CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machine

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robwoof
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CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Post by robwoof » 2012/11/21 05:41:08

New Hyper-V Virtual Machine for use as web server (Apache, MySQL, PHP). Installed CentOS 6.3 from the current (as at 2012-11-16) install DVD ISO image. Installed Microsoft's "Linux Integration Services v3.4" and set up networking etc. Ran yum update, which included (among other things) updating the kernel from 2.6.32-279.el6.i686 to 2.6.32-279.14.1.el6.i686. After reboot, the console displayed the error screen shown.
[img]http://datatogo.com.au/images/panic.png[/img]

If I enter the boot menu and boot from the original kernel, all works fine, but subsequent boots into the updated kernel now just presented a blank white screen after the white part of the boot progress bar gets about 2/3 of the way across. The server does not respond to any network probes, and does not complete booting. A hard reset of the VM allows rebooting and selection via the boot menu.

The VM is configured as:
1 virtual processor
8192 MB RAM

The host hardware is as follows:
Dell PowerEdge R620
2* 6-core chips, 2 threads/core
128GB RAM

The host OS is Windows 2008R2 running Hyper-V.

I also tried the same setup (same install options and virtual hardware setup) in VMWare Fusion 3.1.3 on Mac hardware, but there were no problems after the yum update. I do not have any other hardware options to try to attempt to reproduce the issue elsewhere.

As a relative newbie to Linux, I am unsure about what to try next. The workaround of booting to the original kernel via the boot menu is fine for now, but not satisfactory long-term. I am open to suggestions about how to debug this further. If you would like more information about the system or situation, please ask.

Regards,
Rob

robwoof
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Joined: 2012/11/21 05:04:29

Re: CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Post by robwoof » 2012/11/22 22:52:34

Additional question: is there a way to set the machine to always boot the original kernel automatically, to avoid the need for intervention at every boot? If so, what would I do to set this up?

Regards,
Rob

Mantrid
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Joined: 2012/12/13 08:59:16

Re: CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Post by Mantrid » 2012/12/13 09:08:26

I'm having the exact same problem. Until I find a solution (or forget about it and leave the workaround in place), I've just edited /etc/grub.conf and changed
default=0
to
default=1

Now it loads the old kernel by default. Hyper-V says the Linux Integration Services is "degraded" and needs to be updated *shrug*

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toracat
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CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machin

Post by toracat » 2012/12/13 16:17:10

Not using Hyper-V myself, my suggestion could be off. Anyway, you might want to compare the initramfs file in /boot between the one that boots and the new one. It is possible that some modules are not present in the new initramfs file. If Google does not help you with howto unpack initramfs, do let us know.

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TrevorH
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Re: CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Post by TrevorH » 2012/12/13 16:58:52

The problem would be that the hyper-v tools install special drivers for some of the virtual hardware and it cannot boot without them. Upgrade the kernel and it comes without those drivers and it won't boot...

Situation should be much easier when 5.9 and 6.4 come along as the hyper-V drivers are already integrated in the RH supplied kernel for those two releases.

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Re: CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Post by Andy_Schmidt » 2013/01/30 23:15:56

Is there a way to change the boot options (e.g., in grub.conf, etc.) to temporarily boot with the original disk drivers (instead of the Hyper-V flavor). If we can get booted then we could install the Hyper-V drivers again?

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TrevorH
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Re: CentOS 6.3 boot error after update in Hyper-V Virtual Machine

Post by TrevorH » 2013/01/31 01:12:30

Choosing an older kernel from the grub menu should do that for you.

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