Sudo fails to ask for a password if locale of remote system is not English

[philippemilink]

Describe the bug

If remote system is configured with a locale different than English, sudo will fail to prompt for a password.

On remote system:

echo $LANG
fr_FR.UTF-8

Example of failing command:

pyinfra --debug-all -y 192.168.1.16 server.shell "echo foo" _sudo=true

--> Starting operation: server.shell (echo foo)
    [pyinfra.api.operations] Starting operation {'server.shell'} on 192.168.1.16
    [pyinfra.connectors.ssh] Running command on 192.168.1.16: (pty=False) sudo -H -n sh -c 'echo foo'
DEBUG:paramiko.transport:[chan 0] Max packet in: 32768 bytes
DEBUG:paramiko.transport:[chan 0] Max packet out: 32768 bytes
DEBUG:paramiko.transport:Secsh channel 0 opened.
DEBUG:paramiko.transport:[chan 0] Sesch channel 0 request ok
DEBUG:paramiko.transport:[chan 0] EOF received (0)
DEBUG:paramiko.transport:[chan 0] EOF sent (0)
    [pyinfra.connectors.ssh] Waiting for exit status...
    [pyinfra.connectors.ssh] Command exit status: 1
    [192.168.1.16] sudo: il est nécessaire de saisir un mot de passe
    [192.168.1.16] Error: executed 0 commands
    [pyinfra.api.state] Failing hosts: 192.168.1.16

The problem comes from this line:

pyinfra/pyinfra/connectors/util.py

Line 203 in 21b022b

if last_line.strip() == "sudo: a password is required":

In this case, the remote system being in French, sudo prints sudo: il est nécessaire de saisir un mot de passe.

I "fixed" the bug by changing this line:

pyinfra/pyinfra/connectors/util.py

Line 346 in 21b022b

command_bits.extend(["sudo", "-H"])

into

command_bits.extend(["LANG=C", "sudo", "-H"])

but I'm not sure whether this is the right fix.

Meta

Observed with Pip package 3.0b2.

I just spent this week-end testing Pyinfra, it looks promising! 👍

[xvello]

Can confirm that this is caused by pyinfra using string matching on the sudo output, which depends on the locale. Unfortunately, there's no option to set that string (the --prompt option only applies to interactive runs), and the exit code in this situation is 1.

Setting LANG=C is a good workaround. You should be able to pass it via the _env argument that all operations accept. You should be able to specify it once in the inventory data too.

[philippemilink]

You should be able to pass it via the _env argument that all operations accept. You should be able to specify it once in the inventory data too.

No, because using _env puts the environment variables inside the sudo command (ie sudo LANG=C echo foo), while we need to set the environment variable for sudo (ie LANG=C sudo echo foo).

[Fizzadar]

Nice catch, definitely want to fix this! My worry with applying env everywhere is accidentally leaking into the sub command which may have unintended consequences..

[simonhammes]

I also ran into this issue.

I "fixed" the bug by changing this line:

pyinfra/pyinfra/connectors/util.py

Line 346 in 21b022b

command_bits.extend(["sudo", "-H"])

into

command_bits.extend(["LANG=C", "sudo", "-H"])

but I'm not sure whether this is the right fix.

This worked for me as well (de_DE.UTF-8).

My worry is that setting this might leak into the actual command:

sudo bash -c 'echo $LANG'
# => de_DE.UTF-8

LANG=C sudo bash -c 'echo $LANG'
# => C

This might break things if users of pyinfra match on the command output and the locale suddenly changes. Or am I getting things wrong? Environment variables should only be preserved when using -E, right?

[aZa1905]

I also ran into this issue.

I "fixed" the bug by changing this line:

pyinfra/pyinfra/connectors/util.py

Line 346 in 21b022b

command_bits.extend(["sudo", "-H"])

into

command_bits.extend(["LANG=C", "sudo", "-H"])

but I'm not sure whether this is the right fix.

This worked for me as well (de_DE.UTF-8).

My worry is that setting this might leak into the actual command:

sudo bash -c 'echo $LANG'
# => de_DE.UTF-8

LANG=C sudo bash -c 'echo $LANG'
# => C

This might break things if users of pyinfra match on the command output and the locale suddenly changes. Or am I getting things wrong? Environment variables should only be preserved when using -E, right?

This fix worked for me too. Also de_DE.UTF-8.