Manually installed grub (no bls) doesn't update entries automatically on kernel install or removal.

[Sergio Cipolla]

I have a legacy BIOS. I didn't install grub through anaconda, instead I installed it
manually (as per https://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?313824 ) to a partition so
as to be able to use the Windows boot loader. All went well.

I noticed grub was installed the traditional way (not the new bls) so I can just edit
/etc/default/grub and run grub2-mkconfig for any modification I want.

The only issue, so to speak (because I don't know if it's a bug or a setting), is
that on new kernel installations or kernel removals, I must manually run grub2-mkconfig to
re-generate grub.cfg

The Fedora documentation
(https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/GRUB_2#Updating_GRUB_2_configuration_on_BI...),
which describes the old behaviour, states that 'Grubby in Fedora patches the
configuration when a kernel update is performed'. So maybe, with the new bls thing,
the kernel scriptlets aren't using this any more.

Anybody knows anything about it? Can I set something so 'grub2-mkconfig -o
/boot/grub/grub.cfg' is called again automatically on kernel install or removal?

[Tom Horsley]

On Fri, 28 Jun 2019 12:32:34 -0000
Sergio Cipolla wrote:

>  Anybody knows anything about it? Can I set something so
> 'grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg' is called again automatically on kernel
> install or removal? 
I'm guessing you may need grubby-deprecated described here:

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/BootLoaderSpecByDefault#Upgrade.2F...

Possibly, perhaps :-).

[Sergio Cipolla]

Thanks, Tom.

Currently it seems grub uses /etc/default/grub to generate grub.cfg, as usual, but I had a
look at /boot/loader/entries/<my kernel>.conf and the nouveau driver blacklisting
(for I installed the proprietary driver) is there. So probably the boot loader uses both
files. As such, until the works are very clear for me, I wont mess with anything.

And TBH, regarding new kernels, it's better the way it is because since I have to
manually run grub2-mkconfig there's no chance to unknowingly boot in an untested
kernel.

[Stephen Morris]

On 29/6/19 12:36 am, Sergio Cipolla wrote:
>  Thanks, Tom.
>
>  Currently it seems grub uses /etc/default/grub to generate grub.cfg, as usual, but I had
> a look at /boot/loader/entries/<my kernel>.conf and the nouveau driver blacklisting
> (for I installed the proprietary driver) is there. So probably the boot loader uses both
> files. As such, until the works are very clear for me, I wont mess with anything.
>
>  And TBH, regarding new kernels, it's better the way it is because since I have to
> manually run grub2-mkconfig there's no chance to unknowingly boot in an untested
> kernel. 
Hi Sergio,

     I have used grub2-mkconfig/grub2-install since at least F28 as I 
have never liked the menus produced by grubby, and in my view the new 
methodology for generating the grub menus that is in F30 is worse than 
grubby, so I have always used grub2-mkconfig/grub2-install and I have 
always had to run them manually to get the formatting that I want, not 
what grubby was prepared to give me. Since rebuilding my machine I have 
been running Fedora (initially F29 and now F30) in a VM so grub does not 
use UEFI, hence I still have to use the legacy interfacing via 
grub2-mkconfig/grub2-install, both of which I still have to run manually 
to get what I want, and yes, it still reads /etc/default/grub to get it 
configuration options. What I have noticed since moving to the VM 
methodology, and I'm not sure whether its a grub or VM issue, but grub 
no longer acknowledges that there is a graphical theme specification in 
/etc/default/grub.


regards,

Steve

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[Sergio Cipolla]

I had to run
[code]grub2-switch-to-blscfg[/code]
and now kernel entries are automatically updated.

Maybe when installing grub it wasn't even necessary to generate grub.cfg