It appears that the rsetboot command has a -u option that tells the node to PXE boot with UEFI support at next boot. Omitting the option causes the machine to boot from Legacy PXE. I am told that the PXE mode will affect how the OS installs boot elements.
I'm using restboot (without the -u option), which lends explanation to why the OS started installing differently. I intend to verify this, but haven't taken the time to do so yet. On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 11:20 AM, Loftus, Andrew J <[email protected]> wrote: > Thank you to everyone who has responded. Every response had helped move > this issue forward as well as teach me something new. I want to send an > update on progress to everyone as well as provide feedback to help future > user with similar issues. > > The link sent by YANG Song was very helpful. > > I am now testing on 8 different nodes, which helps ensure I am not dealing > with a single piece of bad hardware. > > A new update in the story background is that the CentOS install is no > longer creating a /boot/efi partition on the hard disk. I'm not sure why > this is the case but I suspect it is a change made by a colleague. (I will > try to send a follow-up if I find out the cause.) > > I verified BootModes.SystemBootMode is UEFI (this appears to be the > default, I didn't have to set it on any nodes.) > > I added "Legacy Only" to the BootOrder.BootOrder. > After some playing around with different ordering, I am leaving the > BootOrder as: > BootOrder.BootOrder=Legacy Only=Hard Disk 0=PXE Network > > As Jarrod mentioned, booting from hard disk first avoids all the PXE > network checks that occur at boot. To re-install a node, I use rsetboot to > force a PXE attempt at next boot. > > I should reiterate that the OS is no longer installing the EFI boot > partition. This is very important because setting "Legacy Only" in the > BootOrder will cause a machine to not boot IF said machine has an EFI boot > partition. > > At this point, I still have several questions unanswered, but am putting > these off till I have more time to research and test more as well as learn > more about EFI. Unanswered questions are: > How to make CentOS install (or not) a /boot/efi partition during OS > install? > > When CentOS installs a /boot/efi partition and adjusts the boot order, why > does the new boot option (named CentOS) fail to boot? Removing the > "CentOS" boot option manually allows the machine to boot into the freshly > installed OS. > > Thanks again to everyone! > > On Tue, Aug 2, 2016 at 8:07 AM, Jarrod Johnson <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> For what it is worth, I'd say that so long as you have working >> 'rsetboot', I actually like the 'boot from hard disk first on normal boot' >> behavior. It's a touch faster and rsetboot can override. >> >> >> >> That's my personal opinion on that mode. >> >> >> >> *From:* Andrew Loftus [mailto:[email protected]] >> *Sent:* Friday, July 29, 2016 4:56 PM >> >> *To:* xCAT Users Mailing list >> *Subject:* Re: [xcat-user] Boot order changed after CentOS install on >> Lenovo 3550 >> >> >> >> # pasu backup01 show BootOrder >> >> backup01: BootOrder.BootOrder=CentOS=PXE Network=Hard Disk 0 >> >> backup01: BootOrder.WolBootOrder=PXE Network=CD/DVD Rom=Hard Disk 0 >> >> >> >> What's interesting is that the UEFI update is expected behavior, which >> seems to conflict with the preferred behavior for an xCAT deployed machine >> is to always boot from PXE first, to allow a re-install when necessary. >> Otherwise, an extra step is required to force a new installation, namely, >> rsetboot. >> >> >> >> Am I correct in my thinking? >> >> >> >> I'm going to try Arif's suggestion of setting >> >> BootModes.SystemBootMode=UEFI Mode >> >> and see how that goes. >> >> >> >> On Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 3:12 PM, Jarrod Johnson <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> Can you do pasu <node> show BootOrder >> >> >> >> You could, if you'd like, change the boot order to 'Hard disk 0' with >> asu/pasu and it should work (centos 7 will work that way, centos 6 will >> not). >> >> >> >> I may also like to see asu show all if you can't find hard disk at all. >> >> *From:* Andrew Loftus [mailto:[email protected]] >> *Sent:* Friday, July 29, 2016 4:07 PM >> *To:* xCAT Users Mailing list >> *Subject:* Re: [xcat-user] Boot order changed after CentOS install on >> Lenovo 3550 >> >> >> >> Thanks for the information Jarrod! >> >> >> >> There is no special partitioning and only one "visible" hard drive (there >> are two physical drives setup in a hardware mirror). >> >> >> >> I'm relatively new to UEFI systems. Perhaps if I understand it better I >> can troubleshoot it better. >> >> Where can I learn more about the UEFI install procedure that you >> mentioned above? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Fri, Jul 29, 2016 at 2:40 PM, Jarrod Johnson <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> Just using the normal storage local? No SAN attached storage or anything? >> >> >> >> For reference, on install UEFI compatible systems look at the partition >> id they write their boot loader to. They take the partition uuid and tell >> UEFI firmware 'hey, next time boot to this file on the partition with this >> UUID'. >> >> >> >> If it for some reason selected a storage device that is *not* visible >> from UEFI, this behavior would be seen (It's looking for a UUID that >> doesn't exist). >> >> >> >> Is there a custom partition plan? Are there multiple disks? Some >> versions of CentOS will struggle if '/boot' and '/boot/efi' get split up, >> for example. >> >> >> >> *From:* Andrew Loftus [mailto:[email protected]] >> *Sent:* Friday, July 29, 2016 3:36 PM >> *To:* [email protected] >> *Subject:* [xcat-user] Boot order changed after CentOS install on Lenovo >> 3550 >> >> >> >> xCAT version: 2.11.1 >> >> OS: CentOS Linux release 7.2.1511 (Core) >> >> Hardware: Lenovo X-series 3550 >> >> Install type: diskful install >> >> >> >> Node PXE boots successfully and OS install completes successfully. Upon >> reboot, the machine fails to boot because it can't find a valid OS. Using >> rcons to get to machine console, we find a new boot option named 'CentOS' >> and it is first in the boot priority list. >> >> >> >> Does anyone know where this comes from? >> >> Why it's there? >> >> How to fix it or prevent it from getting set in the first place? >> >> >> >> Even a gentle shove in the right direction to troubleshoot this would be >> greatly appreciated. >> >> >> >> Cheers, >> >> --Andy >> >> >> >> >> > >
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________ xCAT-user mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/xcat-user
