CentOS - Jan 2017 - CentOS 7 install on one RAID 1 [not-so-SOLVED]

Let me see if I can, um, reboot this thread....

I made a RAID 1 of two raw disks, /dev/sda and /dev/sdb, *not* /dev/sdax
/dev/sdbx. Then I installed CentOS 7 on the RAID, with /boot, /, and swap
being partitions on the RAID. My problem is that grub2-install absolutely
and resolutely refuses to install on /dev/sda or /dev/sdb.

I've currently got it up in a half-assed rescue mode, and have mount -o
bind /dev, /proc/ and /sys under /mnt/sysimage, and chrooted there. That's
where I'm trying to do my grub2-install.

So:
  1. *Is* there space for grub2 to install the bootloader under where the
mdadm starts?
        Or do I have to partition the disks (/dev/sda1 100%, ditto
/dev/sdb1, then
        create the RAID 1 with the partitions, and *then* grub2-install?
  2. I *think* that one thing that grub2-install is complaining about is
that it can't
       find /boot/grub2. I've tried doing it with
        $  grub2-install --boot-directory=/boot /dev/sda
       and
        $  grub2-install --boot-directory=/dev/md127p1/ /dev/sda
       and
        $  grub2-install --boot-directory=/dev/md127pw/boot /dev/sda
       and it tells me it cannot find the canonical path for the grub2
directory. Is
       there some way to specify where it should fund /boot/grub2 that
I've missed?

     mark

On Wed, January 25, 2017 9:51 am, m.roth at 5-cent.us
wrote:
> Let me see if I can, um, reboot this thread....
>
> I made a RAID 1 of two raw disks, /dev/sda and /dev/sdb, *not* /dev/sdax
> /dev/sdbx. Then I installed CentOS 7 on the RAID, with /boot, /, and swap
> being partitions on the RAID. My problem is that grub2-install absolutely
> and resolutely refuses to install on /dev/sda or /dev/sdb.
>
> I've currently got it up in a half-assed rescue mode, and have mount -o
> bind /dev, /proc/ and /sys under /mnt/sysimage, and chrooted there.
That's
> where I'm trying to do my grub2-install.
>
> So:
>   1. *Is* there space for grub2 to install the bootloader under where the
> mdadm starts?
To the best of my knowledge: no. To have mdadm started (md devices
created) you already need kernel loaded, at this stage you don't have it,
you will have it in memory after you load initramdrive, so initramdrive is
useless on md devices which do not exist yet at the moment you load
initramdrive.
>         Or do I have to partition the disks (/dev/sda1 100%, ditto
> /dev/sdb1, then
>         create the RAID 1 with the partitions, and *then* grub2-install?
Not necessarily, you can have software RAID/mirror of /dev/sda /dev/sdb
(without those having disk labels).

However, to boot you need regular drive partition present that hosts /boot
(and bootloader somewhere on drive that does have disk label). You can
have it all on separate tiny drive.

Several years back it was done as I and one more poster described in the
tread before the thread was "rebooted". Now it is possible grub
progressed
since, but I doubt that grub supports Linux software RAID devices, for
which it would need appropriate Linux portion of code, which is rather
large, and GRUB being used to boot other system as well then likely will
need to have their implementations of the same... But that might be
outdated, I hope someone with current knowledge will chime in.

Valeri
>   2. I *think* that one thing that grub2-install is complaining about is
> that it can't
>        find /boot/grub2. I've tried doing it with
>         $  grub2-install --boot-directory=/boot /dev/sda
>        and
>         $  grub2-install --boot-directory=/dev/md127p1/ /dev/sda
>        and
>         $  grub2-install --boot-directory=/dev/md127pw/boot /dev/sda
>        and it tells me it cannot find the canonical path for the grub2
> directory. Is
>        there some way to specify where it should fund /boot/grub2 that
> I've missed?
>
>      mark
>
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> https://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
>

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Valeri Galtsev
Sr System Administrator
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics
University of Chicago
Phone: 773-702-4247
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi,

It's all in the documentation from Red Hat.

kickstart snip 
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/html/Installation_Guide/sect-kickstart-examples.html

manual partitionning
https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/7/html/Installation_Guide/sect-disk-partitioning-setup-x86.html#sect-custom-partitioning-x86
scroll down to  ? 6.14.4.2. Create Software RAID

ymmv, 

Tru
-- 
Tru Huynh 
http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xBEFA581B
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