Security Enhanced (SE) Linux on Fedora & RedHat : issue and my resolution

[filip]

I noticed Security Enhanced that is on Fedora 42 and RedHat (read more on https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/linux/what-is-selinux ) is not mentionned in the minimserver install notes.

SELinux prevents the service to start, even if the permissions are set properly.

There is a need to create a new SELinux policy to allow the service to start.

I did not bother to do that, I simply turned off SELinux and it worked just fine!

If there are people skilled in SELinux features, I would be interested to know how you create the custom policy.

Here below you will find my problem and my resolution. Happy to hear if you have a better workaround.

Code:

filip@fedora:~$ sudo systemctl start minimserver.service
Job for minimserver.service failed because the control process exited with error code.
See "systemctl status minimserver.service" and "journalctl -xeu minimserver.service" for details.

Here's what the service status says:

Code:

filip@fedora:~$ sudo systemctl status minimserver.service
× minimserver.service - MinimServer
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/minimserver.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
    Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/service.d
             └─10-timeout-abort.conf
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sun 2025-10-26 12:23:25 CET; 12s ago
Invocation: 6514037ae9c94580a301cfaf2c7a8b32
    Process: 5404 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/su filip -c /home/filip/minimserver/bin/startd init (code=exited, status=203/EXEC)
   Main PID: 5404 (code=exited, status=203/EXEC)
   Mem peak: 1.2M
        CPU: 3ms

Oct 26 12:23:25 fedora systemd[1]: Starting minimserver.service - MinimServer...
Oct 26 12:23:25 fedora (su)[5404]: minimserver.service: Unable to locate executable '/usr/sbin/su': Permission denied
Oct 26 12:23:25 fedora (su)[5404]: minimserver.service: Failed at step EXEC spawning /usr/sbin/su: Permission denied
Oct 26 12:23:25 fedora systemd[1]: minimserver.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=203/EXEC
Oct 26 12:23:25 fedora systemd[1]: minimserver.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Oct 26 12:23:25 fedora systemd[1]: Failed to start minimserver.service - MinimServer.

My ony action to solve this issue without bothering creating a SELinux policy is to turn off SELinux

Code:

sudo nano /etc/selinux/config

to replace

Code:

SELINUX=enforcing

by

Code:

SELINUX=disabled

I reboot, the service starts properly. Maybe you could add a mention about it, in the installation guide for Linux.

I'm new to minimserver and I must say I'm quite impressed, this is probably one of the best to provide high-res FLAC audio files to your network devices. I have a high end setup with a decent lamp amplifier, good cables and speakers. I never thought about taking care of the bit stream between the server and the DAC. I thought bits are bits but it turns out it matters.

Probably other servers might degrade and interfere with this bit stream? I notice for sure an improved sound quality, while evertyhing else kept identical. So well done minimserver which makes me to rediscover my own speakers and setup! I don't make use of these extra features for tagging, but I purchased the full license to support this great work! I'm glad simple, high-end and efficient things exists!