Exalytics Server Will Not Boot Up: Gets Stuck During Boot Sequence or Fails to Load Grub

Asset ID:	1-72-1961318.1
Update Date:	2016-11-14
Keywords:

Solution Type Problem Resolution Sure

Solution 1961318.1 : Exalytics Server Will Not Boot Up: Gets Stuck During Boot Sequence or Fails to Load Grub

Applies to:

Exalytics In-Memory Machine X3-4 - Version All Versions and later
Oracle Exalytics Software - Version 1.0.0.1.0 and later
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Symptoms

An Exalytics server was restarted after planned reboot. System will now not boot up. The Service Processor (SP) light comes on but then the [OK] light flashes and a console window cannot be rendered. When the machine boots it may start the boot sequence and get stuck at "loading grub" or run through a boot sequence like:

1) RAID
2) PXE 1
3) PXE 2
4) PXE 3
5) PXE 4

Checking NVRAM ....

It may then get stuck at the "Checking NVRAM..." and then starts the boot process all over again without ever successfully rebooting.

In these cases, no keyboard, or user input option is available and the machine never fully boots.

This problem may occur on Exalytics bare metal or Exalytics Oracle Virtual Machine (OVM) servers.

Cause

Corruption in the grub.conf file. Found that grub.conf had been corrupted. Exact cause of grub corruption could not be determined. The grub.conf is known to get corrupted if a manual update was made in an incorrect manner.

Solution

1. Use the applicable Linux media to boot into rescue mode. The media selected will depend upon whether your machine is an Exalytics bare metal machine, or an Exalytics OVM machine.

- If using Exalytics on a bare metal machine, you may use a standard Oracle Linux 5/5.5/6 ISO file.

NOTE: The standard Exalytics bare metal ISO file does not have an interactive mode which is why the standard Oracle Linux 5/5.5 or 6 ISO is required.

- If using OVM, download the latest Exalytics OVM image ISO file from Oracle E-delivery and use that for boot into rescue mode. The Exalytics OVM ISO does have an interactive mode.

For example: If OVM, use Oracle Exalytics Base Image 2.0.1.4.0 for Exalytics Oracle VM x86-64. The ISO file is on Oracle E-Delivery/Software Delivery Cloud and can be found by searching under Product Pack: "Oracle Business Intelligence" and Platform "Linux x86-64". Select "Oracle Exalytics Software Media Pack for Linux x86-64" and click Continue. Then download "Oracle Exalytics Base Image 2.0.1.1.0 for Exalytics Oracle VM x86-64."

2. Follow remaining steps in <Note 1920748.1> How to Re-install GRUB Loader on Oracle Linux 5/6 to re-install the grub file.

3. After completing all actions, gracefully shut down and reboot the server.

References

<NOTE:1920748.1> - How to Re-install GRUB Loader on Oracle Linux 5/6

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