[Bug 1889107] Re: Installer failed to write grub to EFI, installing to root on logical volume inside LUKS wrapper, then later crashed

[Jonathan Watt]

The following shows that the contents of /efi/ubuntu/grub.cfg are
broken, and shows my attempt to rerun the contents of that file with
corrected values to try to boot. This gets me to a boot menu where I can
choose Ubuntu, get the spinning throbber indicating that Ubuntu is
loading, but then I get dumped into an '(initramfs)' prompt.


grub> ls
(crypto0) (proc) (lvm/vg-root) (hd0) (hd0,gpt2) (hd0,gpt1)

# Examine first partitions contents:
grub> ls (hd0,gpt1)
        Partition hd0,gpt1: Filesystem type fat, <...>
grub> ls (hd0,gpt1)/
efi/
grub> ls (hd0,gpt1)/efi/
ubuntu/ boot/
grub> ls (hd0,gpt1)/efi/boot/
bootx64.efi fbx64.efi mmx64.efi
grub> ls (hd0,gpt1)/efi/ubuntu/
grubx64.efi shimx64.efi mmx64.efi bootx64.csv grub.cfg

# Examine /efi/ubuntu/grub.cfg
grub> cat (hd0,gpt1)/efi/ubuntu/grub.cfg
cryptomount -u <a-UUID>
search.fs_uuid <another-UUID> root lvmid/<long-identifier>/<another-identifier>
set prefix=($root)'/@/boot/grub'
configfile $prefix/grub.cfg

# Examine second partition's contents:
grub> ls (lvm/vg-root)
Device lvm/vg-root: Filesystem type btrfs, UUID <a-UUID> - ...
grub> ls (lvm/vg-root)/
@/ @home/
grub> ls (lvm/vg-root)/@
dev/ run/ lib32 boot/ lib sbin cdrom/ srv/ media/ usr/ opt/ lib64 swapfile bin home/ etc/ swap/ var/ tmp/ libx32 sys/ mnt/ proc/ root/

# Fix $root
# Note: I include parenthesis and append '/@' (since it's BTRFS) - is that okay?
grub> echo $root
hd0,gpt1
grub> set root=(lvm/vg-root)/@

# Fix $prefix
# Note: Given the changes to $root, I don't include parenthesis or "/@" here.
grub> echo $prefix
(hd0,gpt1)/@/boot/grub
grub> ls $prefix
error: file '/@/boot/grub' not found.
set prefix=$root'/boot/grub'

# Now try to boot:
configfile $prefix/grub.cfg

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1889107

Title:
  Installer failed to write grub to EFI, installing to root on logical
  volume inside LUKS wrapper, then later crashed

Status in grub-installer package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  I tried to install 20.04, creating the following custom partition
  layout:

  nvme0n1        259:0    0   1.9T  0 disk  
  ├─nvme0n1p1    259:3    0   512M  0 part  /target/boot/efi
  └─nvme0n1p2    259:4    0   1.9T  0 part  
    └─cryptdata  253:0    0   1.9T  0 crypt 
      ├─vg0-root 253:1    0   1.5T  0 lvm   /target
      └─vg0-vms  253:2    0 371.2G  0 lvm   

  Everything proceeded fine until I got a popup window with the message:

    Executing 'grub-install /dev/nvme0n1' failed.
    This is a fatal error.

  In the details part of the main installer window was:

    ubuntu grub-installer: grub-install: error: attempting to install to
  encrypted disk without cryptodisk enabled. Set
  'GRUB_ENABLE_CRYPTODISK=y' in file /etc/default/grub

  The default install allows the disk to be encrypted with the default
  partition layout, so presumably it knows how to set up grub to work
  with encrypted root, and it could be made to be a bit smarter about
  detecting when a custom partition layout includes encryption and set
  up grub appropriately?

  In the meantime, if anyone has any tips on how to get the install to
  succeed I'd be very grateful to hear them. :)

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
  Package: ubiquity 20.04.15
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-26.30-generic 5.4.30
  Uname: Linux 5.4.0-26-generic x86_64
  NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zavl icp zcommon znvpair
  ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27
  Architecture: amd64
  CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
  CasperVersion: 1.445
  Date: Mon Jul 27 17:19:19 2020
  InstallCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/casper/vmlinuz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed maybe-ubiquity quiet splash ---
  LiveMediaBuild: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200421)
  SourcePackage: grub-installer
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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