[Bug 336660] Re: GConf Error: Failed to contact configuration server using root user

[kantor]

Hi, it is not quiet a but, but indeed is annoying.
The explanation of the problem is the following:
 
When you su to root from a terminal where you are logged in as another user the new "su-ed" user gonna inherit the environment variables from the parent shell user.
 
Example: let's say that for the user jack the DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS environment variable is set to: "unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-l5SiTFzmR8,guid=1af28c9d83400a896ef6268d4a7af59f"
Now if you open a terminal as jack and make a su to root the DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS variable shall remain
as for the user jack. And here is the problem, exactly this specific env. variable (DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS) generates that problem. 
Gnome programs like gedit, nautilus . . . use the dbus protocol to communicate with gconf where application specific configurations are stored, and not just.
A program executed as root uses a different D-Bus session bus address compared when you execute that program as the jack user for instance. So the problem is that you switch to root, but the DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS variable still points the the jack's dbus session bus address.

Solution:
The root user has a separate dbus session address too (located in /root/.dbus/session-bus/. . .)
So to use the root's dbus address when you are in a terminal and "su-ed" to root just clear the DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS variable. like: export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=""
A program that needs dbus communication with gconf for instance, checks that environment variable, and if it is empty it reads the dbus address from the users ~/.dbus/session-bus/ directory (the right place).
To make this permanent add the following line to the root users .bashrc file:
export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=""
This means that every time when you su to root and the terminal is not a login shell (the case when you are logged in as jack and opened a terminal and executed su) the  DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS variable is cleared, so the applications gonna read the dbus address from the right place.

by the way you do not need to start a new dbus session with dbus-launch.
Even if you do so but the applications still read the dbus address from
the wrong place, the problem will persist.

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GConf Error: Failed to contact configuration server using root user
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/336660
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