Subject: guix home reconfigure fails with “rmdir: No such file or directory”

From: Brian Cully <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 09 Apr 2022 19:53:36 -0400

For the last few days, attempting to issue a home reconfigure fails:

---[snip]---
$ guix home reconfigure ./guix-home/config-new.scm
substitute: updating substitutes from 'https://ci.guix.gnu.org'... 100.0%
substitute: updating substitutes from 'https://bordeaux.guix.gnu.org'... 100.0%
The following derivations will be built:
  /gnu/store/rbnri9gpvh98qagyk7ws4y5xdvz4skg7-home.drv
  /gnu/store/hg5whdfsq2ldibfsikhbwppr9pms5vc8-provenance.drv
  /gnu/store/rsil5s5fs14y2jvysbiv7vi2f0i3gnw2-activate.drv
  /gnu/store/j85krrfbnc7x6s5wdn0wnp8ikah9gl46-update-symlinks.drv

building /gnu/store/hg5whdfsq2ldibfsikhbwppr9pms5vc8-provenance.drv...
building /gnu/store/j85krrfbnc7x6s5wdn0wnp8ikah9gl46-update-symlinks.drv...
building /gnu/store/rsil5s5fs14y2jvysbiv7vi2f0i3gnw2-activate.drv...
building /gnu/store/rbnri9gpvh98qagyk7ws4y5xdvz4skg7-home.drv...
Cleaning up symlinks from previous home at /gnu/store/zmp2brsdr0nvrhpbk4kqqc6y8jx90kb1-home.

guix home: error: rmdir: No such file or directory
---[snip]---

This fails in the same way even when using a previously working
configuration:

---[snip]---
$ guix home list-generations
	⋮
Generation 27	Apr 05 2022 19:44:03	(current)
  file name: /var/guix/profiles/per-user/bjc/guix-home-27-link
  canonical file name: /gnu/store/zmp2brsdr0nvrhpbk4kqqc6y8jx90kb1-home
  channels:
    guix:
      repository URL: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git
      branch: master
      commit: 3b3cc9dfed30afec70a6feaced3710bf79f8b2bc
  configuration file: /gnu/store/k90xv2x75nfc1wyxbw4171m6wxykqck6-configuration.scm

$ guix home reconfigure /gnu/store/k90xv2x75nfc1wyxbw4171m6wxykqck6-configuration.scm
Cleaning up symlinks from previous home at /gnu/store/zmp2brsdr0nvrhpbk4kqqc6y8jx90kb1-home.

guix home: error: rmdir: No such file or directory
---[snip]---

-bjc