PackageKit ERROR:dbus.proxies:Introspect error

This error message appears when PackageKit is malfunctioning. It continually shows up in your yum package manager output

ERROR:dbus.proxies:Introspect error on :1.167:/org/freedesktop/PackageKit: dbus.exceptions.DBusException: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied: Rejected send message, 1 matched rules; type="method_call", sender=":1.935" (uid=0 pid=18850 comm="/usr/bin/python) interface="org.freedesktop.DBus.Introspectable" member="Introspect" error name="(unset)" requested_reply=0 destination=":1.167" (uid=0 pid=11720 comm="/usr/sbin/packagekitd))
Unable to send message to PackageKit

Not very nice. It also causes a hang for a while. It also appears there is some kind of communication error between the PackageKit and freedesktop.

First let’s verify we have this package installed on our system:

[root@computer www]# rpm -qa | grep Package
PackageKit-glib-0.5.8-13.el6.i686
PackageKit-yum-plugin-0.5.8-13.el6.i686
PackageKit-yum-0.5.8-13.el6.i686
PackageKit-0.5.8-13.el6.i686
PackageKit-glib-devel-0.5.8-13.el6.i686
PackageKit-gtk-module-0.5.8-13.el6.i686
PackageKit-device-rebind-0.5.8-13.el6.i686

Looking at yum, we can see this set of packages have minimal dependencies, so we should be fine to remove it if not needed.

[root@computer www]# yum remove PackageKit*
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, refresh-packagekit
Setting up Remove Process
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package PackageKit.i686 0:0.5.8-19.el6.centos set to be erased
--> Processing Dependency: PackageKit >= 0.5.0 for package: gnome-packagekit-2.28.3-3.el6.i686
---> Package PackageKit-device-rebind.i686 0:0.5.8-19.el6.centos set to be erased
---> Package PackageKit-glib.i686 0:0.5.8-19.el6.centos set to be erased
---> Package PackageKit-glib-devel.i686 0:0.5.8-19.el6.centos set to be erased
---> Package PackageKit-gtk-module.i686 0:0.5.8-19.el6.centos set to be erased
---> Package PackageKit-yum.i686 0:0.5.8-19.el6.centos set to be erased
---> Package PackageKit-yum-plugin.i686 0:0.5.8-19.el6.centos set to be erased
--> Running transaction check
---> Package gnome-packagekit.i686 0:2.28.3-3.el6 set to be erased
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

=================================================================================================
 Package                          Arch         Version                       Repository     Size
=================================================================================================
Removing:
 PackageKit                       i686         0.5.8-19.el6.centos           @base         2.2 M
 PackageKit-device-rebind         i686         0.5.8-19.el6.centos           @base         229 k
 PackageKit-glib                  i686         0.5.8-19.el6.centos           @base         715 k
 PackageKit-glib-devel            i686         0.5.8-19.el6.centos           @base         441 k
 PackageKit-gtk-module            i686         0.5.8-19.el6.centos           @base         229 k
 PackageKit-yum                   i686         0.5.8-19.el6.centos           @base         493 k
 PackageKit-yum-plugin            i686         0.5.8-19.el6.centos           @base         222 k
Removing for dependencies:
 gnome-packagekit                 i686         2.28.3-3.el6                  @base         7.8 M

Transaction Summary
=================================================================================================
Remove        8 Package(s)
Reinstall     0 Package(s)
Downgrade     0 Package(s)

Now from this point on you shouldn’t see any of the introspect error messages in your yum command. If you wish you can re-install the PackageKit set of tools again. This may resolve the issue since it is likely the error originated from some corruption during the original installation of PackageKit.