Linode not applying Kernel Updates
My Linode picks updated kernels but does not use them.
sudo dnf update
I get the following at some point:
/etc/dracut.conf.d/linode.conf:add_drivers+="ata_generic ata_piix"
dracut: WARNING: <key>+=" <values> ": <values> should have surrounding white spaces!
dracut: WARNING: This will lead to unwanted side effects! Please fix the configuration file.
dracut-install: ERROR: installing 'ata_piix'
dracut: FAILED: /usr/lib/dracut/dracut-install -D /var/tmp/dracut.QzLdmz/initramfs --kerneldir /lib/modules/5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64/ -m ata_generic ata_piix
Running scriptlet: kernel-5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64 3/3
Verifying : kernel-5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64 1/3
Verifying : kernel-core-5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64 2/3
Verifying : kernel-modules-5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64 3/3
Installed:
kernel-5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64 kernel-core-5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64 kernel-modules-5.8.14-200.fc32.x86_64
Complete!
When I check installed packages. I find the newest kernel. However, the Linode never boots with it. I suspect this is related to the Dracut failure. Any ideas?
Running: Fedora 32 Server Edition
1 Reply
jyoo
Linode Staff
You've asked a couple of good questions here. The dracut error is not related to your Linode booting with the incorrect kernel, though I can absolutely see how they would appear to be related. In short, the dracut error is a result of two things - unnecessary white space in a configuration file, and a missing ata_piix module. These errors are discussed a bit more in this Community Questions post, and I also reached out to our distro team to get them fixed on our side.
Regarding your Linode not booting into the most recent kernel, this is related to the order in which Fedora 32 displays kernels. Our distro team did release a fix for this issue, but it may not have applied in every scenario, especially if you deployed your Linode before the fix was released. This post includes a workaround for this issue. Essentially, you'll need to edit your /etc/default/grub so that it boots into the correct kernel automatically.