What do I do if an Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 instance cannot start after alinux-base-setup-3.2-7.al8 is installed? - Alibaba Cloud Linux

A bug in alinux-base-setup-3.2-7.al8 corrupts the GRUB configuration, causing the instance to hang at the GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) interface after a restart. Use the steps in this topic to recover a stuck instance and prevent the issue from occurring on other instances.

Problem description

After installing alinux-base-setup-3.2-7.al8 on an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance running Alibaba Cloud Linux 3, the instance runs normally but fails to restart. When you connect to the instance by using VNC, the operating system is stuck at the GRUB interface.

Cause

The alinux-base-setup component manages default system parameters, including GRUB configuration. When the instance restarts, GRUB reloads this configuration. A bug in version 3.2-7 corrupts the GRUB configuration file, causing the restart to fail.

Solution

The recovery has two phases: boot the instance temporarily using GRUB commands, then permanently fix the root cause by upgrading the component.

Phase 1: Boot the instance from the GRUB prompt

The following GRUB commands let the instance start, but the fix is not permanent. You must complete Phase 2 to prevent the issue from recurring.

Connect to the instance by using VNC.

View the device ID of the boot partition:

search --no-floppy --file /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

Load the GRUB configuration file. Replace <ID> with the device ID from the previous step:
```
configfile (<ID>)/boot/grub2/grub.cfg
```

Phase 2: Permanently fix the issue

Warning

The restart in step 5 stops the instance briefly and may interrupt running services, which can cause data loss. Back up critical instance data before proceeding, and schedule the restart during off-peak hours.

After the instance starts, upgrade alinux-base-setup to the latest version:
```
sudo yum clean all
sudo yum update -y alinux-base-setup
```
Restart the instance for the upgrade to take effect:
```
sudo reboot
```

Prevention

Check whether other instances are running the affected version and upgrade if necessary.

Check the alinux-base-setup version:
```
rpm -q alinux-base-setup
```
(Optional) If the alinux-base-setup version is 3.2-7, upgrade it:
```
sudo yum clean all
sudo yum update -y alinux-base-setup
```
Restart the instance for the configuration to take effect:
Warning
The restart stops the instance briefly and may interrupt running services, which can cause data loss. Back up critical instance data before proceeding, and schedule the restart during off-peak hours.
```
sudo reboot
```