I try to install f42....

[François Patte]

Bonjour,

I try to make a new install of f42.

I want to install it on 2 drives using RAID1, say /dev/sda and /dev/sdb

I define partitions /boot/efi, /, swap, /var

When definning these partitions, I can choose the type (RAID1), the 
format (boot/efi, swap, ext4) all seem ok

BUT

At the end, I get this message: device RAID cannot be boot/efi, device 
RAID cannot be swap, device RAID cannot be ext4...

So what can I do? If any avalaible config is not possible?

Thank you.

F.P.

[Peter Boy Uni]

> Am 26.05.2025 um 14:51 schrieb François Patte :
>
> Bonjour,
> I try to make a new install of f42.
> I want to install it on 2 drives using RAID1, say /dev/sda and /dev/sdb
> I define partitions /boot/efi, /, swap, /var 
> When definning these partitions, I can choose the type (RAID1), the format (boot/efi, swap, ext4) all seem ok 
> BUT
> At the end, I get this message: device RAID cannot be boot/efi, device RAID cannot be swap, device RAID cannot be ext4...
>
> So what can I do? If any avalaible config is not possible?

You may try to follow 
https://docs.stg.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-server/installation/sw-raid-...

(Would be nice to get some feedback on the docs).

--
Peter Boy
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Pboy
[e-mail]

Timezone: CET (UTC+1) / CEST (UTC+2)

Fedora Server Edition Working Group member
Fedora Docs team contributor and board member
Java developer and enthusiast

[Marco Moock]

Am 26.05.2025 um 14:51:23 Uhr schrieb François Patte:
> At the end, I get this message: device RAID cannot be boot/efi,
> device RAID cannot be swap, device RAID cannot be ext4...

The EFI system partition must not be on LVM or mdadm RAID. The UEFI
needs to be able to read it. That means it needs to have EF00 partition
type and FAT file system.

In case of disk failure you need to restore it using a live system.

swap can reside on a RAID.
Did you use LVM or mdadm for creating the RAID?

[Sam Varshavchik]

Marco Moock writes:
> Am 26.05.2025 um 14:51:23 Uhr schrieb François Patte:
> > At the end, I get this message: device RAID cannot be boot/efi,
> > device RAID cannot be swap, device RAID cannot be ext4...
>
> The EFI system partition must not be on LVM or mdadm RAID. The UEFI
> needs to be able to read it. That means it needs to have EF00 partition
> type and FAT file system.

That's weird. I just confirmed, yes, my system is EFI:

[root@jack ~]# ls /sys/firmware/efi
config_table  esrt		fw_vendor      runtime	    systab
efivars       fw_platform_size	mok-variables  runtime-map

… and my /boot/efi is on mdraid.

[root@jack ~]# mount | grep /dev/md
/dev/md127 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,seclabel)
/dev/md125 on /boot type ext4 (rw,relatime,seclabel)
/dev/md123 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=winnt,errors=remount- 
ro)
/dev/md124 on /home type ext4 (rw,relatime,seclabel)

The trick is to create a version 1.0 RAID volume, where the RAID superblock  
is at the end of the raw partition, and RAID-unaware bits just see an  
ordinary partition, instead of the default version 1.1 RAID where the RAID  
stuff is at the beginning of the partition.

[Marco Moock]

Am 26.05.2025 um 11:28:10 Uhr schrieb Sam Varshavchik:
> The trick is to create a version 1.0 RAID volume, where the RAID
> superblock is at the end of the raw partition, and RAID-unaware bits
> just see an ordinary partition, instead of the default version 1.1
> RAID where the RAID stuff is at the beginning of the partition.

That sounds interesting and explains why it works.

Does the installer offer support for that or did you create it before
starting Fedora setup?

[Sam Varshavchik]

Marco Moock writes:
> Am 26.05.2025 um 11:28:10 Uhr schrieb Sam Varshavchik:
> > The trick is to create a version 1.0 RAID volume, where the RAID
> > superblock is at the end of the raw partition, and RAID-unaware bits
> > just see an ordinary partition, instead of the default version 1.1
> > RAID where the RAID stuff is at the beginning of the partition.
>
> That sounds interesting and explains why it works.
>
> Does the installer offer support for that or did you create it before
> starting Fedora setup?

This was created by the Fedora 30 installer, and I'm fairly certain that  
this was done entirely in the installer, I do not recall having to futz  
around with fdisk and mdadm, setting this up.

[François Patte]

Le 26/05/2025 à 15:27, Peter Boy Uni a écrit :
> > Am 26.05.2025 um 14:51 schrieb François Patte:
> >
> > Bonjour,
> > I try to make a new install of f42.
> > I want to install it on 2 drives using RAID1, say /dev/sda and /dev/sdb
> > I define partitions /boot/efi, /, swap, /var
> > When definning these partitions, I can choose the type (RAID1), the format (boot/efi, swap, ext4) all seem ok
> > BUT
> > At the end, I get this message: device RAID cannot be boot/efi, device RAID cannot be swap, device RAID cannot be ext4...
> >
> > So what can I do? If any avalaible config is not possible?
>
> You may try to follow
> https://docs.stg.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-server/installation/sw-raid-...
>
> (Would be nice to get some feedback on the docs).

Thank for this link, but I don't understand some points:

in Advanced Custom partitioning they say :

On a UEFI boot system only, create an EFI partition

then:

Create a /boot/ Partition

Why 2 boot partitions?

I have an f40 install and there is only a /boot/efi partition...

On these pages we can see the install window showing /boot/efi (600 Mb) 
and /boot (1Gb).

Why?

Thank you for explanations.

F.P.

[Barry]

> On 26 May 2025, at 18:15, François Patte  wrote:
>
> Why 2 boot partitions?

One for the UEFI bios to read files from.
One for grub to read files from.

Barry

[François Patte]

Le 26/05/2025 à 19:22, Barry a écrit :
> > On 26 May 2025, at 18:15, François Patte wrote:
> >
> > Why 2 boot partitions?
>
> One for the UEFI bios to read files from.
> One for grub to read files from.

But why my f40 install has only one /boot/efi partition?

F.P.

[Peter Boy Uni]

> Am 26.05.2025 um 19:24 schrieb François Patte :
>
> Le 26/05/2025 à 19:22, Barry a écrit :
> > > On 26 May 2025, at 18:15, François Patte  wrote:
> > >
> > > Why 2 boot partitions?

On a UEFI boot system you need a dedicated EFI partition with a EFI file system (it has a dedicated partition id) because the system firmware looks for that id and the specific file system. 
even if there was enough space.
Fedora currently needs grub2 to boot the system. It must not use the EFI partition, even if there was enough space. In Fedora boot-up system, grub2 needs its own partition, traditionally with ext4, but meanwhile, xls also works. Technically, it could share the partition with the system and does not need its own. Many distributions work this way. Fedora might work that way, too. However, it is neither recommended nor supported. And it may result in unexpected errors. So it is best to keep it in its own partition.

--
Peter Boy
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Pboy
[e-mail]

Timezone: CET (UTC+1) / CEST (UTC+2)

Fedora Server Edition Working Group member
Fedora Docs team contributor and board member
Java developer and enthusiast

[Samuel Sieb]

On 5/26/25 12:28 PM, Peter Boy Uni wrote:
> On a UEFI boot system you need a dedicated EFI partition with a EFI file system (it has a dedicated partition id) because the system firmware looks for that id and the specific file system.
> even if there was enough space.
> Fedora currently needs grub2 to boot the system. It must not use the EFI partition, even if there was enough space. In Fedora boot-up system, grub2 needs its own partition, traditionally with ext4, but meanwhile, xls also works. Technically, it could share the partition with the system and does not need its own. Many distributions work this way. Fedora might work that way, too. However, it is neither recommended nor supported. And it may result in unexpected errors. So it is best to keep it in its own partition.

Grub can also use /boot as part of / on btrfs.  That's the configuration 
I'm using.  It's not the default, but it has never given me any issues.

[François Patte]

Le 2025-05-26 13:27, Peter Boy Uni a écrit :
> > Am 26.05.2025 um 14:51 schrieb François Patte :
> >
> > Bonjour,
> > I try to make a new install of f42.
> > I want to install it on 2 drives using RAID1, say /dev/sda and 
> > /dev/sdb
> > I define partitions /boot/efi, /, swap, /var
> > When definning these partitions, I can choose the type (RAID1), the 
> > format (boot/efi, swap, ext4) all seem ok
> > BUT
> > At the end, I get this message: device RAID cannot be boot/efi, device 
> > RAID cannot be swap, device RAID cannot be ext4...
> >
> > So what can I do? If any avalaible config is not possible?
>
> You may try to follow
> https://docs.stg.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-server/installation/sw-raid-...
>
> (Would be nice to get some feedback on the docs).

Some feedback....

Some operations are impossible: for instance, once you have defined an 
lvm  pv and a vg volume, it is impossible to have the "+" active.

I followed what is explained on these pages and at the end, when I click 
on "terminé", what I did is said to be wrong:

<cite>
Failed to find a suitable stage 1 device: device RAID cannot be of xfs 
type, device RAID must be mounted on /boot/efi (repeated twice), system 
partition EFI must not be a mdmember (repeated three times), device RAID 
cannot be of lvmpv type.
</cite>

Either what is said is wrong and these pages must go to the dust bin, or 
anaconda from f42-xfce-live iso is buggy....

Thank you for attention.

[François Patte]

Le 2025-05-27 12:21, François Patte a écrit :
> Le 2025-05-26 13:27, Peter Boy Uni a écrit :
> > > Am 26.05.2025 um 14:51 schrieb François Patte 
> > > :
> > >
> > > Bonjour,
> > > I try to make a new install of f42.
> > > I want to install it on 2 drives using RAID1, say /dev/sda and 
> > > /dev/sdb
> > > I define partitions /boot/efi, /, swap, /var
> > > When definning these partitions, I can choose the type (RAID1), the 
> > > format (boot/efi, swap, ext4) all seem ok
> > > BUT
> > > At the end, I get this message: device RAID cannot be boot/efi, 
> > > device RAID cannot be swap, device RAID cannot be ext4...
> > >
> > > So what can I do? If any avalaible config is not possible?
> >
> > You may try to follow
> > https://docs.stg.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-server/installation/sw-raid-...
> >
> > (Would be nice to get some feedback on the docs).
>
> Some feedback....
>
> Some operations are impossible: for instance, once you have defined an
> lvm  pv and a vg volume, it is impossible to have the "+" active.
>
> I followed what is explained on these pages and at the end, when I
> click on "terminé", what I did is said to be wrong:
>
> <cite>
> Failed to find a suitable stage 1 device: device RAID cannot be of xfs
> type, device RAID must be mounted on /boot/efi (repeated twice),
> system partition EFI must not be a mdmember (repeated three times),
> device RAID cannot be of lvmpv type.
> </cite>
>
> Either what is said is wrong and these pages must go to the dust bin,
> or anaconda from f42-xfce-live iso is buggy....

I add this: anaconda seems to be buggy because I got back to the initial 
system (f36) which was perfectly working and if I valid this system, 
anaconda refuses with a lot of similar errors...

F.P.

[Doug H.]

On Tue, May 27, 2025, at 5:21 AM, François Patte wrote:
[snip]
> Either what is said is wrong and these pages must go to the dust bin, or 
> anaconda from f42-xfce-live iso is buggy....
>
> Thank you for attention.

I recently updated and tested my "HowTo" if I decide to rebuild my system as UEFI instead of legacy BIOS. This is using ext4 so it is not the same as what you want, but you might want to try it just to prove that you get no error or do still get an error. Not suggesting to fully create the system, just to get past the define process...

(Done in VirtualBox)

Using the XFCE Live Fedora 42 .iso image.

Used EFI and "Secure Boot".

Basic EFI install on dual raid1. Just need /boot/efi and /
Could add /home, /data, etc if wanted. This is a GPT format, so it is not limited to 4 physical partitions.

Use Blivet/Advanced partition thing.
1 Raid 1, efi part, on /boot/efi
2 Raid 1, ext4 on /

+
Device type: Software RAID (check both drives)
RAID level: raid1
Filesystem: EFI System Partition
Label: efi
Name: EFI
Mountpoint: /boot/efi
Size: 250 MiB / 262 MB
OK

Select "free space"
+
Device type: Software RAID (check both drives)
RAID level: raid1
Label: boot
Name: BOOT
Mountpoint: /
OK

Create user (root is optional)
Start install.

/boot/efi is raid version 1.0
Root is version 1.2

$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid1]
md126 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdb1[1]
      255936 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 0/1 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk

md127 : active raid1 sdb2[1] sda2[0]
      15461376 blocks super 1.2 [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 0/1 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk

unused devices: <none>

doug@fedora:~$ df -hT
Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/md127     ext4       15G  6.1G  7.7G  45% /
devtmpfs       devtmpfs  4.0M     0  4.0M   0% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     970M  8.0K  970M   1% /dev/shm
efivarfs       efivarfs  256K   24K  228K  10% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
tmpfs          tmpfs     388M  1.2M  387M   1% /run
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service
tmpfs          tmpfs     970M  8.0K  970M   1% /tmp
/dev/md126     vfat      250M   20M  231M   8% /boot/efi
tmpfs          tmpfs     1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-resolved.service
tmpfs          tmpfs     194M  124K  194M   1% /run/user/1000