fix: the shell of a user's own POSIX account opens on the first setup that sets up console login, and the journal records each refused shell with the reason.

ADR.md

@@ -913,7 +913,7 @@ ticket gets the shell. The WebSocket of RFC 6455 is implemented on the standard
 web service's `http.server`, server side only, without extensions. `systemd-run --pty` starts the
 shell in a transient unit with a PAM login session, outside the sandbox, and `setsid --ctty`
 makes the terminal its controlling terminal so window sizes reach the shell. A shell idle for
-`web.shell_idle_minutes` is closed, and the journal records every opening and end. The Router
+`web.shell_idle_minutes` is closed, and the journal records every opening, end and refusal. The Router
 Manager checks the session and the WebSocket's origin, and relays the bytes to the router after
 both handshakes.
 

README.md

@@ -984,7 +984,7 @@ the router are the terminal's output. The shell is a PAM login session of the co
 run by `systemd-run` in a transient unit `vpn-router-shell-<id>`; sudo works as for SSH. It is closed after `web.shell_idle_minutes` without a keystroke, when the shell
 exits, or when the connection closes; the router then sends a close frame with the reason. The
 journal of `vpn-router-web` records who opened each shell, from which address, in which unit,
-when it ended and why.
+when it ended and why, and each refused ticket or shell with the reason.
 
 ### The /config page
 

debian-package/debian/changelog

@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+vpn-router (0.23.2-1) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  fix: the shell of a user's own POSIX account opens on the first setup that sets up console login, and the journal records each refused shell with the reason.
+
+  * Setup restarts vpn-router-web when it adds ldap to the name service
+    switch, so the web service finds the POSIX accounts of the directory.
+  * The journal of vpn-router-web records each refused ticket and shell,
+    with the user, the address and the reason.
+
+ -- Slawomir Koszewski <slawek@koszewscy.waw.pl>  Mon, 02 Nov 2026 22:00:00 +0100
+
 vpn-router (0.23.1-1) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   fix: the shell runs as the console account of each member of admins, a local account or the user's own POSIX account in the directory, which also signs in with SSH and sudo, instead of one web.shell_user.

debian-package/src/usr/lib/vpn-router/setup

@@ -555,8 +555,8 @@ def manage_console(cfg):
 
     The local group vpnrouter_ldap.CONSOLE_GROUP is created when missing, and sudo lets its members run any command
     with their password. nslcd serves the directory's posixAccounts with console login on through the local socket,
-    and checks their passwords by binding as the user; the passwd line of the name service switch gains ldap, and PAM
-    creates a home at the first login. While ssh.ldap_login is true, sshd accepts the password of the group's members;
+    and checks their passwords by binding as the user; the passwd line of the name service switch gains ldap, which
+    restarts the web service, and PAM creates a home at the first login. While ssh.ldap_login is true, sshd accepts the password of the group's members;
     a drop-in sshd -t refuses is removed again.
     """
     group = vpnrouter_ldap.CONSOLE_GROUP
@@ -601,6 +601,9 @@ def manage_console(cfg):
                     for line in lines]
         if switched != lines:
             NSSWITCH.write_text(''.join(switched), encoding='utf-8')
+            # A running process keeps the name service switch it read first, so the web service's shell would not find
+            # the console accounts of the directory until it restarts.
+            run(['systemctl', 'try-restart', 'vpn-router-web.service'], check=False)
 
         if 'pam_mkhomedir' not in PAM_SESSION.read_text(encoding='utf-8'):
             run(['pam-auth-update', '--enable', 'mkhomedir'], check=False)

debian-package/src/usr/lib/vpn-router/web

@@ -1193,9 +1193,11 @@ class Handler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
         The ticket must come from POST /shell for the user named by the token. Binary messages of the client are its
         keystrokes, a text message {"cols", "rows"} sets the window size, and binary messages of the server are the
         terminal's output. The shell ends after web.shell_idle_minutes without a keystroke, when it exits, or when the
-        client closes the connection; the server then closes it with the reason. Each opening and end is logged.
+        client closes the connection; the server then closes it with the reason. Each opening, end and refusal is logged
+        with its reason.
         """
         def refuse(code, message):
+            log(f'shell of {name} from {self.client()} refused: {message}')
             body = json.dumps({'error': message}).encode() + b'\n'
             self.send_response(code)
             self.send_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
@@ -1360,6 +1362,8 @@ class Handler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
         elif directory == 'shell':
             code, document = shell_ticket(claims.get('sub'), payload) if (path, self.command) == ('/shell', 'POST') \
                 else (404, {'error': f'no route {self.command} {path}'})
+            if code != 200:
+                log(f'shell ticket of {claims.get("sub")} from {self.client()} refused: {document["error"]}')
             body, kind = json.dumps(document, indent=2).encode() + b'\n', 'application/json'
         elif directory == 'account':
             code, document = account(claims['sub'], self.command, path, payload)