Installer doesn't find (hence doesn't show) partitions on DASD devices in rescue mode

Bug #1777149 reported by Frank Heimes
6
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
Ubuntu on IBM z Systems
Invalid
Medium
Canonical Foundations Team
debian-installer (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned
hw-detect (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned
network-console (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned
s390-dasd (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned
s390-zfcp (Ubuntu)
Expired
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Even if DASD devices of an already installed Ubuntu Server on s390x system got properly specified during the configuration phase of booting and using d-i's rescue (aka recovery) mode,
d-i does not identify the DASD partitions, hence doesn't list them for selection:

   ┌──────────────────────┤ [!!] Enter rescue mode ├───────────────────────┐
   │ │
   │ The installer could not find any partitions, so you will not be able │
   │ to mount a root file system. This may be caused by the kernel failing │
   │ to detect your hard disk drive or failing to read the partition │
   │ table, or the disk may be unpartitioned. If you wish, you may │
   │ investigate this from a shell in the installer environment. │
   │ │
   │ No partitions found │
   │ <Go Back> <Continue> │
   │ │
   └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

If proceeding without specifying a root partition and executing a shell, one can see that the DASD disks are online and the partitions are available:

~ # lszdev --online
TYPE ID ON PERS NAMES
dasd-eckd 0.0.162a yes no dasda
dasd-eckd 0.0.2625 yes no dasdb
qeth 0.0.c000:0.0.c001:0.0.c002 yes no encc000
~ # fdasd -ps /dev/dasda

WARNING:
Disk /dev/dasda is online on operating system instances in 3 different LPARs.
Ensure that the disk is not being used by a system outside your LPAR.
Note: Your installation might include z/VM systems that are configured to
automatically vary on disks, regardless of whether they are subsequently used.

          /dev/dasda1 2 24415 24414 1 Linux native
          /dev/dasda2 24416 450762 426347 2 Linux native
                          450763 450764 2 unused
~ # fdasd -ps /dev/dasdb

WARNING:
Disk /dev/dasdb is online on operating system instances in 3 different LPARs.
Ensure that the disk is not being used by a system outside your LPAR.
Note: Your installation might include z/VM systems that are configured to
automatically vary on disks, regardless of whether they are subsequently used.

          /dev/dasdb1 2 450762 450761 1 Linux native
                          450763 450764 2 unused
~ # mkdir /mnt/boot
~ # mkdir /mnt/root
~ # mkdir /mnt/home
~ # mount /dev/dasda1 /mnt/boot
~ # mount /dev/dasda2 /mnt/root
~ # mount /dev/dasdb1 /mnt/home
~ # mount | grep ^\/dev\/
/dev/dasda1 on /mnt/boot type ext2 (rw,relatime,block_validity,barrier,user_xattr,acl)
/dev/dasda2 on /mnt/root type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
/dev/dasdb1 on /mnt/home type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
~ # ls -a /mnt/boot
. initrd.img-4.15.0-23-generic
.. initrd.img-4.15.0-24-generic
System.map-4.15.0-23-generic initrd.img.old
System.map-4.15.0-24-generic lost+found
abi-4.15.0-23-generic retpoline-4.15.0-23-generic
abi-4.15.0-24-generic retpoline-4.15.0-24-generic
bootmap vmlinuz
config-4.15.0-23-generic vmlinuz-4.15.0-23-generic
config-4.15.0-24-generic vmlinuz-4.15.0-24-generic
initrd.img vmlinuz.old
~ # ls -a /mnt/root
. dev lost+found proc snap sys
.. etc media root space tmp
bin home mnt run srv usr
boot lib opt sbin swapfile var
~ # ls -a /mnt/home
. .. lost+found ubuntu

----------

Furthermore I came across some more issues:

   - default ssh cmd-line with ipv6 (for 2nd d-i stage) does not work:
     workstation:~$ ssh installer@fe80::ff:feff:abc
     ssh: connect to host fe80::ff:feff:abc port 22: Invalid argument
     (however using ipv4 works)
     [maybe adding a hint that the interface is req.]
   - not all screens are titled with 'Rescue Mode' in the upper left
     especially not the initial d-i screen of the 2nd (ssh) stage: 'Configuring d-i'
     which is a bit confusing (but just cosmetic)
   - if DASD AND FCP devices are specified during the configuration
     (installations might have both)
     only FCP devices are listed for the mounting of the root device, no DASDs
     but I only see the raw devices, not the multipath devices
     (hope that this is not by intention)
   - I expected (for safety reasons) NOT to see entries like:
      - Partition disks
      - Install the base system
     in 'Ubuntu installer main menu'
     and also not the options to low-leve format the DASDs, like:
     "The DASD 0.0.1234 is already low-level formatted."

Frank Heimes (fheimes)
summary: - Installer cannot find (hence doesn't show) partitions on DASD devices
+ Installer doesn't find (hence doesn't show) partitions on DASD devices
in rescue mode
Frank Heimes (fheimes)
description: updated
Frank Heimes (fheimes)
Changed in ubuntu-z-systems:
status: New → Triaged
Revision history for this message
Frank Heimes (fheimes) wrote :

It's the same or at least similar on VMs: "could not find any partitions"
Proceeding to the d-i shell:

# lszdev --online
TYPE ID ON PERS NAMES
dasd-eckd 0.0.0200 yes no dasda
dasd-eckd 0.0.0300 yes no dasdb
dasd-eckd 0.0.0400 yes no dasdc

But partitions do exist:

# fdasd -ps /dev/dasda
/dev/dasda1 2 150238 150237 1 Linux native
                150239 150239 1 unused
# fdasd -ps /dev/dasdb
                     2 150239 150238 unused
# fdasd -ps /dev/dasdc
/dev/dasdc1 2 450748 450747 1 Linux native
                450749 450749 1 unused

Getting the "not supported" msg on that system:

cat /sys/bus/ccw/devices/0.0.0200/host_access_count
cat: read error: Operation not supported

Frank Heimes (fheimes)
tags: added: installer
Frank Heimes (fheimes)
Changed in ubuntu-z-systems:
status: Triaged → Invalid
Changed in debian-installer (Ubuntu):
status: New → Invalid
Changed in hw-detect (Ubuntu):
status: New → Invalid
Changed in network-console (Ubuntu):
status: New → Invalid
Changed in s390-dasd (Ubuntu):
status: New → Invalid
Changed in s390-zfcp (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote :

[Expired for s390-zfcp (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

Changed in s390-zfcp (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → Expired
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