terminator is always producing a zombie-process ([terminator] <defunct>)

[Michael Basse]

Using "terminator" always producing a zombie-process for each instant i start

terminator&
[1] 5239

ps aux | grep terminator
michael 5239 7.2 2.3 195160 23924 pts/0 Sl 10:58 0:01 /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/terminator
michael 5242 0.0 0.0 0 0 pts/0 Z 10:58 0:00 [terminator] <defunct>

top
Tasks: 136 total, 2 running, 131 sleeping, 0 stopped, 1 zombie

output of "pstree"
 ├─terminator─┬─bash─┬─pstree
     │ │ └─terminator─┬─bash
     │ │ ├─terminator
     │ │ └─{terminator}
     │ ├─bash───ssh
     │ ├─terminator
     │ └─2*[{terminator}]
     ├─terminator─┬─bash
     │ ├─terminator
     │ └─{terminator}

if i read the output from "pstree" correctly, terminator is always starting two instances and one of them is a zombie

i cant find any disadvantages in the usage right know but i dont think this should be normal to have a zombie-process

This bug never came up with 11.04 or earlier, just with 11.10

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: terminator 0.95-1
Uname: Linux 3.1.0-0301rc9-generic i686
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: i386
Date: Thu Nov 3 10:59:39 2011
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release i386 (20110426)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: terminator
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-09-16 (48 days ago)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Sam_ (and-sam)]

Here sysmonitor shows zombie (screenshot).
~$ ps aux | grep terminator
1000 18641 0.4 0.9 366344 37612 ? Sl 23:38 0:02 /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/terminator
1000 18935 0.0 0.0 14708 912 pts/0 S+ 23:46 0:00 grep --color=auto terminator

~$ pstree -a
init
  ├─/usr/bin/termin /usr/bin/terminator
  │ ├─(/usr/bin/termin)
  │ ├─bash
  │ │ └─pstree -a
  │ └─{/usr/bin/termi}

[Michael Basse (michael-alpha-unix)]

also happening on 12.04 which is using the same version

ii terminator 0.95-1 multiple GNOME terminals in one window

[lildude (lildood)]

A quick strace of starting terminator (strace -ff -o term.strace terminator) reveals the defunct process (in this example PID 25585) is caused by the the non-existence of /usr/lib/vte/gnome-pty-helper:

---
$ cat term.strace.25585
set_robust_list(0x7f52d79529e0, 0x18) = 0
close(0) = 0
close(1) = 0
close(2) = 0
dup2(20, 0) = 0
dup2(20, 1) = 1
close(20) = 0
close(19) = 0
execve("/usr/lib/vte/gnome-pty-helper", ["gnome-pty-helper"], [/* 62 vars */]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
exit_group(1) = ?
$
---

The path here is wrong. It should be /usr/lib/libvte9/gnome-pty-helper . This appears to be a problem with libvte itself as documented at http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=645104

The workaround in this bug, namely...

# cd /usr/lib
# ln -s libvte9 vte

... alleviates the issue.

Looks like this is fixed in vte 1:0.28.2-4, however Ubuntu still appears to be shipping 1:0.28.2-3

All testing and notes performed on Ubuntu 12.04.

[Francisco Villar (villarf)]

I can confirm that the workaround posted in #7 fixed the issue here, thanks.

[David Barnett (mu-mind)]

On the gnome tracker they say it's not their problem, that the Ubuntu package should include /usr/lib/vte/gnome-pty-helper.

[Andrea Corbellini (andrea.corbellini)]

This was fixed in Debian with vte 0.28.2-4. Quantal ships 0.28.2-5ubuntu1, so this bug is fixed in Ubuntu too.

[Michael Basse (michael-alpha-unix)]

And how to fix it for 12.04? There is no package vte

michael@bestbuntu:~$ cat /etc/issue
Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS \n \l

michael@bestbuntu:~$ apt-cache show vte
N: Unable to locate package vte
E: No packages found
michael@bestbuntu:~$

and for 12.10 there is no package vte too

http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=vte&searchon=names&exact=1&suite=quantal&section=all

[Andrea Corbellini (andrea.corbellini)]

Michael, you should not confuse *source* packages and *binary* packages. vte is a source package that produces multiple binary packages. "apt-cache show" works for binary packages, the right command here is "apt-cache showsrc". Here is an example:

    $ apt-cache show libvte9
    Package: libvte9
    ...
    Source: vte
    ...

    $ apt-cache showsrc vte
    Package: vte
    Binary: libvte9, libvte9-udeb, libvte-dev, libvte-common, python-vte, libvte-doc
    ...

[Michael Basse (michael-alpha-unix)]

Hi Andrea,
thank you for these usefull informations. I was not aware of "showsrc". I thought "show" will also include source-packages. Its always good to learn something new :)

Could you also give me an info if that fix will be backported to 12.04 or if the package will be updated? or will 12.04 dont see that update?

[Andrea Corbellini (andrea.corbellini)]

You need to request a "Stable Release Update". The procedure is documented here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates. In my opinion, you should not request an update to 0.28.2-4, but to 0.28.2-5 which ships some CVE fixes.

I can help you preparing the SRU request, if you need.

[Michael Basse (michael-alpha-unix)]

Hi,
sorry for the long delay. I can confirm this bug is fixed for 12.10

@Andrea, thank you for the usefull information, i will have a look at the process (always good to learn something new). Thank you for offering your support, i would come back to it when i am facing problems with the process.