configuration files created by Anaconda exclusively

[Simone Caronni]

Hello,

On 9 August 2012 16:39, Przemek Klosowski <przemek.klosowski at nist.gov> wrote:
> On my BIOS-based F17 that was upgraded from earlier Fedora install,
> /etc/default/grub is owned by the package grub2-tools, so your problem
> appears to be solved moving forward, because grub2 is taking over. I think
> you are saying that old grub-based systems may not register this file in any
> package---but I just checked on a RHEL 5 and 6 series that they don't have
> this file at all. Is it possible that an unconnected /etc/default/grub was a
> transitory thing that appeared briefly sometime after F12 and is fixed by
> F17/grub2?

Well it's kinda different. I had messed up grub files and the only
thing I could do was look at a new installation where the files were
not touched.
There's no way you can get the default config from packages or
sources; only an anaconda install creates the "default" files. The
owner of those files is grub2 and they're both marked as %ghost [1].

%attr(0644,root,root) %ghost %config(noreplace) %{_sysconfdir}/default/grub
%ghost %config(noreplace) /boot/%{name}/grub.cfg

I had messed up configuration files on my laptop because I upgraded
through rawhide in f15 time and then tested Xen [2].
grub2-mkconfig does produce a different grub.cfg config file compared
to the Anaconda's one and the grubby "changes" for installing kernels
produce even different entries for menuentries than the 2 other.

So, making a recap what has happened in my situation:

- Files (/boot/grub2/grub.cfg and /etc/default/grub) are not available
by default in packages to look at.
- Grub configuration generated from Anaconda is only available at install time.
- grub2-mkconfig generates a config file with its own logic that is
totally different from the Anaconda one.
- grub2-mkconfig generates a config file for Xen entries that is
redundant (Xen, Xen-4, Xen-4.1, etc.) and is not updated as normal
kernel entries.
- Kernel installations only manipulate "menu entries" and they are
read from the other entries and not from the configuration files.

I must admit I had a hard time explaining this when helping friends
making the transition from grub to grub2 during the Fedora 16 cycle
after the upgrades.
I offer my help to "improve" the situation by testing or providing
patches if involved parties would like to.

[1] http://pkgs.fedoraproject.org/cgit/grub2.git/tree/grub2.spec
[2] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=738085

Regards,
--Simone



-- 
You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose
sight of the shore (R. W. Emerson).