Date: 01 Apr 2001 17:22:20 -0500 From: Kirk Strauser <kirk@strauser.com> To: freebsd-fs@freebsd.org Subject: My Vinum heart attack Message-ID: <87vgooi7kz.fsf@pooh.honeypot>
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Read on to find out how the world almost lost a loyal FreeBSD user to
heart-attack and/or stroke:
I use cvsup to track 4.x-STABLE, and use the following procedure (from
/usr/src/UPDATING) to make world from time to time.
################
To update from 4.0-RELEASE or later to the most current
4.x-STABLE
----------
make buildworld
make buildkernel KERNCONF=YOUR_KERNEL_HERE
make installkernel KERNCONF=YOUR_KERNEL_HERE
reboot (in single user) [1]
make installworld
mergemaster
reboot
################
I had last done this on February 11, 2001. Yesterday (2001-03-31), I
decided to make world again. During the reboot-into-single-user process, I
watched in abject horror as vinum started, tried to read its configuration,
didn't like what it found, and TOTALLY WIPED everything in /dev/vinum
(including subdirectories). After regaining consciousness, I realized that
I had a live tape backup online, so I restored /dev/vinum, restarted vinum,
and nearly wept as it repeated the config-nuking process. Eventually, I
discovered that renaming /modules.old to /modules and rebooting with
kernel.old, coupled with that handy-dandy /dev/vinum backup, was sufficient
to bring my system back to life.
My assumption was that some low-level change to vinum was made sometime
between 2001-02-11 and 2001-03-31, and that rebooting before 'make
installworld' left my kernel and userland utilities out-of-sync.
On a personal note, the next time someone makes a change that will break the
recommended upgrade method, PLEASE document it in /usr/src/UPDATING. Some
people still may get bit, but at least those of us who try to RTFM and Do
The Right Thing may avoid a little emergency cardiac care.
Thanks,
--
Kirk Strauser
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