create doesn't works when in SSH

[jalberto]

Describe the bug
when I ssh into another computer to run toolbox the create command falls if using --image

It seems it tries to mount an empty volume:

DEBU /usr/bin/toolbox:/usr/bin/toolbox:ro
DEBU --volume
DEBU :
DEBU --volume
DEBU /run/avahi-daemon/socket:/run/avahi-daemon/socket

Steps how to reproduce the behaviour

1. ssh host
2. toolbox create --image foo test
3. See error

Expected behaviour
a Created toolbox

Output of toolbox --version (v0.0.90+)
toolbox version 0.3

Toolbx package info (rpm -q toolbox)
fedora silverblue 42 toolbox-0.3-1.fc42.x86_64

Output of podman version

Client:        Podman Engine
Version:       5.6.2
API Version:   5.6.2
Go Version:    go1.24.7
Git Commit:    9dd5e1ed33830612bc200d7a13db00af6ab865a4
Built:         Tue Sep 30 02:00:00 2025
Build Origin:  Fedora Project
OS/Arch:       linux/amd64

Podman package info (rpm -q podman)
e.g., podman-1.9.2-1.fc32.x86_64

Info about your OS
podman-5.6.2-1.fc42.x86_64

Additional context

➜ toolbox create test --image docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma -v
DEBU Running as real user ID 1000
DEBU Resolved absolute path to the executable as /usr/bin/toolbox
DEBU Running on a cgroups v2 host
DEBU Looking up sub-GID and sub-UID ranges for user ja
DEBU TOOLBX_DELAY_ENTRY_POINT is
DEBU TOOLBX_FAIL_ENTRY_POINT is
DEBU TOOLBOX_PATH is /usr/bin/toolbox
DEBU Migrating to newer Podman
DEBU Toolbx config directory is /var/home/ja/.config/toolbox
DEBU Current Podman version is 5.6.2
DEBU Creating runtime directory toolbox
DEBU Old Podman version is 5.6.2
DEBU Migration not needed: Podman version 5.6.2 is unchanged
DEBU Setting up configuration
DEBU Setting up configuration: file /var/home/ja/.config/containers/toolbox.conf not found
DEBU Resolving container and image names
DEBU Container: ''
DEBU Distribution (CLI): ''
DEBU Image (CLI): ''
DEBU Release (CLI): ''
DEBU Resolved container and image names
DEBU Container: 'fedora-toolbox-42'
DEBU Image: 'fedora-toolbox:42'
DEBU Release: '42'
DEBU Resolving container and image names
DEBU Container: 'test'
DEBU Distribution (CLI): ''
DEBU Image (CLI): 'docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma'
DEBU Release (CLI): ''
DEBU Resolved container and image names
DEBU Container: 'test'
DEBU Image: 'docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma'
DEBU Release: 'rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma'
DEBU Checking if container test already exists
DEBU Looking up image docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma
DEBU Resolving fully qualified name for image docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma from RepoTags
DEBU Resolved image docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma to docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma
DEBU Checking if 'podman create' supports '--mount type=devpts'
DEBU 'podman create' supports '--mount type=devpts'
DEBU Resolving path to the D-Bus system socket
DEBU /var/home/ja canonicalized to /var/home/ja
DEBU Resolving path to the Avahi socket
DEBU Resolving path to the KCM socket
DEBU Resolving path to the pcsc socket
DEBU Checking if /media is a symbolic link to /run/media
DEBU /media is a symbolic link to /run/media
DEBU Checking if /mnt is a symbolic link to /var/mnt
DEBU /mnt is a symbolic link to /var/mnt
DEBU Looking up toolbox.sh
DEBU Found /etc/profile.d/toolbox.sh
DEBU Checking if /home is a symbolic link to /var/home
DEBU /home is a symbolic link to /var/home
DEBU Creating container test:
DEBU podman
DEBU --log-level
DEBU error
DEBU create
DEBU --cgroupns
DEBU host
DEBU --dns
DEBU none
DEBU --env
DEBU TOOLBOX_PATH=/usr/bin/toolbox
DEBU --env
DEBU XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=
DEBU --hostname
DEBU toolbx
DEBU --ipc
DEBU host
DEBU --label
DEBU com.github.containers.toolbox=true
DEBU --mount
DEBU type=devpts,destination=/dev/pts
DEBU --name
DEBU test
DEBU --network
DEBU host
DEBU --no-hosts
DEBU --pid
DEBU host
DEBU --privileged
DEBU --security-opt
DEBU label=disable
DEBU --ulimit
DEBU host
DEBU --userns
DEBU keep-id
DEBU --user
DEBU root:root
DEBU --volume
DEBU /:/run/host:rslave
DEBU --volume
DEBU /dev:/dev:rslave
DEBU --volume
DEBU /run/dbus/system_bus_socket:/run/dbus/system_bus_socket
DEBU --volume
DEBU /var/home/ja:/var/home/ja:rslave
DEBU --volume
DEBU /usr/bin/toolbox:/usr/bin/toolbox:ro
DEBU --volume
DEBU :
DEBU --volume
DEBU /run/avahi-daemon/socket:/run/avahi-daemon/socket
DEBU --volume
DEBU /run/.heim_org.h5l.kcm-socket:/run/.heim_org.h5l.kcm-socket
DEBU --volume
DEBU /run/pcscd/pcscd.comm:/run/pcscd/pcscd.comm
DEBU --volume
DEBU /run/media:/run/media:rslave
DEBU --volume
DEBU /etc/profile.d/toolbox.sh:/etc/profile.d/toolbox.sh:ro
DEBU docker.io/kyuz0/amd-strix-halo-toolboxes:rocm-6.4.4-rocwmma
DEBU toolbox
DEBU --log-level
DEBU debug
DEBU init-container
DEBU --gid
DEBU 1000
DEBU --home
DEBU /var/home/ja
DEBU --shell
DEBU /usr/bin/zsh
DEBU --uid
DEBU 1000
DEBU --user
DEBU ja
DEBU --home-link
DEBU --media-link
DEBU --mnt-link
Error: host directory cannot be empty
Error: failed to create container test

[jalberto]

I have the same issue when running toolbox after changing the user

sudo su - u2
toolbox --image foo bar
Error: Failed to create container test

it seems create --image only works when the user is directly logged

[jalberto]

It fails with same error when --image is not used

[arifyn]

I've experienced this issue too when using ssh or vnc.

Fundamentally, it seems to be a problem with toolbx expecting the environment variable XDG_RUNTIME_DIR to exist even when it does not. Rather than sensibly handling its absence, toolbx seems to just passes a null folder to podman, which does not approve.

This is a problem since XDG_RUNTIME_DIR only seems to be set for local console sessions, and in any case should not be expected since it's apparently not a required variable by the XDG (freedesktop.org) standards.

As a workaround, you can manually set an XDG_RUNTIME_DIR (pam_systemd sets it to /run/user/$UID, so that's very common, but any temporary/scratch folder that's owned by the user and has 700 permissions should work).