[Bug 1656048] Re: grub-installer might not install to the PReP partition of NVMe disks

[Steve Langasek]

Hello bugproxy, or anyone else affected,

Accepted grub-installer into xenial-proposed. The package will build now
and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/grub-
installer/1.128ubuntu5.1 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 on 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 add a comment to this bug,
mentioning the version of the package you tested, and change the tag
from verification-needed to verification-done. If it does not fix the
bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and 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: grub-installer (Ubuntu Xenial)
       Status: In Progress => Fix Committed

** Tags added: verification-needed

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1656048

Title:
  grub-installer might not install to the PReP partition of NVMe disks

Status in grub-installer package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in grub-installer source package in Xenial:
  Fix Committed

Bug description:
  [Impact]
  NVMe installs on ppc64el for PReP.

  [Test case]
  Attempt to install Ubuntu on a ppc64el where a PReP partition is required; make sure to put the new PReP partition on the NVMe disk. See Problem Description below.

  [Regression Potential]
  Any failure to install PReP on ppc64el on a system with NVMe should be considered a regression of this bug.

  ----

  == Comment: #0 - Mauricio Faria De Oliveira - 2017-01-12 05:22:08 ==
  ---Problem Description---
  On ppc64el, the grub-installer script attempts to detect which PReP partition is in the same disk as of the installed system, in order to install grub into it.

  This check is not working properly for NVMe devices, and needs an update.
  It might result in overwriting the PReP partition of another disk, possibly another Linux distro/version, which is unrelated to the current installation.

  Patches for Xenial and Zesty are attached.

  Problem example:
  ---

  - PReP partition actually is '/dev/nvme1n1p1'
  - PReP partition detected is '/dev/sda1'

      ~ # /usr/lib/grub-installer/prep-bootdev -l
      /dev/sda1
      /dev/nvme1n1p1
      /dev/nvme0n1p1

      ~ # grep grub-install /var/log/syslog
      ...
      Jan 11 22:17:25 main-menu[518]: INFO: Menu item 'grub-installer' selected
      Jan 11 22:17:25 grub-installer: info: architecture: ppc64el/chrp_ibm
      Jan 11 22:17:29 grub-installer: info: Identified partition label for /dev/nvme1n1p2: gpt
      Jan 11 22:17:29 grub-installer: info: Wiping PReP partition /dev/sda1
      ...
      Jan 11 22:17:33 grub-installer: info: Running chroot /target grub-install  --force "/dev/sda1"
      ...
      Jan 11 22:17:33 grub-installer: info: grub-install ran successfully

      ~ # in-target ofpathname /dev/sda1
      ~ # in-target nvram --print-config=boot-device

      ~ # tail -n2 /var/log/syslog
      ... in-target: /pci at 800000020000015/pci1014,034A at 0/sas/disk at 5000c50067b1166b
      ... in-target: /pci at 800000020000015/pci1014,034A at 0/sas/disk at 5000c50067b1166b

  Patch applied:
  ---

  ~ # grep grub-installer /var/log/syslog
  ...
  Jan 11 23:59:25 main-menu[518]: INFO: Menu item 'grub-installer' selected
  Jan 11 23:59:25 grub-installer: info: architecture: ppc64el/chrp_ibm
  Jan 11 23:59:27 grub-installer: info: Identified partition label for /dev/nvme1n1p2: gpt
  Jan 11 23:59:27 grub-installer: info: Wiping PReP partition /dev/nvme1n1p1
  ...
  Jan 11 23:59:30 grub-installer: info: Running chroot /target grub-install  --force "/dev/nvme1n1p1"
  ...
  Jan 11 23:59:31 grub-installer: info: grub-install ran successfully

      ~ # in-target nvram --print-config=boot-device
      ~ # tail -n1 /var/log/syslog
      ... in-target: /pci at 800000020000028/pci1bb1,121 at 0/namespace at 1

  After reboot of installation done:

      0 > printenv boot-device
      -------------- Partition: common -------- Signature: 0x70 ---------------
      boot-device              /pci at 800000020000028/pci1bb1,121 at 0/namespace at 1

  == Comment: #1 - Mauricio Faria De Oliveira <mauricfo at br.ibm.com> - 2017-01-12 05:24:08 ==
  Patch for Xenial

  == Comment: #2 - Mauricio Faria De Oliveira <mauricfo at br.ibm.com> - 2017-01-12 05:24:26 ==
  Patch for Zesty.

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