HMRC basic PAYE tools

[patch666]

Hi I am using wheezy 64 bit 7.1 has anyone managed to get hmrc basic paye tools for linux working on wheezy??

I download and extract the file payetools-rti-13.1.13137.110-linux.zip, this gives me the installer payetools-rti-13.1.13137.110-linux I double click this file but nothing happens

Properties :Type executable
Permission i am the owner with read and write permission
allow executing as program

Open With - No applications available to open "executable"

I have already installed 32 bit ie sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 then sudo apt-get update

anyone got any ideas??

[verahill]

Look at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payetoolshelp/linux.pdf

Nothing happens when the Basic PAYE Tools 2012 icon is double-clicked

To diagnose, please check the content of /tmp/bpt-400.log. These will contain details
which may help you to resolve the issue yourself (such as missing dependencies),
however if you require help please have this log file (and any other log files in /tmp
named bpt-*) ready when you contact HMRC

Do you get a /tmp/bpt-400.log file?

Also, run the payetools-rti-13.1.13137.110-linux file from the terminal -- I suspect that you're much more likely to get usable error messages that way

Code: Select all

chmod +x payetools-rti-13.1.13137.110-linux
./payetools-rti-13.1.13137.110-linux

[patch666]

No I dont get a /tmp/bpt-400.log file because this is the installer program.

I ran the code in a root terminal - it does not do anything, but when you go to close the terminal it warns that a process is still running.

As for HMRC they state it is 32 bit, and offer no support for 64 bit systems.

I used to use this program on 64 bit ubuntu using ia-libs but ia-libs has been replaced

[verahill]

Sorry for the delayed response.

Firstly, I'd suggest to avoid running it in a root terminal -- in addition to not being necessary for user-space applications, some programs don't run properly when launched as root.

On debian the 32bit libs are found in the package ia32-libs, not ia-libs. It is present on everything from squeeze through to sid (http://packages.debian.org/wheezy/ia32-libs).

[dhj]

ia32-libs is not functional in wheezy, it has been replaced by multiarch:

https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch

These commands (as root) were enough to get the RTI version of the basic PAYE program running on wheezy amd64:

dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt-get update
apt-get install libc6:i386 zlib1g:i386 libxext6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libxrender1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386

however realtime submission of data fails. Any tips on that would be appreciated. Errors in the terminal are:

/HMRC/payetools-rti/rti.linux/billiard/__init__.py:325: RuntimeWarning: force_execv is not supported as the billiard C extension is not installed

FtWarning: Catalog resource (pep302://Ft.Xml/Share/default.cat) disabled: Error
retrieving resource 'pep302://Ft.Xml/Share/default.cat': <urlopen error [Errno
0] Error: 'Share/default.cat'>

Next I'm looking at running this program in a 32-bit virtual Debian wheezy machine on virtualbox-ose.

[dhj]

The two error messages I mentioned in the post above are a red herring, they also appear on an older system using ia32-libs where online submission is working fine.

[patch666]

ia32-libs is not functional in wheezy, it has been replaced by multiarch:

https://wiki.debian.org/Multiarch

These commands (as root) were enough to get the RTI version of the basic PAYE program running on wheezy amd64:

dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt-get update
apt-get install libc6:i386 zlib1g:i386 libxext6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libxrender1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386

however realtime submission of data fails. Any tips on that would be appreciated. Errors in the terminal are:

/HMRC/payetools-rti/rti.linux/billiard/__init__.py:325: RuntimeWarning: force_execv is not supported as the billiard C extension is not installed

FtWarning: Catalog resource (pep302://Ft.Xml/Share/default.cat) disabled: Error
retrieving resource 'pep302://Ft.Xml/Share/default.cat': <urlopen error [Errno
0] Error: 'Share/default.cat'>

Next I'm looking at running this program in a 32-bit virtual Debian wheezy machine on virtualbox-ose.

Thankyou for this.
My apologies the reply took so long. I'd managed to get round the problem by installing wine following theses instructions http://www.binarytides.com/install-wine-debian-wheezy/

[dhj]

ia32-libs is functional on Wheezy now. I can get the Basic PAYE Tools to make a real-time submission after installing ia32-libs, and I get the acknowledgement email, but the submission stays in the 'unsubmitted' queue.

Glad to hear that WINE works for you, but it really shouldn't be necessary because HMRC does officially support GNU/Linux. According to HMRC there are 200,000 users of this program in the UK, so it is hardly an obscure package.

[dhj]

I checked the binary with ldd and all dependencies are installed. However it uses a mix of system libc6 with files in /lib/i386-linux-gnu/i686/cmov/ and self-installed files in ~/HMRC/payetools-rti/ - could there be a mismatch?

I also tried a clean install of the latest RTI version on an Ubuntu Lucid 32-bit virtual machine which is a distro that HMRC has tested on, and got the exact same submission oddity (acknowledgement email received, but program never updates to say that the submission worked). So I don't think this is a Debian issue, I suspect some vital component was shipped with an earlier version, and so it only works if you upgrade from that.

By the way, I found the program has an undocumented debug flag:

/rti.linux --debug

The binary is stripped but I was able to get some additional console output with:

strace -ff ./rti.linux --debug

I emailed HMRC directly asking to be put in contact with the development team, and I got a polite reply but no direct contact yet.

[dhj]

p.s. with the latest version, output log is /tmp/rti3b.log

[dhj]

OK, this is going to sound nuts, but to make submissions register as successful in the standalone Python program you need to have Adobe Reader installed, but not necessarily have Adobe Reader running. Looks like the RTI program has an undocumented external dependency.

So to recap, to get payetools-rti running on Debian wheezy amd64, you need to run the commands:

dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt-get update
apt-get install libc6:i386 zlib1g:i386 libxext6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libxrender1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386
wget http://ardownload.adobe.com/pub/adobe/r ... ux_enu.bin
chmod +x AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.bin
sudo ./AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.bin
sudo nano /etc/mime.types

Locate the line "application/vnd.fdf" and append "fdf" after some whitespace:

application/vnd.fdf fdf

Save and close the /etc/mime.types file. Then install and run the BPT-RTI program.

[mats]

Thank you very much dhj,
Your post was very useful and allowed me to install the PAYE RTI software.
I installed Acrobat Reader straight from the distribution (see https://wiki.debian.org/PDF) using the acroread package having added the acroread non-free package repository in apt as specified on http://www.deb-multimedia.org/.

The install came with a lot of i386 packages though:

acroread:i386 acroread-data acroread-debian-files:i386 acroread-dictionary-en
acroread-l10n-en libatk1.0-0:i386 libavahi-client3:i386 libavahi-common-data:i386
libavahi-common3:i386 libbsd0:i386 libcairo2:i386 libcomerr2:i386 libcups2:i386
libdatrie1:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386 libdrm-intel1:i386 libdrm-nouveau2:i386 libdrm-radeon1:i386
libdrm2:i386 libedit2:i386 libelf1:i386 libffi6:i386 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0:i386
libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386 libglib2.0-0:i386
libglu1-mesa:i386 libgmp10:i386 libgnutls-deb0-28:i386 libgraphite2-3:i386
libgssapi-krb5-2:i386 libgtk2.0-0:i386 libharfbuzz0b:i386 libhogweed2:i386 libidn11:i386
libjasper1:i386 libjbig0:i386 libjpeg62-turbo:i386 libk5crypto3:i386 libkeyutils1:i386
libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386 libllvm3.5:i386 liblzma5:i386 libnettle4:i386
libp11-kit0:i386 libpango-1.0-0:i386 libpangocairo-1.0-0:i386 libpangoft2-1.0-0:i386
libpangox-1.0-0:i386 libpangoxft-1.0-0:i386 libpciaccess0:i386 libpcre3:i386
libpixman-1-0:i386 libselinux1:i386 libtasn1-6:i386 libthai0:i386 libtiff5:i386
libtinfo5:i386 libtxc-dxtn-s2tc0:i386 libudev1:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386 libxcb-dri2-0:i386
libxcb-dri3-0:i386 libxcb-glx0:i386 libxcb-present0:i386 libxcb-render0:i386 libxcb-shm0:i386
libxcb-sync1:i386 libxcomposite1:i386 libxcursor1:i386 libxdamage1:i386 libxfixes3:i386
libxft2:i386 libxi6:i386 libxinerama1:i386 libxml2:i386 libxrandr2:i386 libxshmfence1:i386
libxxf86vm1:i386

It worked straight away (still have to test a submission though), maybe it is one of the downloaded packages that is needed rather than Adobe Reader?
Best, M

[dhj]

Hi Mats, that could well be the case. I suppose that once you have confirmed submissions work for your machine, you could remove the Adobe Reader package and then the dependencies one by one until you have found which of them are actually required. It would be an interesting exercise, but I suspect you will need Adobe Reader in any case for completing UK government forms.

Cheers!

Daniel

[mats]

Hi Daniel,
I thought about it but didn't have the patience.
Besides, when submitting a report, the PAYE-RTI skipped the identification page (with login and password) and hanged indefinitely. The BPT-RTI Linux installation help (see https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... /linux.pdf) states that ia32-libs is required but it is no longer not part of Debian Jessie. Installing the (part) successor lib32ncurses5 solved the issue and the PAYE-RTI was able to submit a report. I installed lib32z1 as well afterwards to be on the safe side as those two packages together seem to replace the ia32-libs but I suspect lib32z1 is not required.
Best, Mats

[bain]

Just installed payetools-rti-14.1.14168.197-linux.zip on Jessie x64 and get the following error, any solution? I ran strace and it looks like it is trying to load _md5.[so,py] from the current directory, and then /opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py which obviously fails.

Code: Select all

$ ./rti.linux 
ERROR:root:code for hash md5 was not found.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 139, in <module>
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 91, in __get_builtin_constructor
ValueError: unsupported hash type md5
ERROR:root:code for hash sha1 was not found.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 139, in <module>
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 91, in __get_builtin_constructor
ValueError: unsupported hash type sha1
ERROR:root:code for hash sha224 was not found.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 139, in <module>
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 91, in __get_builtin_constructor
ValueError: unsupported hash type sha224
ERROR:root:code for hash sha256 was not found.

[bain]

I managed to get it working in an LXC container (32-bit Ubuntu 14.04 rootfs, but 32-bit Debian Wheezy should work). Regular LXC GUI setup, then:

Code: Select all

# apt-get install libfreetype6 libxrender1 libfontconfig1 libxext6 # install PAYE tools dependencies
# su user
$ export QT_X11_NO_MITSHM=1
$ HMRC/payetools-rti/rti.linux

Disabling QT X11 shared memory is necessary otherwise you will get the error "X Error: BadAccess (attempt to access private resource denied)."

[bain]

Just installed payetools-rti-14.1.14168.197-linux.zip on Jessie x64 and get the following error, any solution? I ran strace and it looks like it is trying to load _md5.[so,py] from the current directory, and then /opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py which obviously fails.

Code: Select all

$ ./rti.linux 
ERROR:root:code for hash md5 was not found.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 139, in <module>
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 91, in __get_builtin_constructor
ValueError: unsupported hash type md5
ERROR:root:code for hash sha1 was not found.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 139, in <module>
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 91, in __get_builtin_constructor
ValueError: unsupported hash type sha1
ERROR:root:code for hash sha224 was not found.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 139, in <module>
  File "/opt/python27/lib/python2.7/hashlib.py", line 91, in __get_builtin_constructor
ValueError: unsupported hash type sha224
ERROR:root:code for hash sha256 was not found.

This error was fixed by installing libgssapi-krb5-2:i386

It seems PAYE tools does work under Jessie.

2016 update: libsqlite3-0 is now required too (specifically libsqlite3-0:i386 on amd64)

[dhj]

Just an update if you are filing the P11D expenses and benefits form for 2014-1015 on GNU/Linux after completing your PAYE year. The current advice on https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... nline-form says that Adobe Reader X is required, which is Windows and Mac only, since version Adobe Reader 9 was the final release for GNU/Linux. It might be possible to install Reader X via WINE using a patch, but it's not straightforward.

Having tested the P11D form submission on both Debian and Windows 8, I got the same timeout and a failed submission. Adobe Reader DC (version after X?) on Windows 8 was adjusted to accept a new root certificate (as shown in HMRC's guidance at the link above), then it worked. However the rest of the form looks the same as for last year. So I suspect that importing the root certificate on Adobe Reader 9 on Debian might also result in a successful submission, even though it is not officially supported.

If all else fails, a paper submission is still accepted for the time being (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... efits-p11d) but like the online version it needs to reach your HMRC office by 6th July, so you may need to allow extra time for postage.

[mnpbds]

I managed to get HMRC basic PAYE tools installed tonight on Debian Jessie / AMD64, and this thread was very helpful. FWIW I used the following commands (as root)

Code: Select all

dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt-get update
 # then I installed Adobe reader  with
wget ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/unix/9.x/9.5.5/enu/AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.tar.bz2
    tar -jxvf AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i486linux_enu.tar.bz2
    # INSTALL script installs to /opt/Adobe by default
    AdobeReader/INSTALL
    apt-get install libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0:i386 libgtk2.0-0:i386
    PATH=/opt/Adobe/Reader9/bin:$PATH
    acroread

This led to the following error message:
/opt/Adobe/Reader9/Reader/intellinux/bin/acroread: error while loading shared libraries: libxml2.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

This was corrected by: apt-get install libxml2:i386
which then led to the following error message:
error while loading shared libraries: libstdc++.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I then tried:
apt-get install libstdc++:i386

which led to Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libstdc++6-4.9-dbg:i386 : Conflicts: libstdc++6-4.8-dbg:i386 but 4.8.4-1 is to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
I then tried apt-get install libstdc++6-4.9-dbg:i386
which proceeded without any error messages.
Then I ran acroread again and this time the program ran with just the following message.(acroread:12882): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "xfce",

I then closed Adobe reader and clicked on the payetools-rti-15.0.15048.300-linux icon in my Downloads directory, where I had unzipped it, and I was able to run the installation screens and import my backup files.