When hermes update restarts a hermes-gateway system service as a
non-root user, the systemctl reset-failed/start/restart calls trigger
polkit's org.freedesktop.systemd1.manage-units TTY authentication
agent. That prompt runs inside a captured subprocess with a 10-15s
timeout, so it flashes and dies before the user can answer, and the
resulting TimeoutExpired was swallowed silently by the loop's blanket
except — the restart phase just vanished with no output.
- Resolve a manage-units command prefix up front: plain systemctl as
root, sudo -n systemctl as non-root (with a targeted reset-failed
probe so least-privilege sudoers entries scoped to hermes-gateway*
qualify), or None when no non-interactive privilege path exists.
- Add --no-ask-password to every manage-units call in the update
restart path so polkit can never prompt inside a captured subprocess.
- When unprivileged: after a graceful drain, rely on systemd's own
RestartSec auto-restart (needs no privileges) with a message about
the wait; skip the force-restart fallback with clear manual
instructions instead of racing a doomed polkit prompt.
- Surface TimeoutExpired in the restart loop instead of passing
silently, and add sudo to the system-scope recovery hints.
- Docs: headless-VM note recommending user service + enable-linger,
or sudo updates / a scoped NOPASSWD sudoers entry for system
services.
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