Users logging in default to Offline/Invisible status

[abruening-iwt]

Description:

When a user logs into Rocket.Chat with a browser that does not have any cookies from a previous sign-in, their status is set to Offline (invisible).

Steps to reproduce:

1. Log into Rocket.Chat and set your status to Online
2. Log back out
3. Clear cookies and offline data or open a new private session
4. Log into Rocket.Chat
5. User status will be set to Offline

Expected behavior:

One of these:

• Default status should be Online
• Server should remember last status
• Allow users and/or admins to set a default status

Actual behavior:

User status will be set to Offline.

Server Setup Information:

• Version of Rocket.Chat Server: 5.2.0
• Operating System: Devuan Linux
• Deployment Method: tar
• Number of Running Instances: 1
• DB Replicaset Oplog: Enabled
• NodeJS Version: v14.19.3
• MongoDB Version: 4.4.16 / wiredTiger

Client Setup Information

• Desktop App or Browser Version: Firefox 102.4 and 106
• Operating System: Windows 10 and Devuan Linux

Additional context

Users are signing in with LDAP accounts. Reporting user says that this is a relatively new issue.

Relevant logs:

[ritikBhandari]

Hi @abruening-iwt , Are you still facing this issue?

[tobiasreinhard]

Facing the same issue on 5.2 (Docker). Also my users can't change their profile pictures. Switched back to 5.1.4, still can't change the status but profile picture upload works.

[abruening-iwt]

Hi @abruening-iwt , Are you still facing this issue?

Yes

[abruening-iwt]

Facing the same issue on 5.2 (Docker). Also my users can't change their profile pictures. Switched back to 5.1.4, still can't change the status but profile picture upload works.

To clarify: Changing the status works fine, this is just about the status being automatically set to offline/invisible after logging in. Fairly minor issue that has caused a bit of confusion but nothing more.

[Gummikavalier]

I confirm this too on RC 5.2.0. Also with user provisioning with Oauth.

[tobiasreinhard]

Ah, thanks for clarification. We can't change the status and the status is automatically set to offline/invisible after logging in. For us it's a big impact, we sometimes don't know if a user is online or not.

[ritikBhandari]

@dudanogueira should I work on this?

[mddvul22]

We are having this issue since upgrading to 5.2.0. We are using the package available at: https://cdn-download.rocket.chat/build/rocket.chat-5.2.0.tgz

[mddvul22]

This ticket needs to get some movement. We might have to consider moving off of RC if this doesn't get fixed. This is an absurd bug that makes using the application much more difficult.

[mddvul22]

To be clear, regarding why this bug is so problematic. When you login, your own status shows as green/online. However, everybody else sees that same person as offline/invisible. To fix this, you have to manually set your status to online, even though it looks to yourself like you are already online.

[tobiasreinhard]

This bug is very annoying. So many users are reporting inconsistens online/offline states. Please fix this asap!

[mddvul22]

We are on 5.2.0. Can anybody confirm whether this bug is also present in 5.3.0?

[mddvul22]

We are on 5.2.0. Can anybody confirm whether this bug is also present in 5.3.0?

I just answered my own question. I just upgraded our test instance of RC to 5.3.0. The bug is present in that version, also.

[MBraunshausen]

still present in 5.3.1

[xi67]

Same here in 5.3.3 with only one user.

[mddvul22]

In our testing we have discovered an additional problem related to this bug:

1. If you login in RC and set your status to available, everything is good. You are available and others see you as available, also.
2. However, when your client triggers auto-away, in your personal preferences, you become offline (not away). This is where things go really bad. When you go away, your status should change to away. However, in my testing, it changes to offline.
3. When you come back, your client turns green/online, again. But it seems at this point that other clients never update. They see you as remaining offline -- UNTIL you again go to your status and click on online, again.
4. In my testing, if you go into your own preferences and disable auto-away, you will stay online, until you logout.
5. Turning off auto-away does fix this. However it does not fix the status when first logging in.

[Gummikavalier]

I'm getting now in our test environment on RC 5.4.0 that users are always in Away status after logging in.

[dext0r]

Fixed for me by turning on setting "Use REST instead of websocket for Meteor calls" (General -> REST API). Don't forget refresh browser page before trying to login.

[bognerf]

In our testing we have discovered an additional problem related to this bug:

1. If you login in RC and set your status to available, everything is good. You are available and others see you as available, also.

2. However, when your client triggers auto-away, in your personal preferences, you become offline (not away). This is where things go really bad. When you go away, your status should change to away. However, in my testing, it changes to offline.

3. When you come back, your client turns green/online, again. But it seems at this point that other clients never update. They see you as remaining offline -- UNTIL you again go to your status and click on online, again.

4. In my testing, if you go into your own preferences and disable auto-away, you will stay online, until you logout.

5. Turning off auto-away does fix this.  However it does not fix the status when first logging in.

Experiencing the same behaviour on our side since we updated RC from 4.8 to 5.4

[popindavibe]

Very similar issue for me, though I would mention some different symptoms (RC v5.4.3):

• if connecting via browser, status show 'offline', and the user is in a semi-offline state indeed, as typically messages sent to him show but also get mailed to him
• if connecting via the electron app, status shows online, but I get the exact same behavior on mails being sent to the now-connected user.

In both cases, status shows offline for the other users.

I also noticed that after a restart of rocketchat service unit, status works OK on the next login (but only that one time).

[popindavibe]

Fixed for me by turning on setting "Use REST instead of websocket for Meteor calls" (General -> REST API). Don't forget refresh browser page before trying to login.

This worked for me too, thanks!

[tobiasreinhard]

We've switched from Rocket.Chat to MS Teams because this issue persists more than 3 months. It's a shame.

[hugocostadev]

Hi there, thanks for the contribution! 🚀 💯

Sorry, this error does not happen on the latest and maintained releases.

Rocket.Chat  provides support for, at least, 3 months for each release and 6 months to the latest releases of each major version

I would suggest you update your Rocket.Chat version to the latest stable version, which you can find in Releases Page and, check it HERE the table with versions and End of Life dates.

---

Questions? Help needed? Feature Requests?

• Join our Open Server in the #support channel and feel free to raise a question
• Join our Community Forum and search/create a post there
• Feature Request: Open an issue in Feature Request repository

[xi67]

Still here in 6.1.5