Debian Bug report logs - #466467
ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

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Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: José "L. Redrejo" Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>

To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:03:09 +0100

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Package: ltsp-server
Version: 5.0.40~bzr20071229-1
Severity: important

With the new squashfs-tools that migrated to lenny on 2008-02-11, the
script ltsp-update-image does not work anymore. 
It seems the default behaviour of mksquashfs has changed in Debian and
the img file is created but can not be uncompressed from the pxe-initrd
image.

I've tried to use the -nolzma option in the mksquashfs execution at
ltsp-update-image but it does not work either.

I can make more tests if some ideas, options or workarounds are
possible.

Regards.

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Message #10 received at 466467@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: vagrant@freegeek.org

To: José L. Redrejo Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>

Cc: 466467@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Bug#466467: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:43:09 -0800

On Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:03:09AM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> Package: ltsp-server
> Version: 5.0.40~bzr20071229-1

i'm guessing this hasn't changed with ltsp-server 5.0.40~bzr20080214-1 ?
 
> With the new squashfs-tools that migrated to lenny on 2008-02-11, 

i believe you're referring to squashfs-tools version 1:3.3-3 ?

which version(s) do you know do work?

> the script ltsp-update-image does not work anymore. 

well, i kept the default to NFS for a reason. :)

> It seems the default behaviour of mksquashfs has changed in Debian and
> the img file is created but can not be uncompressed from the pxe-initrd
> image.

might this be related to:

 #456489: squashfs-tools: data corruption caused by lzma patches 
 #455589: squashfs-tools: mksquashfs hangs with zlib and lzma

 455589 claims to be fixed in 1:3.3-3, which seems to be when you
 started encountering the problem.
 
> I've tried to use the -nolzma option in the mksquashfs execution at
> ltsp-update-image but it does not work either.

seems likely a bug in mksquashfs... if not one of the already reported
bugs, then some new bug. i almost thing this bug should be reassigned to
squashfs-tools (or a new bug filed and mark it as blocking this bug).
 
> I can make more tests if some ideas, options or workarounds are
> possible.

you probably have much more experience with this mode of operation than
i do...

live well,
  vagrant

Message #15 received at 466467@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: José "L. Redrejo" Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>

To: vagrant@freegeek.org

Cc: 466467@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#466467: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:57:07 +0100

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El mar, 26-02-2008 a las 10:43 -0800, vagrant@freegeek.org escribió:
> On Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:03:09AM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> > Package: ltsp-server
> > Version: 5.0.40~bzr20071229-1
> 
> i'm guessing this hasn't changed with ltsp-server 5.0.40~bzr20080214-1 ?
>  

Right, it's the same

> > With the new squashfs-tools that migrated to lenny on 2008-02-11, 
> 
> i believe you're referring to squashfs-tools version 1:3.3-3 ?
> 

Right

> which version(s) do you know do work?
> 

All versions up to 1:3.2r2-9. I've tried with all the versions uploaded
later beginning with 3.2r2-9exp1 and none of them work.

> > the script ltsp-update-image does not work anymore. 
> 
> well, i kept the default to NFS for a reason. :)
> 

Now you have a good reason ;-)

> > It seems the default behaviour of mksquashfs has changed in Debian and
> > the img file is created but can not be uncompressed from the pxe-initrd
> > image.
> 
> might this be related to:
> 
>  #456489: squashfs-tools: data corruption caused by lzma patches 
>  #455589: squashfs-tools: mksquashfs hangs with zlib and lzma
> 
>  455589 claims to be fixed in 1:3.3-3, which seems to be when you
>  started encountering the problem.
>  

Not, because in my tests I even compiled 3.3-1 to 3.3-3 removing the
lzma patch and it failed the same. Removing the lzma patch from
3.2r2-9exp1 made it work, but not with 3.3. I've also compiled the clean
upstream 3.3 version without Debian patches and it also fails. There is
something that changed from 3.2 to 3.3 that broke it.


> > I've tried to use the -nolzma option in the mksquashfs execution at
> > ltsp-update-image but it does not work either.
> 
> seems likely a bug in mksquashfs... if not one of the already reported
> bugs, then some new bug. i almost thing this bug should be reassigned to
> squashfs-tools (or a new bug filed and mark it as blocking this bug).

It's pretty reasonable, but it might also be some config that should be
changed in ltsp-update-image to make it work. Obviously mksquashfs and
unsquashfs work perfectly on the ltsp-server, so I don't know how to
report this bug in the squashfs-tool package as it seems only a problem
when using squashfs-tools with ltsp.

>  
> > I can make more tests if some ideas, options or workarounds are
> > possible.
> 
> you probably have much more experience with this mode of operation than
> i do...
> 

Maybe with the operation I have more experience but I do not have a good
knowledge of how the image is uncompressed and mounted from the initrd
when the ltsp terminal starts. The fix could be something as stupid as
setting some parameter for squashfs.ko.

Regards.
José L.

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Message #20 received at 466467@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: vagrant@freegeek.org

To: José L. Redrejo Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>, 466467@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Bug#466467: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:51:26 -0800

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 08:57:07PM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> El mar, 26-02-2008 a las 10:43 -0800, vagrant@freegeek.org escribió:
> > On Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:03:09AM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> > > I can make more tests if some ideas, options or workarounds are
> > > possible.

> > you probably have much more experience with this mode of operation than
> > i do...

> Maybe with the operation I have more experience but I do not have a good
> knowledge of how the image is uncompressed and mounted from the initrd
> when the ltsp terminal starts. The fix could be something as stupid as
> setting some parameter for squashfs.ko.

ok, here's the code run from the initramfs:

    # mount the readonly root
    nbd-client ${NBD_ROOT_SERVER} ${NBD_ROOT_PORT} /dev/nbd0 && mount -o ro -t squashfs /dev/nbd0 /rofs

    # merge ro and rw filesystems
    mount -t unionfs -o dirs=/cow=rw:/rofs=ro unionfs ${rootmnt}

this is in the client's /usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/ltsp_nbd
script...

i'm wondering if running it through NBD somehow is breaking it? can you
try on the server itself to mount the squashfs via NBD? 

 nbd-client 127.0.0.1 2000 /dev/nbd0
 mount -o ro -t squashfs /dev/nbd0 /mnt

you're saying the mount works fine mounting the image directly with
something like:

 mount -o ro,loop -t squashfs /opt/ltsp/images/i386.img /mnt

the mount being used in the initramfs may be from busybox or
klibc-utils, i'm not sure which. i wonder if that might behave
differently, too.

what kernel versions have you tried with?

live well,
  vagrant

Message #25 received at 466467@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: José "L. Redrejo" Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>

To: 466467@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#466467: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:59:47 +0100

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El vie, 29-02-2008 a las 23:51 -0800, vagrant@freegeek.org escribió: 
> On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 08:57:07PM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> > El mar, 26-02-2008 a las 10:43 -0800, vagrant@freegeek.org escribió:
> > > On Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:03:09AM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> > > > I can make more tests if some ideas, options or workarounds are
> > > > possible.
> 
> > > you probably have much more experience with this mode of operation than
> > > i do...
> 
> > Maybe with the operation I have more experience but I do not have a good
> > knowledge of how the image is uncompressed and mounted from the initrd
> > when the ltsp terminal starts. The fix could be something as stupid as
> > setting some parameter for squashfs.ko.
> 
> ok, here's the code run from the initramfs:
> 
>     # mount the readonly root
>     nbd-client ${NBD_ROOT_SERVER} ${NBD_ROOT_PORT} /dev/nbd0 && mount -o ro -t squashfs /dev/nbd0 /rofs
> 
>     # merge ro and rw filesystems
>     mount -t unionfs -o dirs=/cow=rw:/rofs=ro unionfs ${rootmnt}
> 
> this is in the client's /usr/share/initramfs-tools/scripts/ltsp_nbd
> script...
> 
> i'm wondering if running it through NBD somehow is breaking it? can you
> try on the server itself to mount the squashfs via NBD? 
> 
>  nbd-client 127.0.0.1 2000 /dev/nbd0

This works at the ltsp client replacing 127.0.0.1 by the ltsp-server ip.


> mount -o ro -t squashfs /dev/nbd0 /mnt
> 
> 

Nope, this didn't work, I always get a mount failed: Invalid argument error

> you're saying the mount works fine mounting the image directly with
> something like:
> 
>  mount -o ro,loop -t squashfs /opt/ltsp/images/i386.img /mnt
> 

This work at the ltsp-server (after installing squashfs modules) but ,
obviously not at the client.

> the mount being used in the initramfs may be from busybox or
> klibc-utils, i'm not sure which. i wonder if that might behave
> differently, too.
> 
> what kernel versions have you tried with?
> 

Tried with 2.6.22 from lenny. I've tried also with 2.6.24 but it's not
been possible because of #469338.


> live well,
>   vagrant

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Message #30 received at 466467@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: vagrant@freegeek.org

To: José L. Redrejo Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>

Cc: 466467@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#466467: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Sat, 8 Mar 2008 09:57:00 -0800

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 08:57:07PM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> El mar, 26-02-2008 a las 10:43 -0800, vagrant@freegeek.org escribió:
> > On Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:03:09AM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> > > With the new squashfs-tools that migrated to lenny on 2008-02-11, 
> > 
> > i believe you're referring to squashfs-tools version 1:3.3-3 ?
> 
> Right
> 
> > which version(s) do you know do work?
> 
> All versions up to 1:3.2r2-9. I've tried with all the versions uploaded
> later beginning with 3.2r2-9exp1 and none of them work.

i'm not sure of this, but maybe you need to ensure your squashfs-modules
and squashfs-tools packages are in sync (or at least closer in
version)...

apt-cache policy squashfs-modules-2.6.24-1-486 squashfs-modules-2.6.22-3-486
squashfs-modules-2.6.24-1-486:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.6.24+3.3-4
  Version table:
     2.6.24+3.3-4 0
        500 http://debian.osuosl.org sid/main Packages
squashfs-modules-2.6.22-3-486:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.6.22+3.2r2-9
  Version table:
     2.6.22+3.2r2-9 0
        500 http://debian.osuosl.org lenny/main Packages

note that lenny doesn't have a matching +3.3 version...

hopefully, i'll get a chance to test this stuff soon.

live well,
  vagrant

Message #35 received at 466467@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: vagrant@freegeek.org

To: José L. Redrejo Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>, 466467@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#466467: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:25:57 -0700

block 466467 469338
block 466467 465183
thanks

On Thu, Mar 06, 2008 at 07:59:47PM +0100, José L. Redrejo Rodríguez wrote:
> Tried with 2.6.22 from lenny. I've tried also with 2.6.24 but it's not
> been possible because of #469338.

and now squashfs has a similar blocking bug: #465183

getting NBD, unionfs and squashfs all consistantly to a decent state in
debian/unstable and debian/testing has proved challenging... so i've
been working on alternatives :)

just committed a plugin in upstream ltsp to create an ext2 image and
with the initramfs-tools nbd hooks, plus LTSP's tmpfs + bind mounts it
seems to work reasonably well, with some speed improvment over NFS.

also, i've been playing with NBD's copy-on-write support... it's got a
few issues that need working out (#470851 and #470963), but i'm hopeful.
this approach is all server-side, so nothing needs to be writeable on
the thin-client (which frees up some ram).

live well,
  vagrant

Message #44 received at 466467-done@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: José "L. Redrejo" Rodríguez <jredrejo@edu.juntaextremadura.net>

To: 466467-done@bugs.debian.org

Cc: vagrant@freegeek.org

Subject: Re: Bug#466467: ltsp-server: ltsp-update-image does not work

Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 17:41:21 +0200

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I'm closing this bug as now I'm sure it was due to a bad squashfs-tools
and squashfs module-2.6.22 interaction. 
I haven't been able to check it before because unionfs was broken in
Debian with kernel 2.6.24 [1] , but after replacing unionfs by aufs [2],
I can see that ltsp-update-image works perfectly with this kernel and
current squashfs-tools package

Thanks for your support.

Regards
José L.

[1] http://bugs.debian.org/469338
[2] http://bugs.debian.org/481210

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