Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

[FlorinAndrei]

Thank you for taking the time to submit an issue!

Background information

What version of Open MPI are you using? (e.g., v4.1.6, v5.0.1, git branch name and hash, etc.)

4.1.6

Describe how Open MPI was installed (e.g., from a source/distribution tarball, from a git clone, from an operating system distribution package, etc.)

It's the .deb packages that are installed on Ubuntu 24.04.3

If you are building/installing from a git clone, please copy-n-paste the output from git submodule status.

Please describe the system on which you are running

• Operating system/version: Ubuntu 24.04.3
• Computer hardware: One self-built PC with an AMD CPU, and another is the NVIDIA DGX Spark
• Network type: Ethernet

---

Details of the problem

Please describe, in detail, the problem that you are having, including the behavior you expect to see, the actual behavior that you are seeing, steps to reproduce the problem, etc. It is most helpful if you can attach a small program that a developer can use to reproduce your problem.

Two systems, both run Ubuntu 24.04.3, on the same GigE network.

One is a homebuilt AMD CPU with an RTX 3090 GPU, called media, booted in graphical mode but no one is logged in locally.

The other is the NVIDIA DGX Spark (ARM CPU, Blackwell GPU), called spark, booted in text mode.

I'm ssh-ing into both machines from a MacBook Pro.

I cannot get rid of this error when trying to do mpirun from spark (text mode machine) to media (GUI machine):

florin@spark:~$ mpirun -H media uptime
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

 18:01:02 up 17:51,  3 users,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00

I've tried various workarounds I've seen online:

florin@spark:~$ HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-gl mpirun -H media uptime
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

 18:04:52 up 17:54,  3 users,  load average: 0.06, 0.02, 0.00
florin@spark:~$ mpirun --mca plm_rsh_args -x -H media uptime
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

 18:05:02 up 17:55,  3 users,  load average: 0.05, 0.02, 0.00
florin@spark:~$ mpirun -H media --mca plm_rsh_agent "ssh -x" uptime
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

 18:05:12 up 17:55,  3 users,  load average: 0.04, 0.02, 0.00

It's very frustrating. I need spark to be the "base of operations", to launch most commands from here. It's spark that has the most RAM, so I don't always need media.

The other way around it works fine:

florin@media:~$ mpirun -H spark uptime
 18:01:29 up 19:01,  2 users,  load average: 0.32, 0.11, 0.05
florin@media:~$ 

What else can I try?

[ggouaillardet]

what if you

HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl ssh spark env | grep HWLOC

[FlorinAndrei]

I tried that both ways and there's no output either way.

florin@media:~$ HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl ssh spark env | grep HWLOC
florin@media:~$

florin@spark:~$ HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl ssh media env | grep HWLOC
florin@spark:~$

[ggouaillardet]

I kind of expected that.
I suspect you have to find a way to set HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl before running orted on the remote nodes.

One option is to use an agent

mpirun --mca orte_launch_agent /.../agent.sh ...

where /.../agent.sh is a wrapper that first set the environment variable and then invoke orted with the parameters passed on the command line, something like

#!/bin/sh
export HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl
exec /.../bin/orted "$@"

Hopefully that will do the trick.

[rhc54]

Or just have mpirun forward the envar for you:

$ export HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl
mpirun -x HWLOC_COMPONENTS ...

[ggouaillardet]

$ mpirun -H media uptime

evidenced the issue.
To me, this suggests the warning is not issued by the app but orted

[rhc54]

Agreed - but mpirun sets the envar prior to exec'ing the orted. Alternatively, you could just put the export command in the "media" nodes .bashrc file (or equivalent for whatever shell is being used)

[bosilca]

If I recall correctly from the old days this warning message indicates a misconfiguration (or a lack of) with .Xauthority. This should be created by xorg or you can create it manually with xauth.

[jsquyres]

You might want to try raw non-interactive ssh's in both directions to see if you get that warning message:

ssh spark uptime

[FlorinAndrei]

Or just have mpirun forward the envar for you:

Doesn't seem to do it:

florin@spark:~$ export HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl
florin@spark:~$ mpirun -x HWLOC_COMPONENTS -H media uptime
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

 09:32:32 up  9:10,  2 users,  load average: 0.01, 0.00, 0.00
florin@spark:~$ 

To me, this suggests the warning is not issued by the app but orted

I'm new to MPI, but I know orted is launched on the target, as this seems to be how these packages are configured on Ubuntu 24.04, and I think you're right.

you could just put the export command in the "media" nodes .bashrc file

Makes no difference to mpirun. If I ssh into media I do see that var in my shell env. But orted seems to ignore it.

If I recall correctly from the old days this warning message indicates a misconfiguration (or a lack of) with .Xauthority. This should be created by xorg or you can create it manually with xauth.

It's quite likely, yes, but I want to have nothing to do with X11.

I can't run the media system in text mode, since it's used for other purposes as well.

You might want to try raw non-interactive ssh's in both directions to see if you get that warning message:

That never occurs with plain ssh. Only with mpirun.

I suspect you have to find a way to set HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl before running orted on the remote nodes.

One option is to use an agent

Here's the weird thing: setting that variable in the agent script does not pacify orted. I still get the warning in mpirun on spark. Here's the script:

#!/bin/sh
export HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl
exec /usr/bin/orted "$@"

And this is the result:

florin@spark:~$ mpirun --mca orte_launch_agent /home/florin/bin/orted-agent.sh -H media uptime
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified

 09:57:29 up  9:35,  3 users,  load average: 0.01, 0.01, 0.00

Here's the debug version of the script:

#!/bin/sh
export HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl
echo "$@" | logger --tag "orted script arguments"
exec /usr/bin/orted "$@" 2>&1 | logger --tag "orted output"

And this is what I see in syslog:

2025-11-26T09:52:07.111391-08:00 media snapd-desktop-i[5831]: Detected new session 90 at /org/freedesktop/login1/session/_390
2025-11-26T09:52:07.126807-08:00 media systemd[1]: Started session-90.scope - Session 90 of User florin.
2025-11-26T09:52:07.201188-08:00 media orted script arguments: -mca ess env -mca ess_base_jobid 390266880 -mca ess_base_vpid 1 -mca ess_base_num_procs 2 -mca orte_node_regex spark,media@0(2) -mca orte_hnp_uri 390266880.0;tcp://192.168.1.10,172.17.0.1:44765 --mca orte_launch_agent /home/florin/bin/orted-agent.sh -mca plm rsh --tree-spawn -mca routed radix -mca orte_parent_uri 390266880.0;tcp://192.168.1.10,172.17.0.1:44765 -mca pmix ^s1,s2,cray,isolated
2025-11-26T09:52:07.368091-08:00 media orted output: Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified
2025-11-26T09:52:07.368141-08:00 media orted output: 
2025-11-26T09:52:07.384518-08:00 media orted output: Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified
2025-11-26T09:52:07.384558-08:00 media orted output: 
2025-11-26T09:52:07.450891-08:00 media systemd[1]: session-90.scope: Deactivated successfully.

With the debug script, the output from orted does not appear in mpirun on spark (it's captured in syslog), but I cannot leave it like this, because I might miss important warnings or errors.

Something happens, twice, that should not happen.

[bosilca]

Again, I don't think this is generated by OMPI related code, so if you don't fix the X issue you will keep getting this. Can you export an xterm from the spark machine ? What is the $DISPLAY on the machine ? What if the orted script you execute undefine DISPLAY ? What are the access right on your .Xauthority file ? Does orted has the sticky bit set somehow ?

[FlorinAndrei]

spark (where I run mpirun) is Ubuntu 24.04 and runs in text mode in a different room. I have remote ssh to it from my MacBook.

media (the target for mpirun and where orted is launched) is Ubuntu 24.04 and runs in GUI mode, but nobody is logged in locally now, it's in a different room. If I plug a monitor in it, I get the Ubuntu GUI login screen. I also have remote ssh to it from the MacBook.

TLDR: From my p.o.v. both machines are remote ssh only. But the target machine happens to boot in GUI mode, although that's not used right now.

There's no $DISPLAY in any of my ssh sessions.

Is there a way to tell orted to not have anything to do at all with X11? There's no point in even trying that, since nobody is even logged into the GUI.

I've modified the agent script:

#!/bin/sh
export HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl
env | sort | logger --tag "orted-env"
exec /usr/bin/orted --debug --debug-daemons "$@" 2>&1 | logger --tag "orted-output"

From spark I run this:

mpirun --mca orte_launch_agent /home/florin/bin/orted-agent.sh -H media uptime

And this is what I get on media in syslog:

2025-11-26T12:38:24.113091-08:00 media snapd-desktop-i[7264]: Detected new session 119 at /org/freedesktop/login1/session/_3119
2025-11-26T12:38:24.133807-08:00 media systemd[1]: Started session-119.scope - Session 119 of User florin.
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207428-08:00 media orted-env: DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207520-08:00 media orted-env: _=/home/florin/bin/orted-agent.sh
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207562-08:00 media orted-env: HOME=/home/florin
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207615-08:00 media orted-env: HWLOC_COMPONENTS=-vgl
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207655-08:00 media orted-env: LANG=en_US.UTF-8
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207694-08:00 media orted-env: LOGNAME=florin
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207727-08:00 media orted-env: PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207756-08:00 media orted-env: PWD=/home/florin
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207780-08:00 media orted-env: SHELL=/bin/bash
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207803-08:00 media orted-env: SHLVL=0
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207825-08:00 media orted-env: SSH_CLIENT=192.168.1.10 54288 22
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207849-08:00 media orted-env: SSH_CONNECTION=192.168.1.10 54288 192.168.1.20 22
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207871-08:00 media orted-env: USER=florin
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207896-08:00 media orted-env: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207925-08:00 media orted-env: XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207948-08:00 media orted-env: XDG_SESSION_ID=119
2025-11-26T12:38:24.207973-08:00 media orted-env: XDG_SESSION_TYPE=tty
2025-11-26T12:38:24.209948-08:00 media orted-output: Daemon was launched on media.home.local - beginning to initialize
2025-11-26T12:38:24.346180-08:00 media orted-output: Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified
2025-11-26T12:38:24.346222-08:00 media orted-output: 
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353447-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] procdir: /tmp/ompi.media.1000/jf.15143/0/1
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353489-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] jobdir: /tmp/ompi.media.1000/jf.15143/0
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353520-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] top: /tmp/ompi.media.1000/jf.15143
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353548-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] top: /tmp/ompi.media.1000
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353579-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] tmp: /tmp
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353735-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_cleanup: job session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353771-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_cleanup: top session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353812-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] procdir: /tmp/ompi.media.1000/jf.15143/0/1
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353843-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] jobdir: /tmp/ompi.media.1000/jf.15143/0
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353879-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] top: /tmp/ompi.media.1000/jf.15143
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353911-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] top: /tmp/ompi.media.1000
2025-11-26T12:38:24.353953-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] tmp: /tmp
2025-11-26T12:38:24.363067-08:00 media orted-output: Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified
2025-11-26T12:38:24.363104-08:00 media orted-output: 
2025-11-26T12:38:24.365840-08:00 media orted-output: Daemon [[15143,0],1] checking in as pid 7492 on host media
2025-11-26T12:38:24.366839-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] [[15143,0],1] orted: up and running - waiting for commands!
2025-11-26T12:38:24.373501-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] [[15143,0],1] orted_cmd: received add_local_procs
2025-11-26T12:38:24.376631-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: proc session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.376675-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: job session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.376709-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: jobfam session dir not empty - leaving
2025-11-26T12:38:24.376766-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: jobfam session dir not empty - leaving
2025-11-26T12:38:24.376795-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: top session dir not empty - leaving
2025-11-26T12:38:24.376827-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] [[15143,0],1] Releasing job data for [15143,1]
2025-11-26T12:38:24.377092-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] [[15143,0],1] orted_cmd: received exit cmd
2025-11-26T12:38:24.377138-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] [[15143,0],1] orted_cmd: all routes and children gone - exiting
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378033-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: proc session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378093-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: job session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378121-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: jobfam session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378145-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: jobfam session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378170-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_finalize: top session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378191-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_cleanup: job session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378212-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_cleanup: top session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378651-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_cleanup: job session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378672-08:00 media orted-output: [media.home.local:07492] sess_dir_cleanup: top session dir does not exist
2025-11-26T12:38:24.378694-08:00 media orted-output: exiting with status 0
2025-11-26T12:38:24.433366-08:00 media systemd[1]: session-119.scope: Deactivated successfully.

[rhc54]

The orted daemon has nothing to do with X11 or anything graphical - the warning is coming from the HWLOC library the daemon loads. You could rebuild that library with the x11 support disabled, perhaps using --disable-gl --without-x. Or you can try the online advice:

To disable X11 support at runtime in hwloc, you can set the environment
variable HWLOC_NO_X11=1 before running your hwloc commands. This
will prevent hwloc from attempting to use X11 for graphical output.

Might disable the problem components.