org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.Spawn.ChildExited: Launch helper exited with unknown return code 1

Gravatar123A

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Aug 19, 2025
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I keep getting this error while trying to start my vms on proxmox, i have tryed to reinstall dbus many times and doesnt work, and everytime i run systemctl start dbus it just hangs my terminal connection
 
root@pve ~ # systemctl enable dbus
Synchronizing state of dbus.service with SysV service script with /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable dbus
The unit files have no installation config (WantedBy=, RequiredBy=, Also=,
Alias= settings in the [Install] section, and DefaultInstance= for template
units). This means they are not meant to be enabled using systemctl.

Possible reasons for having this kind of units are:
• A unit may be statically enabled by being symlinked from another unit's
.wants/ or .requires/ directory.
• A unit's purpose may be to act as a helper for some other unit which has
a requirement dependency on it.
• A unit may be started when needed via activation (socket, path, timer,
D-Bus, udev, scripted systemctl call, ...).
• In case of template units, the unit is meant to be enabled with some
instance name specified.
root@pve ~ #

heres what out put it gives when i ty to do
systemctl enable dbus
 
Hi,

please provide the output of pveversion -v, systemctl status dbus.service dbus.socket qm config <vmid> and qm start <vmid>, where <vmid> is the specific VM ID.

and everytime i run systemctl start dbus it just hangs my terminal connection
DBus is a socket-triggered service, so no need to start and/or enable it manually.
 
root@pve ~ # pveversion -v
proxmox-ve: 8.4.0 (running kernel: 6.8.12-13-pve)
pve-manager: 8.4.11 (running version: 8.4.11/14a32011146091ed)
proxmox-kernel-helper: 8.1.4
proxmox-kernel-6.8.12-13-pve-signed: 6.8.12-13
proxmox-kernel-6.8: 6.8.12-13
pve-kernel-6.2.16-5-pve: 6.2.16-6
amd64-microcode: 3.20240820.1~deb12u1
ceph-fuse: 16.2.15+ds-0+deb12u1
corosync: 3.1.9-pve1
criu: 3.17.1-2+deb12u1
glusterfs-client: 10.3-5
ifupdown: residual config
ifupdown2: 3.2.0-1+pmx11
intel-microcode: 3.20250512.1~deb12u1
libjs-extjs: 7.0.0-5
libknet1: 1.30-pve2
libproxmox-acme-perl: 1.6.0
libproxmox-backup-qemu0: 1.5.2
libproxmox-rs-perl: 0.3.5
libpve-access-control: 8.2.2
libpve-apiclient-perl: 3.3.2
libpve-cluster-api-perl: 8.1.2
libpve-cluster-perl: 8.1.2
libpve-common-perl: 8.3.4
libpve-guest-common-perl: 5.2.2
libpve-http-server-perl: 5.2.2
libpve-network-perl: 0.11.2
libpve-rs-perl: 0.9.4
libpve-storage-perl: 8.3.7
libspice-server1: 0.15.1-1
lvm2: 2.03.16-2
lxc-pve: 6.0.0-1
lxcfs: 6.0.0-pve2
novnc-pve: 1.6.0-2
proxmox-backup-client: 3.4.6-1
proxmox-backup-file-restore: 3.4.6-1
proxmox-backup-restore-image: not correctly installed
proxmox-kernel-helper: 8.1.4
proxmox-mail-forward: 0.3.3
proxmox-mini-journalreader: 1.5
proxmox-widget-toolkit: 4.3.13
pve-cluster: 8.1.2
pve-container: 5.3.0
pve-docs: 8.4.1
pve-edk2-firmware: not correctly installed
pve-firewall: 5.1.2
pve-firmware: 3.16-3
pve-ha-manager: 4.0.7
pve-i18n: 3.4.5
pve-qemu-kvm: 9.2.0-7
pve-xtermjs: 5.5.0-2
qemu-server: 8.4.1
smartmontools: 7.4-2~bpo12+1
spiceterm: 3.3.0
swtpm: 0.8.0+pve1
vncterm: 1.8.0
root@pve ~ # systemctl status dbus.service dbus.socket
○ dbus.service - D-Bus System Message Bus
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dbus.service; static)
Active: inactive (dead)
TriggeredBy: ○ dbus.socket
Docs: man:dbus-daemon(1)

Aug 19 11:29:53 pve systemd[1]: dbus.service: Unit cannot be reloaded because it is inactive.
Aug 19 11:30:02 pve systemd[1]: dbus.service: Unit cannot be reloaded because it is inactive.

○ dbus.socket - D-Bus System Message Bus Socket
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dbus.socket; static)
Active: inactive (dead)
Triggers: ● dbus.service
Listen: /run/dbus/system_bus_socket (Stream)


root@pve ~ # qm config 101
agent: 1
boot: c
bootdisk: scsi0
cipassword: **********
ciuser: victus
cores: 8
ide2: local:iso/101-cloudinit.iso,media=cdrom,size=366K
ipconfig0: ip=65.21.91.236/32,gw=65.21.91.193
memory: 65000
meta: creation-qemu=9.2.0,ctime=1754564584
name: victusnode11
net0: virtio=00:50:56:00:E9:C0,bridge=vmbr0
numa: 0
scsi0: local:101/vm-101-disk-0.raw,size=370892M
scsihw: virtio-scsi-pci
serial0: socket
smbios1: uuid=1f6347cc-2dd8-4600-bda7-3e4ce56f6af6
sockets: 1
sshkeys: ssh-ed25519%20AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIPpKsmfDltm3TwVW33xcYHUOEaU8hwyCeAcpeBA1a1cv%20eddsa-key-20250729
vga: serial0
vmgenid: f3b1c391-8588-422d-9492-b34f8d52158d


root@pve ~ # qm start 101
org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.FileNotFound: Failed to connect to socket /run/dbus/system_bus_socket: No such file or directory
root@pve ~ #
 
proxmox-backup-restore-image: not correctly installed
[..]
pve-edk2-firmware: not correctly installed
Seems that at least some packages are broken on your system.
How did you install Proxmox VE? Did you always use apt full-upgrade/apt dist-upgrade as recommended when upgrading, not apt update.
What's the output of apt update?
Did you do any non-standard modifications to your system?

Can you try running systemctl start dbus.socket and post the output?