I'm encountering a problem with KDE Plasma on Debian 12 on a VM, when using xRDP to access my desktop remotely. The issue revolves around Polkit authentication, where the GUI prompt for administrative actions is not behaving as expected.
Affected System Details:
- Debian 12 VM with KDE Plasma created with QEMU/KVM
- xRDP version: 0.9.21.1
plasmashell --version
plasmashell 5.27.5
apt list --installed | grep policy
policykit-1/stable,now 122-3 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libpolkit-qt5-1-1/stable,now 0.114.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
apt list --installed | grep polkit
libpolkit-agent-1-0/stable,now 122-3 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libpolkit-gobject-1-0/stable,now 122-3 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libpolkit-qt5-1-1/stable,now 0.114.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
polkit-kde-agent-1/stable,now 4:5.27.5-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
polkitd-pkla/stable,now 122-3 amd64 [installed,automatic]
polkitd/stable,now 122-3 amd64 [installed,automatic]
`
Problem Description:
When I'm connected through xRDP and try to perform tasks using GUI System Settings that require elevated privileges (like changing settings in the System Settings, or disabling the KDE Wallet subsystem), I'm not getting the usual Polkit GUI prompt to enter my password. As a result, I can't apply any changes.
Observations:
1.) This issue is specific to my xRDP sessions. When logged in via the Display of Virtmanager using SPICE or via NoMachine, the Polkit prompts appear and function correctly.
2.) The problem persists across different administrative tasks that normally require authentication.
3.) When I am logged in the polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1 gets started for the user that is logged in:
root@debian12-test:~# pgrep -af polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1
5355 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1
root@debian12-test:~# ps -o user= -p 5355
user
4.) When I watch the journalctl -f -u polkit
- When I login with NoMachine where Polkit works:
`Dec 01 09:20:13 debian12-test polkitd: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:22 (system bus name :1.299 [/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1], object path /org/kde/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8)
`
- When I login with xRDP where Polkit is broken:
`
Dec 01 09:26:36 debian12-test polkitd: Registered Authentication Agent for unix-session:c12 (system bus name :1.376 [/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1], object path /org/kde/PolicyKit1/AuthenticationAgent, locale en_US.UTF-8)
`
- I do not get any error message with journalctl -f -u polkit
Troubleshooting Done:
- I've confirmed that polkit
is installed and running.
systemctl status polkit.service
● polkit.service - Authorization Manager
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/polkit.service; static)
Active: active (running)
Questions:
1. Are there specific configurations or known issues with Polkit and xRDP in KDE Plasma on Debian 12 that might be causing this?
2. Any suggestions on how to ensure the Polkit authentication agent starts correctly in xRDP sessions or how to debug this further?
Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to provide additional details if needed.
Thank you in advance!
Asked by Viktor Carlson
(170 rep)
Dec 1, 2023, 10:28 AM
Last activity: Apr 1, 2025, 11:00 AM
Last activity: Apr 1, 2025, 11:00 AM