Self host server update issues

Hiya, im having some issues with updating my server

bitwarden@panel:\~$ ./bitwarden.sh update

---

| |\_\_ (*) |*\_\_      \___\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_*| | \__\_ \_ \_\_
| '* | | **\\ \\ /\\ / /  *`| '__/ _` |/ \_ \\ '* 
| |*) | | |* \\ V  V / (*| | | | (*| |  / | | |
|\_.**/|*|\_*| \_/\_/ \_*,*|*|  \_*,\_|\_|*| |*|

Open source password management solutions
Copyright 2015-2026, Bitwarden, Inc.

===================================================

bitwarden.sh version 2026.4.1
Docker version 29.4.2, build 055a478
Docker Compose version v5.1.3

docker: 'docker inspect' requires at least 1 argument

Usage:  docker inspect \[OPTIONS\] NAME|ID \[NAME|ID...\]

See 'docker inspect --help' for more information
2026.4.1: Pulling from bitwarden/setup
Digest: sha256:0f711777897def0a0ad0aa95abc3b40cce9453bdb209712bd1717a5c6dddee98
Status: Image is up to date for

ghcr . io/bitwarden/setup:2026.4.1

Building docker environment files.
Building docker environment override files.
Building nginx config.
Building FIDO U2F app id.
Building docker-compose.yml.

stat /home/bitwarden/bwdata/docker/docker-compose.yml: permission denied
stat /home/bitwarden/bwdata/docker/docker-compose.yml: permission denied
bitwarden@panel:\~$

It is not look like a “broken update” issue in Bitwarden itself, more like a permissions problem on the server. The key line is: permission denied for /home/bitwarden/bwdata/docker/docker-compose.yml

which means the Bitwarden user no longer has proper access to the data folder, so the update script can’t read or rebuild the Docker setup correctly. just check the folder permissions first and make sure everything under bwdata is owned by the bitwarden user again, then rerun the update. In most cases that alone fixes it. The docker inspect error is probably just a side effect of the script failing halfway through because it couldn’t access the compose file.

I set the perms of the folder to the bitwarden user but when i run the shell file it changes the ownership of the folder

root@panel:/home/bitwarden# ls -ls
total 254660
254648 -rw-r–r-- 1 root root 260752706 May 14 11:11 bitwarden-logs-all.tar.gz
8 -rwxrw-r-- 1 bitwarden bitwarden 7429 May 14 10:49 bitwarden.sh
4 drwx------ 14 nobody nogroup 4096 Jun 15 2023 bwdata
root@panel:/home/bitwarden#

@Jessica_Wilkinson Have you tried the following?

./bitwarden.sh updateself
./bitwarden.sh update

again when i run the shell file, the folder perms change…

What happens when you run updateself?

bitwarden@panel:\~$ ./bitwarden.sh updateself
\_ \_ \_ \_
| |\_\_ (\_) |\__\_ \___\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_\_| | \__\_ \_ \_\_
| '\_ \\| | \_\_\\ \\ /\\ / / \_\` | '\_\_/ \_\` |/ \_ \\ '\_ \\
| |\_) | | |\_ \\ V V / (\_| | | | (\_| | \_\_/ | | |
|\_.\_\_/|\_|\\\_\_| \\\_/\\\_/ \\\_\_,\_|\_| \\\_\_,\_|\\\__\_|\_| |\_|

Open source password management solutions
Copyright 2015-2026, Bitwarden, Inc.

===================================================

bitwarden.sh version 2026.4.1
Docker version 29.5.1, build 2518b52
Docker Compose version v5.1.3

Updated self.
bitwarden@panel:\~$ ./bitwarden.sh update
\_ \_ \_ \_
| |\_\_ (\_) |\__\_ \___\_ \_ \_ \_\_ \_\_| | \__\_ \_ \_\_
| '\_ \\| | \_\_\\ \\ /\\ / / \_\` | '\_\_/ \_\` |/ \_ \\ '\_ \\
| |\_) | | |\_ \\ V V / (\_| | | | (\_| | \_\_/ | | |
|\_.\_\_/|\_|\\\_\_| \\\_/\\\_/ \\\_\_,\_|\_| \\\_\_,\_|\\\__\_|\_| |\_|

Open source password management solutions
Copyright 2015-2026, Bitwarden, Inc.

===================================================

bitwarden.sh version 2026.4.1
Docker version 29.5.1, build 2518b52
Docker Compose version v5.1.3

mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/bitwarden/bwdata/scripts’: Permission denied
bitwarden@panel:\~$

Not sure what is going on with the formatting of your posts. You are not formatting the code blocks (linux commands and outputs) correctly, so they are very difficult to read. However, when I try to fix the formatting for you, somebody is immediately editing the post to revert the formatting to its original, illegible form. If this is you, could you please stop undoing the formatting fixes? Even better, could you please just format your code correctly to begin with?

Before pasting any code (e.g., linux commands and outputs) here, place the cursor on a new line, click </> in the editor toolbar, and only then paste your code. If you have to add any commentary, first move the cursor out of the formatted code block.

Thank you.