A box with the binary still at /opt/pulse/bin/pulse but /etc/pulse, the
systemd unit and the /usr/local/bin symlink deleted by hand takes the
update path ("Reinstalling version ..."), which assumed the previous
install's environment still existed. With auto-updates enabled the run
died at setup_auto_updates writing system.json into the missing config
dir; without them it printed a success completion while systemctl
enable/start had failed with "Unit pulse.service could not be found",
softened into the unprivileged-container note (#1663).
Both the --version and menu update flows now run setup_directories and
recreate the unit file when it is missing (an existing unit stays
untouched so user customizations survive normal updates), and
start_pulse refuses to report success when the unit does not exist at
all. Documented as a deployment-installability contract invariant.
rcourtman
630d151460