Bug 1416650 - Upgrading using gnome-software/systemd with lvm-xfs custom partitioning format causes grub boot failure
Summary: Upgrading using gnome-software/systemd with lvm-xfs custom partitioning forma...
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED EOL
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: gnome-software
Version: 25
Hardware: x86_64
OS: Linux
unspecified
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Richard Hughes
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL: https://blog.carlbennett.me/2017/01/2...
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2017-01-26 08:28 UTC by Carl Bennett
Modified: 2018-04-20 21:59 UTC (History)
7 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: If docs needed, set a value
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Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2017-12-12 10:45:06 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


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Links
System ID Private Priority Status Summary Last Updated
Red Hat Bugzilla 1569970 0 unspecified CLOSED grub2: Cannot read files on XFS after unclean shutdown 2021-02-22 00:41:40 UTC

Internal Links: 1569970

Description Carl Bennett 2017-01-26 08:28:23 UTC
## Description of problem:

Using the gnome-software utility's method to upgrade the system, that is with a Restart & Install, the system will reboot and start upgrading via SystemD. After the upgrade completes, the system's grub bootloader will drop to a grub command line immediately after booting. There is no way to boot the system after this, attempting to manually boot using the proper linux16/initrd16 parameters causes a kernel panic.

When in this state, booting the Live CD iso and mounting the filesystem on the disk can cause the problem to be resolved. A reboot without the Live CD after mounting the filesystem earlier will yield a normal boot as expected.

## Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):

gnome-software-3.22.1-1.fc25.x86_64
gnome-software-3.22.5-1.fc25.x86_64
systemd-231-10.fc25.x86_64
systemd-231-12.fc25.x86_64
vmlinuz-4.8.6-300.fc25.x86_64
vmlinuz-4.9.5-200.fc25.x86_64

## How reproducible:

Always

## Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create a fresh virtual machine with a blank hard disk and network disconnected.
2. Mount the Workstation Live CD (Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86_64-25-1.3.iso).
3. Boot the Live CD.
4. Run the Install to disk application.
5. Use custom disk partitioning with the following options specifically:
   a. Create an LVM partition with / mount point, leave desired capacity empty.
   b. Change File System to 'xfs'.
   c. Click 'Update Settings'.
   d. Click 'Done' in upper left / finish custom partitioning.
   e. Accept warning about no swap partition.
6. Begin installation, ensuring network is offline so Live CD cannot download latest packages, fill out any user settings you'd like, and wait for it to finish.
7. Quit the install to disk application and shutdown the machine normally.
8. Remove the Live CD from the machine.
9. Power on the machine, boot normally, and login.
10. Run the gnome-software utility (Activities -> Software).
11. Enable the network of your machine, go to the 'Updates' tab, and click the refresh button in the upper left, and wait for it to download updates.
    - If it says 'cancelled by user action', click refresh again.
12. When you see a list of packages, click 'Restart & Install' in the upper right, confirm you'd like to restart and install, and wait for the system to reboot and the installing updates prompt to finish.
21. Your system should have rebooted after finishing installing updates, and   you should now be dropped to the grub command line.

## Actual results:
After upgrading the system via gnome-software/SystemD method, the user is dropped to a grub command line and is unable to boot the system.

## Expected results:
Upgrading the system via gnome-software/SystemD method would work correctly.

## Additional info:

Comment 1 Kalev Lember 2017-01-28 09:04:19 UTC
I am at loss here what is happening. I don't think it's gnome-software's fault at least; could be something like systemd doing an unclean shutdown maybe and then grub fails to read the uncleanly unmounted partition or something?

Comment 2 Carl Bennett 2017-07-27 02:22:50 UTC
I don't believe gnome-software is the offending application. I do believe that systemd is the one performing an unclean shutdown resulting in the uncleanly unmounted partition.

If I recall from the time I opened this, the issue was due to the xfs journal not being closed properly after systemd upgraded the system. This resulted in the xfs partition not being mountable during boot.

Comment 3 Fedora End Of Life 2017-11-16 19:29:40 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 25 is nearing its end of life.
Approximately 4 (four) weeks from now Fedora will stop maintaining
and issuing updates for Fedora 25. It is Fedora's policy to close all
bug reports from releases that are no longer maintained. At that time
this bug will be closed as EOL if it remains open with a Fedora  'version'
of '25'.

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Comment 4 Fedora End Of Life 2017-12-12 10:45:06 UTC
Fedora 25 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2017-12-12. Fedora 25 is
no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further
security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

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