Nix >= 2.30 multiuser fails to install on Ubuntu 25.10 (questing) beta/daily
Open
Nobody has claimed this yet.
installer
- Dominant language
- C++
- Stars
- 17.7k
- Forks
- 2k
- Avg merge
- 1d 16h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 80
Description
Platform
- Linux: Ubuntu 25.10. Tried both with
beta1as well as a daily version as of September 28th, 2025 - macOS
- WSL
Additional information
System installed from scratch
Output
Output
./install --daemon < /dev/null
...
[output suppressed, all works so far]
...
~~> Setting up the default profile
installing 'nix-2.31.2'
building '/nix/store/g30g3gcmq5fly1p3qga608wisvhkczjs-user-environment.drv'...
error: cannot read directory "/nix/store/i91hkfq9raq9qznwjrd59mlf1zb7nlpq-nix-2.31.2": Permission denied
error: Cannot build '/nix/store/g30g3gcmq5fly1p3qga608wisvhkczjs-user-environment.drv'.
Reason: builder failed with exit code 1.
Output paths:
/nix/store/yrslk7w7pgnrfcdflb3ybmlzf0zf0njy-user-environment
---- oh no! --------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh no, something went wrong. If you can take all the output and open
an issue, we'd love to fix the problem so nobody else has this issue.
:(
We'd love to help if you need it.
You can open an issue at
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/new?labels=installer&template=installer.md
Or get in touch with the community: https://nixos.org/community
Fails with:
nix-2.31.2nix-2.30.3
However works without problems with nix-2.29.2.
This issue is similar to https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/13252, also a permission error but of different kind. Note that I also tested on 24.04 and didn't have a problem installing 2.31.2.
Checklist
- checked latest Nix manual (source)
- checked open installer issues and pull requests for possible duplicates
Add 👍 to issues you find important.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Reproduce the multiuser installer on a fresh Ubuntu 25.10 beta or daily system with Nix 2.30.3 or 2.31.2, and compare it with Nix 2.29.2 and Ubuntu 24.04. Done means the installation completes, including default profile setup, without the permission-denied error reading the Nix store.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- ubuntu
- Domain
- operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100