Your message dated Wed, 06 May 2026 22:12:08 +0200
with message-id <[email protected]>
and subject line utmp-related bugs no longer applicable from Screen v5
has caused the Debian Bug report #1085889,
regarding screen: Utmp slot not found -> not removed
to be marked as done.
This means that you claim that the problem has been dealt with.
If this is not the case it is now your responsibility to reopen the
Bug report if necessary, and/or fix the problem forthwith.
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--
1085889: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=1085889
Debian Bug Tracking System
Contact [email protected] with problems
--- Begin Message ---
Package: screen
Version: 4.9.1-1
Severity: normal
X-Debbugs-Cc: [email protected]
Dear maintainer,
It looks like debian is moving away from using utmp file y2038
compliance reasons. And it looks like systemd pushes for wtmpdb instead.
https://wiki.debian.org/ReleaseGoals/64bit-time
The file /var/run/utmp used to be created by systemd, but the service
systemd-update-utmp is no longer shipped with the systemd package
version 256.7-2.
Search for "utmp" in the changelog for a short history:
https://tracker.debian.org/media/packages/s/systemd/changelog-256.7-2
The lack of utmp file produces the following message every time a shell
is closed:
Utmp slot not found -> not removed
Screen relies on libutempter to update the utmp database. I don't know
if Screen should be updated to use libwtmpdb instead of libutempter or
if libutempter should be updated to wrap libwtmpdb.
In any case, something should be done as to not break the login logging
feature that some people or programs might rely on.
As a temporary workaround for people who merely want to remove this
message, adding the config "deflogin off" in ~/.screenrc should be
enough.
Best regards,
Celelibi
-- Package-specific info:
File Existence and Permissions
------------------------------
drwxr-xr-x 29 root root 940 Oct 23 11:08 /run
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Jan 15 2017 /var/run -> /run
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 486488 Sep 7 2023 /usr/bin/screen
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 29 Jul 3 2017 /etc/tmpfiles.d/screen-cleanup.conf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jan 15 2017
/lib/systemd/system/screen-cleanup.service -> /dev/null
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1222 Apr 3 2017 /etc/init.d/screen-cleanup
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 Jan 15 2017 /etc/rcS.d/S01screen-cleanup ->
../init.d/screen-cleanup
File contents
-------------
### /etc/tmpfiles.d/screen-cleanup.conf
______________________________________________________________________
d /run/screen 1777 root utmp
______________________________________________________________________
-- System Information:
Debian Release: trixie/sid
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (990, 'testing'), (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)
Foreign Architectures: i386
Kernel: Linux 6.11.2-amd64 (SMP w/8 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Kernel taint flags: TAINT_PROPRIETARY_MODULE, TAINT_FIRMWARE_WORKAROUND,
TAINT_OOT_MODULE, TAINT_UNSIGNED_MODULE
Locale: LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=fr_FR.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)
LSM: AppArmor: enabled
Versions of packages screen depends on:
ii debianutils 5.20
ii libc6 2.40-3
ii libcrypt1 1:4.4.36-5
ii libpam0g 1.5.3-7
ii libtinfo6 6.5-2
ii libutempter0 1.2.1-3+b1
screen recommends no packages.
Versions of packages screen suggests:
pn byobu | screenie | iselect <none>
ii ncurses-term 6.5-2
-- no debconf information
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
As of package version 5.0.1-1, Debian builds screen with --disable-utmp,
so screen no longer writes/manages utmp/wtmp.
Closing these reports as not applicable to current package behaviour.
--- End Message ---
