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Bug 1435435 - grub2 ignores default kernel
Summary: grub2 ignores default kernel
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED WONTFIX
Alias: None
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Classification: Red Hat
Component: grub2
Version: 7.3
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
medium
Target Milestone: rc
: ---
Assignee: Peter Jones
QA Contact: Release Test Team
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2017-03-23 19:44 UTC by jas
Modified: 2020-08-27 15:42 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: If docs needed, set a value
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2020-08-27 15:42:10 UTC
Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description jas 2017-03-23 19:44:41 UTC 
Description of problem:

grub2 ignores the default kernel.  I don't understand why.

I have installed two kernels:
 3.10.0-514.10.2.el7.x86_64 and 3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64.

After installing the 514.2.2 kernel, I use grubby to set the default.

# grubby --default-kernel
/boot/vmlinuz-3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64

The saved_entry is perfect:

# grub2-editenv list
saved_entry=CentOS Linux (3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64) 7 (Core)

You can see that the kernel I want to boot is index 1:

# grubby --info=ALL

index=0
kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-3.10.0-514.10.2.el7.x86_64
args="ro crashkernel=auto rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_root rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_swap rhgb quiet rd.shell=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau "
root=/dev/mapper/vg_default-lv_root
initrd=/boot/initramfs-3.10.0-514.10.2.el7.x86_64.img
title=CentOS Linux (3.10.0-514.10.2.el7.x86_64) 7 (Core)
index=1
kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64
args="ro crashkernel=auto rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_root rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_swap rhgb quiet rd.shell=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau "
root=/dev/mapper/vg_default-lv_root
initrd=/boot/initramfs-3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64.img
title=CentOS Linux (3.10.0-514.2.2.el7.x86_64) 7 (Core)
index=2
kernel=/boot/vmlinuz-0-rescue-d650fd57864e488499a08498403b2867
args="ro crashkernel=auto rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_root rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_swap rhgb quiet rd.shell=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau "
root=/dev/mapper/vg_default-lv_root
initrd=/boot/initramfs-0-rescue-d650fd57864e488499a08498403b2867.img
title=CentOS Linux (0-rescue-d650fd57864e488499a08498403b2867) 7 (Core)
index=3
non linux entry
index=4
non linux entry
index=5
non linux entry
index=6
non linux entry
index=7
non linux entry

You can see that the default index should be 1:

# grubby --default-index
1

I made sure that /etc/sysconfig/kernel contains UPDATEDEFAULT=no

/etc/default/grub contains:

GRUB_TIMEOUT=5
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR="$(sed 's, release .*$,,g' /etc/system-release)"
GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_DISABLE_SUBMENU=true
GRUB_TERMINAL_OUTPUT="console"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="crashkernel=auto rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_root rd.lvm.lv=vg_default/lv_swap rhgb quiet rd.shell=0 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau"
GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

Everything seems perfect, but then I ..

# grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

... boot .. and index 0 is selected!!!

Is this a bug or a feature!?
Comment 2 jas 2017-03-23 20:17:37 UTC 
Actually, it seems that the problem is that the saved default is stored in /boot/grub2/grubenv.  /boot/grub2/grubenv is a symlink to /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grubenv. When booting, the path to the file is actually /efi/EFI/centos/grubenv (because /boot is mounted to /).  I replaced the symlink with a symlink with a symlink to /efi/EFI/centos/grubenv, and it *worked*!
Comment 3 jas 2017-03-23 20:30:58 UTC 
... but worked better, deleting the symlink altogether, and keeping grubenv locally in /boot/grub2.
Comment 4 Tomas Popela 2020-08-27 14:42:49 UTC 
Closing the bug as the attached customer case is closed.
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