services: Create /var/run/utmpx upon activation.

This fixes a bug whereby /var/run/utmpx would never be created, and thus
accounting information would be missing.

* gnu/services.scm (activation-script): Create /var/run/utmpx.
* gnu/tests/base.scm (run-basic-test)["utmpx entry"]: New test.

1 files changed, 6 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/gnu/services.scm b/gnu/services.scm
index 4020fd37e04..f72d4d57850 100644
--- a/gnu/services.scm
+++ b/gnu/services.scm
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
-;;; Copyright © 2015, 2016 Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>
+;;; Copyright © 2015, 2016, 2017 Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>
 ;;; Copyright © 2016 Chris Marusich <cmmarusich@gmail.com>
 ;;;
 ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
@@ -340,6 +340,11 @@ ACTIVATION-SCRIPT-TYPE."
                       (activate-/bin/sh
                        (string-append #$(canonical-package bash) "/bin/sh"))
 
+                      ;; Make sure the user accounting database exists.  If it
+                      ;; does not exist, 'setutxent' does not create it and
+                      ;; thus there is no accounting at all.
+                      (close-port (open-file "/var/run/utmpx" "a0"))
+
                       ;; Set up /run/current-system.  Among other things this
                       ;; sets up locales, which the activation snippets
                       ;; executed below may expect.