Fixed two critical issues preventing Electron update from completing:
1. cd permission denied error
Problem: Script tried to `cd /home/kiosk/kiosk-app` which failed with
"Permission denied" because the directory has restricted permissions (drwxr-x---)
and the regular user can't enter it.
Fix: Use `sudo -u kiosk bash -c "cd '/home/kiosk/kiosk-app' && npm install ..."`
instead of separate cd + npm commands. This runs both commands as the kiosk
user in a single bash session, avoiding the permission issue.
2. Wrong service name (kiosk vs lightdm)
Problem: Scripts tried to stop/start "kiosk" service which doesn't exist on
the user's system. Their kiosk runs under lightdm service.
Fix: Changed all references from:
- `systemctl stop/start kiosk` → `systemctl stop/start lightdm`
- "Restart kiosk service" → "Restart kiosk display"
- `journalctl -u kiosk` → `journalctl -u lightdm`
Additional fixes:
- Updated file checks: `[ -d ]` → `sudo test -d` for restricted directories
- Applied fixes to both update paths: successful install and failure/restore
- Updated both update_electron.sh and install_kiosk_0.9.2-6.sh
Changes in both scripts:
- update_electron() function: removed cd, added bash -c wrapper, changed service name
- Backup restore paths: same fixes applied
- Success path: updated restart prompts and service checks
- Failure path: fixed restore process with proper directory access
The update should now complete successfully without permission errors.
Fixed two issues preventing the Electron update from working properly:
1. Log messages appearing in version output
- get_latest_electron_version() was outputting log messages to stdout
- These messages were being captured along with the version number
- Result: "Target version: [INFO] Fetching...39.2.3" in output
- Fix: Redirect log_info and log_error to stderr with >&2
- Now only the version number is captured in the variable
2. Backup function permission errors
- stat command needed sudo to read owner of restricted directories
- File checks [ -f ] couldn't access files in drwxr-x--- directories
- mkdir failed with "cannot create directory '/home/kiosk': Permission denied"
- Fix: Use sudo for all file operations in create_backup():
* sudo stat -c '%U' to get directory owner
* sudo test -f/d for file/directory checks
* sudo -u owner for mkdir, cp, and file writes
Changes in both update_electron.sh and install_kiosk_0.9.2-6.sh:
- get_latest_electron_version functions: Added >&2 to log statements
- create_backup functions: Added sudo to stat and all file checks
- Ensures backup works with restricted /home/kiosk permissions
The update process should now complete successfully without permission errors
or garbled version output.
The scripts were failing to find the kiosk installation at /home/kiosk/kiosk-app
because the /home/kiosk directory has restricted permissions (drwxr-x---),
preventing regular users from reading it.
Changes in both update_electron.sh and install_kiosk_0.9.2-6.sh:
1. Updated find_kiosk_dir() to use sudo for all file checks
- sudo test -f for checking if main.js exists
- Prevents "permission denied" errors on restricted directories
2. Added Method 4: Detect from running electron process
- Parses ps output to find electron executable path
- Extracts app directory from the path
- Provides fallback when directory searches fail
3. Updated get_current_electron_version functions
- Use sudo test -f to check if package.json exists
- Use sudo grep to read package.json and get version
- Ensures version detection works with restricted permissions
4. Fixed directory existence checks
- Use sudo test -d for checking kiosk directory
These changes allow the scripts to:
- Find kiosk installations in directories with restricted permissions
- Detect installations even when run as a regular user
- Work correctly with the standard /home/kiosk setup (drwxr-x---)
- Provide better fallback detection using running processes
The scripts will now prompt for sudo password when needed to check
for files in restricted directories, then continue normally.
Changed the script to run as a regular user instead of requiring sudo.
The script now:
- Checks that it's NOT being run as root (prevents sudo usage)
- Uses sudo for individual commands that need elevated privileges
- Prompts for sudo password only when needed
Changes:
- Removed EUID check that required running with sudo
- Added check to prevent running as root
- Added sudo to backup operations (mkdir, cp, file writes)
- All systemctl and npm install commands already use sudo appropriately
This matches the behavior of install_kiosk scripts which should be run
as a regular user, not with sudo.
Usage: ./update_electron.sh (not sudo ./update_electron.sh)
This script addresses issues with the manual Electron update process by:
- Detecting kiosk installation across multiple methods (user home, systemd service)
- Checking if Electron is actually running (not just installed)
- Getting current Electron version from both package.json and node_modules
- Fetching latest stable Electron version from npm registry with fallbacks
- Displaying clear version comparison (current vs latest)
- Warning users to check for breaking changes with links to documentation
- Creating automatic backups of package.json, package-lock.json, and version info
- Providing clear restore instructions if something goes wrong
- Requiring user confirmation at multiple steps before making changes
- Automatically attempting rollback if the update fails
- Fixing chrome-sandbox permissions after installation
- Managing kiosk service stop/start around the update
The script handles edge cases like:
- Missing or moved installations
- Network failures when fetching versions
- Failed npm installations with automatic recovery
- Permission issues with proper sudo user handling
Users can now safely update Electron with confidence that they can restore
if needed, and with clear visibility into what versions are being used.
Claude