DNF Works Through the Proxy. Why Doesn't GNOME Software?

GNOME Software passes session proxy settings to PackageKit; a working DNF command does not establish that the graphical download uses the same configuration.

DNF downloads packages without complaint. GNOME Software displays the catalog, then stops when you ask it to install something. It is tempting to conclude that the graphical app simply ignores proxies. There is another possibility: the proxy information never reached the component doing the download.

Follow the handoff

GNOME Software and the command you entered in a terminal do not have the same configuration path. PackageKit's proxy documentation describes a session process reading the desktop settings and relaying them to the daemon. In GNOME, gnome-software reads GSettings and calls PackageKit's proxy-setting interface.

The daemon then supplies the appropriate session's settings to its packaging backend. That means a successful DNF request proves the proxy can serve that DNF invocation. It does not prove that the desktop session registered the same settings with PackageKit.

Three useful questions

  1. Which operation failed? Viewing catalog data, refreshing metadata, and downloading a package are different operations. Record the one that actually produces an error.
  2. Did the session proxy get registered? Inspect the desktop's effective proxy configuration and PackageKit's reported errors. A failure to set the proxy is different from a proxy returning 407 during the download.
  3. Which version owns the setting? PackageKit has changed over time. A configuration key copied from a Fedora 25 answer may describe an old backend or a bug that no longer applies.

A terminal's exported variables are not a reliable substitute for checking this handoff. The daemon is not a child of the shell in which you typed the export, and a graphical login can have a different environment.

Keep any fix attached to the component that owns the problem. If the desktop configuration is wrong, correct that configuration. If registration fails, preserve its error and version information. If the proxy rejects the download, investigate its authentication or destination policy. Editing every repository file at once can obscure the distinction and leave the command-line and graphical configurations harder to maintain.

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