interactive stop on boot

Hi -- I'm running a "Tombstone" machine that's
functioning as a
server.  The machine is located somewhere with a fast
connection, and
not somewhere that I have easy access to.  As such, I want
this
machine to do its best to boot up and get onto the network,
no matter
what happens on boot, so that I have a chance to actually
fix the
problem.

Lately when it boots it runs into an NFS mounting error,
claiming that
some of my NFS-mounted drives have unexpected
inconsistencies.  It
says "unexpected error - help!" and then quits to
a /bin/sh
single-user-mode prompt.  As I am 10 miles away, this is
decidedly
unhelpful.  I don't care if it can't mount some irrelevant
drive or
not; I want it to boot up and ask me questions later.

Is there a way that I can set the machine to do its best to
boot no
matter what it finds at boot time?  Thanks in advance for
any help you
can provide,

- Jason

PS -- Boot messages not available, as the machine is down at
the
moment and I can't get over there to type
"<enter>   exit<enter>"
until later this afternoon.
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On Friday 14 March 2008 11:24:57 am Jason Barnes wrote:
> Hi -- I'm running a "Tombstone" machine
that's functioning as a
> server.  The machine is located somewhere with a fast
connection, and
> not somewhere that I have easy access to.  As such, I
want this
> machine to do its best to boot up and get onto the
network, no matter
> what happens on boot, so that I have a chance to
actually fix the
> problem.
>
> Lately when it boots it runs into an NFS mounting
error, claiming that
> some of my NFS-mounted drives have unexpected
inconsistencies.  It
> says "unexpected error - help!" and then
quits to a /bin/sh
> single-user-mode prompt.  As I am 10 miles away, this
is decidedly
> unhelpful.  I don't care if it can't mount some
irrelevant drive or
> not; I want it to boot up and ask me questions later.

You probably want your NFS entries in fstab to have the
"noauto" option, 
and you _definitely_ want the last two fields to be zeroes.
Even if you 
_do_ want the NFS mounts to come up at boot I would still
set them to be 
noauto and then write your own script to try to mount them
later.

> Is there a way that I can set the machine to do its
best to boot no
> matter what it finds at boot time?  Thanks in advance
for any help you
> can provide,

The bootup rc script is just a sh script, you can hack it to
do whatever 
you want. That said, it only bails out if there's a
(potentially) 
significant problem. Given that this is a remote machine,
you should be 
extra-careful when modifying anything to do with the startup
process, 
especially fstab or any firewall rules. You could also look
at options 
like a serial console, IP KVM, or something like a LightsOut
card for 
your system.

JN

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On Mar 14, 2008, at 11:24 AM, Jason Barnes wrote:

> Hi -- I'm running a "Tombstone" machine
that's functioning as a
> server.  The machine is located somewhere with a fast
connection, and
> not somewhere that I have easy access to.  As such, I
want this
> machine to do its best to boot up and get onto the
network, no matter
> what happens on boot, so that I have a chance to
actually fix the
> problem.
>
> Lately when it boots it runs into an NFS mounting
error, claiming that
> some of my NFS-mounted drives have unexpected
inconsistencies.  It
> says "unexpected error - help!" and then
quits to a /bin/sh
> single-user-mode prompt.  As I am 10 miles away, this
is decidedly
> unhelpful.  I don't care if it can't mount some
irrelevant drive or
> not; I want it to boot up and ask me questions later.
>
> Is there a way that I can set the machine to do its
best to boot no
> matter what it finds at boot time?  Thanks in advance
for any help you
> can provide,
>

Depends on the whether or not the system needs something
from the NFS  
mount at boot time. If it doesn't then you would do well to
use amd  
(man 8 amd) to handle the mount. The short of is that amd
automates  
the process of mounting a filesystem by presenting a
directory. When a  
process requests a file within that directory amd performs
the mount.  
Amd helps by deferring the mount until something actually
needs  
something from the remote filesystem.

Simpler still would be to change the mounts entry to noauto
in /etc/ 
fstab. However then you or someone else will have to perform
the mount  
when you need the filesystem.

-- Chris
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Yeah, what CHris said.

Also, there is an option you can put in fstab to allow the
automount, and 
background the NFS mounts ... so that if the mount fails the
boot will 
continue. Again, as mentioned, this will only work if the OS
and your 
connection method (ssh daemon?) are not dependant on the NFS
mounts.

Here is what my fstab looks like. Note line 6 that specifies
the "-t=10,-b" 
options (to timeout the mount after 10 seconds and to
background the nfs 
mount).

# Device                Mountpoint      FStype  Options     
   Dump 
Pass#
/dev/da0s1b             none            swap    sw          
   0       0
/dev/da0s1a             /               ufs     rw          
   1       1
/dev/da0s1f             /home           ufs     userquota,rw
   0       2
/dev/da0s1d             /usr            ufs     rw          
   2       2
/dev/da0s1e             /var            ufs     rw          
   2       2
nfsserver:/mnt          /mnt            nfs     -t=10,-b,rw 
   0       0

-Grant

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christopher Sean Hilton" <chrisvindaloo.com>
To: "Jason Barnes" <jason.w.barnesgmail.com>
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 12:03 PM
Subject: Re: interactive stop on boot


>
> On Mar 14, 2008, at 11:24 AM, Jason Barnes wrote:
>
>> Hi -- I'm running a "Tombstone" machine
that's functioning as a
>> server.  The machine is located somewhere with a
fast connection, and
>> not somewhere that I have easy access to.  As such,
I want this
>> machine to do its best to boot up and get onto the
network, no matter
>> what happens on boot, so that I have a chance to
actually fix the
>> problem.
>>
>> Lately when it boots it runs into an NFS mounting
error, claiming that
>> some of my NFS-mounted drives have unexpected
inconsistencies.  It
>> says "unexpected error - help!" and then
quits to a /bin/sh
>> single-user-mode prompt.  As I am 10 miles away,
this is decidedly
>> unhelpful.  I don't care if it can't mount some
irrelevant drive or
>> not; I want it to boot up and ask me questions
later.
>>
>> Is there a way that I can set the machine to do its
best to boot no
>> matter what it finds at boot time?  Thanks in
advance for any help you
>> can provide,
>>
>
> Depends on the whether or not the system needs
something from the NFS 
> mount at boot time. If it doesn't then you would do
well to use amd  (man 
> 8 amd) to handle the mount. The short of is that amd
automates  the 
> process of mounting a filesystem by presenting a
directory. When a 
> process requests a file within that directory amd
performs the mount.  Amd 
> helps by deferring the mount until something actually
needs  something 
> from the remote filesystem.
>
> Simpler still would be to change the mounts entry to
noauto in /etc/ 
> fstab. However then you or someone else will have to
perform the mount 
> when you need the filesystem.
>
> -- Chris
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> 

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On Friday 14 March 2008 16:24:57 Jason Barnes wrote:

> Lately when it boots it runs into an NFS mounting
error, claiming that
> some of my NFS-mounted drives have unexpected
inconsistencies.  It
> says "unexpected error - help!" and then
quits to a /bin/sh
> single-user-mode prompt.  As I am 10 miles away, this
is decidedly
> unhelpful.  I don't care if it can't mount some
irrelevant drive or
> not; I want it to boot up and ask me questions later.

man mount_nfs(8), specifically -R, -b, -i and -s. And indeed
omit the fsck 
check as said earlier.

-- 
Mel

Problem with today's modular software: they start with the
modules
    and never get to the software part.
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On Friday 14 March 2008 16:24:57 Jason Barnes wrote:

> Lately when it boots it runs into an NFS mounting
error, claiming that
> some of my NFS-mounted drives have unexpected
inconsistencies.  It
> says "unexpected error - help!" and then
quits to a /bin/sh
> single-user-mode prompt.  As I am 10 miles away, this
is decidedly
> unhelpful.  I don't care if it can't mount some
irrelevant drive or
> not; I want it to boot up and ask me questions later.

man mount_nfs(8), specifically -R, -b, -i and -s. And indeed
omit the fsck 
check as said earlier.

-- 
Mel

Problem with today's modular software: they start with the
modules
    and never get to the software part.
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