Oracle Linux Booting using a boot USB

linux and tech help
1

Hi there: I tried to install TigerVNC on my ORACLE 8.5 LINUX SEVER. At one point the instructions said to reboot the system. And then the system hung up.
I then used the USB BOOT Disk I prepared in advance for such an instance if happens.

It works fine except when system asked INSTALLATION DESTINATIN. Clicking on Installation Destination I reached to DEVICE SELECTION page where three disks namely sdb, sdc, sdd are shown and each one has a size of 1.82 TiB but sdb shows free space of 1.08 Mib, sdc shows 0B free, sdd has 1007 KiB free. None has free space to install 7.03 GiB for software and 31.45 free space for swap space. That means a total of 38.48 space is needed. There is a button for RECLAIM SPACE and I click on it and it gave me an option Delete all. But it did not work. I found the same free space on all three disks. Nothing chamnged. Please help. Regards.

1 Like
2

Welcome to the community! :handshake:

If i understand correctly…

  • You tried to install TigerVNC on your Oracle Linux 8.5 server.
  • After rebooting, the system hung and is not booting properly.
  • You’re using a USB boot disk to recover, but it’s prompting you to select an “Installation Destination” as if you’re reinstalling the OS.
  • The disks (sdb, sdc, sdd) show minimal free space, preventing installation.

Objective:

  • Recover your existing Oracle Linux installation without losing data.
  • Avoid unnecessary reinstallation of the OS.

Steps to Resolve the Issue:

  1. Boot into Rescue Mode:

    • Restart your system with the USB boot disk inserted.
    • At the boot menu, select Troubleshooting or Rescue a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system.
    • Choose “Rescue an existing system”.
    • The system will attempt to find your existing Linux installation and mount it under /mnt/sysimage.

  2. Access Your System:

    • If your system is detected and mounted, you can change the root directory to your system:
      chroot /mnt/sysimage
    • This allows you to work within your installed system environment.

  3. Investigate the Issue:

    • Check Disk Space:
      df -h
      • Ensure your root partition isn’t full.
    • Check for Filesystem Errors:
      fsck -f /dev/sdXN
      • Replace sdXN with your root partition (e.g., /dev/sdb1).

  4. Undo Recent Changes:

    • Since the issue occurred after installing TigerVNC, try removing it:
      yum remove tigervnc
    • Check for any leftover configuration files that might cause boot issues.

  5. Rebuild Initial RAM Disk (if necessary):

    • Sometimes, the initial RAM disk (initramfs) might be corrupted.
      dracut --force

  6. Reinstall GRUB Bootloader (if necessary):

    • If the bootloader is corrupted, reinstall it:
      grub2-install /dev/sdb
grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
      • Replace /dev/sdb with the disk where your OS is installed.

  7. Exit and Reboot:

    • Exit the chroot environment:
      exit
    • Reboot the system:
      reboot

  8. Check Boot Options:

    • If the system still doesn’t boot, try accessing the GRUB menu:
      • Reboot and hold Shift (for BIOS) or Esc (for UEFI) during startup.
      • Select an older kernel or recovery mode if available.

  9. If Booting Fails Again:

    • Review Logs:
      • Boot into rescue mode and check logs in /mnt/sysimage/var/log/ for clues.
    • Hardware Check:
      • Ensure that all hardware components are functioning properly.

  10. Avoid Reinstallation for Now:

    • Since your data is important, avoid selecting installation options that might overwrite your disks.
    • Focus on repairing.

Your primary goal is to repair the existing system without data loss. Booting into rescue mode and reversing the changes made during the TigerVNC installation should help

1 Like
3

Thanks for sending me your reply. You understand my problem very well. However I got the hurdles when I just started to work as per your instructions. Which means When I executed. # chroot /mnt/sysimage. It gave me the error
chroot: failed to run command ‘/bin/bash’: No such file or directory.

I do not have any concern about loosing the data. I just want free space in my partition to load my USB Software in one of the partition. I have a full backup , hence have the data intact once oravle Linux is loaded and start running.

Thanks Any How.

Regards.

MR

4

Hi MR,

The error chroot: failed to run command ‘/bin/bash’: No such file or directory indicates that the system couldn’t find the necessary files to change the root environment.

This can happen if the existing system is corrupted or not properly mounted.
Since you’re proceeding with a fresh installation, this error can be disregarded.

Since you have backups and are okay with wiping the disks, you can proceed with a fresh installation by deleting the existing partitions:

  1. Boot from your USB installer and proceed to the “Installation Destination” screen.
  2. Select your disks (sdb, sdc, sdd) for installation.
  3. Choose “Custom” or “Manual Partitioning”.
  4. In the partitioning screen, delete all existing partitions on each disk to free up space.
  5. Create new partitions as needed for your installation.
  6. Continue with the installation process.
5

The problem is that
!) I can not boot from USB installed in regular mode. I can only boot in a RECOVERY MODE from USB INSTALLER, because there is not enough free space available on sda, sdb, sdc under their partitions.
I then boot the system in ONE TIME RECOVERY MODE. I have got a BASH prompt.

  1. When I reached to INSTALLATION DESTINATION, the only free space on SDA is 1007Kib, on sdb it is just 0, and on sdc it is just 1007Kib again. I Hence I do not have enough free space.

  2. I then from the screen tried DELETE, DELETE ALL,

6

The possible solution could be if you have two USB point then in one USB point insert a blank USB and edit the fstab file

neovide e /etc/fstab 
add all these details check the fstab 
disc location /mount volume /mount on boot

following that mount the disc

df -ah -> see the location 
mount -> on a specific location

then use that mounted as a root to the USB installer to load.

Gaurav

7

When you are working with the low partition system, you should always enable the secure boot. do this after the grub loader

sudo dnf install sbctl

sbctl create-keys

safeguaring your system if you are working the rdhat enterprise or any version or the Linux including the Ubuntu.

Thank you Gaurav