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VIPM Linux Crash on Package Installation - Permission Fix

Problem

VIPM crashes with segmentation fault when installing packages on Linux:

LabVIEW caught fatal signal
23.3.7f7 - Received SIGSEGV
Reason: invalid permissions for mapped object
Segmentation fault

Symptoms: - VIPM launches successfully - Crashes only when installing/downloading packages - Standard tmp folder fix doesn't resolve the issue

Root Cause

VIPM requires write access to LabVIEW installation directories to install packages. When LabVIEW directories are owned by root, VIPM cannot write files and crashes.

Solution

Change ownership of LabVIEW directories to your user account:

# Set ownership of LabVIEW installation
sudo chown $USER -R /usr/local/natinst/LabVIEW*

# Set ownership of VIPM directories
sudo chown $USER -R /usr/local/JKI/VIPM
sudo chown $USER -R /etc/JKI

Verification

  1. Check ownership changed: bash ls -la /usr/local/natinst/ | grep LabVIEW Should show your username, not "root"

  2. Launch VIPM as regular user (NOT with sudo): bash vipm

  3. Test package installation - should complete without crashes

Important Notes

  • Always run VIPM as regular user after fixing permissions (don't use sudo vipm)
  • This matches Windows behavior where users have write access to LabVIEW
  • For multi-user systems, consult your system administrator about group-based permissions

Complete Setup Script

For fresh installations or persistent issues:

#!/bin/bash

if [ "$EUID" -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Run with: sudo $0"
  exit 1
fi

echo "Configuring VIPM permissions for: $SUDO_USER"

# Fix file handle limits
if ! test -f /etc/sysctl.d/vipm-files.conf; then
  echo "fs.file-max = 2000000" > /etc/sysctl.d/vipm-files.conf
fi

# Set ownership
chown $SUDO_USER -R /usr/local/natinst/LabVIEW*
chown $SUDO_USER -R /usr/local/JKI/VIPM 2>/dev/null || true
chown $SUDO_USER -R /etc/JKI 2>/dev/null || true

# Fix tmp permissions
chmod 777 /tmp

echo "Complete! Run 'vipm' as regular user (not sudo)"

Save as fix-vipm-permissions.sh, then run:

chmod +x fix-vipm-permissions.sh
sudo ./fix-vipm-permissions.sh

Additional Troubleshooting

If issues persist, check: - File handle limits: cat /etc/sysctl.d/vipm-files.conf - System logs: journalctl -xe | grep -i vipm - See VIPM Linux Installation Guide for comprehensive setup

References

Quick Fix: Run the permission commands above, then launch VIPM as regular user (not sudo).