Extreme Flash Storage Cell Fails to Boot from NVME When Using Image 12.1.2.2.0 or 12.1.2.2.1 on Exadata Platform

Asset ID:	1-72-2108452.1
Update Date:	2018-04-09
Keywords:

Solution Type Problem Resolution Sure

Solution 2108452.1 : Extreme Flash Storage Cell Fails to Boot from NVME When Using Image 12.1.2.2.0 or 12.1.2.2.1 on Exadata Platform

Applies to:

Exadata X5-2 Hardware - Version All Versions to All Versions [Release All Releases]
Exadata X5-8 Hardware - Version All Versions to All Versions [Release All Releases]
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Symptoms

Extreme Flash X5 storage cells installed with image 12.1.2.2.0 or 12.1.2.2.1 should be able to boot from the mirrored NVME drives if the internal USB drive has failed or has become corrupt.

When a boot from NVME is attempted the console screen will blank and the storage cell will appear to have hung. Or it will attempt to boot from PXE.

The storage cell will fail to boot.

Cause

While the grub files are copied over, grub installation fails during imaging on the cells. This is specific to the Extreme flash systems ONLY.
The failure is that grub fails to recognize the partitions on the NVMe drives.

Due to bug 22620662 EXTREME FLASH CELLS FAIL TO BOOT FROM THE NVME SYSTEM DISKS

Solution

To re-install grub on to the NVME devices proceed as follows.

1.Boot from the diagnostic iso image. Use the version for 12.1.2.2.1 or higher regardless of the image on the cell. This can be obtained in patch 22513805: EXADATA 12.1.2.2.1 DIAG ISO

This version is required to ensure that the grub command works correctly due to bug 21118551

2.Type the following :

# cat << GRUB_INSTALL > /mnt/cell/root/device.map
> (hd0) /dev/nvme0n1
> (hd1) /dev/nvme1n1
> GRUB_INSTALL

This will create the file device.map which will be used and will be kept for reference if required.

3.Make the NVME devices bootable. Type the following:

# /mnt/cell/sbin/grub --device-map=/mnt/cell/root/device.map << CELL_GRUB_INSTALL
> root (hd0,0)
> setup (hd0)
> root (hd1,0)
> setup (hd1)
> quit
> CELL_GRUB_INSTALL

This is an example of the expected output:

# /mnt/cell/sbin/grub --device-map=/mnt/cell/root/device.map << CELL_GRUB_INSTALL
> root (hd0,0)
> setup (hd0)
> root (hd1,0)
> setup (hd1)
> quit
> CELL_GRUB_INSTALL

GNU GRUB version 0.97 (640K lower / 3072K upper memory)

[ Minimal BASH-like line editing is supported. For the first word, TAB
lists possible command completions. Anywhere else TAB lists the possible
completions of a device/filename.]
grub> root (hd0,0)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub> setup (hd0)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd0,0)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "install /grub/stage1 (hd0) /grub/stage2 p /grub/grub.conf "... succeeded
Done.
grub> root (hd1,0)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
grub> setup (hd1)
Checking if "/boot/grub/stage1" exists... no
Checking if "/grub/stage1" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/stage2" exists... yes
Checking if "/grub/e2fs_stage1_5" exists... yes
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd1)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "embed /grub/e2fs_stage1_5 (hd1,0)"... failed (this is not fatal)
Running "install /grub/stage1 (hd1) /grub/stage2 p /grub/grub.conf "... succeeded
Done.
grub> quit

4.Reboot the cell, during the Power-On-Self-Test ( POST ) bios display select to display the boot pop-up menu.

If viewing the console from the ILOM-CLI then press cntrl-P as soon as the BIOS display begins to show. Or if viewing from the java-gui console then press F8 to enable the boot pop-up menu.

5.Select one of the NVME devices from the display to boot from, see example below.

───────────────────────────────────
Please select boot device:
───────────────────────────────────
PCIE6:NVMe0:INTEL SSDPE2ME016T4S
PCIE6:NVMe1:INTEL SSDPE2ME016T4S
PXE:NET0:IBA XE Slot 3A00 v2320
Enter Setup
───────────────────────────────────
↑ and ↓ to move selection
ENTER to select boot device
ESC to boot using defaults
───────────────────────────────────

6.The cell will now boot.

If the USB drive requires replacement refer to document How to Replace the internal USB drive in an Exadata X5-2 Storage cell (Doc ID 2011874.1)

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