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FreshRSS Context User Init Error

FreshRSS shows “Error during context user init!”

Symptom

FreshRSS redirects to login page but shows initialization error. Cannot access FreshRSS interface.

Cause

Multiple issues can cause this: missing user account, incorrect Apache DocumentRoot, or incorrect base_url.

Fix

Steps:

1. Create the default user:

```bash docker exec folkzone_rss ./cli/create-user.php –user admin –password 'admin' ```

2. Set Apache DocumentRoot to the public directory:

```bash docker exec folkzone_rss sed -i 's|DocumentRoot /var/www/html|DocumentRoot /var/www/FreshRSS/p|g' /etc/apache2/sites-available/000-default.conf ```

3. Verify base_url in config:

```bash docker exec folkzone_rss cat /var/www/FreshRSS/data/config.php | grep base_url # Should show: 'base_url' ⇒ 'https://rss.folk.zone', ```

4. Restart the container:

```bash docker compose restart folkzone-rss ```

Prevention

Verify FreshRSS configuration during initial setup. Test user creation immediately after installation.

See Also

Last updated: 2026-06-19