `sudo' 
work, because you don’t exist.
- Reboot in a state of mild panic.
- Select any previous system generation from GRUB.

Expected result: previous generations should have the account 
which was deleted, since it was declared in the configurations 
which produced them.

Actual result: They don’t.

 -- Ian

Message #8 received at 76928@debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>

To: Ian Eure <ian@retrospec.tv>

Cc: 76928@debbugs.gnu.org

Subject: Re: bug#76928: User accounts are shared between system generations

Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2025 20:41:48 +0100

Hi,

Ian Eure <ian@retrospec.tv> skribis:

> Found this one on accident today and was surprised.  To reproduce:
>
> - Remove your user account from your system configuration on
>   accident.
> - `sudo guix system reconfigure'
> - Realize your mistake.  Observe that neither `su' nor `sudo'  work,
>  because you don’t exist.
> - Reboot in a state of mild panic.
> - Select any previous system generation from GRUB.
>
> Expected result: previous generations should have the account which
> was deleted, since it was declared in the configurations which
> produced them.
>
> Actual result: They don’t.

Are you sure?  /etc/{shadow,passwd,group} are created at activation
time, meaning when booting or reconfiguring (see ‘account-activation’,
which returns code that calls ‘activate-users+groups’, the procedure
that creates those files).

Thanks,
Ludo’.

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