If the option PORTAGE_USERNAME is set to a non existent user the error message says that the user portage is missing instead of the user specified in PORTAGE_USERNAME is missing. Came across this while migrating my builds into containers and didn't add the user I use in PORTAGE_USERNAME to /etc/passwd. Was confused why it was saying portage didn't exist, but I eventually figured it out. PORTAGE_USERNAME=notreal emerge --sync portage: 'portage' user or group missing. For the defaults, line 1 goes into passwd, and 2 into group. portage:x:250:250:portage:/var/tmp/portage:/bin/false portage::250:portage *** WARNING *** For security reasons, only system administrators should be *** WARNING *** allowed in the portage group. Untrusted users or processes *** WARNING *** can potentially exploit the portage group for attacks such as *** WARNING *** local privilege escalation.
