Groups > linux.debian.user > #237428 > unrolled thread

How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?

Started by	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
First post	2021-07-15 11:50 +0200
Last post	2021-07-16 18:00 +0200
Articles	20 on this page of 43 — 12 participants

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#237456

From	Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
Date	2021-07-15 21:10 +0200
Message-ID	<CBeUa-12b-9@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237449

	Hi.

On Thu, Jul 15, 2021 at 08:38:59PM +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> > Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 6:26 PM
> > From: "Brian" <ad44@cityscape.co.uk>
> > To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> > Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
> >
> > On Thu 15 Jul 2021 at 20:01:05 +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> >
> > > root@perfect:/# file -sL /dev/sdb1
> > > bash: file: command not found
> > > root@perfect:/#
> >
> Nope, apparently it isn't available in Rescue Mode.
> 
> Entered encryption passphrase -> Choose a device to use as root file system -> /dev/perfect-vg/root -> Execute a shell in /dev/perfect-vg/root

Ok. Can you use this rescue mode to execute an ordinary shell, with full
access to all filesystems?
I've been thinking about it, and it makes some sense.

If you're using your USB stick to boot, you have its file system
(/dev/sdb1 in this case) mounted. If you're executing a shell in a
logical volume, you're chrooted into that filesystem.

But it does not change that the filesystem from /dev/sdb1 is mounted
already, it's just inaccessible from the chroot.

What you actually need is to bind mount the directory with packages into
the mounted /dev/perfect-vg/root, and just chroot into it. No need to
modify /etc/fstab at all.

Reco

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#237460

From	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
Date	2021-07-15 22:20 +0200
Message-ID	<CBfZU-1F8-9@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237456

Hi

> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 7:07 PM
> From: "Reco" <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
> To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?

> Ok. Can you use this rescue mode to execute an ordinary shell, with full
> access to all filesystems?

Before I proceed with your suggestion, while in Resuce Mode, do I enter the encryption passphrase or not? If I don't enter the password, /dev/perfect-vg/root won't be mounted.

Even after I've entered the encryption passphrase, there are two ways to execute a shell: one is to execute it in /dev/perfect-vg/root environment and the other is to execute it in the installer environment. Which environment do you want me to executve a shell in please?

What did you mean by "full access to all filesystems"? When I was installing Debian 11, I first encrypted a free space with LUKS and then created two logical volumes in it: one whose mount point is / (the root file system. Debian installer requires it; otherwise the installation can't and won't proceed.) while the other is "used as" swap area.

> If you're using your USB stick to boot, you have its file system
> (/dev/sdb1 in this case) mounted.

That's a logical assumption because I needed the USB-installer to boot into Rescue Mode.

> If you're executing a shell in a
> logical volume, you're chrooted into that filesystem.

I had to enter the encryption passphrase first, followed by mounting /dev/perfect-vg/root as a root file system temporarily. Then I chose 'Execute a shell in the installer environment' and only then would I be able to chroot /target

> But it does not change that the filesystem from /dev/sdb1 is mounted
> already, it's just inaccessible from the chroot.
>
That's why I asked for help here.

> What you actually need is to bind mount the directory with packages into
> the mounted /dev/perfect-vg/root, and just chroot into it. No need to
> modify /etc/fstab at all.
>
Could you be so nice as to give me the command(s) to bind mount the directory with packages? Thank you.

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#237466

From	Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
Date	2021-07-16 07:10 +0200
Message-ID	<CBogO-6XN-5@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237460

On Thu, Jul 15, 2021 at 10:11:06PM +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> Hi
> 
> > Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 7:07 PM
> > From: "Reco" <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
> > To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> > Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
> 
> > Ok. Can you use this rescue mode to execute an ordinary shell, with full
> > access to all filesystems?
> 
> Before I proceed with your suggestion, while in Resuce Mode, do I
> enter the encryption passphrase or not? If I don't enter the password,
> /dev/perfect-vg/root won't be mounted.

You have to enter the encryption passphrase. It makes little sense to do
all this otherwise.


> Even after I've entered the encryption passphrase, there are two ways
> to execute a shell: one is to execute it in /dev/perfect-vg/root
> environment and the other is to execute it in the installer
> environment. Which environment do you want me to executve a shell in
> please?

First one definitely won't do it, so it's the "installer environment".


> What did you mean by "full access to all filesystems"? When I was
> installing Debian 11, I first encrypted a free space with LUKS and
> then created two logical volumes in it: one whose mount point is /
> (the root file system. Debian installer requires it; otherwise the
> installation can't and won't proceed.) while the other is "used as"
> swap area.

Compare the results of "mount" command from both shells. The difference
should be obvious.


> > If you're executing a shell in a
> > logical volume, you're chrooted into that filesystem.
> 
> I had to enter the encryption passphrase first, followed by mounting
> /dev/perfect-vg/root as a root file system temporarily. Then I chose
> 'Execute a shell in the installer environment' and only then would I
> be able to chroot /target

This. My suggestion is to use bind-mount before chrooting there.


> > What you actually need is to bind mount the directory with packages into
> > the mounted /dev/perfect-vg/root, and just chroot into it. No need to
> > modify /etc/fstab at all.
> >
> Could you be so nice as to give me the command(s) to bind mount the directory with packages? Thank you.

mount --bind <source_dir_with_packages> \
	/target/<target_dir_where_packages_should_be>

Reco

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#237569

From	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
Date	2021-07-21 13:30 +0200
Message-ID	<CDiAh-4UE-3@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237466

Hi Reco

Thanks for your help.

> Sent: Friday, July 16, 2021 at 5:09 AM
> From: "Reco" <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
> To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
>
> > > What you actually need is to bind mount the directory with packages into
> > > the mounted /dev/perfect-vg/root, and just chroot into it. No need to
> > > modify /etc/fstab at all.
> > >
> > Could you be so nice as to give me the command(s) to bind mount the directory with packages? Thank you.
>
> mount --bind <source_dir_with_packages> \
> 	/target/<target_dir_where_packages_should_be>
>

Sorry, what's source_dir_with_packages ? Were you referring to /dev/sdb1 ?

By target_dir_where_packages_should_be, did you mean that I create a directory called stella (for example)?

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#237572

From	Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
Date	2021-07-21 13:50 +0200
Message-ID	<CDiTD-50W-9@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237569

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 01:28:57PM +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> Hi Reco
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> > Sent: Friday, July 16, 2021 at 5:09 AM
> > From: "Reco" <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
> > To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> > Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
> >
> > > > What you actually need is to bind mount the directory with packages into
> > > > the mounted /dev/perfect-vg/root, and just chroot into it. No need to
> > > > modify /etc/fstab at all.
> > > >
> > > Could you be so nice as to give me the command(s) to bind mount the directory with packages? Thank you.
> >
> > mount --bind <source_dir_with_packages> \
> > 	/target/<target_dir_where_packages_should_be>
> >
> 
> Sorry, what's source_dir_with_packages ? Were you referring to /dev/sdb1 ?

No, of course not.
The whole idea of bind-mount is that you do not mount a *device* on top
of directory, you mount a *directory* on top of another one.

You have an install media (USB stick).
That install media has a filesystem on it (/dev/sdb1), which contains
the usual Linux kernel, initrd, *and* the set of packages which
installer is supposed, well, to install for you.

That set of packages resides in a directory structure, which exact name
escapes me at this moment.
What's important is - the filesystem on /dev/sdb1 is already mounted by
installer, all you have to do is to locate that directory in the mounted
filesystem.

> By target_dir_where_packages_should_be, did you mean that I create a directory called stella (for example)?

Whatever floats your boat.
Bind-mount a package directory somewhere in /target, and point apt to it.
Specific target directory name is not relevant, but you should create it
before the mounting.

Reco

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#237573

From	Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org>
Date	2021-07-21 13:50 +0200
Message-ID	<CDiTD-50W-7@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237569

On Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 01:28:57PM +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> Hi Reco
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> > Sent: Friday, July 16, 2021 at 5:09 AM
> > From: "Reco" <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
> > To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> > Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
> >
> > > > What you actually need is to bind mount the directory with packages into
> > > > the mounted /dev/perfect-vg/root, and just chroot into it. No need to
> > > > modify /etc/fstab at all.
> > > >
> > > Could you be so nice as to give me the command(s) to bind mount the directory with packages? Thank you.
> >
> > mount --bind <source_dir_with_packages> \
> > 	/target/<target_dir_where_packages_should_be>
> >
> 
> Sorry, what's source_dir_with_packages ? Were you referring to /dev/sdb1 ?

No, a bind mount doesn't take a device name as an argument.  It takes
two directory names.  From the man page:

       mount --bind|--rbind|--move olddir newdir

It's used when you've already got the device mounted somewhere (the first
directory), and you'd also like it to appear in a second place.

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#237599

From	Richard Hector <richard@walnut.gen.nz>
Date	2021-07-21 21:20 +0200
Message-ID	<CDpV7-Z2-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237573

On 21/07/21 11:39 pm, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> No, a bind mount doesn't take a device name as an argument.  It takes
> two directory names.  From the man page:
> 
>         mount --bind|--rbind|--move olddir newdir
> 
> It's used when you've already got the device mounted somewhere (the first
> directory), and you'd also like it to appear in a second place.

That could be interpreted to mean it still applies to a (mounted) 
device, but it doesn't - olddir can be anywhere, not just a mount point.

Richard

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#237791

From	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
Date	2021-07-27 09:30 +0200
Message-ID	<CFpHj-1lB-3@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237573

I quote a section of the Debian's man page of mount:

The move operation
Move a mounted tree to another place (atomically). The call is:

mount --move olddir newdir

This will cause the contents which previously appeared under olddir to now be accessible under newdir. The physical location of the files is not changed. Note that olddir has to be a mountpoint.

What commands shall I type to find out the location of the directory where linux-image-5.10.0-7-amd64.deb is, given the fact that I'm using a USB-installer?

Do I need to use the --bind argument like

mount --bind --move olddir newdir



P.S.: I have never been a fan of using man pages because the commands contained therein don't provide examples of how to use them properly.

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#237793

From	Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net>
Date	2021-07-27 10:20 +0200
Message-ID	<CFqtH-1QY-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237791

	Hi.

On Tue, Jul 27, 2021 at 09:23:22AM +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> What commands shall I type to find out the location of the directory
> where linux-image-5.10.0-7-amd64.deb is, given the fact that I'm using
> a USB-installer?

$ wget -q https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/amd64/iso-cd/debian-testing-amd64-netinst.iso
$ 7z l /tmp/debian-testing-amd64-netinst.iso  | grep linux-image
2021-07-21 03:02:23 .....     53566832     53566832 pool/main/l/linux-signed-amd64/linux-image-5.10.0-8-amd64_5.10.46-2_amd64.deb
2021-07-21 03:02:23 .....         1480         1480 pool/main/l/linux-signed-amd64/linux-image-amd64_5.10.46-2_amd64.deb

Thus repository directory is /, and l-i directory is
/pool/main/l/linux-signed-amd64.


> Do I need to use the --bind argument like
> 
> mount --bind --move olddir newdir

No, you do not need that. A simple --bind will suffice.


> P.S.: I have never been a fan of using man pages because the commands
> contained therein don't provide examples of how to use them properly.

Some of them do, some of them do not. Manual pages are reference, not a tutorial.

Reco

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#237798

From	Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org>
Date	2021-07-27 13:40 +0200
Message-ID	<CFtBf-3GC-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237791

On Tue, Jul 27, 2021 at 09:23:22AM +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> What commands shall I type to find out the location of the directory where linux-image-5.10.0-7-amd64.deb is, given the fact that I'm using a USB-installer?
> 

df
mount
cd
ls
more cd
more ls
maybe find . -name 'linux*.deb'

and so on, until you find the file.  The same way you'd find a file on
a real system, if the "locate" database is not available.

P.S. I'd avoid using mount --move.  Something may need the files to
appear in their current location, wherever that is, which is why they
were mounted there.  Use mount --bind, so the files appear in *both*
places, if that's what you need.

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#237450

From	David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
Date	2021-07-15 20:50 +0200
Message-ID	<CBeAN-ER-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237447

On Thu 15 Jul 2021 at 19:26:43 (+0100), Brian wrote:
> On Thu 15 Jul 2021 at 20:01:05 +0200, Stella Ashburne wrote:
> 
> > root@perfect:/# file -sL /dev/sdb1
> > bash: file: command not found
> > root@perfect:/#
> 
> File is a standard utilty. It should be on your system.

That's right, it's the 16th deb to be installed at the main
installation stage, but if you use the installer stick for
rescue, I don't think it's installed early enough.

>  apt install file

Chicken and egg: I think the OP is trying to set up some sort of
repository to install packages from. (I can't be sure. I would
have preferred it if they'd continued to try and boot their
actual installed system, but any help I might have given
fell short because I have no experience with LVM.)

Cheers,
David.

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#237454

From	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
Date	2021-07-15 21:10 +0200
Message-ID	<CBeUa-12b-3@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237450

Hi David

> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 6:42 PM
> From: "David Wright" <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
> To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
>
> That's right, it's the 16th deb to be installed at the main
> installation stage, but if you use the installer stick for
> rescue, I don't think it's installed early enough.
>
Based on the result of typing the 'file' command, it's appears that the package 'file' isn't installed when one is using Rescue Mode.


> Chicken and egg: I think the OP is trying to set up some sort of
> repository to install packages from. (I can't be sure.

Your guess is right. I wish to install linux-image-5.10.0-7-amd64.deb onto chroot /target after entering Rescue Mode.

> I would
> have preferred it if they'd continued to try and boot their
> actual installed system,

At this moment I don't have a GRUB menu.

> but any help I might have given
> fell short because I have no experience with LVM.)

Oh..but you've helped me in other ways and for which I appreciate it very much.

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#237467 — Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?

From	David <bouncingcats@gmail.com>
Date	2021-07-16 07:50 +0200
Subject	Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
Message-ID	<CBoTv-7a0-3@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237454

On Fri, 16 Jul 2021 at 05:00, Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com> wrote:

I'm getting a sense of possible XY problem here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem

> > Chicken and egg: I think the OP is trying to set up some sort of
> > repository to install packages from. (I can't be sure.

> Your guess is right. I wish to install linux-image-5.10.0-7-amd64.deb
> onto chroot /target after entering Rescue Mode.

I suspect that 'I want to use rescue mode to install a kernel' is
question "Y", whereas ...

> > I would
> > have preferred it if they'd continued to try and boot their
> > actual installed system,

> At this moment I don't have a GRUB menu.

... previously we have been told that a grub boot failure is the
*actual* problem "X", unless something has changed from what
we've been told so far.

In my opinion, this is what needs to be fixed before making the situation
more confusing by trying to add another kernel to a broken installation.

My guess is that the reinstallation failed because it was
done in such a way that /boot was not the mount point
of the unencrypted boot partition at the time that the
installer configured grub and generated the initrd.

After chroot succeeds, the first goal must be to fix what originally
caused the grub menu breakage during the reinstall attempt.
That requires to check that /boot is the mount point of the
unencrypted boot partition

After that, run 'grub-update' and 'grub-install' as I have
already advised in previous messages.

'grub-install --boot-directory=/mount/point/of/boot/partition
/dev/hdd/specified/here'

Note that these commands must be run in a *linux* *shell*
environment. And the grub> prompt is *not* one of those.
grub is not an entire linux system, it is just a boot loader.

I would also make a backup of all the initrd files and then run
'update-initramfs -u -k all' and fix any errors it gives.

And then reboot and see if it works.

The time to install a new kernel will be after that.

Also as previously advised, if asking for help in future please
show the output of 'lsblk -f' because it shows all devices, whereas
'mount' and 'df' only give information about filesystems that
are mounted.

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#237436

From	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
Date	2021-07-15 13:40 +0200
Message-ID	<CB7SF-4Fp-5@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237428

Hi guys,

There's a typo in my original post. Thanks to Reco for pointing it out to me.

> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 9:43 AM
> From: "Stella Ashburne" <rewefie@gmx.com>
> To: "debian-user mailing list" <debian-user@lists.debian.org>
> Subject: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
>
>
> When asked if I wanted to mount the separate /boot/efi partition, I entered No.
>
> Next, I entered Executive a shell in /dev/perfect-vg/root
>

CORRECTION: Execute a shell in /dev/perfect-vg/root

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#237443

From	David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
Date	2021-07-15 18:10 +0200
Message-ID	<CBc5X-7HZ-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237428

On Thu 15 Jul 2021 at 11:43:26 (+0200), Stella Ashburne wrote:
> Debian Bullseye's installer is on a USB stick and I used it to boot into Rescue Mode. If it's of any relevance, the partition table type is GPT, with UEFI+Secure Boot enabled.
> 
> After booting into Rescue Mode and filling out the required details onscreen, I chose /dev/perfect-vg/root as the device to use as root file system. If you may recall, the volume group perfect-vg is LUKS-encrypted.
> 
> When asked if I wanted to mount the separate /boot/efi partition, I entered No.
> 
> Next, I entered Executive a shell in /dev/perfect-vg/root
> 
> I typed the command nano /etc/apt/sources.list and commented out all the lines therein.
> 
> I added the the following line:
> 
> deb [trusted=yes] file:/media/myusb bullseye main
> 
> I saved the sources.list file.
> 
> I created a directory called /media/myusb and issued the following command to mount the USB stick to it:
> 
> mount /dev/sdb1 /media/myusb

Presumably given as root.

> The error message is:
> 
> mount: /media/myusb: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or mount point busy

Type:
$ ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/
to see what the kernel called your stick. Debian installers have LABELs.

> Below are the results of cat /etc/fstab
> 
> <file system>                  <mount point>  <type>   <options>    <dump>   <pass>
> /dev/mapper/perfect--vg-root   /              ext4     errors-remount-ro   0   1
> /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation

There's a # before that line

> UUID=A30E-2C33    /boot/efi     vfat    umask=0077      0      1
> /dev/mapper/perfect--vg-swap    none       swap    sw   0      0
> /dev/sr0      /media/cdrom0     udf, iso9660 user, noauto   0  0
> /media/myusb

That line looks spurious. If you put it there, I would remove it for
the time being. When you mount a USB stick as root, you don't need
an entry in fstab, but you do need to create a mount point first.
Of course, this has been done for you as a convenience: there is
a /mnt directory specifically for temporarily mounting a device.

Cheers,
David.

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#237451

From	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
Date	2021-07-15 21:00 +0200
Message-ID	<CBeKu-Io-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237443

Hello David,

Nice to hear from you again.

> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 4:05 PM
> From: "David Wright" <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
> To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
>
> Presumably given as root.
>
A definite yes because I chose to mount /dev/perfect-vg/root as a root file system in Rescue Mode.

> > The error message is:
> >
> > mount: /media/myusb: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or mount point busy
>
> Type:
> $ ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/
> to see what the kernel called your stick. Debian installers have LABELs.

root@perfect:/# ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/
Total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jul 15 17:00 'Debian\x20testing\x20amd64\x201' --> ../../sdb1
root@perfect:/#

>
> > Below are the results of cat /etc/fstab
> >
> > <file system>                  <mount point>  <type>   <options>    <dump>   <pass>
> > /dev/mapper/perfect--vg-root   /              ext4     errors-remount-ro   0   1
> > /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation
>
> There's a # before that line
>
Which line please?

> > UUID=A30E-2C33    /boot/efi     vfat    umask=0077      0      1
> > /dev/mapper/perfect--vg-swap    none       swap    sw   0      0
> > /dev/sr0      /media/cdrom0     udf, iso9660 user, noauto   0  0
> > /media/myusb
>
> That line looks spurious. If you put it there, I would remove it for
> the time being.
>
Did you mean /media/myusb ?

> When you mount a USB stick as root, you don't need
> an entry in fstab, but you do need to create a mount point first.

I didn't know that I didn't need to create an entry in fstab if I mount a USB stick as root.

> Of course, this has been done for you as a convenience: there is
> a /mnt directory specifically for temporarily mounting a device.
>
root@perfect:/# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
mount: /mnt: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or mount point busy
root@perfect:/#

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#237457 — Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?

From	"Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net>
Date	2021-07-15 21:40 +0200
Subject	Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
Message-ID	<CBfnb-1ch-1@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237451

Hi,

Stella Ashburne wrote:
> root@perfect:/# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
> mount: /mnt: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or mount point busy

Well, since the case "already mounted" is quite outruled, it might be time
to explore "mount point busy".

  https://codesearch.debian.net/search?q=package%3Autil-linux+already+mounted+or+mount+point+busy
shows that mount(8) emits this message if it gets error code EBUSY.
It is not so clear from where this code comes, but mount(2) would be a
fine candidate (or placeholder).

  EBUSY  [...]                                                   Or,  it
         cannot  be mounted on target because target is still busy (it is
         the working directory of some thread, the mount point of another
         device, has open files, etc.).

So does it work with some other, newly created directory instead of /mnt ?

Have a nice day :)

Thomas

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#237459

From	Stella Ashburne <rewefie@gmx.com>
Date	2021-07-15 22:20 +0200
Message-ID	<CBfZT-1F8-7@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237457

Hello Thomas

> Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 7:30 PM
> From: "Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net>
> To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> Subject: Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?
>
> Well, since the case "already mounted" is quite outruled, it might be time
> to explore "mount point busy".
>
>   https://codesearch.debian.net/search?q=package%3Autil-linux+already+mounted+or+mount+point+busy
> shows that mount(8) emits this message if it gets error code EBUSY.
> It is not so clear from where this code comes, but mount(2) would be a
> fine candidate (or placeholder).

In Rescue Mode, it's impossible for me to install packages such as the one whose link you had provided.

>
> So does it work with some other, newly created directory instead of /mnt ?
>

No, it doesn't work with other newly created directories in addition to /mnt.

> Have a nice day :)
>
You too.
> Thomas
>
Stella

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#237463

From	David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
Date	2021-07-16 06:50 +0200
Message-ID	<CBnXs-6Cc-3@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237459

On Thu 15 Jul 2021 at 22:19:23 (+0200), Stella Ashburne wrote:
> > Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 7:30 PM
> > From: "Thomas Schmitt" <scdbackup@gmx.net>
> >
> > Well, since the case "already mounted" is quite outruled, it might be time
> > to explore "mount point busy".
> >
> >   https://codesearch.debian.net/search?q=package%3Autil-linux+already+mounted+or+mount+point+busy
> > shows that mount(8) emits this message if it gets error code EBUSY.
> > It is not so clear from where this code comes, but mount(2) would be a
> > fine candidate (or placeholder).
> 
> In Rescue Mode, it's impossible for me to install packages such as the one whose link you had provided.
> >
> > So does it work with some other, newly created directory instead of /mnt ?
> >
> 
> No, it doesn't work with other newly created directories in addition to /mnt.

I can tell you why you can't mount it, but you're swimming in waters
too deep for me, so I can't tell you the "proper" way¹ to circumvent
the problem. Others probably can. I'll just suggest a workaround
(untested).

OK, you've just asked for a shell on /dev/perfect-vg/root which is the
root filesystem on your new installation. But up until this point,
the rescue root filesystem was in memory, created when you booted from
the stick. The rescue stick itself (/dev/sdb1) was mounted on /cdrom.
Your problem is: all that is still true, and it's still mounted there.

If you press Alt-F2, or Alt-F3 (or use Alt-arrows to achieve the
same), you can run a shell in the original rescue environment.
(You could actually have started one much earlier after booting.)

Type:
# mount
in *this* shell and you will see   /dev/sdb1 on /cdrom   in the list,
and that is the installation/rescue stick's mountpoint.

If you list /cdrom, you'll see /dists/ and /pool/ in there, which is
how repositories normally present themselves. The symlink debian->.
enables "debian" to be used as the name of the $ARCHIVE_ROOT,
thereby containing debian/dists/.

You should also see   /dev/perfect-vg/root on /target   in the list,
and /target is where your new root filesystem resides (as seen from
the Alt-F1 point of view).

To summarise, Alt-F2 and Alt-F3 shells show you the root filesystem
of the rescue environment (all the time), whereas Alt-F1 shows you
a root filesystem rooted at whatever you chose in the dialogue box.
This Alt-F1 root sits under /target in the Alt-F2 and Alt-F3 shells.

In this situation, my workaround would be (in Alt-F1) to create a
directory called /home/debian/.² You can now (in Alt-F2or3) copy
/dists and /pool into /target/home/debian/ which will make the
repository on the stick available in Alt-F1: the $ARCHIVE_ROOT
will be just /home/debian/.

BTW If you're wondering what Alt-F4 is, it's the system log: the
tail of of the file /var/log/syslog (as seen from Alt-F2or3).

¹ Perhaps some sort of bind mount?

² I'm assuming your own username is not debian, so it won't collide
  with your own home directory.

Cheers,
David.

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#237465

From	David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
Date	2021-07-16 06:50 +0200
Message-ID	<CBnXs-6Cc-7@gated-at.bofh.it>
In reply to	#237451

On Thu 15 Jul 2021 at 20:52:34 (+0200), Stella Ashburne wrote:
> > Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 at 4:05 PM
> > From: "David Wright" <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk>
> >
> > Presumably given as root.
> >
> A definite yes because I chose to mount /dev/perfect-vg/root as a root file system in Rescue Mode.
> 
> > > The error message is:
> > >
> > > mount: /media/myusb: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or mount point busy
> >
> > Type:
> > $ ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/
> > to see what the kernel called your stick. Debian installers have LABELs.
> 
> root@perfect:/# ls -l /dev/disk/by-label/
> Total 0
> lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jul 15 17:00 'Debian\x20testing\x20amd64\x201' --> ../../sdb1
> root@perfect:/#
> 
> >
> > > Below are the results of cat /etc/fstab
> > >
> > > <file system>                  <mount point>  <type>   <options>    <dump>   <pass>
> > > /dev/mapper/perfect--vg-root   /              ext4     errors-remount-ro   0   1
> > > /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation
> >
> > There's a # before that line
> >
> Which line please?

The last line quoted, ie the line should read

# /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation

> > > UUID=A30E-2C33    /boot/efi     vfat    umask=0077      0      1
> > > /dev/mapper/perfect--vg-swap    none       swap    sw   0      0
> > > /dev/sr0      /media/cdrom0     udf, iso9660 user, noauto   0  0
> > > /media/myusb
> >
> > That line looks spurious. If you put it there, I would remove it for
> > the time being.
> >
> Did you mean /media/myusb ?

Yes, an entry in fstab needs at least four fields:
Device   Mountpoint   FStype   Options

I presume you type /etc/fstab into your post, both because of the
missing # for the comment, and because the /dev/sr0 line has too
many fields. It should contain   udf,iso9660 user,noauto
without spaces after the commas.

> > When you mount a USB stick as root, you don't need
> > an entry in fstab, but you do need to create a mount point first.
> 
> I didn't know that I didn't need to create an entry in fstab if I mount a USB stick as root.
> 
> > Of course, this has been done for you as a convenience: there is
> > a /mnt directory specifically for temporarily mounting a device.
> >
> root@perfect:/# mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
> mount: /mnt: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or mount point busy
> root@perfect:/#

The principal function of fstab is to describe filesystems that need
mounting by the OS for it to carry out its normal functions.
A second function is to hold information so that filesystems can be
mounted merely by mentioning only the device or the mountpoint.
A third is to make it possible for users to do the same, but without
require root privilege.

But if you're prepared to type the whole mount command, root can mount
"any" device on "any" mountpoint (when sensible). And that's obviously
more flexible when you're trying things out. You don't want to have to
keep going back to fstab to tweak it all the time.

Cheers,
David.

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How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?

Contents

#237456

#237460

#237466

#237569

#237572

#237573

#237599

#237791

#237793

#237798

#237450

#237454

#237467 — Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?

#237436

#237443

#237451

#237457 — Re: How do I mount the USB stick containing the installer in Rescue Mode?

#237459

#237463

#237465