arch linux [arch-announce] End of initscripts support

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I never could get Thunar to automount after that update (just prior to me switching to systemd). I gave up.

 

By the way, Thunar Volman relied on HAL in Xfce. Since HAL is now deprecated, Volman broke. This was the issue I had in Slackware and Arch. GVFS did not solve the issue for me. I switched to useing xfe file manager with udiskie in both Slack and Arch. They don't auto-mount, but they provide easy one-click mounting.

[ichase]

Related from the Archlinux sureddit:

How I feel after a day of figuring out and configuring systemd

http://www.reddit.co...guring_out_and/

 

That is about right. But as always a learning experience. So far I must say I am really digging this systemd. Though there is more to learn and getting used to the new cli actions. But over all, yeah....I like it.

[ichase]

So I figured with ALL that I learned from the headache of getting my Arch laptop to pure systemd, that the desktop would be a piece of cake. Take all those lessons learned and apply them to the next machine. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I performed every function that I performed on the laptop on the desktop,

1. Install systemd-sysvcompat,

2. uninstall sysvinit

3. make sure all required files were created /ect/hostname, /etc/locale.conf, /etc/vconsole.conf etc.

4. Edit fstab to remove all /dev items as systemd takes care of these

5. Already had converted to the new initscrips/rc.conf configuration.

6. Enabled services via systemsctl enable system.service. (Though this is where I realized we might have an issue because when I tried to enable cron (which is now cronie.service under systemd) I was getting an error that the service could not be started. Did not have this issue on the laptop.

7. Commented out my Daemons section of the rc.conf. (because most services were enabled via systemctl)

8. Rebooted expecting to be brought to my login but nope.

9. Arrived at the Emergency Mode

10. Another strange thing. At emergency mode I logged in with my root password and was brough to the root prompt. When I typed /proc/1/comm to see if it changed from init to systemd I got a permission denied error? WHAT? I'm root.

11. Re-imaged the partition (because you know I peformed all updates and made an image first)

 

The errors prior to going into emergency mode spoke of BIOS issues and enabling cool and quit and stuff I don't have memorized at the moment. Not sure why systemd would have an issue with the BIOS when init did not but, here we are.............Again.............

 

I did take a look at the journal (journalctl -b)and it displays numerous errors, so will need to start seeing what I can do to knock each one of them down until I can get a successful systemd build. I'm not sure why I am having so many issues except for maybe I don't have my systems set up the way they should be without realizing (because they work) what I may have been doing wrong all along?

First thing I probably need to do is see if there is an update to my BIOS. Have not updated the BIOS since I built it over 2 years ago.

Edited November 19, 2012 by ichase

[securitybreach]

Try not disabling the DAEMONS line in /etc/rc.conf as the daemon line is used as fallback.

 

Do you have systemd-sysvcompat and sysvinit-tools installed?

 

Why did you remove /dev lines in /etc/fstab? Here is mine:

#
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
tmpfs /tmp tmpfs nodev,nosuid 0 0
UUID=93723ccc-25e8-4483-ba61-dd8854528774 /home ext4 defaults 0 1
UUID=959dae25-0ee6-42f9-8aaf-fe044f88a515 / ext4 defaults 0 1
#UUID=b80f30ba-bf7e-4ee2-b0a6-ff46fe757e3c swap swap defaults 0 0
UUID=cb0d6b0f-1c2a-46c8-99eb-bbe4e1bcb1b5 /MEDIA ext4 defaults 0 1
UUID=3067b591-934e-4c73-a4a7-e5d9da6c267a /backup ext4 defaults 0 1
/dev/sda1 /windows ntfs-3g id=users,fmask=113,dmask=002 0 0
UUID=4BADE84110669334 /ntfs ntfs-3g uid=comhack,gid=users 0 0
/home/comhack/Music /var/lib/mpd/music none bind

 

To find out why crond did not start, try running:

# systemctl status crond

 

# systemctl status crond

cronie.service - Periodic Command Scheduler

Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/cronie.service; enabled)

Active: active (running) since Sun, 2012-11-18 01:02:28 CST; 1 day and 9h ago

Main PID: 425 (crond)

CGroup: name=systemd:/system/cronie.service

├ 425 /usr/sbin/crond -n

└ 13190 /usr/bin/atop -a -w /var/log/atop/atop_20121119 600

 

Nov 19 05:01:01 Cerberus /usr/sbin/crond[21644]: pam_unix(crond:session): session opened for user ro...=0)

Nov 19 06:01:01 Cerberus /usr/sbin/crond[23859]: pam_unix(crond:session): session opened for user ro...=0)

Nov 19 07:01:01 Cerberus /usr/sbin/crond[26007]: pam_unix(crond:session): session opened for user ro...=0)

Nov 19 07:01:01 Cerberus /USR/SBIN/CROND[26008]: (root) CMD (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)

Nov 19 08:01:01 Cerberus /usr/sbin/crond[28174]: pam_unix(crond:session): session opened for user ro...=0)

Nov 19 08:01:01 Cerberus /USR/SBIN/CROND[28175]: (root) CMD (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)

Nov 19 09:01:01 Cerberus /usr/sbin/crond[30917]: pam_unix(crond:session): session opened for user ro...=0)

Nov 19 09:01:01 Cerberus /USR/SBIN/CROND[30918]: (root) CMD (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)

Nov 19 10:01:01 Cerberus /usr/sbin/crond[1377]: pam_unix(crond:session): session opened for user roo...=0)

Nov 19 10:01:01 Cerberus /USR/SBIN/CROND[1378]: (root) CMD (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)

 

Also you should of already had these files: /etc/hostname, /etc/locale.conf, /etc/vconsole.conf as they are created when you first install Archlinux. As you can see I have not accessed these files since before I installed systemd.

ls -al /etc/hostname

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 9 Jul 30 12:06 /etc/hostname

 

ls -al /etc/locale.conf

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 50 July 30 12:10 /etc/locale.conf

 

ls -al /etc/vconsole.conf

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 47 Jul 30 12:09 /etc/vconsole.conf

 

July 30th was the date that I did a reinstallation of Archlinux without systemd.

[securitybreach]

I also noticed the wiki said to:

Install systemd and append the following to your kernel line: init=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd

 

 

But is looks like I never needed that:

# (-1) Arch Linux

title Arch Linux

root (hd0,1)

kernel /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/959dae25-0ee6-42f9-8aaf-fe044f88a515 ro nomodeset vga=0x346

initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img

 

cat /proc/1/comm

systemd

[ichase]

Well oddly enough, /etc/locale.conf and /etc/vconsole.conf were non existent on the desktop. They were there on the laptop.

From what I have read, /dev entries are handled by systemd and not required to be displayed in your /etc/fstab

The odd thing is, 1 of the errors I am getting is the same as I got on my laptop about /dev/sr0 and that was easy to fix on the laptop because I commented out that line. But that line does not exsist on the desktop's /etc/fstab?

 

As I don't spend near as much time on the desktop as I do the laptop, (9 times out of 10 I do all updates to the desktop via the laptop via ssh) I have already considered installing an updated MOBO and Processor, and turn this into a 64 bit system. Then installing Arch 64 bit from scratch which now is pure systemd any way. Just a matter of saving the $$$ to do that.

 

I also noticed the wiki said to:

 

 

 

But is looks like I never needed that:

I never had to do that on the laptop, also I remember from when Eric upgraded his to pure systemd, he did not have to append the kernel line of his grub file either.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Just a word to the wise...

 

I have never updated a BIOS on any machine I've ever used or still use, regardless of age. If it works, DON'T fix it. This is a thousand times more relevant when dealing with a computer BIOS. One misstep during a BIOS update and your system is TOAST. Clonezilla won't be able to help you fix that one.

[securitybreach]

Just a word to the wise...

 

I have never updated a BIOS on any machine I've ever used or still use, regardless of age. If it works, DON'T fix it. This is a thousand times more relevant when dealing with a computer BIOS. One misstep during a BIOS update and your system is TOAST. Clonezilla won't be able to help you fix that one.

 

I cannot stress this enough, Never update your bios without backing it up first and only if it is broken.

 

There is no need to update the bios if it is working correctly. Like Eric said, you will completely kill your system and it will be a major pain to recover.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

If you still wanna'...

 

http://www.wikihow.c...uter's-BIOS

 

And if your system doesn't, like most nowadays, have a floppy drive:

 

http://www.bootdisk.com/flash.htm

[ichase]

I agree with both of you. I have flashed BIOSs before to fix issues within Windows but I have not updated the one on the laptop or desktop and don't see a need to considering they work like a champ. Why I would be getting BIOS errors after switching from sysvinit to systemd-sysvcompat is beyond me. I'm just going to have to study the errors within the journal file (nice thing is, any thing that went wrong shows in red or a bold white so they stick out) and see where to go from there. In a quick look it mentions the same BIOS errors with ensuring Cool and Quiet is enabled and something else. I will have to see the next time I attempt this. I have already re-imaged the partition so I am back where I started. Have I mentioned I LOVE CLONEZILLLA!!!!!!!

[ichase]

Well the desktop is now up and running with pure systemd. Going through the journal I was able to find a couple of things that were showing errors, corrected them and now I boot to tty just fine.

I could not get crond to work, not sure why. I ended up replacing dcron with cronie and now all is working fine

[root@FrankenstIAN ichase]# systemctl status cronie.service
cronie.service - Periodic Command Scheduler
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/cronie.service; enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue, 2012-11-20 22:14:06 UTC; 3min 53s ago
   Main PID: 182 (crond)
     CGroup: name=systemd:/system/cronie.service
         └ 182 /usr/sbin/crond -n

Nov 20 22:14:09 FrankenstIAN /usr/sbin/crond[182]: (CRON) INFO (running with ... 

 

Still thinking I am just going to leave the server as is. It's working great as both a file and print server even better than expected. Josh was right about that one, I should have just installed Arch to begin with because it's what I am used to.

 

Only thing I have noted was the boot time on the laptop was cut in half, but boot time on the desktop seems to be longer. But I don't reboot all that much so not a big deal.

[securitybreach]

Do not feel bad, my boot time also increased on the desktop. Mind you, my boot time is still fast (~25) but it used to be around 18 seconds. Oh well, it works well anyway.

[abarbarian]

I think maybe but am not quite sure though it may have worked hopefully then again did I or did I not hmmmmmmm only time will tell or maybe if I switch off and try to restart.

 

Oh yeah I think I have installed and switched over to systemd. Hope so as I have deleted some files.

 

I may be a while.

 

I have done one reboot and all the pretty coloured lines have gone which must be good. White on black looks so much more elegant and less anticipatory.

[abarbarian]

I think I may have sucsesfully changed over to systemd. Everything seems to work. However I am sure that I will need a tweak or too. The good news is that at long last I can shutdown and boot up without all that faffing about that I have had for the last few months. I'd like to see a Windows instal that could run in such a crippled state. :Laughing:

[ichase]

Must admit, I am VERY impressed with systemd. It's clean, configurable, has great journal output for troubleshooting, faster boot times, fixes many small issues that plagued me. Definitely gets 2 thumbsup.

Edited February 1, 2013 by ichase

[securitybreach]

Same here. In the beginning, I was not really for sure if I liked systemd or not but I am beginning to see the power and control of it.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Systemd... I can take it or leave it. Initscripts works well in Slackware. What more would someone need?

[ichase]

Same here. In the beginning, I was not really for sure if I liked systemd or not but I am beginning to see the power and control of it.

Could not have said it better myself except for once I got it installed, I quickly saw how much I liked it. Yes, init worked, but systemd is just better in my opinion.

Edited February 4, 2013 by ichase