Fix user data persistence across reboots for native Linux installs by devin-ai-integration[bot] · Pull Request #61 · Autonomy-Logic/openplc-runtime

devin-ai-integration · 2026-01-02T23:39:50Z

Summary

Fixes an issue where user credentials were lost after reboot on native Linux installations. The root cause was that /var/run/runtime is a tmpfs that gets cleared on reboot. When the .env file disappeared, a new one was generated with new secrets, which invalidated the existing password hashes and triggered database deletion.

Solution: Store persistent data (.env and restapi.db) in /var/lib/openplc-runtime on native Linux, while continuing to use /var/run/runtime for Docker deployments (where it's expected to be a mounted persistent volume).

Key changes:

Added is_running_in_container() function with multiple detection methods (/.dockerenv, env vars, cgroup, /proc/1/environ)
Added get_persistent_data_dir() to route persistent data to the appropriate location based on environment
Installer now creates /var/lib/openplc-runtime when systemd is available

Review & Testing Checklist for Human

Test native Linux reboot persistence: Install on a native Linux system, create a user, reboot, verify the user still exists and can log in
Verify Docker still works: Run the Docker image with -v openplc-runtime-data:/var/run/runtime and confirm data persists in the mounted volume (not /var/lib/openplc-runtime)
Check container detection edge cases: Test in Podman, Kubernetes pods, or LXC containers if possible to verify detection works correctly
Verify directory permissions: After native install, check that /var/lib/openplc-runtime has appropriate permissions (755) and files inside have correct ownership

Recommended Test Plan

Fresh install on Ubuntu/Debian VM with systemd
Create a user via the web interface
Verify .env and restapi.db are in /var/lib/openplc-runtime/ (not /var/run/runtime/)
Reboot the system
Verify the user still exists and can log in
Build and run Docker image to confirm container detection works

Notes

CI runs in Docker so it cannot exercise the native Linux code path - manual testing is required
Container detection uses multiple fallback methods but may have edge cases in unusual container runtimes
No automatic migration for users who may have manually persisted data in /var/run/runtime

Requested by: Thiago Alves (@thiagoralves)
Link to Devin run: https://app.devin.ai/sessions/ebc278ce265842bba5abf29df61e1201

- Add is_running_in_container() function to detect Docker/Podman environments - Add get_persistent_data_dir() function to determine where to store persistent data - On native Linux: use /var/lib/openplc-runtime for .env and database files - On containers: continue using /var/run/runtime (mounted as persistent volume) - Update installer to create /var/lib/openplc-runtime when systemd is available This fixes the issue where user credentials were lost after reboot because /var/run/runtime is a tmpfs that gets cleared on reboot. The .env file regeneration would then delete the database since new secrets invalidate old password hashes. Container detection checks: - /.dockerenv file existence - container/DOCKER_CONTAINER environment variables - /proc/1/cgroup for docker/kubepods/lxc/containerd patterns - /proc/1/environ for container= variable Co-Authored-By: Thiago Alves <thiagoralves@gmail.com>

devin-ai-integration · 2026-01-02T23:39:53Z

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Pull request overview

This PR fixes user credential loss after system reboots on native Linux installations. The issue occurred because persistent data (.env and restapi.db) were stored in /var/run/runtime, a tmpfs directory cleared on reboot, causing password hash invalidation and database regeneration.

Key changes:

Introduced container detection logic to differentiate Docker from native Linux environments
Routes persistent data to /var/lib/openplc-runtime on native Linux while preserving /var/run/runtime for Docker deployments
Modified installer to create the persistent data directory on systemd-based systems

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File	Description
webserver/config.py	Added container detection function and separate persistent data directory logic to route `.env` and database files appropriately
install.sh	Creates `/var/lib/openplc-runtime` directory on native Linux systems with systemd support

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Copilot · 2026-01-03T00:44:25Z

+            cgroup_content = f.read()
+            if "docker" in cgroup_content or "kubepods" in cgroup_content:
+                return True
+            # Also check for containerd/cri-o patterns
+            if "/lxc/" in cgroup_content or "containerd" in cgroup_content:
+                return True


Reading the entire cgroup file and performing multiple substring searches is inefficient. Consider checking for all patterns in a single pass or stopping at the first match to avoid unnecessary string operations.

Suggested change

cgroup_content = f.read()

if "docker" in cgroup_content or "kubepods" in cgroup_content:

return True

# Also check for containerd/cri-o patterns

if "/lxc/" in cgroup_content or "containerd" in cgroup_content:

return True

indicators = ("docker", "kubepods", "/lxc/", "containerd")

for line in f:

if any(indicator in line for indicator in indicators):

return True

Copilot · 2026-01-03T00:44:25Z

+        with open("/proc/1/environ", "rb") as f:
+            environ_content = f.read().decode("utf-8", errors="ignore")
+            if "container=" in environ_content:
+                return True


Reading and decoding the entire /proc/1/environ file is inefficient. The file can be large and contain many null-separated environment variables. Consider reading in chunks or using a more targeted search approach.

Suggested change

with open("/proc/1/environ", "rb") as f:

environ_content = f.read().decode("utf-8", errors="ignore")

if "container=" in environ_content:

return True

pattern = b"container="

tail_len = len(pattern) - 1

with open("/proc/1/environ", "rb") as f:

leftover = b""

while True:

chunk = f.read(4096)

if not chunk:

break

data = leftover + chunk

if pattern in data:

return True

if tail_len > 0:

leftover = data[-tail_len:]

Copilot · 2026-01-03T00:44:26Z

+        data_dir = Path("/var/lib/openplc-runtime")
+
+    # Ensure the directory exists with appropriate permissions
+    data_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)


Creating the directory without explicit permission checks could lead to security issues if the directory is created with unexpected ownership or permissions. On native Linux, /var/lib/openplc-runtime should have restricted permissions (e.g., 0755) and appropriate ownership to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data like .env files containing secrets.

Suggested change

data_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

if data_dir == Path("/var/lib/openplc-runtime"):

# Explicitly set permissions for sensitive persistent data directory

data_dir.mkdir(parents=True, mode=0o755, exist_ok=True)

try:

os.chmod(data_dir, 0o755)

except PermissionError:

logger.warning(

"Could not set permissions on %s to 0755 due to insufficient privileges",

data_dir,

)

else:

data_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

thiagoralves requested a review from Copilot January 3, 2026 00:43

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 3, 2026

View reviewed changes

thiagoralves merged commit bb12dba into development Jan 3, 2026
1 check passed

thiagoralves deleted the devin/1767397068-fix-user-persistence branch January 3, 2026 02:32

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Fix user data persistence across reboots for native Linux installs - #61

Fix user data persistence across reboots for native Linux installs#61
thiagoralves merged 1 commit into
developmentfrom
devin/1767397068-fix-user-persistence

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-        with open("/proc/1/environ", "rb") as f:
-            environ_content = f.read().decode("utf-8", errors="ignore")
-            if "container=" in environ_content:
-                return True
+        pattern = b"container="
+        tail_len = len(pattern) - 1
+        with open("/proc/1/environ", "rb") as f:
+            leftover = b""
+            while True:
+                chunk = f.read(4096)
+                if not chunk:
+                    break
+                data = leftover + chunk
+                if pattern in data:
+                    return True
+                if tail_len > 0:
+                    leftover = data[-tail_len:]

-    data_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    if data_dir == Path("/var/lib/openplc-runtime"):
+        # Explicitly set permissions for sensitive persistent data directory
+        data_dir.mkdir(parents=True, mode=0o755, exist_ok=True)
+        try:
+            os.chmod(data_dir, 0o755)
+        except PermissionError:
+            logger.warning(
+                "Could not set permissions on %s to 0755 due to insufficient privileges",
+                data_dir,
+            )
+    else:
+        data_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

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devin-ai-integration Bot commented Jan 2, 2026

Summary

Review & Testing Checklist for Human

Recommended Test Plan

Notes

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