VSCode not starting unless --no-sandbox provided in certain cases

[sweettyler]

downloaded & installed the latest insider version "code-insider-1568700490.tar.gz" and found it crashed at launch with error message:

../code-insiders: /lib64/libdbus-1.so.3: no version information available (required by ../code-insiders)

my system: CentOS Linux release 7.4.1708 (Core)

it worked last Friday with the version "code-insider-1568277818.tar.gz"

• VSCode Version:
• OS Version:

Steps to Reproduce:

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes/No

[vscodebot]

(Experimental duplicate detection)
Thanks for submitting this issue. Please also check if it is already covered by an existing one, like:

• Code-insiders started from WSL doesn't return to console/ doesn't connect (#75959)

[sweettyler]

No such a problem with the stable version v1.38.1.

after some investigation, it seems the problem has nothing to do with the error message (which was warning and I also have it when I launch the stable version of vscode), it must be caused by something else!

[kieferrm]

That's the build based off commit bdd1971. The insider build now uses electron 6.0.9 which may cause the problem.

[bpasero]

@sweettyler does it work if you start with --no-sandbox?

[sweettyler]

Yes, it works with --no-sandbox.

And the messages are:
../code-insiders: /lib64/libdbus-1.so.3: no version information available (required by ../code-insiders)
Option 'sandbox' is unknown. Ignoring.

[bpasero]

@sweettyler what kind of setup is this? Does Linux run in a VM? Or Container? Or is this literally a normal installation on disk? Anything special about user permissions?

Related/duplicate: #80975

[sweettyler]

@bpasero My Linux is managed by "HP Remote Graphics Session Manager", so it is in a VM actually. I don't think there is anything special because both the stable version (v1.38.1) and the insider version of "code-insider-1568277818.tar.gz" work in the same environment.

[sweettyler]

here are some more message with --verbose:
[298177:0917/131615.366585:FATAL:setuid_sandbox_host.cc(157)] The SUID sandbox helper binary was found, but is not configured correctly. Rather than run without sandboxing I'm aborting now. You need to make sure that .../VSCode-linux-x64/chrome-sandbox is owned by root and has mode 4755

[MarlonRodriguez]

This happens on my windows 10 citrix session as well. Crash with the latest version of code insiders. It also works fine if using --no-sandbox. Interesting enough, once I have one open that way, any other Code window I open without that options still works fine. Close them all and start over, no options, it crashes again.
Errors/warnings:
Option 'sandbox' is unknown. Ignoring.
[main 2019-09-17T22:39:29.663Z] update#setState idle
(electron) 'isAccessibilitySupportEnabled function' is deprecated and will be removed. Please use 'accessibilitySupportEnabled property' instead.
(node:29340) [DEP0005] DeprecationWarning: Buffer() is deprecated due to security and usability issues. Please use the Buffer.alloc(), Buffer.allocUnsafe(), or Buffer.from() methods instead.
(node:29340) [DEP0005] DeprecationWarning: Buffer() is deprecated due to security and usability issues. Please use the Buffer.alloc(), Buffer.allocUnsafe(), or Buffer.from() methods instead.
[main 2019-09-17T22:39:59.664Z] update#setState checking for updates
[main 2019-09-17T22:39:59.769Z] update#setState idle

[MarlonRodriguez]

Using "code - insiders.exe" --verbose --performance:
Option 'performance' is unknown. Ignoring.
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:46.999Z] Starting VS Code
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:46.999Z] from: c:\Users\myusername\Documents\VSCode\resources\app
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.000Z] args: { _: [], verbose: true, diff: undefined }
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.004Z] Resolving machine identifier...
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.005Z] Resolved machine identifier: 2968ec11c69619ea1adb7093c88d0ba633bc32e78e563fd122d7c5eba05d8932 (trueMachineId: undefined)
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.034Z] update#setState idle
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.035Z] [storage state.vscdb] open(c:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Code - Insiders\User\globalStorage\state.vscdb, retryOnBusy: true)
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.037Z] lifecycle (main): phase changed (value: 2)
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.039Z] windowsManager#open
(electron) 'isAccessibilitySupportEnabled function' is deprecated and will be removed. Please use 'accessibilitySupportEnabled property' instead.
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.123Z] lifecycle (main): phase changed (value: 3)
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.547Z] [storage state.vscdb] Trace (event): SELECT * FROM ItemTable
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.551Z] [storage state.vscdb] getItems(): 52 rows
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.653Z] [storage state.vscdb] updateItems(): insert(Map(2) {telemetry.lastSessionDate => Tue, 17 Sep 2019 23:06:28 GMT, telemetry.currentSessionDate => Tue, 17 Sep 2019 23:08:47 GMT}), delete(Set(0) {})
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.654Z] [storage state.vscdb] Trace (event): BEGIN TRANSACTION
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.654Z] [storage state.vscdb] Trace (event): INSERT INTO ItemTable VALUES ('telemetry.lastSessionDate','Tue, 17 Sep 2019 23:06:28 GMT'),('telemetry.currentSessionDate','Tue, 17 Sep 2019 23:08:47 GMT')
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:47.657Z] [storage state.vscdb] Trace (event): END TRANSACTION
[main 2019-09-17T23:08:50.131Z] getShellEnvironment: running on Windows, skipping
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:17.035Z] update#checkForUpdates, state = idle
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:17.035Z] update#setState checking for updates
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:17.037Z] RequestService#request https://update.code.visualstudio.com/api/update/win32-x64-archive/insider/bdd1971f2cd9d08a8a90e02740f1850afe03da66
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:17.550Z] [VS Code]: detected unresponsive
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:21.435Z] Lifecycle#window.on('closed') - window ID 1
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:21.435Z] Lifecycle#onWillShutdown.fire()
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:21.443Z] [storage state.vscdb] close()
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:21.445Z] Lifecycle#app.on(window-all-closed)
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:21.446Z] Lifecycle#app.on(before-quit)
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:21.448Z] Lifecycle#onBeforeShutdown.fire()
[main 2019-09-17T23:09:21.452Z] Lifecycle#app.on(will-quit)

[bpasero]

@sweettyler @MarlonRodriguez can you CD into the VSCode installation folder and run this command and print the output:

ls -al chrome-sandbox

[bpasero]

Also can you please let me know how you installed VSCode to begin with? Did you use a zip archive?

[vladimiry]

Known workarounds on the user side:

• Passing --no-sandbox argument.
• Persistent but system-wide workaround is enabling a User Namespaces: sudo sysctl kernel.unprivileged_userns_clone=1 (it's for example enabled by default on Ubuntu, but not on Arch Linux).
• Enabling SUID/fallback sandbox by executing chown root chrome-sandbox && chmod 4755 chrome-sandbox (sudo might be needed).

Known solutions on the code side:

• For AppImage: repackaging the app in order to hardcode the --no-sandbox arg in respective AppRun script.
• For Snap: recent electron-builder versions already hardcode --no-sandbox arg for you.
• For other/non-containerized package types: running chown root chrome-sandbox && chmod 4755 chrome-sandbox before preparing the packages. Depending on the repository type there also will be a need to do the same in the reporitory-related scripts, like done here for AUR.
• Well, using own preloader that will pass the --no-sandbox argument for all the package types.

[bpasero]

We are thinking of hardcoding --no-sandbox in all places we launch VSCode.

[bpasero]

Landed via #81096

The only remaining issue will be if you run the executable directly, but that is not intended anyway.

[sweettyler]

@bpasero "ls -al chrome-sandbox" gives:
-rwx------ 1 tylr tylr 5099032 Sep 11 19:54 chrome-sandbox
BTW, "chmod 4755 chrome-sandbox" doesn't help (don't have root permission so cannot change the owner.

I installed vscode from the downloaded zip package ("code-insider-1568700490.tar.gz")

Sorry for the late reply.

[bpasero]

@sweettyler if you run our binary directly from the command line, you will have to manually add "--no-sandbox" for now.