[Bug 794841] Re: fsck prompt for missing device doesn't time out, hangs unattended/headless server boot indefinitely

[Craig Ringer]

*** This bug is a duplicate of bug 571444 ***
    https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/571444

Inevitably I only found a report on this _after_ I filed this one..

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/794841

Title:
  fsck prompt for missing device doesn't time out, hangs
  unattended/headless server boot indefinitely

Status in Upstart:
  New
Status in “mountall” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: mountall

  During boot, an Ubuntu machine installed as a server from the
  "alternate" CD will pause indefinitely waiting for console input if an
  fstab line points to a device that is not present and fsck would
  normally be run on that device. It prints "The disk drive for / is not
  ready yet or not present. Continue to wait; or press s to skip
  mounting or M for manual recovery" then waits for input. This halt
  occurs before sshd comes up and is only on the console, so a headless
  server has to be physically accessed to resolve the problem.

  This is not a crash. Pressing "S" allows the server to continue
  booting, but you have to have a keyboard plugged in and a display to
  see what you need to do, or at least need a serial console in place.
  This is far from ideal for a remote headless machine.

  Encountered on:

  craig at backup:/etc$ lsb_release -a
  No LSB modules are available.
  Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
  Description:	Ubuntu 11.04
  Release:	11.04
  Codename:	natty

  with:

  craig at backup:/etc$ apt-cache policy mountall upstart mdadm
  mountall:
    Installed: 2.25ubuntu1
    Candidate: 2.25ubuntu1
    Version table:
   *** 2.25ubuntu1 0
          500 http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu/ natty/main i386 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
  upstart:
    Installed: 0.9.7-1
    Candidate: 0.9.7-1
    Version table:
   *** 0.9.7-1 0
          500 http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu/ natty/main i386 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
  upstart:
    Installed: 0.9.7-1
    Candidate: 0.9.7-1
    Version table:
   *** 0.9.7-1 0
          500 http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu/ natty/main i386 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
  mdadm:
    Installed: 3.1.4-1+8efb9d1ubuntu4.1
    Candidate: 3.1.4-1+8efb9d1ubuntu4.1
    Version table:
   *** 3.1.4-1+8efb9d1ubuntu4.1 0
          500 http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu/ natty-updates/main i386 Packages
          100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
       3.1.4-1+8efb9d1ubuntu4 0
          500 http://ftp.iinet.net.au/pub/ubuntu/ natty/main i386 Packages

  This is particularly problematic because mdadm doesn't auto-assemble
  and start degraded RAID arrays that are not the boot device, so a
  server with a degraded RAID array will fail to boot if that array is
  not the boot device. I encountered this on a big RAID backup server
  where the device containing root,boot,usr,var etc is is a little low-
  power SSD and all the real storage lives on a RAID array. When a disk
  dropped out of the array and we lost power, the server failed to come
  back up because it was sitting at this fsck prompt.

  Recommended fix: Time out on the prompt after 60 seconds, defaulting
  to "S" for skip. Do not wait for input on subsequent prompts if more
  than one is displayed, automatically skip if the first prompt timed
  out. The latter is important because many servers will have 10 or more
  file systems and you don't want a 60-second timeout on each.

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