[tor-bugs] #22101 [Core Tor/Tor]: Can't have relative DataDirectory with CookieAuthentication enabled

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#22101: Can't have relative DataDirectory with CookieAuthentication enabled
-----------------------------+------------------------------------
 Reporter:  pastly           |          Owner:  Jigsaw52
     Type:  defect           |         Status:  needs_review
 Priority:  Medium           |      Milestone:  Tor: 0.3.2.x-final
Component:  Core Tor/Tor     |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal           |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  review-group-18  |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                   |         Points:
 Reviewer:  isis             |        Sponsor:
-----------------------------+------------------------------------

Comment (by arma):

 Replying to [comment:15 nickm]:
 > Huh, I'm not sure whether or not that's behavior people would have
 expected.  What do you think, Roger?  Should everything be relative to the
 datadirectory, the cwd, or what?

 I'm also not certain what behavior we should expect people to expect.

 I would be ok with "if you want to use relative paths, you'd best specify
 them from wherever you are starting your Tor".

 The trouble is, we already have users, and they have already done whatever
 they've done. So if we change the behavior on them, we're going to be
 breaking things for those users who rely on the current behavior. And I'm
 sure somewhere out there is a person who thinks that relative paths,
 relative to the datadir, makes perfect sense.

 Things aren't *so* bad since this only applies when you set runasdaemon,
 and I think it's mostly packages that set runasdaemon. But even there, is
 there somebody who wrote {{{HiddenServiceDir hidserv}}} in their
 /etc/tor/torrc on debian? Probably?

 I wonder if there are any reasonable migation paths, like warning people
 about things for a while first.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/22101#comment:19>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online