Description of problem: Anaconda traceback during DVD install on a Xen guest Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): anaconda-11.1.2.103-1.ia64.rpm RHEL5.2-Server-20080225.2 How reproducible: 100% Steps to Reproduce: 1. Boot from DVD 2. Select default partitioning 3. Select all packages Actual results: Anaconda traceback. Installation is aborted Expected results: Installation proceeds. Additional info: The installation is performed by creating new Xen hvm guest on ia64.
Created attachment 296209 [details] anaconda.log from the installed system
13:42:51 CRITICAL: Traceback (most recent call first): File "/usr/lib/anaconda/iutil.py", line 50, in execWithRedirect raise RuntimeError, "Error running " + command + ": " + msg File "/usr/lib/anaconda/lvm.py", line 84, in vgactivate stderr = output, searchPath = 1) File "/usr/lib/anaconda/partitions.py", line 1360, in doMetaDeletes lvm.vgactivate() File "/usr/lib/anaconda/packages.py", line 144, in turnOnFilesystems anaconda.id.partitions.doMetaDeletes(anaconda.id.diskset) File "/usr/lib/anaconda/dispatch.py", line 201, in moveStep rc = stepFunc(self.anaconda) File "/usr/lib/anaconda/dispatch.py", line 124, in gotoNext self.moveStep() File "/usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py", line 1018, in nextClicked self.anaconda.dispatch.gotoNext() File "/usr/lib/anaconda/iw/progress_gui.py", line 243, in renderCallback self.intf.icw.nextClicked() File "/usr/lib/anaconda/gui.py", line 1045, in handleRenderCallback self.currentWindow.renderCallback() RuntimeError: Error running lvm: Cannot allocate memory
HVM guest is started with 512 MB of memory, newly created disk image. The same configuration works when booting with boot.iso and http install method.
Additional info to match summary: anaconda needs to show a nice dialog to the user informing them that available memory is not enough but not produce a runtime traceback. This needs to match system requirements for the related release and chosen install methods.
How much memory does the machine have? The minimums should be reasonable across all platforms. And usually, the bug is a red herring for something else (worse) going wrong.
Jeremy, the original bug was filed against a Xen HVM guest with 512 MB of memory (and no higher limit IIRC).
512 megs should be enough -- if not, then that's a bug which should be fixed. Not papered over with a dialog.
Steps to reproduce: 1) boot from DVD (ia64) (xen hvm, 512 MB memory) 2) start VNC install 3) choose default install 4) select "Customize packages" 5) choose all package groups When anaconda tries to format partitions the traceback happens.
Tested with RHEL 5.1 GA under the same memory limitations and steps to reproduce. Can't see the traceback.
Also seeing this with 5.2 snap #4 steps to reproduce: 1) Create a new Xen HVM guest (use single file as storage - 15GB, 4GB memory) 2) Use kickstart that contains @everything 3) Choose: remove all partitions and create default layout Attaching debug info shortly.
Created attachment 301820 [details] anacdump.txt
Trying with same disk image (Xen) but without using lvm I had the same error. Anaconda is running lvm to detect and delete previous partitions before creating the new ones, right?
Trying with newly created disk image and using native partitions I see the same error.
More info on this one: It appeared that HVM guests can't bolloon memory as PV ones (I didn't know that). So in all tests above the guest has been running with the start up memmory allocation (512MB). Bumping that up to 2GB worked around the problem. The faulty component to blame here is most probably yum. Python objects on 64bit arches use 4 times more memory than on 32bit. Before the error happens yum is resolving all deps.
After talking to ddumas today we've decided to release note this issue: <text> When installing all packages available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 on ia64 the installation may fail on machines with 512 MB of memory. To work around this perform a base or default install and then install all additional packages. </text> Brock, what flags we need to get this in the 5.2 release notes?
After running the tests on bare metal for ia64, it looks like 6 of the 10 installs using 512 Mb (via mem=512M cmdline parameter) fail, while 4 succeed. ddomingo is cc'd on this bug, and I'll ping him about getting this for 5.2 ...
thanks Alex, Brock; adding to RHEL5.2 release notes under "Installation-Related Notes": <quote> (ia64) If your system has 512MB of RAM, attempting to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 may fail. To prevent this, perform a base installation first and install all other packages after the installation finishes. </quote> please advise (before April 15) if any further revisions are required. also, FYR, the updated RHEL5.2 release notes mockup can be viewed here: http://intranet.corp.redhat.com/ic/intranet/RHEL5u2relnotesmockup.html
Thanks, Don! verified entry at: http://intranet.corp.redhat.com/ic/intranet/RHEL5u2relnotesmockup.html will move to VERIFIED when we see this version in the compose tree ...
Is this only reproducable on 64-bit machines doing Everything installs?
Looks like it's ia64 only. I wasn't able to reproduce on other 64bit arches
This is only affecting one platform and I haven't seen any evidence that it happens outside of Everything (or similarly gigantic) package sets. Also it's likely this is not an anaconda bug, but instead is a bug in yum memory usage or Python's 64 bit object size. I doubt there's really anything we can do in anaconda. NAKing for those reasons.
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This bug has been added to the the RHEL 5.3 Release Notes (as quoted in the release note field of this bug). If any revisions are required, please set the "requires_release_notes" flag to "?" and edit the Release Notes field accordingly.
Added New Release Notes Contents.