Public bug reported: Greetings!
cloud-init v0.7.5 (trusty) is placing a comment in the /etc/timezone file, when that file isn't intended to contain a comment. This is confusing openjdk (and perhaps other programs?), which is unable to determine the correct timezone. Sample /etc/timezone from v0.7.5: ---- # Created by cloud-init v. 0.7.5 on Mon, 14 Jul 2014 18:01:38 +0000 US/Eastern ---- Openjdk has been informed of this back in 2012, and decided that they won't change things on their end because comments in /etc/timezone aren't part of the "spec". https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-7192951. Of course, there is no formal spec for /etc/timezone. The closest that I've seen to a spec is actually contained within the bug report at openjdk: ===================================================================== I am not sure that a formal spec of /etc/timezone exists. The Debian tools for manipulating it (tzconfig and tzsetup) do basically the same thing. --- reading --- if [ -L /etc/localtime ] ; then current_timezone=$(readlink /etc/localtime | sed 's%^/usr/share/zoneinfo/%%') elif [ -f /etc/timezone ] && [ -f /etc/localtime ]; then current_timezone=$(cat /etc/timezone) fi --- setting --- echo $timezone > /etc/timezone It is the same in Ubuntu. So, in Debian-based distros it is just a LF-terminated line, with no spaces and extra characters. To be a little more general, I suggest ignoring all leading spaces (including new lines) and then reading consecutive non-space characters. ===================================================================== For the record, cloud-init previously did not include a comment in /etc/timezone. Would it be possible to revert to the previous behavior of not including a comment in /etc/timezone? A quick skim of the source code tells me that the set_timezone() method would have to be changed to no longer include the line with util.make_header(). Thanks! ** Affects: cloud-init (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Server Team, which is subscribed to cloud-init in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1341710 Title: Comment placed inside of /etc/timezone To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cloud-init/+bug/1341710/+subscriptions -- Ubuntu-server-bugs mailing list Ubuntu-server-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server-bugs
