10.04 beta1 installer regressions when using iSCSI

[sub.mesa]

I downloaded Ubuntu 10.04 beta1 server amd64 ISO and booted it. I then tried to setup iSCSI with no local disks present, which worked on 9.10. But on 10.04 beta1, a few installer quirks make any user errors punishing, as you would have to reboot the CD everytime. Here's the problem:

When coming to the "no local disks present" menu, i select "Logon to iSCSI targets".

- Recommended: ask for initiatorname; currently Ubuntu uses "iqn.1993-08.org.debian:01:<random>". Feature request since 9.10 didn't ask for initiatorname as well. But it sure would make installing iSCSI alot easier on the server side. (feature-request)
- iSCSI target server is asked; when left blank it would stall and give no option except to reboot (bug1)
- ; if you entered the wrong target ip address, it would continue asking next questions, but fail at "No iSCSI targets were discovered on <ip>:<port>". The continue button however, appears to retry iSCSI discovery, instead of returning me to the prompt to enter a different iSCSI target ip-address. Preferably there should be two buttons "Retry" and "Go back" with retry being the default option. (bug2)
- initiator username is asked;
- initiator password is asked; when left blank a popup "Please choose a non-empty password" appears but the Continue button does not return you to the edit prompt; it stalls (bug3)
- iSCSI target username is asked;
- iSCSI target password is asked; when left blank a popup "Please choose a non-empty password" appears but the Continue button does not work (bug4)
- iSCSI-discovery is done; if no targets are found but authentication is successful, it would retry in an infinite loop; or until you adjust the server configuration. It's easy to get a thousand discovery attempts in a minute. Here it should try maybe three times then give the user an error message and giving the options to retry or go back to first iSCSI-question again (the target ip address). (bug5)

So basically, this bug is about the installer coming into a loop from which is impossible to escape. The alt+Fx buttons work, and Ctrl+Alt+Del works too. Since 9.10 there have been changes to the installer for iSCSI support; it asks more questions. Probably the bug in some of the commits there; fix shouldn't be too hard i figure.

After all these issues have been coped with, and the user made no errors whatsoever, installing on the iSCSI target works when you get to the phase where you can select the discovered target disks. From there, it pretty much works like 9.10 did. I have some additional issues with booting after the installer finishes, that i will address in a different bug.

It would be nice if iSCSI support in the installer would be a bit more polished before hitting 10.04 final in april. I hope my feedback can help with this.

[Colin Watson (cjwatson)]

I won't have time to look at this until after Easter (as I'm on
holiday), but I would like to sort at least some of these problems out.
Thanks for your feedback.

However, in the meantime, could you please file each distinct problem as
a separate bug? I know it involves a little more typing and e-mail
responses, but it really makes things *much* easier for us to track.

Note that there's already a separate bug about the iSCSI boot process,
filed on partman-iscsi.

[sub.mesa (sub-mesa)]

Hello Colin,

I hope i'm not getting on your nerves. But the window for fixing
iSCSI-on-root bugs in time for 10.04 is closing rapidly.
I hope you can at least address this bug in time:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/open-iscsi/+bug/546964

Another user called jkao has also confirmed this issue, and also provides a
workaround. This may give a clue on a proper solution.

I would feel very sad if 10.04 wouldn't have iSCSI support anymore; i would
very much want at least the existing 9.10 functionality to keep working. I
hope we can do this in time for the release.

Hope hearing from you.

Kind regards,
Jason Edwards
<email address hidden>

On Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 3:04 PM, Colin Watson <email address hidden> wrote:

> I won't have time to look at this until after Easter (as I'm on
> holiday), but I would like to sort at least some of these problems out.
> Thanks for your feedback.
>
> However, in the meantime, could you please file each distinct problem as
> a separate bug? I know it involves a little more typing and e-mail
> responses, but it really makes things *much* easier for us to track.
>
> Note that there's already a separate bug about the iSCSI boot process,
> filed on partman-iscsi.
>
> --
> 10.04 beta1 installer regressions when using iSCSI
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/546944
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “debian-installer” package in Ubuntu: New
>
> Bug description:
> I downloaded Ubuntu 10.04 beta1 server amd64 ISO and booted it. I then
> tried to setup iSCSI with no local disks present, which worked on 9.10. But
> on 10.04 beta1, a few installer quirks make any user errors punishing, as
> you would have to reboot the CD everytime. Here's the problem:
>
> When coming to the "no local disks present" menu, i select "Logon to iSCSI
> targets".
>
> - Recommended: ask for initiatorname; currently Ubuntu uses
> "iqn.1993-08.org.debian:01:<random>". Feature request since 9.10 didn't ask
> for initiatorname as well. But it sure would make installing iSCSI alot
> easier on the server side. (feature-request)
> - iSCSI target server is asked; when left blank it would stall and give no
> option except to reboot (bug1)
> - ; if you entered the wrong target ip address, it would continue asking
> next questions, but fail at "No iSCSI targets were discovered on
> <ip>:<port>". The continue button however, appears to retry iSCSI discovery,
> instead of returning me to the prompt to enter a different iSCSI target
> ip-address. Preferably there should be two buttons "Retry" and "Go back"
> with retry being the default option. (bug2)
> - initiator username is asked;
> - initiator password is asked; when left blank a popup "Please choose a
> non-empty password" appears but the Continue button does not return you to
> the edit prompt; it stalls (bug3)
> - iSCSI target username is asked;
> - iSCSI target password is asked; when left blank a popup "Please choose a
> non-empty password" appears but the Continue button does not work (bug4)
> - iSCSI-discovery is done; if no targets are found but authentication is
> successful, it would retry in an infinite loop; or until y...