User@961.service is not active, cannot reload

General system Newbie
1

Everytime I update something I get errors something like this

:: Running post-transaction hooks...
(1/9) Reloading system manager configuration...
(2/9) Reloading user manager configuration...
user@961.service is not active, cannot reload.
error: command failed to execute correctly
(3/9) Restarting marked services...
(4/9) Creating temporary files...
(5/9) Reloading device manager configuration...
(6/9) Arming ConditionNeedsUpdate...
(7/9) Compiling GSettings XML schema files...
(8/9) Checking which packages need to be rebuilt
(9/9) Performing snapper post snapshots for the following configurations...
==> root: 1648

What is this service and how to activate or remove it if necessary?

2

I don’t really know what this is about but maybe this command can tell what is that user:

awk -F: '{ print $1, $3 }' /etc/passwd

3

I see sddm 961 there. :man_shrugging:

4 
systemctl status user@961.service

What is the output?

5 
× user@961.service - User Manager for UID 961
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service; static)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service.d
             └─10-login-barrier.conf
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2025-04-15 08:42:52 IST; 1h 29min ago
 Invocation: 34f4686ffdf94c04850608a4750e7769
       Docs: man:user@.service(5)
   Main PID: 1053 (code=exited, status=224/PAM)
   Mem peak: 3.3M
        CPU: 11ms

Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: Starting User Manager for UID 961...
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: pam_unix(systemd-user:account): account sddm has expired (a>
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: PAM failed: User account has expired
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: user@961.service: Failed to set up PAM session: Operation n>
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: user@961.service: Failed at step PAM spawning /usr/lib/syst>
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=224/P>
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: Failed to start User Manager for UID 961.
Apr 15 08:55:20 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Unit cannot be reloaded because it is inactive.
lines 1-20/20 (END)...skipping...
× user@961.service - User Manager for UID 961
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service; static)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service.d
             └─10-login-barrier.conf
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2025-04-15 08:42:52 IST; 1h 29min ago
 Invocation: 34f4686ffdf94c04850608a4750e7769
       Docs: man:user@.service(5)
   Main PID: 1053 (code=exited, status=224/PAM)
   Mem peak: 3.3M
        CPU: 11ms

Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: Starting User Manager for UID 961...
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: pam_unix(systemd-user:account): account sddm has expired (account expired)
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: PAM failed: User account has expired
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: user@961.service: Failed to set up PAM session: Operation not permitted
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos (systemd)[1053]: user@961.service: Failed at step PAM spawning /usr/lib/systemd/systemd: Operation not permitted
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=224/PAM
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 15 08:42:52 eos systemd[1]: Failed to start User Manager for UID 961.
Apr 15 08:55:20 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Unit cannot be reloaded because it is inactive.
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lines 1-20/20 (END)
6

I am not sure why this happens but it looks that the account for the user sddm has had an expiration date set and now it has expired.

You can try enabling the account and set it to never expire again:

sudo chage -E -1 sddm

Reboot.

1 Like
7

Enabled and rebooted as suggested.

Now systemctl status user@961.service shows

○ user@961.service - User Manager for UID 961
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service; static)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service.d
             └─10-login-barrier.conf
     Active: inactive (dead)
       Docs: man:user@.service(5)

Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Service file '/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.d>
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Service file '/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.k>
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Service file '/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.p>
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Policy to allow eavesdropping in /usr/share/dbus-1>
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Policy to allow eavesdropping in /usr/share/dbus-1>
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos systemd[1046]: Started D-Bus User Message Bus.
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Ready
Apr 15 10:26:52 eos systemd[1]: Stopping User Manager for UID 961...
Apr 15 10:26:52 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Deactivated successfully.
Apr 15 10:26:52 eos systemd[1]: Stopped User Manager for UID 961.
lines 1-17/17 (END)...skipping...
○ user@961.service - User Manager for UID 961
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service; static)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/user@.service.d
             └─10-login-barrier.conf
     Active: inactive (dead)
       Docs: man:user@.service(5)

Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Service file '/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.dolphin.FileManager1.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.FileManager1'.
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Service file '/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.kscreen.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.kde.KScreen'.
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Service file '/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.plasma.Notifications.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.Notifications'.
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Policy to allow eavesdropping in /usr/share/dbus-1/session.conf +31: Eavesdropping is deprecated and ignored
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Policy to allow eavesdropping in /usr/share/dbus-1/session.conf +33: Eavesdropping is deprecated and ignored
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos systemd[1046]: Started D-Bus User Message Bus.
Apr 15 10:26:17 eos dbus-broker-launch[1066]: Ready
Apr 15 10:26:52 eos systemd[1]: Stopping User Manager for UID 961...
Apr 15 10:26:52 eos systemd[1]: user@961.service: Deactivated successfully.
Apr 15 10:26:52 eos systemd[1]: Stopped User Manager for UID 961.
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Is it okay now? I’ll check in few days when some updates comes…

1 Like
8

Post:

sudo chage -l sddm
1 Like
9 
Last password change                                    : Jan 07, 2025
Password expires                                        : never
Password inactive                                       : never
Account expires                                         : never
Minimum number of days between password change          : -1
Maximum number of days between password change          : -1
Number of days of warning before password expires       : -1
1 Like
10

All good now!

1 Like