Hang when logging in when /var/run/.ncp-latest-version is missing

[janvlug]

I have a NextcloudPi with LUKS encrypted disks for data and backup.
This means that after a reboot, or when starting the NextcloudPi, I have to login into the NextcloudPi to unlock the encrypted disks and to manually start apache after making the disks available. I normally login over ssh to unlock the LUKS disks.

When I'm trying to login, I do not get the prompt after providing username and password.

The cause seems that the Message of the day (motd) script looks for the /var/run/.ncp-latest-version file, to compose the motd. However, after a reboot this file does not exists directly after a booting the NextcloudPi. I did not figure out exactly when the file is created. Note that on my system apache serving Nextcloud is not started at boot (because of the needed LUKS disks).

Script /etc/update-motd.d/20updates calls /usr/local/bin/ncp-check-updates which looks for /var/run/.ncp-latest-version. I'm not sure if this is the root of the issue though.

After providing the username and password, and when the terminal "hangs", I can press Ctrl-c on a physical console and I do get the bash prompt, and this warning:
ls: cannot access '/var/run/.ncp-latest-version': No such file or directory

When I use this prompt to unlock the disks and start apache, the /var/run/.ncp-latest-version file appears after some time, and all works fine, and I can also ssh into the NextcloudPi again. I do not know what triggers the creation of the /var/run/.ncp-latest-version file creation.

Maybe the motd scripts should be able to handle the missing of the /var/run/.ncp-latest-version, or the .ncp-latest-version file could be in a location that is not cleaned on a reboot.

This issue is related to issue #2132.

System information

NextcloudPi diagnostics

NextcloudPi version  v1.58.0
NextcloudPi image    NextCloudPi_RaspberryPi_v1.51.3.img
OS                   Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm). 6.1.21-v8+ (aarch64)
automount            yes
USB devices          sda 
datadir              /media/nextcloudpi_data/ncdata/data
data in SD           no
data filesystem      btrfs
data disk usage      2.8T/5.3T
rootfs usage         9.4G/59G
swapfile             /var/swap
dbdir                /media/USBdrive/ncdatabase
Nextcloud check      ok
Nextcloud version    33.0.7.1
HTTPD service        up
PHP service          up
MariaDB service      up
Redis service        up
HPB service          up
Postfix service      up
Internet check       ok
Public IPv4          ***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***
Public IPv6          ***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***
Port 80              open
Port 443             open
IP                   ***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***
Gateway              ***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***
Interface            eth0
Certificates         ***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***
NAT loopback         no
Uptime               30min

[janvlug]

As a test, I outcommented in /etc/update-motd.d/20updates the call to /usr/local/bin/ncp-check-updates, and the hang when logging in disappeared, and also I can login immediately after boot with ssh again.