[Bug 872244] [NEW] grub2 recordfail logic prevents headless system from rebooting after power outage

[heckheck]

Public bug reported:

With the move to grub2 I recently discovered that my headless Natty
server running as a NAS device will not reboot following a power
failure.  I was able to track this down to the behavior of the
'recordfail' logic in grub2.  This logic prevents grub from booting
following an event such as a power failure.  The system boots to the
grub2 menu and waits with no timeout (-1).

While this feature may be completely appropriate for an attended desktop
system, there should be an optional override for this behavior in the
'/etc/default/grub' defaults file so that systems (such as headless
ones) that need to boot following such a failure can boot without
intervention.  I was able to work around the problem by commenting the
following lines in /etc/grub.d/00_header

#if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
 # set timeout=-1
#else
  set timeout=10
#fi

An optional grub2 default parameter that emulates this logic in the
defaults would be a nice addition so people who want the "always boot"
behavior don't have to hack the grub scripts by hand.

Additional info:
jheck at twilightzone:/etc/grub.d$ lsb_release -rd
Description:    Ubuntu 11.04
Release:        11.04

jheck at twilightzone:/etc/grub.d$ apt-cache policy grub2
grub2:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.99~rc1-13ubuntu3
  Version table:
     1.99~rc1-13ubuntu3 0
        500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty/universe amd64 Packages

** Affects: grub2 (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/872244

Title:
  grub2 recordfail logic prevents headless system from rebooting after
  power outage

Status in “grub2” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  With the move to grub2 I recently discovered that my headless Natty
  server running as a NAS device will not reboot following a power
  failure.  I was able to track this down to the behavior of the
  'recordfail' logic in grub2.  This logic prevents grub from booting
  following an event such as a power failure.  The system boots to the
  grub2 menu and waits with no timeout (-1).

  While this feature may be completely appropriate for an attended
  desktop system, there should be an optional override for this behavior
  in the '/etc/default/grub' defaults file so that systems (such as
  headless ones) that need to boot following such a failure can boot
  without intervention.  I was able to work around the problem by
  commenting the following lines in /etc/grub.d/00_header

  #if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
   # set timeout=-1
  #else
    set timeout=10
  #fi

  An optional grub2 default parameter that emulates this logic in the
  defaults would be a nice addition so people who want the "always boot"
  behavior don't have to hack the grub scripts by hand.

  Additional info:
  jheck at twilightzone:/etc/grub.d$ lsb_release -rd
  Description:    Ubuntu 11.04
  Release:        11.04

  jheck at twilightzone:/etc/grub.d$ apt-cache policy grub2
  grub2:
    Installed: (none)
    Candidate: 1.99~rc1-13ubuntu3
    Version table:
       1.99~rc1-13ubuntu3 0
          500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty/universe amd64 Packages

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