What is the purpose of the notification "Initializing filesystem inotify monitoring"?

[ixevix]

This pops up every time onedrive is started on GNOME. In my opinion it's unnecessary and adds frustration as there is just always the same message. Should it be removed?

[abraunegg]

@ixevix

This pops up every time onedrive is started on GNOME.

This message exists to advise you the client is now monitoring your local filesystem. This is the reason why it exists and occurs when running in --monitor mode which is used when using a systemd service or when you are running the client manually.

In a similar vein, this message does not occur when using --sync .. which many people do - as they run things manually, but want GUI notifications .....

This is why it exists.

In my opinion it's unnecessary and adds frustration as there is just always the same message.

The same could be said for all other startup elements .. but then you have no way knowing if the client has started .........

Should it be removed?

You can disable GUI notifications. Please read the documentation.

[smomar7]

Slightly unrelated but can the documentation include instructions on setting up systemd service and momentarily pausing it (such as when reinstalling the client or updating it...). This would be super useful. Currently there are instructions to activate systemd without logging in or at root

[abraunegg]

but can the documentation include instructions on setting up systemd service

This already exists ... unsure what else you are expecting here.

momentarily pausing it (such as when reinstalling the client or updating it...).

Generally the 'package' will do this for you by stoppig / restarting the relevant systemd service.

Outside of this, systemd services are managed by systemctl

Please read the documentation for systemctl - https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/systemctl.1.html

[smomar7]

Thanks for your response.

This already exists ... unsure what else you are expecting here.

At the moment in docs/usage.md the first time systemd comes up as additional information where you introduce --monitor (position 1) and then later in "How to Receive Real-time Changes from Microsoft OneDrive Service, instead of waiting for the next sync period?". I am suggesting a revision to the documentation such that it is more explicitly mentioned (position 1) and it hyperlinks to position 2.

Please read the documentation for systemctl - https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/systemctl.1.html

Thanks. If this can be added to the documentation, it will helpful for first time users such as myself.

[H76TWE]

I am using onedrive for Linux for quite some time now and it runs great. Since a couple of days it still runs great but I get the aformentioned notification not only on startup (which makes sense) but every few minutes. Maybe this was also the motivation of the initial post.

[abraunegg]

@H76TWE

but every few minutes. Maybe this was also the motivation of the initial post.

That would indicate you have an underlying issue ..... why is the client restarting every few minutes?

1. You have a problem that is causing systemd to restart
2. You have a second systemd service in the background running - this is very common due to Ubuntu packages as it installs a systemd service that should not be there and is the cause of this

You should look deeper and understand why your system in generating this notification on such a frequent basis.

[H76TWE]

Thanks a lot @abraunegg, as I am still a Linux novice, it will probably take me some time to solve this, but I will try. For the sake of completeness: I have checked the application logs and the following entries before each unintended restart (while they are not there for the initial startup):

21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740f84294]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740f84294]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? __libc_start_main [0x70efa362a47a]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x70efa362a3b7]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x5987410b5f61]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? _d_run_main [0x70efa3ba5a3c]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? _d_run_main2 [0x70efa3ba5be6]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? void rt.dmain2._d_run_main2(char[][], ulong, extern (C) int function(char[][])*).runAll() [0x70efa3ba5dcc]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x59874108a3cc]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x59874108c636]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740fc147a]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740fc3763]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740fcffc3]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740fd676f]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740fc4d22]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? [0x598740fb5f01]
21:35:21 onedrive: ??:? _d_assert [0x70efa3b6e942]
21:35:21 onedrive: ----------------
21:35:21 onedrive: core.exception.AssertError@src/itemdb.d(892): Assertion failure
21:35:21 onedrive: Database vacuum is complete
21:35:21 onedrive: Generating a /delta response from the OneDrive API for this Drive ID: (removed) and Item ID: (removed) ........................................................Attempting to perform a database vacuum to optimise database

[abraunegg]

@H76TWE
You appear to be hitting an application bug of some sort.

Please raise a new bug report and provide all details. Please generate a verbose debug log following https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive/wiki/Generate-https-debug-log-for-support

All these details then help to fix the issue you are encountering.

[abraunegg]

@H76TWE
Please can you raise the bug report

[H76TWE]

@abraunegg
It took a bit due to a busy day but you should now find the log in you inbox.

[mat926]

I had the same question and it's annoying to see it on every boot. Is there a way to disable this specific notification but keep the others?

[abraunegg]

The notification appears each time the client starts when running in --monitor mode. Its purpose is to indicate that the client has successfully started and is now actively monitoring your local filesystem for changes.

This behaviour is intentional, as many users run the client as a background service (for example via a systemd user service) and the notification provides a visible confirmation that the client is running and monitoring the local filesystem.

If you prefer not to see this message, the available option is to disable GUI notifications entirely. The configuration option for this is documented here:

https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive/blob/master/docs/application-config-options.md#disable_notifications

At present there is no configuration option to selectively disable only this single notification while keeping the others. No such application change will be made for this single item.

One other point worth mentioning is that Ubuntu and Debian when installing from their package default repository — those packages enable a default systemd service that spins around in the background. When this occurs, the notification may appear more frequently than expected, which understandably makes it feel repetitive.

This packaging issue is documented here, along with the steps to resolve it:

https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive/blob/master/docs/ubuntu-package-install.md#step-1c-remove-errant-systemd-service-file-installed-by-debian--ubuntu-distribution-packages

[thomasfedb]

@abraunegg

Hello! In similar vein to the above comments, I would prefer to have no notifications in the default "everything is fine" state when the service starts, which occurs on each boot. Would you reconsider having a configuration flag to disable this particular notification? I'm happy to contribute a PR.

[abraunegg]

Thanks for the PR

My focus has been elsewhere at the moment, will look at the PR, and how that can also be used for other ask of providing more startup notifications.

[thomasfedb]

Thanks! No rush, but will be happy if it gets merged!

[thomasfedb]

@abraunegg do you think the PR can be merged as-is, pending the further work you're considering?

[abraunegg]

I will look at it .. but there a whole bunch of other things that need to done first before I get to it