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[GH-ISSUE #1276] Bug: "ArchiveBox should never be run as root" error after updating docker-compose.yml #782

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opened 2026-03-01 14:46:15 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments
kerem commented 2026-03-01 14:46:15 +03:00
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Originally created by @yesezra on GitHub (Nov 24, 2023).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/1276

Hello! New ArchiveBox user here. I'm somewhat new to Docker as well so apologies if I'm missing something obvious.

Describe the bug

After installing the app using the recommended docker compose method on macOS, I have been continually getting the following error after editing my docker-compose.yml file.

[!] ArchiveBox should never be run as root!
I'm trying to work through the steps here to use a Chrome/Chromium profile, and I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Unfortunately this seems to break my install every time so I'm having a very difficult time troubleshooting.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Remove all existing Archivebox docker images/containers via the GUI.
  2. Install using the docker compose method:
mkdir ~/archivebox && cd ~/archivebox
curl -O 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/dev/docker-compose.yml'
docker compose run archivebox init --setup
  1. Wait for installation to complete and configure a custom username, email, and password.
  2. Run the web interface
docker compose up
  1. Visit localhost:8000 and verify that the web interface is functional.
  2. Hit Ctrl+C in the terminal to stop the webserver
  3. in docker-compose.yml, add the following line under environment:
- CHROME_BINARY='/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome'
  1. Restart the webserver with docker compose up and note error:
% docker compose up
[+] Building 0.0s (0/0)                                                                                                                                      docker:desktop-linux
[+] Running 1/0
 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1  Recreated                                                                                                                              0.0s
Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1
archivebox-archivebox-1  | chown: cannot access '/browsers/*': No such file or directory
archivebox-archivebox-1  | [i] [2023-11-24 04:02:38] ArchiveBox v0.7.1+editable: archivebox server --quick-init 0.0.0.0:8000
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     > /data
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1  | [!] ArchiveBox should never be run as root!
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     For more information, see the security overview documentation:
archivebox-archivebox-1  |         https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Security-Overview#do-not-run-as-root
archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 2
  1. Remove the line added in step 7 from docker-compose.yml.
  2. Attempt to start again with docker compose up and note that the same error exists:
% docker compose up
[+] Building 0.0s (0/0)                                                                                                                                      docker:desktop-linux
[+] Running 1/0
 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1  Created                                                                                                                                0.0s
Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1
archivebox-archivebox-1  | chown: cannot access '/browsers/*': No such file or directory
archivebox-archivebox-1  | [i] [2023-11-24 04:09:00] ArchiveBox v0.7.1+editable: archivebox server --quick-init 0.0.0.0:8000
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     > /data
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1  | [!] ArchiveBox should never be run as root!
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     For more information, see the security overview documentation:
archivebox-archivebox-1  |         https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Security-Overview#do-not-run-as-root
archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 2

Screenshots or log output

Included as part of the above steps.

ArchiveBox version

% docker compose run archivebox version
[+] Building 0.0s (0/0)                                                                                                                                      docker:desktop-linux
[+] Building 0.0s (0/0)                                                                                                                                      docker:desktop-linux
chown: cannot access '/browsers/*': No such file or directory
0.7.1+editable
ArchiveBox v0.7.1+editable Cpython Linux Linux-6.4.16-linuxkit-aarch64-with-glibc2.36 aarch64
DEBUG=False IN_DOCKER=True IN_QEMU=False IS_TTY=True TZ=UTC FS_ATOMIC=True FS_REMOTE=True FS_USER=0:0 FS_PERMS=644 SEARCH_BACKEND=ripgrep

[i] Dependency versions:
 √  PYTHON_BINARY         v3.11.6         valid     /usr/local/bin/python3.11
 √  SQLITE_BINARY         v2.6.0          valid     /usr/local/lib/python3.11/sqlite3/dbapi2.py
 √  DJANGO_BINARY         v3.1.14         valid     /usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/django/__init__.py
 √  ARCHIVEBOX_BINARY     v0.7.1          valid     /usr/local/bin/archivebox

 √  CURL_BINARY           v8.4.0          valid     /usr/bin/curl
 √  WGET_BINARY           v1.21.3         valid     /usr/bin/wget
 √  NODE_BINARY           v21.1.0         valid     /usr/bin/node
 √  SINGLEFILE_BINARY     v1.1.18         valid     /app/node_modules/single-file-cli/single-file
 √  READABILITY_BINARY    v0.0.9          valid     /app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor
 √  MERCURY_BINARY        v1.0.0          valid     /app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js
 √  GIT_BINARY            v2.39.2         valid     /usr/bin/git
 √  YOUTUBEDL_BINARY      v2023.10.13     valid     /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
 √  CHROME_BINARY         v119.0.6045.9   valid     /usr/bin/chromium-browser
 √  RIPGREP_BINARY        v13.0.0         valid     /usr/bin/rg

[i] Source-code locations:
 √  PACKAGE_DIR           24 files        valid     /app/archivebox
 √  TEMPLATES_DIR         4 files         valid     /app/archivebox/templates
 -  CUSTOM_TEMPLATES_DIR  -               disabled  None

[i] Secrets locations:
 -  CHROME_USER_DATA_DIR  -               disabled  None
 -  COOKIES_FILE          -               disabled  None

[i] Data locations:
 √  OUTPUT_DIR            8 files @       valid     /data
 √  SOURCES_DIR           1 files         valid     ./sources
 √  LOGS_DIR              1 files         valid     ./logs
 √  ARCHIVE_DIR           1 files         valid     ./archive
 √  CONFIG_FILE           81.0 Bytes      valid     ./ArchiveBox.conf
 √  SQL_INDEX             212.0 KB        valid     ./index.sqlite3

Many thanks for your help and please let me know if I can clarify anything here!

Originally created by @yesezra on GitHub (Nov 24, 2023). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/1276 Hello! New ArchiveBox user here. I'm somewhat new to Docker as well so apologies if I'm missing something obvious. #### Describe the bug After installing the app using the recommended docker compose method on macOS, I have been continually getting the following error after editing my docker-compose.yml file. > ``[!] ArchiveBox should never be run as root!`` I'm trying to work through the steps [here](https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Chromium-Install#setting-up-a-chromium-user-profile) to use a Chrome/Chromium profile, and I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Unfortunately this seems to break my install every time so I'm having a very difficult time troubleshooting. #### Steps to reproduce 1. Remove all existing Archivebox docker images/containers via the GUI. 2. Install using the docker compose method: ``` mkdir ~/archivebox && cd ~/archivebox curl -O 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/dev/docker-compose.yml' docker compose run archivebox init --setup ``` 3. Wait for installation to complete and configure a custom username, email, and password. 4. Run the web interface ``` docker compose up ``` 5. Visit localhost:8000 and verify that the web interface is functional. 6. Hit `Ctrl+C` in the terminal to stop the webserver 7. in docker-compose.yml, add the following line under `environment:` ``` - CHROME_BINARY='/Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome' ``` 8. Restart the webserver with `docker compose up` and note error: ```logs % docker compose up [+] Building 0.0s (0/0) docker:desktop-linux [+] Running 1/0 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1 Recreated 0.0s Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1 archivebox-archivebox-1 | chown: cannot access '/browsers/*': No such file or directory archivebox-archivebox-1 | [i] [2023-11-24 04:02:38] ArchiveBox v0.7.1+editable: archivebox server --quick-init 0.0.0.0:8000 archivebox-archivebox-1 | > /data archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 | [!] ArchiveBox should never be run as root! archivebox-archivebox-1 | For more information, see the security overview documentation: archivebox-archivebox-1 | https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Security-Overview#do-not-run-as-root archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 2 ``` 9. Remove the line added in step 7 from docker-compose.yml. 10. Attempt to start again with `docker compose up` and note that the same error exists: ```logs % docker compose up [+] Building 0.0s (0/0) docker:desktop-linux [+] Running 1/0 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1 Created 0.0s Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1 archivebox-archivebox-1 | chown: cannot access '/browsers/*': No such file or directory archivebox-archivebox-1 | [i] [2023-11-24 04:09:00] ArchiveBox v0.7.1+editable: archivebox server --quick-init 0.0.0.0:8000 archivebox-archivebox-1 | > /data archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 | [!] ArchiveBox should never be run as root! archivebox-archivebox-1 | For more information, see the security overview documentation: archivebox-archivebox-1 | https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Security-Overview#do-not-run-as-root archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 2 ``` #### Screenshots or log output Included as part of the above steps. #### ArchiveBox version <!-- Run the `archivebox version` command locally then copy paste the result here: --> ```logs % docker compose run archivebox version [+] Building 0.0s (0/0) docker:desktop-linux [+] Building 0.0s (0/0) docker:desktop-linux chown: cannot access '/browsers/*': No such file or directory 0.7.1+editable ArchiveBox v0.7.1+editable Cpython Linux Linux-6.4.16-linuxkit-aarch64-with-glibc2.36 aarch64 DEBUG=False IN_DOCKER=True IN_QEMU=False IS_TTY=True TZ=UTC FS_ATOMIC=True FS_REMOTE=True FS_USER=0:0 FS_PERMS=644 SEARCH_BACKEND=ripgrep [i] Dependency versions: √ PYTHON_BINARY v3.11.6 valid /usr/local/bin/python3.11 √ SQLITE_BINARY v2.6.0 valid /usr/local/lib/python3.11/sqlite3/dbapi2.py √ DJANGO_BINARY v3.1.14 valid /usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages/django/__init__.py √ ARCHIVEBOX_BINARY v0.7.1 valid /usr/local/bin/archivebox √ CURL_BINARY v8.4.0 valid /usr/bin/curl √ WGET_BINARY v1.21.3 valid /usr/bin/wget √ NODE_BINARY v21.1.0 valid /usr/bin/node √ SINGLEFILE_BINARY v1.1.18 valid /app/node_modules/single-file-cli/single-file √ READABILITY_BINARY v0.0.9 valid /app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor √ MERCURY_BINARY v1.0.0 valid /app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js √ GIT_BINARY v2.39.2 valid /usr/bin/git √ YOUTUBEDL_BINARY v2023.10.13 valid /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp √ CHROME_BINARY v119.0.6045.9 valid /usr/bin/chromium-browser √ RIPGREP_BINARY v13.0.0 valid /usr/bin/rg [i] Source-code locations: √ PACKAGE_DIR 24 files valid /app/archivebox √ TEMPLATES_DIR 4 files valid /app/archivebox/templates - CUSTOM_TEMPLATES_DIR - disabled None [i] Secrets locations: - CHROME_USER_DATA_DIR - disabled None - COOKIES_FILE - disabled None [i] Data locations: √ OUTPUT_DIR 8 files @ valid /data √ SOURCES_DIR 1 files valid ./sources √ LOGS_DIR 1 files valid ./logs √ ARCHIVE_DIR 1 files valid ./archive √ CONFIG_FILE 81.0 Bytes valid ./ArchiveBox.conf √ SQL_INDEX 212.0 KB valid ./index.sqlite3 ``` Many thanks for your help and please let me know if I can clarify anything here!
kerem closed this issue 2026-03-01 14:46:16 +03:00
kerem commented 2026-03-01 14:46:16 +03:00
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@pirate commented on GitHub (Nov 24, 2023):

It's starting as root because the data folder is owned by root. I can add a check to avoid this edge case, but in the meantime can you try chown -R 901:901 data to see if changing the ownership of that folder fixes it.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1825612685 --> @pirate commented on GitHub (Nov 24, 2023): It's starting as root because the data folder is owned by root. I can add a check to avoid this edge case, but in the meantime can you try `chown -R 901:901 data` to see if changing the ownership of that folder fixes it.
kerem commented 2026-03-01 14:46:16 +03:00
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@yesezra commented on GitHub (Nov 24, 2023):

Got it, thanks for that context!

Here's what happened with that chown:

% sudo chown -R 901:901 data
% docker compose up
[+] Building 0.0s (0/0)                                    docker:desktop-linux
[+] Running 1/1
 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1  Recreated                            0.1s
Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     Change ./data to be owned by PUID=0 PGID=0 on the host and retry:
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1  | [X] Error: archivebox user (PUID=0) is not able to write to your ./data dir.
archivebox-archivebox-1  |        $ chown -R 0:0 ./data
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     Configure the PUID & PGID environment variables to change the desired owner:
archivebox-archivebox-1  |        https://docs.linuxserver.io/general/understanding-puid-and-pgid
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 1

As instructed, I tried chown -R 0:0 ./data

% sudo chown -R 0:0 ./data
% docker compose up
[+] Building 0.0s (0/0)                                                                                                                                      docker:desktop-linux
[+] Running 1/0
 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1  Created                                                                                                                                0.0s
Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1  | [X] Error: archivebox user (PUID=0) is not able to write to your ./data dir.
archivebox-archivebox-1  |        $ chown -R 0:0 ./data
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     Configure the PUID & PGID environment variables to change the desired owner:
archivebox-archivebox-1  |        https://docs.linuxserver.io/general/understanding-puid-and-pgid
archivebox-archivebox-1  |
archivebox-archivebox-1  |     Change ./data to be owned by PUID=0 PGID=0 on the host and retry:
archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 1

For context I'm on macOS 14.1.1. using the id command it appears that my user's uid is 501, and gid is 20 (staff). I tried those values as well and got the root error.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1825963791 --> @yesezra commented on GitHub (Nov 24, 2023): Got it, thanks for that context! Here's what happened with that chown: ```logs % sudo chown -R 901:901 data % docker compose up [+] Building 0.0s (0/0) docker:desktop-linux [+] Running 1/1 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1 Recreated 0.1s Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1 archivebox-archivebox-1 | Change ./data to be owned by PUID=0 PGID=0 on the host and retry: archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 | [X] Error: archivebox user (PUID=0) is not able to write to your ./data dir. archivebox-archivebox-1 | $ chown -R 0:0 ./data archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 | Configure the PUID & PGID environment variables to change the desired owner: archivebox-archivebox-1 | https://docs.linuxserver.io/general/understanding-puid-and-pgid archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 1 ``` As instructed, I tried `chown -R 0:0 ./data` ```logs % sudo chown -R 0:0 ./data % docker compose up [+] Building 0.0s (0/0) docker:desktop-linux [+] Running 1/0 ✔ Container archivebox-archivebox-1 Created 0.0s Attaching to archivebox-archivebox-1 archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 | [X] Error: archivebox user (PUID=0) is not able to write to your ./data dir. archivebox-archivebox-1 | $ chown -R 0:0 ./data archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 | Configure the PUID & PGID environment variables to change the desired owner: archivebox-archivebox-1 | https://docs.linuxserver.io/general/understanding-puid-and-pgid archivebox-archivebox-1 | archivebox-archivebox-1 | Change ./data to be owned by PUID=0 PGID=0 on the host and retry: archivebox-archivebox-1 exited with code 1 ``` For context I'm on macOS 14.1.1. using the `id` command it appears that my user's uid is 501, and gid is 20 (staff). I tried those values as well and got the root error.
kerem commented 2026-03-01 14:46:16 +03:00
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@pirate commented on GitHub (Dec 18, 2023):

I've updated the error messages to be clearer and added some hints for a few specific use cases, this should be fixed now.

Can you try with the latest :dev build https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox#install-and-run-a-specific-github-branch

Comment back here if you're still having issues and I'll reopen the ticket.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1859594761 --> @pirate commented on GitHub (Dec 18, 2023): I've updated the error messages to be clearer and added some hints for a few specific use cases, this should be fixed now. Can you try with the latest `:dev` build https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox#install-and-run-a-specific-github-branch Comment back here if you're still having issues and I'll reopen the ticket.
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