coreutils-9.0-1: chmod -R silently returns failure if dir contains a symlink (regression)

[Brian Inglis]

On 2025-02-12 15:00, Christian Franke via Cygwin wrote:
> Brian Inglis via Cygwin wrote:
>> On 2025-02-09 08:01, Christian Franke via Cygwin wrote:
>>> Testcase:
>>>
>>> $ uname -r
>>> 3.5.7-1.x86_64
>>>
>>> $ cygcheck -f /bin/chmod
>>> coreutils-9.0-1
>>>
>>> $ mkdir dir
>>>
>>> $ touch dir/file
>>>
>>> $ chmod -R -v g-w dir; echo $?
>>> mode of 'dir' retained as 0755 (rwxr-xr-x)
>>> mode of 'dir/file' retained as 0644 (rw-r--r--)
>>> 0
>>>
>>> $ ln -s file dir/link
>>>
>>> $ chmod -R -v g-w dir; echo $?
>>> mode of 'dir' retained as 0755 (rwxr-xr-x)
>>> mode of 'dir/file' retained as 0644 (rw-r--r--)
>>> neither symbolic link 'dir/link' nor referent has been changed
>>> 1
>>>
>>> $ chmod -R g-w dir; echo $?
>>> 1
>>>
>>> $ chmod -v g-w dir dir/file dir/link; echo $?
>>> mode of 'dir' retained as 0755 (rwxr-xr-x)
>>> mode of 'dir/file' retained as 0644 (rw-r--r--)
>>> mode of 'dir/link' retained as 0644 (rw-r--r--)
>>> 0
>>>
>>> $ chmod -R -v g+w dir; echo $?
>>> mode of 'dir' changed from 0755 (rwxr-xr-x) to 0775 (rwxrwxr-x)
>>> mode of 'dir/file' changed from 0644 (rw-r--r--) to 0664 (rw-rw-r--)
>>> neither symbolic link 'dir/link' nor referent has been changed
>>> 1
>>>
>>> $ chmod -R g-w dir; echo $?
>>> 1
>>>
>>> Exit status 1 does not occur with chmod from coreutils 8.32-1.
>>
>> A major change in coreutils 9 was to use the f...at() directory relative 
>> functions, so the error may be related to that symlink, unreported due to a 
>> bug (in our/my patches, underlying, or upstream):
>>
>> EOPNOTSUPP    The  AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW bit is set in the flag argument, path 
>> names a symbolic link, and the system does not support changing the mode of a 
>> symbolic link.
>>
>> Appears that it is a known bug and should have been fixed upstream; see the 
>> test release announcement for many chmod fixes and changes including more 
>> options:
>>
>>     https://cygwin.com/pipermail/cygwin-announce/2025-January/012042.html
>>
>> "...
>> 2022-04-15    9.1
>>
>> Bug fixes
>>
>> - chmod -R no longer exits with error status when encountering symlinks.
>>   All files would be processed correctly, but the exit status was incorrect.
>>   [bug introduced in coreutils-9.0]
>> ..."
>>
>> If you can, please check again with coreutils test 9.5.
>> I am working on updating to 9.6, will recheck as part of that, and fix or 
>> report a regression, if an issue.
>>
> 
> Problem does no longer occur with 9.5-1 and 9.6-1 test releases.

Thank you very much for testing and reporting.

-- 
Take care. Thanks, Brian Inglis              Calgary, Alberta, Canada

La perfection est atteinte                   Perfection is achieved
non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter  not when there is no more to add
mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retrancher  but when there is no more to cut
                                 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry