From f49b4b3f8465d13f91d73ecf755657a1bfbc76c4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Matt Van Horn <455140+mvanhorn@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 23:54:15 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] fix: emit quadlet generator logs to stderr even when kmsg
 succeeds

Logf wrote to /dev/kmsg and only fell back to stderr when the kmsg
write failed or -dryrun was set. As root the kmsg write succeeds, so
nothing reached stderr and `sudo systemd-analyze --generators verify`
(which captures stderr, not kmsg) showed no diagnostics, while the same
command without sudo did.

Write to /dev/kmsg best-effort for early-boot/journal capture AND always
copy the same line to stderr so verify and interactive sudo runs surface
the messages. Rootless behavior is unchanged.

Fixes: #28888
Signed-off-by: Matt Van Horn <455140+mvanhorn@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 cmd/quadlet/main.go      |   8 +--
 cmd/quadlet/main_test.go | 115 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 119 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/cmd/quadlet/main.go b/cmd/quadlet/main.go
index fe78d1f92dd..936d64771f5 100644
--- a/cmd/quadlet/main.go
+++ b/cmd/quadlet/main.go
@@ -70,10 +70,10 @@ func Logf(format string, a ...any) {
 	s := fmt.Sprintf(format, a...)
 	line := fmt.Sprintf("quadlet-generator[%d]: %s", os.Getpid(), s)
 
-	if !logToKmsg(line) || dryRunFlag {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s\n", line)
-		os.Stderr.Sync()
-	}
+	logToKmsg(line)
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%s\n", line)
+	os.Stderr.Sync()
 }
 
 var debugEnabled = false
diff --git a/cmd/quadlet/main_test.go b/cmd/quadlet/main_test.go
index a9f137e8611..2c3d946cbe2 100644
--- a/cmd/quadlet/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/quadlet/main_test.go
@@ -3,11 +3,126 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
+func TestLogfWritesToStderrWhenKmsgUnavailable(t *testing.T) {
+	restoreLogGlobals(t)
+	noKmsg = true
+	kmsgFile = nil
+	dryRunFlag = false
+
+	stderr := captureStderr(t, func() {
+		Logf("kmsg unavailable")
+	})
+
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedLogLine("kmsg unavailable")+"\n", stderr)
+}
+
+func TestLogfWritesToStderrWhenKmsgSucceeds(t *testing.T) {
+	restoreLogGlobals(t)
+	noKmsg = false
+	dryRunFlag = false
+
+	tmpFile, err := os.CreateTemp(t.TempDir(), "kmsg")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		tmpFile.Close()
+	})
+	kmsgFile = tmpFile
+
+	stderr := captureStderr(t, func() {
+		Logf("kmsg succeeds")
+	})
+
+	line := expectedLogLine("kmsg succeeds")
+	assert.Equal(t, line+"\n", stderr)
+
+	_, err = tmpFile.Seek(0, io.SeekStart)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	kmsg, err := io.ReadAll(tmpFile)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, line, string(kmsg))
+}
+
+func TestLogfWritesToStderrInDryRun(t *testing.T) {
+	restoreLogGlobals(t)
+	noKmsg = true
+	kmsgFile = nil
+	dryRunFlag = true
+
+	stderr := captureStderr(t, func() {
+		Logf("dry run")
+	})
+
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedLogLine("dry run")+"\n", stderr)
+}
+
+func TestLogfWritesToStderrWhenKmsgWriteFails(t *testing.T) {
+	restoreLogGlobals(t)
+	noKmsg = false
+	dryRunFlag = false
+
+	tmpFile, err := os.CreateTemp(t.TempDir(), "kmsg")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, tmpFile.Close())
+	kmsgFile = tmpFile
+
+	stderr := captureStderr(t, func() {
+		Logf("kmsg write failure")
+	})
+
+	assert.Equal(t, expectedLogLine("kmsg write failure")+"\n", stderr)
+	assert.Nil(t, kmsgFile)
+}
+
+func restoreLogGlobals(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	oldNoKmsg := noKmsg
+	oldKmsgFile := kmsgFile
+	oldDryRunFlag := dryRunFlag
+
+	t.Cleanup(func() {
+		noKmsg = oldNoKmsg
+		kmsgFile = oldKmsgFile
+		dryRunFlag = oldDryRunFlag
+	})
+}
+
+func captureStderr(t *testing.T, f func()) string {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	oldStderr := os.Stderr
+	reader, writer, err := os.Pipe()
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	os.Stderr = writer
+	defer func() {
+		os.Stderr = oldStderr
+	}()
+
+	f()
+	require.NoError(t, writer.Close())
+	os.Stderr = oldStderr
+
+	output, err := io.ReadAll(reader)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NoError(t, reader.Close())
+
+	return string(output)
+}
+
+func expectedLogLine(message string) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("quadlet-generator[%d]: %s", os.Getpid(), message)
+}
+
 func TestIsUnambiguousName(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
 		input string