podman-container-tools/podman · error

error getting current working directory: %m

Error message

error getting current working directory: %m

What it means

On the no-re-exec shortcut path (non-root user, XDG_RUNTIME_DIR set, can_use_shortcut(argv) true), the preamble saves the current directory with getcwd(NULL, 0) so it can chdir back after joining the existing user+mount namespaces (pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.c:833-838). This message means getcwd failed - classically ENOENT when the cwd was deleted, EACCES when a parent directory is not searchable, or ENAMETOOLONG - and the process _exits.

Source

Thrown at pkg/rootless/rootless_linux.c:834

    {
      cleanup_free char *cwd = NULL;
      cleanup_close int userns_fd = -1;
      cleanup_close int mntns_fd = -1;
      cleanup_close int fd = -1;
      long pid;
      char buf[12];
      uid_t uid;
      gid_t gid;
      char path[PATH_MAX];
      char uid_fmt[16];
      char gid_fmt[16];
      size_t len;
      int r;

      cwd = getcwd (NULL, 0);
      if (cwd == NULL)
        {
          fprintf (stderr, "error getting current working directory: %m\n");
          _exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
        }

      uid = geteuid ();
      gid = getegid ();

      len = snprintf (path, PATH_MAX, "%s/libpod/tmp/ns_handles", xdg_runtime_dir);
      if (len >= PATH_MAX)
        {
          errno = ENAMETOOLONG;
          fprintf (stderr, "invalid value for XDG_RUNTIME_DIR: %m");
          exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
        }

      if (set_ns_handles (path) == 0)
        goto joined;

      /* If the handle is stale, give up with the shortcut.  */

View on GitHub (pinned to a2409076ef)

Solutions

1. Change to an existing, accessible directory first: 'cd ~ && podman <cmd>'
2. Fix search permissions on the path leading to the cwd if it still exists
3. In scripts, always cd to a stable directory before removing the working directory
4. For automount issues, ensure the home mount is active before invoking podman

Example fix

# before
cd /tmp/build
rm -rf /tmp/build
podman ps   # error getting current working directory: No such file or directory

# after
WORK=$(pwd); cd ~; rm -rf "$WORK"
podman ps

# Verify the startup directory exists and is searchable before invoking podman
if [ ! -d "$PWD" ] || [ ! -x "$PWD" ]; then
  cd "$HOME" || exit 1
fi
podman "$@"

When it happens

Trigger: Invoking podman from a directory that has since been removed (e.g. 'cd /tmp/build && rm -rf /tmp/build && podman ...'); a cwd whose path traverses a directory without execute permission for the user; an automounted home that unmounted; a cwd deeper than PATH_MAX.

Common situations: CI pipelines that delete the workspace directory and then run podman from it; shells sitting in deleted temp dirs; home directories with 0700 perms owned by another user after uid changes; NFS homes after a remount.

Related errors

• cannot chdir to %s: %m
• error getting current working directory: %m\n
• opendir %s: %m
• cannot retrieve cmd line
• invalid value for XDG_RUNTIME_DIR: %m

AI-assisted analysis of podman-container-tools/podman@a2409076ef (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ed9886a53854b6d7. Report an issue: GitHub.