man not working if man pages are on NFS share

Originally Posted by RandomTroll Edit mandb.conf to add the directories you want mandb to index, then run mandb. If it doesn't solve your problem it may report problems with the man pages.

For me, on Kubuntu 18.04, the file that I needed to edit is apparently /etc/manpath.config to which I added a line like

MANDATORY_MANPATH /apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man

and then run mandb which says, among other things that I do not think is relevant here:

mandb: warning: $MANPATH set, ignoring /etc/manpath.config

which seems to corroborate what I have believed all along, that if the MANPATH is set, man should just use it. This is what I find intuitive, not that what I find intuitive makes any difference, just saying!

I'm still looking into other things possible related to NFS, pagers, etc. as I can find/make time.

At the risk of rising the ire of some of your for puking all over this thread, I will paste here the output of running

strace man latexmk

execve("/usr/bin/man", ["man", "latexmk"], 0x7ffcbe92fcb8 /* 30 vars */) = 0 brk(NULL) = 0x5603a5e7d000 access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) access("/etc/ld.so.preload", R_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell/avx512_1/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell/avx512_1/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell/avx512_1/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell/avx512_1", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls/haswell", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/avx512_1/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls/avx512_1/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/avx512_1/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls/avx512_1", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/tls/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/tls", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/haswell/avx512_1/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/haswell/avx512_1/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/haswell/avx512_1/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/haswell/avx512_1", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/haswell/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/haswell/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/haswell/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/haswell", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/avx512_1/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/avx512_1/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/avx512_1/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/avx512_1", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/x86_64/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/lib/man-db/x86_64", 0x7fff29d4b400) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/libmandb-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\20\30\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=22368, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0fda12d000 mmap(NULL, 2117936, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd9d02000 mprotect(0x7f0fd9d07000, 2093056, PROT_NONE) = 0 mmap(0x7f0fd9f06000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x4000) = 0x7f0fd9f06000 close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/libman-2.8.3.so", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0@\203\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=160768, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 2258800, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd9ada000 mprotect(0x7f0fd9aff000, 2097152, PROT_NONE) = 0 mmap(0x7f0fd9cff000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x25000) = 0x7f0fd9cff000 mmap(0x7f0fd9d01000, 1904, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0fd9d01000 close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/libpipeline.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=155596, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 155596, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fda107000 close(3) = 0 access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpipeline.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0000$\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=55136, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 2152912, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd98cc000 mprotect(0x7f0fd98d9000, 2093056, PROT_NONE) = 0 mmap(0x7f0fd9ad8000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0xc000) = 0x7f0fd9ad8000 close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\3\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\260\34\2\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0755, st_size=2030544, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 4131552, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd94db000 mprotect(0x7f0fd96c2000, 2097152, PROT_NONE) = 0 mmap(0x7f0fd98c2000, 24576, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1e7000) = 0x7f0fd98c2000 mmap(0x7f0fd98c8000, 15072, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0fd98c8000 close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/man-db/libgdbm.so.5", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgdbm.so.5", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\240)\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=51224, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 2146360, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd92ce000 mprotect(0x7f0fd92da000, 2093056, PROT_NONE) = 0 mmap(0x7f0fd94d9000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0xb000) = 0x7f0fd94d9000 close(3) = 0 access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libseccomp.so.2", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0 \30\2\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=280776, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 2375912, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd9089000 mprotect(0x7f0fd90b7000, 2097152, PROT_NONE) = 0 mmap(0x7f0fd92b7000, 94208, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x2e000) = 0x7f0fd92b7000 close(3) = 0 access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\220\37\0\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=116960, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0fda105000 mmap(NULL, 2212016, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd8e6c000 mprotect(0x7f0fd8e88000, 2093056, PROT_NONE) = 0 mmap(0x7f0fd9087000, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x1b000) = 0x7f0fd9087000 close(3) = 0 mmap(NULL, 12288, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0fda102000 arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_FS, 0x7f0fda102740) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fd98c2000, 16384, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fd9087000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fd92b7000, 90112, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fd94d9000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fd9ad8000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fd9cff000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fd9f06000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x5603a4859000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0 mprotect(0x7f0fda12f000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0 munmap(0x7f0fda107000, 155596) = 0 brk(NULL) = 0x5603a5e7d000 brk(0x5603a5e9e000) = 0x5603a5e9e000 fcntl(2, F_GETFL) = 0x8001 (flags O_WRONLY|O_LARGEFILE) fcntl(0, F_GETFL) = 0x2 (flags O_RDWR) fcntl(1, F_GETFL) = 0x8001 (flags O_WRONLY|O_LARGEFILE) brk(0x5603a5ebf000) = 0x5603a5ebf000 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/ld.so.preload", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) brk(0x5603a5ee0000) = 0x5603a5ee0000 umask(022) = 022 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=3004224, ...}) = 0 mmap(NULL, 3004224, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0fd8b8e000 close(3) = 0 getuid() = 0 geteuid() = 0 getgid() = 0 getegid() = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGHUP, NULL, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGHUP, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGINT, NULL, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGINT, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGTERM, NULL, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGTERM, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, {sa_handler=SIG_DFL, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=0}, 8) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/root/.manpath", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/etc/manpath.config", O_RDONLY) = 3 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=5232, ...}) = 0 read(3, "# manpath.config\n#\n# This file i"..., 4096) = 4096 read(3, "y be given for clarity, and will"..., 4096) = 1136 read(3, "", 4096) = 0 close(3) = 0 ioctl(1, TCGETS, 0x7fff29d4bb70) = -1 ENOTTY (Inappropriate ioctl for device) stat("/apps/texlive/2018/bin/x86_64-linux/pager", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) stat("/usr/local/sbin/pager", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/local/bin/pager", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/sbin/pager", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/bin/pager", {st_mode=S_IFREG|0755, st_size=170760, ...}) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/locale.alias", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC) = 3 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=2995, ...}) = 0 read(3, "# Locale name alias data base.\n#"..., 4096) = 2995 read(3, "", 4096) = 0 close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en.UTF-8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en.utf8/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/usr/share/locale-langpack/en/LC_MESSAGES/man-db.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) stat("/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0 lstat("/apps", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0 lstat("/apps/texlive", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0 lstat("/apps/texlive/2018", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0 lstat("/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0 lstat("/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0 lstat("/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", {st_mode=S_IFDIR|0755, st_size=4096, ...}) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGHUP, NULL, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGINT, NULL, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGTERM, NULL, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGHUP, NULL, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGINT, NULL, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, 8) = 0 rt_sigaction(SIGTERM, NULL, {sa_handler=0x7f0fd9ae27e0, sa_mask=[], sa_flags=SA_RESTORER, sa_restorer=0x7f0fd9519f20}, 8) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man/index.db", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_NONBLOCK|O_CLOEXEC|O_DIRECTORY) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) openat(AT_FDCWD, "/apps/texlive/2018/texmf-dist/doc/man", O_RDONLY|O_PATH|O_DIRECTORY) = 3 fstatfs(3, 0x7fff29d4ba90) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) close(3) = 0 write(2, "No manual entry for latexmk\n", 28No manual entry for latexmk ) = 28 stat("/apps/texlive/2018/bin/x86_64-linux/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 EACCES (Permission denied) stat("/usr/local/sbin/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/local/bin/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/sbin/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/usr/bin/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/sbin/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/bin/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) stat("/snap/bin/latexmk", 0x7fff29d4bb30) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) exit_group(16) = ? +++ exited with 16 +++

I don't suppose anybody sees anything that helps in that?

Thanks all, I'll touch base as soon as I can with any updates.

Originally Posted by ehereth For me, on Kubuntu 18.04, the file that I needed to edit is apparently /etc/manpath.config

Have you no /etc/man_db.conf ?

Originally Posted by RandomTroll Have you no /etc/man_db.conf ?

I do not, the only man related file in /etc/ is the manpath.config file I referenced previously; is this file OS specific? I am running Kubuntu 18.04.

Clearly, this is not a huge problem and I've got plenty of other things to do (which contributes to my sporadic replies here) but this is something that I'd like to be able to fix.

I appreciate all your help and patience.

Config is okay, the problem is a strange permission somewhere.
Please try

find /apps/texlife -type d -ls
df /apps/texlife

Originally Posted by MadeInGermany Config is okay, the problem is a strange permission somewhere. Please try find /apps/texlife -type d -ls df /apps/texlife

The output from your first command was extensive, however I did

find /apps/texlive/ -type d -ls | awk '{print $3,$5,$6}' | sort -u

and the output was simply

drwxr-xr-x root root

Also, I ran this command

find /apps/texlive/ -ls | awk '{print $3,$5,$6}' | sort -u

too just to see what all the permissions looked like and got the following:

drwxr-xr-x root root lrwxrwxrwx root root -rw-r--r-- root root -rwxr-xr-x root root

Notice that everything seems to be world readable.

Furthermore, the df command shows that there is plenty of free space.

I don't suppose that this sheds any light on the problem then does it...

stat() shows the Unix permissions okay, but open() or fstat() fail.
I think the fault is in your NFS server.
Something else, not the Unix permissions, is restricting access.
What kind of server is it?

This is a Linux server running CentOS 7.3. nfsstat on the server shows

Server rpc stats: calls badcalls badclnt badauth xdrcall 177241569 1 1 0 0 Server nfs v3: null getattr setattr lookup access readlink 21704 0% 31191103 84% 17864 0% 81623 0% 3023557 8% 1207 0% read write create mkdir symlink mknod 542186 1% 1201100 3% 7335 0% 527 0% 0 0% 0 0% remove rmdir rename link readdir readdirplus 6491 0% 309 0% 883 0% 33 0% 407 0% 9346 0% fsstat fsinfo pathconf commit 24313 0% 244 0% 119 0% 608955 1% Server nfs v4: null compound 46 0% 140499752 99% Server nfs v4 operations: op0-unused op1-unused op2-future access close commit 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 6404473 1% 10236693 2% 962627 0% create delegpurge delegreturn getattr getfh link 7929 0% 0 0% 403730 0% 94936609 21% 14908800 3% 1544 0% lock lockt locku lookup lookup_root nverify 3988114 0% 6700 0% 3267496 0% 7496701 1% 0 0% 0 0% open openattr open_conf open_dgrd putfh putpubfh 10749105 2% 0 0% 5183965 1% 496 0% 139884808 31% 0 0% putrootfh read readdir readlink remove rename 369 0% 30448398 6% 4013528 0% 89658 0% 974915 0% 464261 0% renew restorefh savefh secinfo setattr setcltid 21727 0% 7592066 1% 8056381 1% 0 0% 11265504 2% 45 0% setcltidconf verify write rellockowner bc_ctl bind_conn 45 0% 0 0% 15828927 3% 238440 0% 0 0% 0 0% exchange_id create_ses destroy_ses free_stateid getdirdeleg getdevinfo 150 0% 202 0% 96 0% 772320 0% 0 0% 0 0% getdevlist layoutcommit layoutget layoutreturn secinfononam sequence 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 118 0% 65664771 14% set_ssv test_stateid want_deleg destroy_clid reclaim_comp 0 0% 10578 0% 0 0% 13 0% 117 0%

I dunno if this is helpful.