On a fresh vast.ai instance configured with their pytorch template, I am trying to figure out why I can't create properly configured users. After doing useradd --shell /usr/bin/bash -m jason, the home directory is created and /etc/passwd seems correctly set up, but the account seems misconfigured:
$ sudo -i -u jason bash -c 'echo "$HOME"'
-bash: /root/.bash_profile: Permission denied
/root
$ cat /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin
sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin
man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin
lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin
news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin
uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin
proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin
backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin
list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin
irc:x:39:39:ircd:/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin
gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin
nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
_apt:x:100:65534::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
systemd-network:x:101:102:systemd Network Management,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
systemd-resolve:x:102:103:systemd Resolver,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
messagebus:x:103:104::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
sshd:x:104:65534::/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin
jason:x:1000:1000::/home/jason:/usr/bin/bash
If I set up authorized_keys and try to log in directly, I see
Welcome to vast.ai. If authentication fails, try again after a few seconds, and double check your ssh key.
Have fun!
Welcome to Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.15.0-126-generic x86_64)
- Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com
- Management: https://landscape.canonical.com
- Support: https://ubuntu.com/pro
This system has been minimized by removing packages and content that are
not required on a system that users do not log into.
To restore this content, you can run the 'unminimize' command.
Last login: Thu Jan 2 19:23:38 2025 from 69.123.210.134
-bash: /root/.bash_profile: Permission denied
jason@c9905e49537c:/home/jason$
and HOME is still set to /root.
How do I debug what's going on? How do I figure out what part of the script is failing to set HOME correctly?
