[Bug 1012629] Re: grub-installer ignores "bootdev" setting in preseed file

[David Partain]

Hi Dave,

I've been working with Canonical on this issue since I posted all of my
information.

I have the following as part of my preseed:

d-i partman/early_command string \ 
USBDEV=$(list-devices usb-partition | sed "s/\(.*\)./\1/");\ 
BOOTDEV=$(list-devices disk | grep -v "$USBDEV" | head -1);\ 
debconf-set partman-auto/disk $BOOTDEV;\ 
debconf-set grub-installer/bootdev $BOOTDEV; 

During installation, this becomes:

Jun 19 12:31:20 debconf: --> SET partman-auto/disk /dev/sdb 
Jun 19 12:31:20 debconf: <-- 0 value set 
Jun 19 12:31:20 debconf: --> SET grub-installer/bootdev /dev/sdb 

(which is right) but still I get this:

Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> SETTITLE debian-installer/grub-installer/title 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 OK 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> GET grub-installer/bootdev 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 /dev/sdb 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> GET cdrom-detect/hybrid 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 10 cdrom-detect/hybrid doesn't exist 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> PROGRESS STEP 1 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 OK 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> PROGRESS INFO grub-installer/progress/step_bootdev 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 OK 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> FGET grub-installer/bootdev seen 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 false 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> INPUT high grub-installer/only_debian 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 30 question skipped 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> GO 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 ok 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> GET grub-installer/only_debian 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 true 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> PROGRESS STEP 1 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: <-- 0 OK 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: --> SUBST grub-installer/progress/step_install_loader BOOTDEV /dev/sda 
Jun 19 12:45:03 debconf: Adding [BOOTDEV] -> [/dev/sda] 

which is wrong.  I asked for sdb :-)

The only workaround so far seems to be to have:

d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean false

which then pops up a question if I really want it on sdb, which I can
confirm.  This, however, sorta defeats the purpose of a fully-automated
installation with users who don't know what sdb is :-)

How can I ensure that there's a valid partition table on /dev/sdb in a
fully-automated install?    I'm doing this for partitioning:

d-i partman-lvm/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm boolean true
d-i partman-md/device_remove_md boolean true
d-i partman-auto/method string crypto
d-i partman-auto-lvm/new_vg_name string somename
d-i partman-auto-lvm/guided_size string max
d-i partman-lvm/confirm boolean true
d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label boolean true
d-i partman/choose_partition select finish
d-i partman/confirm boolean true
d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite boolean true
d-i partman-auto/expert_recipe string                         \
(recipe deleted)
d-i partman/default_filesystem string ext4

Can I add something to ensure that the partition table is there?

Thanks.

David

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1012629

Title:
  grub-installer ignores "bootdev" setting in preseed file

Status in “grub-installer” package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in “grub-installer” source package in Precise:
  Confirmed
Status in “grub-installer” source package in Trusty:
  Fix Released
Status in “grub-installer” package in Debian:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  I am installing an Ubuntu system with two disks attached; I want the
  OS to be installed on the second disk /dev/sdb; the first disk
  /dev/sda is currently completely empty (not even partitioned).  The
  install process works fine, but then GRUB ignores the line:

          d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/sdb

  and complains that it cannot write to /dev/sda (because it does not
  even have a partition table).

  Same happens if I use GRUB's own notation "(hd1)" instead of /dev/sdb
  in the preseed file.

  If I omit the "grub-installer/bootdev" line in the preseed, then D-I
  stops to ask me if I want to install GRUB on sda or sdb.

  The issue can be replicated with virtual machines: add two disks (one
  of the empty / zeroed out), and instruct the preseed to install on the
  second one.

  I think this is the same as Debian bug #666974, but I'm filing it
  separately as I'm not sure what/how much is changed in Ubuntu's
  version of D-I. See: http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=666974

  
  Preseed options used for partitioning / target selection:

      ### Partitioning
      d-i partman-auto/method string lvm
      d-i partman-auto/choose_recipe select atomic

      # do not ask for confirmation, ever
      d-i partman-basicfilesystem/no_swap               boolean  false
      d-i partman-lvm/confirm                           boolean  true
      d-i partman-lvm/confirm_nooverwrite               boolean  true
      d-i partman-lvm/device_remove_lvm                 boolean  true
      d-i partman-md/confirm                            boolean  true
      d-i partman-md/device_remove_md                   boolean  true
      d-i partman-partitioning/confirm_write_new_label  boolean  true
      d-i partman/choose_partition                      select   finish
      d-i partman/confirm                               boolean  true
      d-i partman/confirm_nooverwrite                   boolean  true
      d-i partman/exception_handler                     select   Retry

  
  GRUB-related preseed options:

      ### Boot loader installation
      d-i grub-installer/only_debian boolean true
      d-i grub-installer/with_other_os boolean true
      d-i grub-installer/bootdev string /dev/sdb

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