Issue installing MacPorts on Mavericks

Question

I try to install MacPorts and get this

$ sudo make install
make: getcwd: Permission denied
shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Permission denied
===> making install in doc
job-working-directory: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Permission denied
chdir: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Permission denied
make: getcwd: Permission denied
/usr/bin/install -c -d -o root -g admin -m 0755 "/opt/local"
shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Permission denied
install: mkdir /opt: Permission denied
make[1]: *** [install] Error 71
make: *** [install] Error 1

I am also not able to

$ sudo mkdir /opt
mkdir: /opt: Permission denied

I can create the directory with

open /

and then with Finder.

I am also able to install MacPorts with the installer .pgk, but then:

sudo port install htop
Error: Insufficient privileges to write to MacPorts install prefix.

Answer 1

Well, try the following:
Reboot into single user mode, this is archieved by holding down alt(option) + s while rebooting.
At the prompt /sbin/fsck -fy(careful, QWERTZ-Layout), after that type /sbin/mount -wu. Now /bin/chmod 1775 /. At last /bin/sync,then exit.

This will check your filesystem integrity and correct permissions for your root directory.

Answer 2

Check that root's UID is actually 0 on your system: sudo id -u should print 0.

This wasn't the case on my system after updating to Mavericks. If it isn't, you can do the following to fix it:

• boot into single user mode
• change to /private/var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users
• check that root's UID is wrong in root.plist using plutil -p root.plist
• if it is wrong, start by making a backup: cp root.plist root.plist.orig
• convert the plist to xml format using plutil -fmt xml1 root.plist
• use your favorite editor to change the number after <key>uid</key> to 0
• convert the plist back to binary format using plutil -fmt binary1 root.plist

Answer 3

The UID of root on your system was: 217 _krbtgt (Kerberos Ticket Granting Ticket)

There IS a user called _krbtgt (Kerberos Ticket Granting Ticket) in /System/Library/DirectoryServices/DefaultLocalDB/Default/users, that indeed is user 217.

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