[Bug 1059471] Re: 2.41 fails to mount root partition

[Clint Byrum]

Hello Iain, or anyone else affected,

Accepted mountall into quantal-proposed. The package will build now and
be available at
http://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mountall/2.42ubuntu0.1 in a few
hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package.  See
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to
enable and use -proposed.  Your feedback will aid us getting this update
out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please change the bug tag from
verification-needed to verification-done.  If it does not, change the
tag to verification-failed.  In either case, details of your testing
will help us make a better decision.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification .  Thank you in
advance!

** Changed in: mountall (Ubuntu Quantal)
       Status: Triaged => Fix Committed

** Tags added: verification-needed

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1059471

Title:
  2.41 fails to mount root partition

Status in “mountall” package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in “mountall” source package in Quantal:
  Fix Committed

Bug description:
  [Impact]
  A change introduced in mountall in quantal can cause boot-time hangs for some users when a filesystem is listed in /etc/fstab with a non-canonicalized mount point.  This is a regression vs. previous releases.

  [Test case]
  1. Create a directory, /mnt/realmount
  2. Make /mnt/linkmount a symlink to /mnt/realmount
  3. Add the following entry to /etc/fstab, immediately after the root filesystem:
     overlay /mnt/linkmount tmpfs defaults 0 0
    (order here matters because this is a virtual filesystem, and mountall creates implicit dependencies for virtual filesystems based on /etc/fstab ordering)
  4. Install plymouth to the initramfs by running: 'echo FRAMEBUFFER=yes > /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/lp1059471; update-initramfs -u'.  (Otherwise, the boot will hang before plymouth splash has started.)
  5. Reboot.  Confirm that the system hangs on boot with a message about /mnt/linkmount not being mounted.
  6. Press 'S' to skip this filesystem and finish booting.
  7. Install mountall 2.42 from proposed.
  8. Reboot.  Confirm that the system boots all the way up without hanging.
  9. Clean up by running 'rm -f /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/lp1059471; update-initramfs -u'.

  [Regression potential]
  The mountall code is very complicated, with little test coverage and no integration testing.  I believe the code is now correct, but the risk of a regression in an unrelated boot configuration is non-negligible.

  When booting with 2.41, I get a message

    "The disk drive for / is not ready yet or not present"

  but when I drop into a shell for manual recovery, / curiously /is/
  mounted.

  Downgrading mountall to 2.40 allows me to boot again.

  Let me know if you need any more information.

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
  Package: mountall 2.40
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-16.25-generic 3.5.4
  Uname: Linux 3.5.0-16-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.5.3-0ubuntu1
  Architecture: amd64
  Date: Mon Oct  1 10:33:29 2012
  InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
  SourcePackage: mountall
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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