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Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot

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  Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot John Mok <a9121431@gmail.com> - 2021-08-16 08:40 +0200
    Re: Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot "Andrew M.A. Cater" <amacater@einval.com> - 2021-08-16 10:30 +0200
      Re: Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot Chuck Zmudzinski <brchuckz@netscape.net> - 2021-08-16 19:00 +0200
        Re: Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot John Mok <a9121431@gmail.com> - 2021-08-17 04:50 +0200
      Re: Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot Chuck Zmudzinski <brchuckz@netscape.net> - 2021-08-17 14:10 +0200
        Re: Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2021-08-19 21:20 +0200
          Re: Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot John Mok <a9121431@gmail.com> - 2021-08-21 06:50 +0200

#238801 — Debian 11 installer crashed and reboot

Hi all,

Tried to install Debian 11 guest using netinst, but the installer
crashed and reboot automatically.

 Host: Xen 4.11.4 on Debian 10
Guest: Debian 11 (kernel 5.10)

Here is the steps to reproduce the problem:-
1) Either guest BIOS or OVMF boot
2) Select "Expert install" on installation menu

Then, the guest crashed and reboot.

Another try with the installer on Debian Live 11, it immediately
crashed and reboot.

Is it a installer bug or something ?

Thanks a lot.

John Mok

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#238804

On Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 02:30:33PM +0800, John Mok wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Tried to install Debian 11 guest using netinst, but the installer
> crashed and reboot automatically.
> 
>  Host: Xen 4.11.4 on Debian 10
> Guest: Debian 11 (kernel 5.10)
> 
> Here is the steps to reproduce the problem:-
> 1) Either guest BIOS or OVMF boot
> 2) Select "Expert install" on installation menu
> 
> Then, the guest crashed and reboot.
> 
> Another try with the installer on Debian Live 11, it immediately
> crashed and reboot.
> 
> Is it a installer bug or something ?
> 
> Thanks a lot.
> 
> John Mok
> 

I think people would need many more details as to exactly what happens and
when it reboots.

So: You boot the installer - from just a .iso file / from the .iso flashed
to a USB? Can you show what works and at what point it fails?

The quick suggestion would be that it's something to do with Xen hypervisor
but I'm not in any better position than to guess, since I don't use Xen here.

I do know that none of the tests the media team do involve booting on Xen: 
in most cases we prefer to run on real hardware. Occasionally, some of the
tests have to be run on KVM/QEMU. Xen as DomU  is untested then.

All the very best, as ever,

Andy Cater

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#238832

On 8/16/2021 4:25 AM, Andrew M.A. Cater wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 02:30:33PM +0800, John Mok wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Tried to install Debian 11 guest using netinst, but the installer
>> crashed and reboot automatically.
>>
>>   Host: Xen 4.11.4 on Debian 10
>> Guest: Debian 11 (kernel 5.10)
>>
>> Here is the steps to reproduce the problem:-
>> 1) Either guest BIOS or OVMF boot
>> 2) Select "Expert install" on installation menu
>>
>> Then, the guest crashed and reboot.
>>
>> Another try with the installer on Debian Live 11, it immediately
>> crashed and reboot.
>>
>> Is it a installer bug or something ?
>>
>> Thanks a lot.
>>
>> John Mok
>>
> I think people would need many more details as to exactly what happens and
> when it reboots.
>
> So: You boot the installer - from just a .iso file / from the .iso flashed
> to a USB? Can you show what works and at what point it fails?
>
> The quick suggestion would be that it's something to do with Xen hypervisor
> but I'm not in any better position than to guess, since I don't use Xen here.
>
> I do know that none of the tests the media team do involve booting on Xen:
> in most cases we prefer to run on real hardware. Occasionally, some of the
> tests have to be run on KVM/QEMU. Xen as DomU  is untested then.
>
> All the very best, as ever,
>
> Andy Cater
>

I can say bullseye runs fine as a Xen DomU on both the buster xen-4.11
hypervisor and the bullseye xen-4.14 hypervisor on my workstation, with
either BIOS or OVMF boot, but mine is a bullseye image upgraded from
buster several months ago. I have not tried the bullseye debian installer
on the xen hypervisor. Maybe for installing bullseye on xen you can try
installing buster first then upgrade it to bullseye if the debian bullseye
installer does not work on the xen hypervisor.

Chuck Zmudzinski

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#238848

Many thanks Chuck.

On Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 6:36 AM Chuck Zmudzinski <brchuckz@netscape.net> wrote:
>
> On 8/16/2021 1:40 PM, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> > On 8/16/2021 12:49 PM, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> >> On 8/16/2021 4:25 AM, Andrew M.A. Cater wrote:
> >>> On Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 02:30:33PM +0800, John Mok wrote:
> >>>> Hi all,
> >>>>
> >>>> Tried to install Debian 11 guest using netinst, but the installer
> >>>> crashed and reboot automatically.
> >>>>
> >>>>   Host: Xen 4.11.4 on Debian 10
> >>>> Guest: Debian 11 (kernel 5.10)
> >>>>
> >>>> Here is the steps to reproduce the problem:-
> >>>> 1) Either guest BIOS or OVMF boot
> >>>> 2) Select "Expert install" on installation menu
> >>>>
> >>>> Then, the guest crashed and reboot.
> >>>>
> >>>> Another try with the installer on Debian Live 11, it immediately
> >>>> crashed and reboot.
> >>>>
> >>>> Is it a installer bug or something ?
> >>>>
> >>>> Thanks a lot.
> >>>>
> >>>> John Mok
> >>>>
> >>> I think people would need many more details as to exactly what
> >>> happens and
> >>> when it reboots.
> >>>
> >>> So: You boot the installer - from just a .iso file / from the .iso
> >>> flashed
> >>> to a USB? Can you show what works and at what point it fails?
> >>>
> >>> The quick suggestion would be that it's something to do with Xen
> >>> hypervisor
> >>> but I'm not in any better position than to guess, since I don't use
> >>> Xen here.
> >>>
> >>> I do know that none of the tests the media team do involve booting
> >>> on Xen:
> >>> in most cases we prefer to run on real hardware. Occasionally, some
> >>> of the
> >>> tests have to be run on KVM/QEMU. Xen as DomU  is untested then.
> >>>
> >>> All the very best, as ever,
> >>>
> >>> Andy Cater
> >>>
> >>
> >> I can say bullseye runs fine as a Xen DomU on both the buster xen-4.11
> >> hypervisor and the bullseye xen-4.14 hypervisor on my workstation, with
> >> either BIOS or OVMF boot, but mine is a bullseye image upgraded from
> >> buster several months ago. I have not tried the bullseye debian
> >> installer
> >> on the xen hypervisor. Maybe for installing bullseye on xen you can try
> >> installing buster first then upgrade it to bullseye if the debian
> >> bullseye
> >> installer does not work on the xen hypervisor.
> >>
> >> Chuck Zmudzinski
> >>
> >
> > I would also ask if you have successfully booted another linux distro
> > (an earlier Debian or another distribution such as ubuntu) on your
> > Debian 10 xen-4.11.4 hypervisor. If not, the problem may be with your
> > xen configuration files on your Debian 10 host system, not with the
> > Debian 11 installer. Maybe some tweaks to the DomU xl.cfg configuration
> > file for your Debian 11 DomU or to the xen hypervisor boot options
> > (usually set in /etc/default/grub) might get it working.
> >
> > Chuck Zmudzinski
> >
>
> I tested the debian-11.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso image on my Debian 10
> xen-4.11.4 hypervisor using both OVMF and BIOS boot using an HVM
> type Xen guest, and in both cases, I can confirm the same behavior as
> the OP: crash and restart after selecting any of the installation options
> from the grub menu that is displayed after booting. Nevertheless, a
> full installation of Debian 11 boots and runs fine in the same environment
> under Xen.
>
> Browsing the files in the iso image, I can see there is a folder for xen:
> /install.amd/xen with three files in it: vmlinuz, initrd.gz, and debian.cfg.
>
> However, these files in the xen folder are never referenced anywhere from
> the menu or submenu items in the /boot/grub/grub.cfg file on the iso image.
> So a workaround would be to create an iso image with a menu entry in the
> /boot/grub/grub.cfg file for an installation on xen, and that grub menu item
> would be configured to load the vmlinuz kernel and initrd.gz image in the
> /install.amd/xen directory.
>
> It might also be possible to escape to the grub command shell
> instead of selecting one of the installation options after booting and
> manually enter the commands to load the xen-enabled kernel and initrd.gz
> images in the /install.amd/xen folder on the netinst iso, but that is not
> very user friendly, and I am not even sure if those images are mainly for
> a PV type Xen guest rather that an HVM type Xen guest that really should
> not need a special kernel or initrd image, but I could be wrong about that.
>
> Also, the debian.cfg file in /install.amd/xen mentions the need to use an
> iso image that supports installation under xen, and it references things
> like multi-arch iso images which I don't think exist anymore in modern
> Debian. Anyway, I suggest the OP read this debian.cfg file and try using
> the suggestions there to get the debian 11 installer running under xen.
>
> To summarize,  I do not think the Debian installer is designed for easy
> installation under Xen, and it is not clear exactly which iso is needed,
> nor is it
> clear which type of Xen guest should be configured (PV or HVM) to enable
> installation of Debian 11 under Xen.
>
> Chuck Zmudzinski
>

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#238866

On 8/16/2021 4:25 AM, Andrew M.A. Cater wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 02:30:33PM +0800, John Mok wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Tried to install Debian 11 guest using netinst, but the installer
>> crashed and reboot automatically.
>>
>>   Host: Xen 4.11.4 on Debian 10
>> Guest: Debian 11 (kernel 5.10)
>>
>> Here is the steps to reproduce the problem:-
>> 1) Either guest BIOS or OVMF boot
>> 2) Select "Expert install" on installation menu
>>
>> Then, the guest crashed and reboot.
>>
>> Another try with the installer on Debian Live 11, it immediately
>> crashed and reboot.
>>
>> Is it a installer bug or something ?
>>
>> Thanks a lot.
>>
>> John Mok
>>
> I think people would need many more details as to exactly what happens and
> when it reboots.
>
> So: You boot the installer - from just a .iso file / from the .iso flashed
> to a USB? Can you show what works and at what point it fails?
>
> The quick suggestion would be that it's something to do with Xen hypervisor
> but I'm not in any better position than to guess, since I don't use Xen here.
>
> I do know that none of the tests the media team do involve booting on Xen:
> in most cases we prefer to run on real hardware. Occasionally, some of the
> tests have to be run on KVM/QEMU. Xen as DomU  is untested then.
>
> All the very best, as ever,
>
> Andy Cater
>


After some testing of the Debian 11 installer on Xen
(using the debian-11.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso), I find that
this image only supports installation into a Xen PV guest,
the guest always crashes and reboots for either a BIOS
or OVMF boot into an HVM Xen guest.

I also found that the device model fails to start if one
tries to run the xen built-in vnc server for graphical
output. The only solution is to connect to the
Xen console using the xl console command. The -c
switch to xl create did not work to connect to the
Xen console when creating the guest; it could not
find the pty device, so it is necessary to let the guest
complete the startup and then run xl console <dom_id>
to connect to the console once the VM is running.
This will display the first page of the debian installer
where the language is selected, and from there
Debian 11 can be installed onto a virtual disk.

The following lines in the xl.cfg file enabled the VM
to boot the debian-11.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso as a
PV Xen guest:

bootloader = 'pygrub'
bootloader_args= [ 
'--kernel=install.amd/xen/vmlinuz','--ramdisk=install.amd/xen/initrd.gz' ]

Once installed and booting from the virtual disk, the
bootloader_args setting can be commented out.

After booting from the virtual disk, the grub-pc package can
be added to boot into a Xen HVM guest with BIOS booting,
and if space is left for an efi partition, the grub-efi package
can be installed to boot with OVMF after converting
the partition table of the virtual disk from MBR to GPT.

Also, the vnc server can be used for graphical output
after booting from the virtual disk to run a desktop
environment.

All in all, it is a big pain to install Debian 11 on the Xen
hypervisor using the debian installer, as it seems
supporting Xen installations is not a priority for Debian.

But once it is installed, it works very well on Xen, and
I find I can use the same bullseye image to boot it
as a Xen PV guest, a Xen HVM guest using BIOS boot,
or as a Xen HVM guest using OVMF boot just by tweaking
the xl.cfg configuration file after getting the image configured
for such a setup. I can even boot the same image on
the bare hardware by tweaking the initramfs-tools
configuration in the installed bullseye image.

Chuck Zmudzinski

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#239058

Hi Chuck,

On Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 08:04:43AM -0400, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> After some testing of the Debian 11 installer on Xen
> (using the debian-11.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso), I find that
> this image only supports installation into a Xen PV guest,
> the guest always crashes and reboots for either a BIOS
> or OVMF boot into an HVM Xen guest.

Could you report this to Debian's Xen team as a bug? Perhaps it is
as simple as needing different kernel options in the netinst
installer kernel given that the full install works under HVM?

The Debian Xen team is very under-resourced for human help and it
has been a long time since they have managed to keep the version in
stable to a recent and supported one upstream. If you run a Xen dom0
on Debian I think really you need to be building your own packages
or using the Debian Xen team's packages from sid.

The stable packaged 4.11 hypervisor is out of even security support
upstream so it's not really suitable for production use. I don't
think the Debian Xen team would recommend using it but would instead
suggest using their newer package that;s in sid (on stable) and
test/report bigs against that. But let's get this reported.

I'm not skilled enough in Debian package building to help the team
but I do still report bigs sometimes; for production use I am
building packages from newer upstream source.

For this problem I can't help as I don't run HVM guests (only PV and
PVH).

The Debian Xen team mailing list is at:
https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pkg-xen-devel

Cheers,
Andy

-- 
https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting

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#239108

[Multipart message — attachments visible in raw view] — view raw

Hi Chuck,

As a quick fix on the make installer media work, how can I remake my own
installation ISO by recompil ing the kernel and initramfs ?

Can give me some directions ?

Thanks a lot.

John Mok


On Sat, Aug 21, 2021, 12:08 Chuck Zmudzinski <brchuckz@netscape.net> wrote:

> On 8/19/2021 3:11 PM, Andy Smith wrote:
> > Hi Chuck,
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 17, 2021 at 08:04:43AM -0400, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> >> After some testing of the Debian 11 installer on Xen
> >> (using the debian-11.0.0-amd64-netinst.iso), I find that
> >> this image only supports installation into a Xen PV guest,
> >> the guest always crashes and reboots for either a BIOS
> >> or OVMF boot into an HVM Xen guest.
> > Could you report this to Debian's Xen team as a bug? Perhaps it is
> > as simple as needing different kernel options in the netinst
> > installer kernel given that the full install works under HVM?
> Hi Andy,
>
> That is exactly what I think the problem is. I will look into it and see if
> there is a simple solution like adding the correct kernel configuration
> options and kernel modules to the kernel and ramdisk on the default
> debian installer iso. The generic default amd64 iso should work in
> Xen HVM guests.
> >
> > The Debian Xen team is very under-resourced for human help and it
> > has been a long time since they have managed to keep the version in
> > stable to a recent and supported one upstream. If you run a Xen dom0
> > on Debian I think really you need to be building your own packages
> > or using the Debian Xen team's packages from sid.
> >
> > The stable packaged 4.11 hypervisor is out of even security support
> > upstream so it's not really suitable for production use.
> With bullseye released, that is oldstable now. Xen 4.14 is on bullseye
> and I think Xen 4.15 is the latest release upstream, so it is not
> too far behind now. I presume Xen 4.14 is still getting security patches
> upstream, but I cannot find a good explanation of Xen's support
> cycle on their website and I don't know if Debian can expect upstream
> to support 4.14 until bullseye becomes oldstable in two years or so.
> > I don't
> > think the Debian Xen team would recommend using it but would instead
> > suggest using their newer package that;s in sid (on stable) and
> > test/report bigs against that. But let's get this reported.
> If/when I find the solution, I will post a bug report and see if the Xen
> team can get the solution into the installer media for future bullseye
> point releases. I already know the same problem exists on Xen 4.14
> on bullseye, and AFAIK even sid has not bumped to 4.15 yet.
> >
> > I'm not skilled enough in Debian package building to help the team
> > but I do still report bigs sometimes; for production use I am
> > building packages from newer upstream source.
> >
> > For this problem I can't help as I don't run HVM guests (only PV and
> > PVH).
> I always had difficulty with pygrub/pvgrub on PV domains, and using
> bullseye's Xen-4.14 version, I could not boot the debian installer iso
> with pygrub but had to extract the xen-enabled kernel and ramdisk to
> Dom0 and boot them from within Dom0. I think this is another Xen
> bug in the Xen-4.14 package that I also will investigate next week.
> Probably some tweaks to the pygrub script are needed there.
>
> I have always wanted to try out PVH domains, but have not done so
> yet.
> >
> > The Debian Xen team mailing list is at:
> > https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pkg-xen-devel
> I will do some testing on this next week. I do want to help the Xen team
> make Debian more Xen-friendly and will report these bugs, hopefully
> sometime next week.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chuck
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Andy
> >
>
>

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