# Discourse Assets Missing
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Tags:** unsupported-install
**Created:** [January 11, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323 "2020-01-11T16:43:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/1 "2020-01-11T16:43:48Z")
Hi,
I have installed Discourse on a Fedora 31 server with the recommended install guide, however used podman instead of docker for running the container. It all went perfectly fine this morning when I initially set it up, however I had troubles getting plain HTTP to my Nginx on the host to work and had to use the SSL certs on both nginx instances. I configured Discourse and all was fine.
I later decided to rebuild Discourse with SSL turned off and build it on a non-root user account. Plain HTTP to host worked fine, however I got a white page (title was fine, favicon worked).
I checked the directory in the container:
```
root@xena-app:/var/www/discourse# ls public/assets -al
total 15640
drwxr-xr-x. 2 discourse discourse 10 Jan 11 13:54 .
drwxr-xr-x. 3 discourse discourse 29 Jan 11 13:57 ..
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 595 Jan 11 13:49 _activate-account-7a1f8d46287194007ee607f79af56217e6e6238e4ca159c5da6974005a1254c5.js
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 250 Jan 11 13:54 activate-account-7a1f8d46287194007ee607f79af56217e6e6238e4ca159c5da6974005a1254c5.js.br
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 420 Jan 11 13:54 activate-account-7a1f8d46287194007ee607f79af56217e6e6238e4ca159c5da6974005a1254c5.js.gz
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 695 Jan 11 13:54 activate-account-7a1f8d46287194007ee607f79af56217e6e6238e4ca159c5da6974005a1254c5.js.map
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 990519 Jan 11 13:50 _admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 83903 Jan 11 13:54 admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js.br
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 106465 Jan 11 13:54 admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js.gz
-rw-r--r--. 1 discourse discourse 366446 Jan 11 13:54 admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js.map
drwxr-xr-x. 2 discourse discourse 4096 Jan 11 13:54 admin-login
...
```
The files that were requested are indeed missing, even Nginx says so:
```
2020/01/11 13:59:49 [error] 60#60: *20 open() "/var/www/discourse/public/assets/plugins/poll-57c9059384e3daeaee3d974c985d85a2b8462bb2629eb0b1834451056d1e1459.js" failed (2: No such file or directory), client: 10.0.2.2, server: _, request: "GET /assets/plugins/poll-57c9059384e3daeaee3d974c985d85a2b8462bb2629eb0b1834451056d1e1459.js HTTP/1.0", host: "idlerpg.xyz", referrer: "https://idlerpg.xyz/"
```
I thought that this would be an issue with my install, because they were here on the old install this morning as root on the host! I have wiped the shared folder and rebuilt as non-root with the same results over and over. Then I tried again, this time as root with identical settings like this morning, and I got the same issues.
A non-root install always shows the “Congratulations, you have installed Discourse!” page, but after I finish the install, I get the blank page because the asset files are missing.
Is there any way to fix the missing assets?
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2020, 4:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/2 "2020-01-11T16:49:30Z")
In case anyone wonders if it really worked this morning, here’s a screenshot from my mobile
Discourse won’t allow me to use 2 images in one post yet 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 11:27am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/3 "2020-01-12T11:27:04Z")
Changed this as a bug. I cannot manage to get a version with all assets when building tests-passed.
I tried entering the container and doing a rake assets:precompile, but the same assets are still gone
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/4 "2020-01-12T15:31:27Z")
Seems after tons of rebuilds, it magically works now. Weird.
---
### Author:  [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/5 "2020-01-12T16:56:48Z")
Hi Adriany, welcome to the forum
> [@Adriany](#):
>
> the recommended install guide, however used podman instead of docker
The last I knew, docker is a requirement not an option. Where did you see this newer install guide?
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 4:57pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/6 "2020-01-12T16:57:42Z")
I just replaced docker with podman, works fine. Their command line syntax is compatible
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/7 "2020-01-12T20:30:45Z")
Okay, after some testing, I can now tell that it always shows a blank page after every rebuild. If I run `RAILS_ENV=production bin/rake assets:precompile`, it always works afterwards. No idea why, it should compile them in a rebuild anyways?
---
### Author:  [@Remah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Remah)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/8 "2020-01-12T21:11:07Z")
Did you see this topic and this post in particular about podman incompatibility with docker?
> [@Any interest in Podman?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/any-interest-in-podman/118182/20):
>
> I took a shot at this for half an hour or so. Podman is command-compatible but not output-compatible, so launcher gets confused when it tries to parse output. (It’s not hard to tell them apart, docker --version replies with podman version 1.0.5 so this is not a serious impediment.) There is no docker0 network device. The default overlay storage driver in podman is basically the overlay2 implementation and is aliased to it, but the output doesn’t say overlay2 and the output of the docker info c…
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 9:12pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/9 "2020-01-12T21:12:49Z")
Well it indeed works. Podman should not influence which files will be the result of the initial asset precompile.
---
### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/10 "2020-01-12T21:20:50Z")
In the assets compilation phase of the rebuild do you see any backtraces on the output?
---
### Author:  [@Remah](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Remah)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/11 "2020-01-12T21:25:36Z")
We’re here because something doesn’t work. _Should_ and _does_ are different states.
You are confidently asserting that Podman is not implicated. It would good to prove that to clearly eliminate it as a factor. AFAIK, you haven’t completed the [official install](https://meta.discourse.org/t/142537?silent=true) method with Docker to see if that eliminates the problem.
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 9:27pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/12 "2020-01-12T21:27:51Z")
Yea, I do.
```
I, [2020-01-12T20:58:31.800117 #1] INFO -- : > cd /var/www/discourse && su discourse -c 'bundle exec rake assets:precompile'
Purging temp files
Bundling assets
I, [2020-01-12T20:58:38.208107 #758] INFO -- : Writing /var/www/discourse/public/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js
I, [2020-01-12T20:59:02.428630 #758] INFO -- : Writing /var/www/discourse/public/assets/admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js
I, [2020-01-12T20:59:02.447192 #758] INFO -- : Writing /var/www/discourse/public/assets/preload-store-d32dcf974dddcac742f8a7a6aa7fcd686185920b201029d0ecb2b85527ef9034.js
I, [2020-01-12T20:59:02.707559 #758] INFO -- : Writing /var/www/discourse/public/assets/browser-update-1741a2ed67a367faeb0a582af064457e8b1b1354e52e6efcf8bf26301166dec8.js
I, [2020-01-12T20:59:02.753632 #758] INFO -- : Writing /var/www/discourse/public/assets/break_string-cc617154cd957804f2f6a1f3bc68258c9cdca3d4b9a322bf777d145fed04790e.js
I, [2020-01-12T20:59:04.073148 #758] INFO -- : Writing /var/www/discourse/public/assets/ember_jquery-c2cca4a19fd4c70eabc95b010a6d7643955ec2a2251aeb1d70f625773eebea21.js
I, [2020-01-12T20:59:06.303026 #758] INFO -- : Writing /var/www/discourse/public/assets/pretty-text-bundle-fa6ea00e2000bf2f9ed3f069be9253477fed5e7290b5d109a3e2d9498ac70e81.js
... [snip]
108798.339928812 Compressing: vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js
uglifyjs '/var/www/discourse/public/assets/_vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js' -m -c -o '/var/www/discourse/public/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js' --source-map "root='/assets',url='/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js.map'" --output '/var/www/discourse/public/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js'
gzip -f -c -9 /var/www/discourse/public/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js > /var/www/discourse/public/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js.gz
brotli -f --quality=11 /var/www/discourse/public/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js --output=/var/www/discourse/public/assets/vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js.br
Done compressing vendor-3b0a3ac5e0bc628422d6e99d3563fad4c474398644f70683eff0893b7a241513.js : 3.33 secs
108801.669283898 Compressing: admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js
uglifyjs '/var/www/discourse/public/assets/_admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js' -m -c -o '/var/www/discourse/public/assets/admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js' --source-map "root='/assets',url='/assets/admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js.map'" --output '/var/www/discourse/public/assets/admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js'
gzip -f -c -9 /var/www/discourse/public/assets/admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js > /var/www/discourse/public/assets/admin-91c2a24a61c0ecd0200db1e808dbadafb9f0f1bb5179acea5b2b7dbd4b4cc5f9.js.gz
[...]
```
It does compile them, but I always have to do it again after the build to make the missing files appear
---
### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/13 "2020-01-12T21:29:59Z")
Interesting so the files are crafted just fine, but the persistence fails?
I’d look into how the podman volume is working, and what is the driver that is backing it. In the Docker world we have **a lot** of weird issues with storage drivers over the years, which made we even keep a list of “blessed” drivers in our launcher script.
---
### Author:  [@mcdanlj](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mcdanlj)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/14 "2020-01-12T22:03:01Z")
To be clear, my experiments with podman were really testing **launcher** not discourse. At least when I tested it, it depended on output details of docker that podman doesn’t try to emulate.
@Adriany, I’m guessing you are using the default storage driver, which is the same one that is recommended for discourse, which in docker is "overlay2\* — but I don’t know that to be the case.
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/15 "2020-01-12T22:04:27Z")
I am using overlayfs, which is the equivalent to overlay2.
Interestingly, it just built fine with no missing assets after some more builds with missing assets when I tried to add plugins. When I rebuilt without plugins, it went butter smooth. Huh?
Edit: It did work for me and now the assets are cached here. During running, it stopped working for other users.
Edit 2: Another rebuild made it break assets like before and the fix was to rebuild as before.
---
### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/16 "2020-01-13T04:59:49Z")
If files are crafted successfully by our assets pipeline and the OS says there is no error, but they disappear after the rebuild (which effectively restarts the container) I’d (re-)place my bet on the podman storage driver.
Unless someone can reproduce this same behavior using Docker (and there would be _several_ topics if this was the case), I’m afraid you need to open a ticket on the Podman project about this.
---
### Author:  [@Adriany](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Adriany)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2020, 1:50pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/17 "2020-02-21T13:50:31Z")
Hey,
I’ve done more investigation and it seems I was wrong on my bets on where the files are stored or just dumb at finding them.
The files are all a 404, however take this as example:
```plaintext
root@idlerpg:/var/www/discourse# find . -type f -name "*discourse-solved*"
./tmp/stylesheet-cache/discourse-solved_9_cb2984706f4402e95fd787160a5588ed0972ccc3.css
./tmp/stylesheet-cache/discourse-solved_9_cb2984706f4402e95fd787160a5588ed0972ccc3.css.map
./public/assets/plugins/_discourse-solved-5b7312e4207059eb2654a46e804b4c899cfc1e2a362d0d60e580943f9eb9d419.js
./public/assets/plugins/discourse-solved-5b7312e4207059eb2654a46e804b4c899cfc1e2a362d0d60e580943f9eb9d419.js.gz
./public/assets/plugins/discourse-solved-5b7312e4207059eb2654a46e804b4c899cfc1e2a362d0d60e580943f9eb9d419.js.br
./public/assets/plugins/discourse-solved-5b7312e4207059eb2654a46e804b4c899cfc1e2a362d0d60e580943f9eb9d419.js.map
./app/assets/javascripts/plugins/discourse-solved.js.erb
./plugins/discourse-solved/test/javascripts/acceptance/discourse-solved-test.js.es6
```
They are there, so I guess this is a Discourse issue and not podman, I just did not manage to look for the files properly.
I thought it might have been an issue in Cloudflare, but when I do a quick curl on localhost on the server, I get a 404 as well.
---
### Author:  [@Falco](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Falco)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-assets-missing/138323/18 "2020-02-22T17:08:03Z")
Can you gives us a repro of this happening on Docker?