Dconf warnings about missing 'gdm', 'site' & 'distro' databases

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1

I know they’re just warnings in the journal but I always get dozens of these dconf warnings at boot about the missing files /etc/dconf/db/gdm, /etc/dconf/db/site and /etc/dconf/db/distro. Is there a working solution for Arch/Manjaro out there to get rid of the journal spamming?

journalctl -b 0 -p 4 | grep 'unable to open file' 
… gsettings[922]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsettings[922]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsettings[922]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-session-b[921]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-session-b[921]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-session-b[921]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-shell[933]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-shell[933]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-shell[933]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… at-spi-bus-laun[994]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… at-spi-bus-laun[994]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… at-spi-bus-laun[994]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-sharing[1054]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-sharing[1054]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-sharing[1054]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-color[1059]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-color[1059]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-color[1059]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-keyboard[1062]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-keyboard[1062]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-keyboard[1062]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-a11y-settin[1128]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-a11y-settin[1128]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-a11y-settin[1128]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-smartcard[1085]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-smartcard[1085]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-smartcard[1085]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-wacom[1089]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-wacom[1089]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-wacom[1089]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-usb-protect[1056]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-datetime[1095]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-sound[1120]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-datetime[1095]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-sound[1120]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-datetime[1095]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-sound[1120]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-usb-protect[1056]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-usb-protect[1056]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-media-keys[1103]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-media-keys[1103]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-media-keys[1103]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-power[1146]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-power[1146]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-power[1146]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-housekeepin[1141]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-housekeepin[1141]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-housekeepin[1141]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gjs[1009]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gjs[1009]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gjs[1009]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-xsettings[1134]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-xsettings[1134]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gsd-xsettings[1134]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1436]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1436]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1436]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-control-c[1451]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-control-c[1451]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… gnome-control-c[1451]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1419]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1419]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1419]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1464]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1464]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… xdg-desktop-por[1464]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… mutter-x11-fram[1345]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/gdm': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/gdm”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… mutter-x11-fram[1345]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/site': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/site”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance
… mutter-x11-fram[1345]: unable to open file '/etc/dconf/db/distro': Failed to open file “/etc/dconf/db/distro”: open() failed: No such file or directory; expect degraded performance

In an old forum discussion a user tried an advised askubuntu.com solution but reported that

sudo touch /etc/dconf/db/site
sudo touch /etc/dconf/db/distro
sudo mkdir /etc/dconf/db/site.d
sudo mkdir /etc/dconf/db/distro.d
sudo dconf update

just results in a new invalid gvdb header; expect degraded performance error. Tbh I haven’t tried that myself yet and besides that it doesn’t cover the missing /etc/dconf/db/gdm case.

I’m willing to give it a try but hoped there maybe a better (working) solution out there nowadays because the old discussion dates back to 2023.

Just to reiterate, I know I shouldn’t be bothered by warnings but I’m maybe a little ‘Monk-ish’ :wink: about the cleanliness of the system journal. So if there’s something that can be done, I’d welcome any tip. Otherwise I’ll live with the mess. :sweat_smile:

2

In a recently setup VM, I dont have any of;

/etc/dconf/db/gdm
/etc/dconf/db/site
/etc/dconf/db/distro

only;

/etc/dconf/db/ibus
/etc/dconf/db/local

(and the *.d directories)

I suppose knowing which packages reference those other directories might be a good place to start.

pacman -Qi dconf shows a number of packages require dconf (new system with minimal additions); maybe checking the respective configurations might reveal something to ultimately remove those warnings.

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3

Now you know - don’t do that.

the files is used by Gnome to streamline unified settings in a corporate environment where computers may be shared among users.

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4

I skimmed through the dconf System Administrator Guide. The DCONF_PROFILE environment variable is not set on my system.

That’s why I checked /etc/dconf/profile where I noticed three profiles:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 76  4. Mai 18:06 gdm
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 28  9. Apr 04:42 ibus
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 29  4. Mai 18:06 user

The problem seems to be the gdm profile, since it’s the one asking for the missing databases:

user-db:user
system-db:gdm
system-db:local
system-db:site
system-db:distro

Is it as easy as deleting the gdm profile or would that be a bad idea/pointless?

Same with me.

5

As I recall there is no need for these db’s - but I may be wrong.

I will check with a default Gnome install when I get the time - I vaguely recall researching on the dconf databases 5 years ago. The result then was - if you want to have system wide changes from application defaults (usually stored as xml files in the /usr tree) - meaning company policies - these policies are applied using /etc/dconf.

Unless you run / maintain Manjaro for a small business which requires certain configuration applied to all users of the specific system - you don’t need them.

You can remove the content of the /etc/dconf/db - for good measure leave a hidden file called .placeholder.

You could also check /etc/skel/ for references to /etc/dconf

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6

The thing is, it’s not the db’s I want to delete but the one’s missing and generating all the warnings in the journal I’m worried about. The ‘gdm’ profile asks for all the non-existing databases and I’m at a point where I seem to have two choices:

  • remove the ‘gdm’ profile (if that’s at all feasible) to get rid of the warnings
  • somehow create these valid ‘gdm’, ‘site’ and ‘disto’ databases without running into the invalid gvdb header error.

I’ve further checked the Archwiki for dconf issues and came across the GDM section 3.2 where it says:

They can be configured either by adding keyfiles to the /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d directory … Note that for the former approach, a GDM profile file is required—this must be created manually as it is no longer shipped upstream

It seems I have one of these formerly shipped GDM profiles but I’m missing the required databases which leads to all the warning messages.

Just to clarify, I don’t. :slight_smile: It’s just my personal system.

I’ve checked with grep -rnw '/etc/skel/' -e '/etc/dconf' but nothing can be found. :+1:

EDIT

Do you know of any community/forum specialized on dconf with expertise where I could perhaps address this question because based on what I can find via forum search and google search, dconf problems seem to be really niche and often don’t get answered across all linux communities (according to my google search)

EDIT2

I’ve checked my recently freshly installed Manjaro Untested VM (even though Oracle GUI is segfaulting on me right now) and can confirm that even a fresh install doesn’t come with these required database but nevertheless with a ‘GDM profile’

7

One obvious consideration is that these are only warnings, and not errors, per sé. Warnings can often (usually) be ignored without any dire consequences.

Much like the commonplace flood of warnings during boot about potentially missing firmware(s), that many seem to feel quite uncomfortable seeing, these warnings might be harmless.

– Obligatory note from the Devil’s Advocate

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8

The file /etc/dconf/profile/gdm was installed/belongs to the package manjaro-gnome-settings

pacman -F /etc/dconf/profile/gdm
etc/dconf/profile/gdm is owned by extra/manjaro-gnome-settings 20250504-1

Whatever this can potentially be used for - I don’t know.

I removed it - moved it to some place else to be able to restore it should it be needed.

System works just as before, no more warnings in the log.

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9

Like I said in the beginning. I’m aware these are warnings. It’s just that I have a feeling there can be done something about them. Furthermore the dozens of warnings are kind of annoying when checking the journal with --priority=4

Thanks. :exploding_head: :sweat_smile: That’s really helpful and I’ll keep pacman -F in mind for future issues like this. It never crossed my mind to check the file database.

FWIW, I asked GPT yesterday and it advised not to remove the ‘gdm’ profile because the GNOME display manager depends on it. Removing might lead to displaying issues.

I figured it might be enough to comment out the missing ‘system-db’ entries in the profile. According to “GPT” you comment out with a semicolon. I’m planning to try that later and report back if it worked. Otherwise I’ll try removing it just like you did and hope for the best. :sweat_smile:

10

Well:
it (GPT) lied - confidently as usual :wink:

As I said:
I did remove it - and the system didn’t explode or quit working …

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11

I had a feeling. :wink: It said it so confidently but I thought “Hold on, if GDM depends on it then why does everything seem to work although a lot of the system-db seem to be missing?”

There’s at least one valid system-db in the gdm profile.

My thought process is “why take the risk; just comment out the missing ones; keep the file” and possibly wait for a .pacnew file in the future.

12

I don’t know whether “commenting out” works there, but I guess so.

I took the easy way and just moved the file to somewhere else … from where I could simply move it back to where it was in case of problems.

13

Are you running GNOME and have you rebooted since moving the profile? If yes, I’m willing to just remove it myself.

14

Yes to both.
I did test this on Gnome.
I did reboot.

Of course I have tested it.
And I said so as well :wink:

command line equivalent of what I did:

sudo mv /etc/dconf/profile/gdm /root

You could move it to any other place.
Or just copy it to somewhere and then remove it from /etc/dconf/profile

… just retain a copy of it somehow, in case you need to restore it
(which you won’t need to do - but you can if you still have the file …)

… a defunct display manager (GDM) will not break your system -
it would just be a minor annoyance -
but it will not be defunct after this …

just the error messages in the log will disappear

It will have been difficult to convince you that you could try it without dire consequences (and easily reverse it).
But it will have worked as described. :wink:

Just get rid of the file - or move it out of the way.

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15

Reporting back to tell you everything went smoothly. I moved the gdm profile, updated dconf and rebooted. Everything is working fine and the dozens of warnings have disappeared. Thanks. :+1:

sudo mv /etc/dconf/profile/gdm /root
sudo dconf update
sudo reboot now

I’ve described it a little bit in this old discussion. I’m coming from years of Ubuntu without ever feeling the need to dabble with the command line. Since I’m running Linux exclusively on my personal machine without a Windows drop-back installation and being not very experienced with all the details, using a rolling release distribution is really an adventure and made me slightly paranoid. :wink:

I always triple check every command, document every system change in a text file and run a borg backup of my personal data and a timeshift backup before every update. I’ve met people using Linux who reinstall everytime they run into problems and I don’t want to be one of them. :sweat_smile:

P.S. now that the vast number of warnings have disappeared, I noticed a couple of others which I’ll will deal with in a new topic.

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16

… there was no need to use the command line - it was just an easy way to describe how to move that file
It is now in the /root directory (the “root” users home directory) - you’ll find it there should you ever need it again.

This could have been done with any file manager as well.
The only objective was to move it away from where it was.
Just deleting it would have worked as well - but with no easy way to reverse that decision.

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17

I know, but to my surprise, I started to ‘love’ the command line. It’s way quicker than dabbling around in a nautilus window. I even added a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Alt+T) in GNOME to quickly open a terminal.

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