Contents

  1. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS RAID1 Home Server setup with USB stick support
    1. Conclusion
    2. Hard Disk Layout
    3. USB Stick problem, Ubuntu 10.04.1
    4. Prerequisites
    5. Copy server data
    6. RAID 1 Installation with the support of an USB stick
  2. Part 2, Using Ubuntu Desktop in VirtualBox 3.2.12 for RAID1
    1. Virtualbox Additions problem with -pae kernel
    2. Hard Disk Setup
  3. Part 3, support informations
    1. Make a disk bootable via chroot setup
    2. File system type check
    3. Mount /boot in root (/)
    4. Tipps for RAID 1 and Grub2
    5. Shorten RAID1 resync time - DANGEROUS
    6. Setup Postfix Email send
    7. Spare Hard Disk Preparation
    8. Spare Hard Disk Insertion
    9. checkarray every first sunday per month
    10. Error device or resource busy
    11. Disk failure simulation
    12. Mount spare disk for rsync
    13. RAID 1 FAQ's
    14. UUID's of all devices
    15. Links
    16. List of pages in this category:

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS RAID1 Home Server setup with USB stick support

/!\ The project was canceled because it does not work reliable over time (month).

The job was to convert the hard disk setup of an already running home server (Eee PC 900A, USB external 2.5" disk 250 GB) into a RAID1 array together with a second external 250 GB hard disk in order to improve the uptime of the server. After loosing a new Samsung 1TB hard disk in a PC after 3 weeks use I thought this is the weakest spot of the server.

The GRUB2 boot loader should be configured in such a way that the system will still be able to boot if one of the hard drives fails (no matter which one). Also the loss of one hard disk should be reported via email.
The email reporting works in a test.

Normally it is recommended to attach a second, same size, hard disk to the computer and copy force and back, see link. The disadvantage of this method is, that you have some downtime of the server, especially in the case of any handling failure.

So I first made a copy of the live disk, then tried with a third disk (same size = 250 GB) on a second off-line computer to create the RAID1 array.

Because of some boot failures when creating the RAID1 array, finally I used an Ubuntu 10.04.1 desktop edition USB stick, 4 GB, to make the setup with two new disks easier (USB, 250 GB, from Maxtor and Western Digital, named later MX250 and WD250).

After trying the server edition of Ubuntu with little success (I am a GUI lover), I switched to the desktop edition.

What took me a lot of time was the Linux kernel selection. I was not aware that the desktop kernel (-generic) did not have a RAID support. The standard kernel of the Ubuntu server edition does have it, -generic-pae (Physical Address Extension). Later I found out, that this kernel with included RAID support is also available in the desktop edition, you just have to install it. Unfortunately the RAID support is not mentioned at all in the notes, you have to figure that out by yourself (trail and error). An alternative is the Alternate edition, which uses a terminal setup, but allows RAID and LVM setup.

Conclusion

At 2011-01-23 I gave up with the RAID1 array, because I found out, that Ubuntu is using an old Version (2.6.7.1, even in Ubuntu 10.10) of mdadm, while Debian is using version 3.2.1 (March 2010), which should work more stable. The use of the bitmap feature improved on one hand the resynchronize speed drastically, but on the other hand distorted the Ubuntu installation, e.g. after a resynchronize the folder /etc was missing. Then I had difficulties to install the GRUB2 boot loader, because the RAID device name /dev/md0 changed after a boot to /dev/md_d0. That could be fixed, but I expected with an RAID1 array more stability, not less. Version 3.2.1 of mdadm is expected to be integrated in the Ubuntu release 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/368986. If a back port will appear in Ubuntu 10.04 I might give it another try.

The actual version of mdadm is 3.1.4 (Aug. 2010), see http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/raid/mdadm/ANNOUNCE, but it looks like it has a boot problem with GRUB2, because of the changed meta data version 1.2, http://www.debian.org/releases/squeeze/hppa/release-notes/ch-information.de.html#mdadm-metadata.

Update at 2011-01-31, RAID1 is working
After finding out with the shell script boot_info_script055.sh that the GRUB2 boot loader must be installed on partition #1 only, I gave the RAID1 array another try, which was then successful, see UbuntuRaid1Log.

Hard Disk Layout

USB Stick problem, Ubuntu 10.04.1

There is a bug in the USB stick generation, described in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/syslinux/+bug/617779.
If you boot with either the "Desktop" edition or the "Server" edition, while booting up you get the error message: "Unknown keyword in configuration file: gfxboot ...". Fortunately the workaround is simple, just type "help" at the "boot:" prompt and ENTER. Then the normal boot procedure is running.

Prerequisites

Copy server data

Now connect the second hard disk to the server and copy all the data.
In order to avoid problems with any running services, stop them first (for example): 

$ sudo /etc/init.d/mysql stop
$ sudo /etc/init.d/samba stop
$ sudo /etc/init.d/networking stop

Next mount the second disk: 

$ sudo mount /mnt /dev/sdb3

For the copying you have to consider to not copy dynamic folders, /var/run and /var/lock should not give a problem: 

$ sudo cp -dpRvx $(ls --color=never -I boot -I dev -I proc -I sys /) /mnt

legend for dir options:
-d keep links
-p keep date/time stamps
-R copy sub folders recursive
-v show all files for verification
-x do not copy mounted file systems (the second disk)

last create the missing folders:
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/dev
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/proc
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/sys

After the (long) copy process unmount (and unplug) the second disk and reboot: 

$ sudo umount /mnt
$ sudo reboot
unplug second disk

RAID 1 Installation with the support of an USB stick

Also have a look at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick. Unfortunately it describes Ubuntu version 09.10 only, but was updated on Dez. 2010. It will hopefully improve your learning curve.

In order to get not confused with the internal SSD of the netbook (/dev/sdx numbering), I removed it for that action.

In order to make the RAID 1 installation easier, and got tired to always setup the Ubuntu live USB stick, I decided to create an Ubuntu 10.04.1 desktop installation on an 4 GB USB stick with RAID support. Because it is not so easy I will describe in short the necessary steps:

  1. Use an actual >= 10.04.1 Ubuntu desktop install .iso file, to create a start media USB stick (>= 1 GB) to boot your computer.
    Boot with that start media, in order to have the suitable Ubuntu version.
    The Ubuntu installation on another USB stick itself will need about 2.7 GB space.

  2. Plug in a second USB stick >= 4 GB and use Gparted to partition and format it:
    Partition 1 type primary with file system ext4 leaving 256 MB free at the end.
    Partition 2 type extended and partition 5 type logical as swap.

  3. Boot with the 4 GB USB stick, and get a network connection.
    Install your language pack, if not using English, and install mdadm for the RAID setup. 

     $ sudo apt-get install mdadm
 while installing you will be asked for the postfix setup. If the OK button is
 not highlighted in red, hit the TAB key, and acknowledge all other questions with ENTER.

 Show the version number of the installed package:
 $ sudo apt-cache --installed showpkg mdadm
 Package: mdadm
 Versions: 
 2.6.7.1-1ubuntu15 (/var/lib/apt/lists/de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_lucid_main_binary-i386_Packages) (/var/lib/dpkg/status)

    After that, run the update job (about 200 MB, > 2 h installation time, 2010-12-24)
    Install linux-image-2.6.32-27-generic-pae, which includes RAID support!

  4. Shut the computer down, remove the USB stick and plug it in your target computer, or just reboot. In order to see which kernel version is installed type: 
     $ uname -a
 Linux <user name> 2.6.32.27-generic-pae #49-Ubuntu SMP Thu Dec 2 00:07:52 2010 i686 GNU/Linux

  5. Install some support programs with synaptic: gparted, htop, mc

  6. Now plug in the two already partitioned and formatted hard disks.
    To make sure that there are no remains from previous RAID installations we run the following commands: 

     $ sudo mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdb1
 $ sudo mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdb2
 $ sudo mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdb3
 $ sudo mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdc1
 $ sudo mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdc2
 $ sudo mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdc3
    If there are no remains from previous RAID installations, each of the above commands will throw an error like this one (which is nothing to worry about): 
     mdadm: Unrecognised md component device - /dev/sdb1
  7. Now its time to create our RAID1 arrays: 
     $ sudo mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-disks=2 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1
 $ sudo mdadm --create /dev/md1 --level=1 --raid-disks=2 /dev/sdb2 /dev/sdc2
 $ sudo mdadm --create /dev/md2 --level=1 --raid-disks=2 /dev/sdb3 /dev/sdc3

  8. Modify the GRUB2 control file /etc/default/grub.
    Remove the kernel parameters quiet and splash to allow kernel messages on the screen
    Set bootdegraded=yes in order to allow a single hard disk from the RAID1 array to boot. 

     #GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
 GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="bootdegraded=yes"
    Write a new GRUB2 boot loader to disk: 
     First check if "mdamd" is activ:
 $ cat /proc/mdstat
 xxx

 If "mdadm" does not run, start it with:
 $ sudo /etc/init.d/mdadm start
 If /media/boot does not exist:
 $ sudo mkdir /media/boot
 
 $ sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/md2 /mnt
 $ sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
 $ sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
 $ sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
 $ sudo mount -t ext2 /dev/md0 /media/boot
 $ sudo mount --bind /media/boot /mnt/boot # cover original /boot
 $ sudo chroot /mnt 
 $ grub-install /dev/sdb 
 $ grub-install /dev/sdc
 $ grub-install --recheck /dev/sdb # just to be sure 
 $ grub-install --recheck /dev/sdc
 #  and update our GRUB2 bootloader configuration:
 $ update-grub
 $ update-initramfs -u -k all

    The file /boot/grub/grub.cfg should have the following entry.
    It is important, that the -generic-pae kernel is listed, and that the root device is (md0). 

     ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
 menuentry 'Ubuntu, mit Linux 2.6.32-27-generic-pae' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
        recordfail
        insmod raid
        insmod mdraid
        insmod ext2
        set root='(md0)'
        search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set 135c7575-a651-4c6f-8a4d-630f97b6691b
        linux   /vmlinuz-2.6.32-27-generic-pae root=UUID=624cbccb-5008-40aa-94a1-35d23000b776 ro   bootdegraded=yes
        initrd  /initrd.img-2.6.32-27-generic-pae
 }
    Last give up the chroot environment: 
     Ctrl+D (to exit out of chroot)
 $ sudo umount /mnt/dev
 $ sudo umount /mnt
  9. Power off the computer, pull the USB stick, power on the computer and see if it works. 
     $ sudo poweroff

Part 2, Using Ubuntu Desktop in VirtualBox 3.2.12 for RAID1

This is for Tests/Training only. The benefit is that you can use smaller size virtual disks (about 4 GB each), and can make easy copies of it.
With the help from http://www.ralf-schmidt.de/Computer/Howto_RAID1-LVM_Grub.html
Unfortunately in the process I got 2 computer freezes, so I gave up this method.

Virtualbox Additions problem with -pae kernel

When you install the Virtualbox Additions, the compiling of the -pae kernel modules will fail. That has for example the drawback that the Host/Guest clipboard does not work. The files /home/<user>/.vboxclient-clipboard.pid, vboxclient-display.pid and vboxclient-seamless.pid are missing. Have a look also at /var/log/vboxadd-install.log.
The problem was caused from not installed -pae Linux headers.
Search in Synaptic for Linux headers. If there is a green mark at the normal -generic linux-headers-2.6.32-xx and not at the -generic-pae version, then mark it for installation. A second case is at linux-headers-generic and linux-headers-generic-pae. After the installation of the -pae headers the compilation of the vbox kernel modules will work.

Hard Disk Setup

First I started with 2 virtual disks, then I added a third disk because it appears easier to use 3 disks to create a RAID1 array: 

Disk 1 /dev/sda - Ubuntu 10.04.1 Desktop installation with -pae boot kernel with RAID support
  The installation is derived from a 4 GB USB stick, which was setup on another computer.
Disk 2 /dev/sdb - Ubuntu 10.04.1 Desktop installation, normal kernel for boot
Disk 3 /dev/sdc - partitioned the same as Disk2, otherwise empty

The benefit of this configuration is, that I always have a stable bootable installation and can manipulate the two other disks. After the first stable setup, I copy the virtual hard disks (.vdi files), so I have a fall back, just to save time in case of any failure.

The device sequence /dev/sdX in virtualbox can be changed by removing the .vdi files in the disk manager and loading them afterwards in the wished sequence.

The boot priority can be changed by pressing key F12 when the VirtualBox mask shows up after start.

In order to simulate the situation with USB stick boot on the netbook computer you have to do the following:

  1. Copy the working USB stick with Ubuntu 10.04.1 with -pae kernel to an .iso file. 

     Version Mac OS X:
 Use the hard disk manager to create an USB stick image.
   In Image Format select: "DVD/CD-Master"
   Rename the resultant file from .cdr to Ubuntu100441usb.iso.

 Version Win32:
 Use Program USB Image Tool.exe from Alexander Beug, www.alexpage.de (Freeware)
    Next convert (wrap) the .iso file to a .vdi file (Virtual Disk) 
     In Mac OS X open a terminal window
 $ cd to the folder with the .iso file
 $ /Applications/VirtualBox.app/Contents/MacOS/VBoxManage convertfromraw Ubuntu10041usb.iso Ubuntu10041usb.vdi

 In Win32 use VBoxManage.exe and the command line, e.g.
 "c:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" convertfromraw Ubuntu10041usb.iso Ubuntu10041usb.vdi

In the first trial I used just 2 disks only, /dev/sda and /dev/sdb. Later I added a third disk for easier handling and changed the disk order, like I described at the beginning.

As an alternative install Ubuntu version 10.04.1 LTS in a 4 GB virtual disk under VirtualBox version 3.2.12. The desktop edition will give easier handling with a mixture from command line and GUI.

If in case after a reboot one of the array is not complete, you can assemble them like: 

# First check the status:
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md_d2 : inactive sdc3[0](S)
      3306752 blocks
       
md_d0 : inactive sdb1[1](S)
      498624 blocks
       
md_d1 : active raid1 sdc2[0] sdb2[1]
      249792 blocks [2/2] [UU]

rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo mdadm --assemble /dev/md_d0 /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1
mdadm: /dev/md_d0 has been started with 2 drives.

rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo mdadm --assemble /dev/md_d2 /dev/sdb3 /dev/sdc3
mdadm: /dev/md_d2 has been started with 2 drives.

# now check if the arrays are OK - it it done
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md_d2 : active raid1 sdc3[0] sdb3[1]
      3306752 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      
md_d0 : active raid1 sdc1[0] sdb1[1]
      498624 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      
md_d1 : active raid1 sdc2[0] sdb2[1]
      249792 blocks [2/2] [UU]

# Unfortunately there is some confusion about the array naming:
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo mdadm -Es
ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=263f7df8:1277e163:a78ec32f:6eb6df8d
ARRAY /dev/md1 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=9c24dfde:e419a23c:a78ec32f:6eb6df8d
ARRAY /dev/md2 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=4ad255e6:ec0071cb:a78ec32f:6eb6df8d
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="0b201bbc-110f-40ca-ae55-7808bc253fd0" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda5: UUID="53d5a553-3588-4338-afa1-7430d84f57fd" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/sdb1: UUID="263f7df8-1277-e163-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdb2: UUID="9c24dfde-e419-a23c-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdb3: UUID="4ad255e6-ec00-71cb-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdc1: UUID="263f7df8-1277-e163-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdc2: UUID="9c24dfde-e419-a23c-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdc3: UUID="4ad255e6-ec00-71cb-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/md_d0: UUID="85e75d2f-c675-4560-8b99-4f5c8249ed23" TYPE="ext2" 
/dev/md_d1: UUID="07921f70-7ad5-4d93-81af-e5769ae9e9c2" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/md_d2: UUID="45015e6d-4265-4ab0-8399-20da850c3763" TYPE="ext4" 

# The RAID array has a different name (/dev/md0) than the file system (/dev/md_d0)

Part 3, support informations

Make a disk bootable via chroot setup

chroot means, that you mount a second, non bootable, disk, and make it bootable with the help of the first disk.

First with gparted I format MX250 /dev/sdc with a 2 GB swap partition /dev/sdc1, then an EXT4 partition /dev/sdc2 -64 MB for the system. The -64 MB was for compensating differences of the two disks. On /dev/sdc1 and /dev/sdc2 the raid flag must be set and additional on /dev/sdc2 the boot flag. Then I shutdown the server, connected the server disk to the setup computer, boot with a live medium and copied the disk content. After that the server disk was unmounted, plugged again on the server and the server computer restarted. Now I have time to setup the RAID1 array.

This is a list of the commands executed in order,

  1. sudo fdisk -l
  2. sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/sdx2 /mnt
  3. sudo mount --bind /dev /mnt/dev
  4. sudo mount --bind /proc /mnt/proc
  5. sudo mount --bind /sys /mnt/sys
  6. sudo chroot /mnt
  7. (optional, only if you're on Ubuntu/Debian) apt-get install grub-pc
  8. grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
  9. grub-install /dev/sdx
  10. grub-install --recheck /dev/sdx # just to be sure
  11. Ctrl+D (to exit out of chroot)
  12. sudo umount /mnt/dev
  13. sudo umount /mnt

View the status of a multi disk array. 

$ sudo mdadm --detail /dev/md1
or
$ cat /proc/mdstat

After synchronization of the two disks, the disk label will be the same on both disks. 

before sync
  /dev/sdc  # label MX250
  /dev/sdd  # label WD250
after sync
  /dev/sdc  # label MX250
  /dev/sdd  # label MX250

If you want to delete an already setup ARRAY in order make a new setup, you have to delete the superblock. In order to delete the superblock, you have to stop the RAID status first. The superblock has its place at the end (about 100 KB) of the disk, so leave the space (about 1 MB), if you partition the disk. 

$ sudo mdadm --stop /dev/sdc1            # sdc1 for example only
or
$ sudo mdadm /dev/md0 -f /dev/sdc1 -r /dev/sdc1
then
$ sudo mdadm --zero-superblock /dev/sdc1

If the partitions used in your RAID array are not the same size, mdadm will use the smallest.
To add RAID device md0 to /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf so that it is recognized the next time you boot. 

$ sudo mdadm -Es | grep md1  >>/etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf

Because mdadm.conf will be used in initramfs you have also to update initrd: 

$ sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

File system type check

In order to figure out the file system type do: 

rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo file -s /dev/sdb1
/dev/sdb1: Linux rev 1.0 ext2 filesystem data, UUID=135c7575-a651-4c6f-8a4d-630f97b6691b

Mount /boot in root (/)

If a hard disk is no longer bootable, there is a chance for repair if the file system could be accessed. That can be done with the help of an USB stick with Ubnutu 10.04.1 with -pae (RAID1) support installed. The only difficulty is to merge the separated /boot partition into the root tree. With the following commands it can be done: 

Prerequisites:
1. USB-stick 4 GB with Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS with boot -pae kernel
2. Hard disk which can no longer boot

$ sudo mkdir /mnt/sdb3  # create place holder
$ sudo mount -t ext3 /dev/sdb3 /mnt/sdb3
$ sudo mount --bind -t ext2 /dev/sdb1 /mnt/sdb3/boot # cover original /boot

Tipps for RAID 1 and Grub2

Shorten RAID1 resync time - DANGEROUS

With my 250 GB 2.5" USB disk it needs about 3 hours to resynch the drives. In order to shorten that to minutes, you can use a bitmap. See also:
http://etbe.coker.com.au/2008/01/28/write-intent-bitmaps/
https://raid.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Bitmap

Unfortunately the bitmap use gave severe problems while changing disks. One time, my /etc folder got lost. So I gave up on this feature. 

$ sudo mdadm --grow --bitmap=internal /dev/md2
$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md1 : active raid1 sdb2[1] sda2[0]
      1550208 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      
md0 : active raid1 sdb1[1] sda1[0]
      513984 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      
md2 : active raid1 sdb3[1] sda3[0]
      242035200 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 4/231 pages [16KB], 512KB chunk

unused devices: <none>

Setup Postfix Email send

If a hard disk of an RAID array fails it would be helpful to get knowledge about that via email. When installing mdadm the email programm postfix gets also installed. The setup of postfix will usually be done later, NOW.
http://pagewizz.com/Eine-Einfuehrung-zu-E-Mail-Servern/
http://ubuntublog.ch/services/postfix-installieren-und-konfigurieren
http://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/postfix#Authentifizierung-am-Smarthost
http://www.tuxhausen.de/software_postfix.html
http://www.tuxhausen.de/postfix_smtp_auth-3.html#41
http://www.kaischmale.de/de/article/mailversand-mittels-postfix-%C3%BCber-den-smtp-server-der-goethe-universit%C3%A4t-frankfurt/postfix-in
http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html

You get a warning if you have not setup an root alias, set it to an existing user.
Especially if you login as a standard user, you should get all root relevant Emails. 

WARNING: /etc/aliases exists, but does not have a root alias.

Edit file (sudo mc) /etc/aliases and append "root: rudi" (root: <user name>)
$ sudo newaliases   # to update the aliases data base
# If that gives a "permission denied" error, do:
$ sudo chown root:rudi /etc/aliases
$ sudo chmod g+w /etc/aliases

Important: In order to have the System-E-mail-Name setup right: 

Edit /etc/hostname  (sudo mc)
rudiswiki.de    (your domain)

restart

In order to restart the semi-automatic setup of postfix type: 

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure postfix  

You will get a menu selection:
   Internet-Site 
   Internet mit Smarthost 
   Satellitensystem 
   Nur lokal  

For the RAID service the selection "Internet mit smarthost" looks most suited, if you have an email account at your provider.

Question: System-E-mail-Name : rudiswiki.de  <OK>
Question: SMTP-Relay-Server  : mail.arcor.de  <OK>
Question: Empfänger von E-Mails an Root und Postmaster: rudi  <OK>
Question: Weitere Rechner, für die E-Mail akzeptiert werden soll : rudiswiki.de, localhost.de, localhost  <OK>
Question: Synchrone Aktualisierungen der E-Mail-Warteschlange erzwingen?  <Nein>
Question: Lokale Netze: 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128  <OK>
Question: Maximale Postfach-Größe (Bytes): 5000000  (5 MB) <OK>
Question: Zeichen für lokale Adress-Erweiterung: +  <OK>
Question: Zu verwendende Internet-Protokolle: alle  <OK>

Messages, if all is OK:
 * Stopping Postfix Mail Transport Agent postfix                            [ OK ] 
setting synchronous mail queue updates: false
mailname is not a fully qualified domain name.  Not changing /etc/mailname.
  # means, no E-mail reception possible - OK
setting destinations: rudiswiki.de, localhost.localdomain, localhost
setting relayhost: mail.arcor.de
setting mynetworks: 127.0.0.0/8 [::ffff:127.0.0.0]/104 [::1]/128
setting mailbox_size_limit: 5000000
setting recipient_delimiter: +
setting inet_interfaces: all
setting inet_protocols: all

Postfix is now set up with the changes above.  If you need to make changes, edit
/etc/postfix/main.cf (and others) as needed.  To view Postfix configuration
values, see postconf(1).

After modifying main.cf, be sure to run '/etc/init.d/postfix reload'.

Running newaliases
 * Stopping Postfix Mail Transport Agent postfix                       [ OK ] 
 * Starting Postfix Mail Transport Agent postfix                       [ OK ]

Next the setup for the smarthost: 

$ sudo nano /etc/postfix/main.cf  # in iTerm with mouse support

Check:
myhostname = rudiswiki.de  (my domain)

Also insert below "mailbox_size_limit = 5000000":
message_size_limit = 1000000

Append:
smtp_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtp_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
smtp_sasl_password_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sasl_password
sender_canonical_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/sender_canonical

Save the file /etc/postfix/main.cf

Create the file sasl_password with:
$ sudo touch /etc/postfix/sasl_password
and insert the two following lines:

# authentication setup for smarthost
mail.arcor.de reutexxx:<password>

It happens sometimes that the file "sasl_password.db" is not created correct.
Therefore it is more safe to restart postfix before creating the data base.

$ sudo /etc/init.d/postfix restart
$ sudo postmap /etc/postfix/sasl_password

A smarthost does need in many cases a valid user email address.
For that first create the file "sender_canonical"

$ sudo touch /etc/postfix/sender_canonical
Then edit that file by inserting 4 lines:
# for authentication setup for postfix smarthost access
# user name, email address (www-data = web server)
rudi reutexxx@arcor.de  
root reutexxx@arcor.de
www-data reutexxx@arcor.de

Convert this file to a data base:
$ sudo postmap /etc/postfix/sender_canonical

Finally restart postfix:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/postfix restart

Test of the postfix installation (you need the program "mailx" for that):
$ mail -s "Betreff: Testmail, from rudiswiki.de" reutxxx@web.de
Cc:  ENTER
type the body- something
.      # dot for end of the body text
CTRL-D # stop input and send email
  EOT

$ tail /var/log/mail.log
...
Jan 16 14:33:32 rudi72 postfix/qmgr[7903]: 59022BB21C3: from=<reutexxx@arcor.de>, size=312, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Jan 16 14:33:32 rudi72 postfix/smtp[7955]: warning: SASL authentication failure: No worthy mechs found
Jan 16 14:33:32 rudi72 postfix/smtp[7955]: 59022BB21C3: to=<reutxxx@web.de>, relay=mail.arcor.de[151.189.21.116]:25, delay=836, delays=836/0/0.07/0, dsn=4.7.0, status=deferred (SASL authentication failed; cannot authenticate to server mail.arcor.de[151.189.21.116]: no mechanism available)

Problem:
The authentication failed, in order to debug:
$ sudo apt-get install sasl2-bin
$ saslfinger -c   # for debug
...
-- mechanisms on mail.arcor.de --
250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN
Solution:
In file /etc/postfix/main.cf: remove "noplaintext" because the smarthost does not like our encrypted password.

In order to test/debug the mail system do: 

Send a test email:
rudi@rudi72:~$ mail  -s "Betreff: Testmail, from rudi72" reutxxx@web.de
Cc: # just ENTER
body text 14:59
.   # just a dot and ENTER
CTRL-D # stop input and send email

$ tail /var/log/mail.log
...
Jan 17 15:07:46 rudi72 postfix/pickup[13772]: C285EBB2176: uid=1000 from=<rudi>
Jan 17 15:07:46 rudi72 postfix/cleanup[13776]: C285EBB2176: message-id=<20110117140746.C285EBB2176@rudi72>
Jan 17 15:07:46 rudi72 postfix/qmgr[13771]: C285EBB2176: from=<reutexxx@arcor.de>, size=322, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Jan 17 15:07:47 rudi72 postfix/smtp[13778]: C285EBB2176: to=<reutxxx@web.de>, relay=mail.arcor.de[151.189.21.116]:25, delay=0.47, delays=0.13/0.02/0.08/0.24, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 3A7E810C1A5)
Jan 17 15:07:47 rudi72 postfix/qmgr[13771]: C285EBB2176: removed

If that does not work:
Edit file /etc/postfix/master.cf
Append "-v" in line:
  smtp unix    -    -    -    -    -    smtp -v
$ sudo postfix reload
postfix/postfix-script: refreshing the Postfix mail system
The mail log is now much more extended.
----------------

If the Email function works, it is time to test the mdadm Email:
The mdadm Email will be send to user rudi, but not to extern, so change in /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf
MAILADDR reutxxx@web.de
$ sudo /etc/init.d/mdadm restart   # to apply the change


Simple test for email function:
$ sudo mdadm --monitor --test /dev/md2   # root /
or all arrays
$ sudo mdadm --monitor --test --scan
----------------


Simulate a hard disk failure of the swap partition:
$ sudo mdadm /dev/md1 --fail /dev/sdb2
mdadm: set /dev/sdb2 faulty in /dev/md1
$ cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md1 : active raid1 sdb2[2](F) sda2[0]
      1550208 blocks [2/1] [U_]
...

Reattach the swap partition
$ sudo mdadm /dev/md1 --add /dev/sdb2
mdadm: Cannot open /dev/sdb2: Device or resource busy

First you have to stop the array:
$ sudo mdadm --stop /dev/md1
mdadm: stopped /dev/md1

Then assemble it again, and the array will be resynced:
$ sudo mdadm /dev/md1 --assemble /dev/sda2 /dev/sdb2
mdadm: /dev/md1 has been started with 1 drive (out of 2).

----------------
In case in /var/log/mail/www-data 
every 5 minutes there is a warning logged from TYPO3, do:
$ cd /etc/cron.d
$ sudo mkdir typo3
$ sudo mv typo3-dummy typo3/

Spare Hard Disk Preparation

In order to quickly replace a faulty hard disk from a RAID1 array, it is the easiest to prepare beforehand a spare disk.

In my case, with an ASUS netbook with 2 external USB hard disks as an RAID1 array, it is the easiest to plug in a third external USB hard disk. Fortunately the netbook does just have 3 USP ports. The disk is mounted via udev as device /dev/sdd, and must have a capacity >= the RAID1 disk (250 GB).

First partition the new disk with the scheme of the active one: 

/dev/sda = internal 8 GB SSD
/dev/sdb = first USB hard disk 250 GB
/dev/sdc = second USB hard disk 250 GB
/dev/sdd = spare disk 250 GB
$ sudo sfdisk -d /dev/sdb | sfdisk --force /dev/sdd

Problem:
/dev/sdd: Permission denied
sfdisk: Konnte /dev/sdd nicht zum Lesen/Schreiben öffnen

Troubelshooting:
$ sudo dmesg | grep sdd
...
[55546.398040] Adding 522104k swap on /dev/sdd2.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:522104k 

$ ls -ls /dev/sdd
0 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 48 2011-01-20 14:37 /dev/sdd

Solution:
$ sudo swapoff /dev/sdd2 # that does NOT help

User "rudi" was NOT a group member of group "disk"
Edit /etc/group:
disk:x:6:<user>   # disk:x:6:rudi 
logout/login
Check with:
$ groups
rudi adm disk dialout cdrom www-data plugdev lpadmin admin sambashare

Neue Aufteilung:
Einheit = Sektoren von 512 Bytes, Zählung beginnt bei 0

   Gerät  boot.   Anfang      Ende  #Sektoren Id  System
/dev/sdd1   *        63   1028159    1028097  fd  Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdd2       1044225   4144769    3100545  fd  Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdd3       4160835 488263544  484102710  fd  Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdd4             0         -          0   0  Leer
Die neue Partitionstabelle wurde erfolgreich geschrieben

Power down computer
Pull off USB disk 3
Power up computer
Plug in USB disk 3
Check with:
$ ls /dev/sdd*
/dev/sdd  /dev/sdd1  /dev/sdd2  /dev/sdd3

Because now there are file systems on the disk, they are auto mounted to /media.
Before they could be added to the RAID1 array, they must be unmounted before:
$ ls /media
1a94bd26-d57c-4e44-a32b-c183ec832eee/  91ec8423-41fb-4704-8115-c8588ca3e1a1/
Use TAB for file name completion.
$ sudo umount /media/1a94bd26-d57c-4e44-a32b-c183ec832eee/
$ sudo umount /media/91ec8423-41fb-4704-8115-c8588ca3e1a1/

Now it is time to add the spare disk to the RAID1 array, but there is no sync of the data. That will be done in case the spare disk in added to the array. 

First try the small boot partition:
$ sudo mdadm --manage /dev/md0 --add /dev/sdd1
mdadm: added /dev/sdd1
$ cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md1 : active raid1 sdc2[1] sdb2[0]
      1550208 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      
md2 : active raid1 sdc3[1] sdb3[0]
      242035200 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      bitmap: 2/231 pages [8KB], 512KB chunk

md0 : active raid1 sdd1[2](S) sdc1[1] sdb1[0]
      513984 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      
unused devices: <none>

$ sudo mdadm --detail /dev/md0
...
    Number   Major   Minor   RaidDevice State
       0       8       17        0      active sync   /dev/sdb1
       1       8       33        1      active sync   /dev/sdc1

       2       8       49        -      spare   /dev/sdd1

Spare Hard Disk Insertion

Now that you have a spare disk it is time to insert it into the RAID1 array, in order to see if it works.

checkarray every first sunday per month

The installation setup of mdadm includes a setup in /etc/cron.d/mdadm, which does an "--all" check of the arrays at 00:57 every first Sunday every month. 

57 0 * * 0 root [ -x /usr/share/mdadm/checkarray ] && [ $(date +\%d) -le 7 ] && /usr/share/mdadm/checkarray --cron --all --quiet

From: $ man mdadm  (monitor mode):
Only Fail, FailSpare, DegradedArray, SparesMissing and TestMessage cause Email to be sent.

Error device or resource busy

It can happen, that you get that error. 

mdadm: Cannot open /dev/sdb1: Device or resource busy
mdadm: create aborted
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md_d0 : inactive sdb1[1](S)
      513984 blocks
       
md_d1 : inactive sdb2[1](S)
      1550208 blocks
       
unused devices: <none>
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo mdadm --stop /dev/md_d0
mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored.
mdadm: metadata format 00.90 unknown, ignored.
mdadm: stopped /dev/md_d0
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo mount -t ext2 /dev/md0 /mnt/md0
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/md0,

rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo mount -t ext2 /dev/sdb1 /mnt/md0

Other case:
Reattach the swap partition
$ sudo mdadm /dev/md1 --add /dev/sdb2
mdadm: Cannot open /dev/sdb2: Device or resource busy

First you have to stop the array:
$ sudo mdadm --stop /dev/md1
mdadm: stopped /dev/md1

Then assemble it again, and the array will be resynced:
$ sudo mdadm /dev/md1 --assemble /dev/sda2 /dev/sdb2
mdadm: /dev/md1 has been started with 1 drive (out of 2).

dmraid problem:
If on an old installation a "dmraid" driver was installed, it can block
the "mdadm" devices.
Solution is to deinstall the "dmraid" software.

Disk failure simulation

Attention: This method is dangerous for data loss, do at a test system only.

If I pull out hard disk /dev/sdb you will see the following messages: 

$ dmesg | tail -n 15
[  180.892000] usb 1-5: USB disconnect, address 3
[  182.519534] __ratelimit: 12 callbacks suppressed
[  182.519547] raid1: sda3: rescheduling sector 183725520
[  182.559386] raid1: Disk failure on sda3, disabling device.
[  182.559390] raid1: Operation continuing on 1 devices.
[  182.559416] raid1: sdb3: redirecting sector 183725520 to another mirror
[  182.564987] RAID1 conf printout:
[  182.564998]  --- wd:1 rd:2
[  182.565008]  disk 0, wo:1, o:0, dev:sda3
[  182.565015]  disk 1, wo:0, o:1, dev:sdb3
[  182.572073] RAID1 conf printout:
[  182.572086]  --- wd:1 rd:2
[  182.572096]  disk 1, wo:0, o:1, dev:sdb3

After a reboot with both hard disks again:
rudi@rudi72:~$ cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md1 : active raid1 sdb2[1]
      1550208 blocks [2/1] [_U]
      
md128 : active raid1 sdb3[1]
      242035200 blocks [2/1] [_U]
      bitmap: 21/231 pages [84KB], 512KB chunk

md0 : active raid1 sdb1[1] sda1[0]
      513984 blocks [2/2] [UU]
      
unused devices: <none>

repair the array:
$ sudo mdadm --add /dev/md0 /dev/sda1
$ sudo mdadm --add /dev/md1 /dev/sda2
$ sudo mdadm --add /dev/md128 /dev/sda3

Mount spare disk for rsync

If you have taken out a USB hard disk from the RAID1 array, it can be used as backup device. But when you boot with an other Ubuntu installation, the RAID1 devices /dev/mdx do not automount, you have to help a little. 

rudi@rudi-usb:~$ cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md128 : inactive sdc3[1](S)
      242035200 blocks
       
md1 : inactive sdc2[1](S)
      1550208 blocks
       
md0 : inactive sdc1[1](S)
      513984 blocks

# with one drive only, you have to say "--run"
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ sudo mdadm --assemble --run /dev/md0 /dev/sdc1
mdadm: /dev/md0 has been started with 1 drive (out of 2).
rudi@rudi-usb:~$ cat /proc/mdstat 
Personalities : [linear] [multipath] [raid0] [raid1] [raid6] [raid5] [raid4] [raid10] 
md128 : inactive sdc3[1](S)
      242035200 blocks
       
md1 : inactive sdc2[1](S)
      1550208 blocks
       
md0 : active raid1 sdc1[1]
      513984 blocks [2/1] [_U]

mount -t ext2 /dev/md0 /boot

# after the rsync procedure exit "chroot"
$ exit

RAID 1 FAQ's

UUID's of all devices

In order to keep the overview of all UUID's, you have to document them: 

Command example:
$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="d865e07f-1239-4ce5-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sda2: UUID="a95c611a-03e2-d4d1-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sda3: UUID="c1170d14-3914-bd88-0bfb-90c00f4e6a6d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdb1: UUID="d865e07f-1239-4ce5-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdb2: UUID="a95c611a-03e2-d4d1-a78e-c32f6eb6df8d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/sdb3: UUID="c1170d14-3914-bd88-0bfb-90c00f4e6a6d" TYPE="linux_raid_member" 
/dev/md0: UUID="135c7575-a651-4c6f-8a4d-630f97b6691b" TYPE="ext2" 
/dev/md2: LABEL="MX250" UUID="624cbccb-5008-40aa-94a1-35d23000b776" TYPE="ext3" 
/dev/md1: UUID="ad16b658-952b-4276-9623-37d0246c1e06" TYPE="swap" 

$ sudo mdadm -Es
ARRAY /dev/md0 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=d865e07f:12394ce5:a78ec32f:6eb6df8d
ARRAY /dev/md1 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=a95c611a:03e2d4d1:a78ec32f:6eb6df8d
ARRAY /dev/md2 level=raid1 num-devices=2 UUID=c1170d14:3914bd88:0bfb90c0:0f4e6a6d

List of pages in this category:

  1. AcerAspireE1-731
  2. FormTest
  3. InfoUbuntu
  4. InfoUbuntu1404
  5. InfoUbuntu1604
  6. InfoWindows7
  7. LaserEngraverDVD
  8. MacroForm
  9. NAS
  10. Recipes
  11. RsyncDaemonMode
  12. UbuntuRaid1
  13. UbuntuRaid1Log
  14. UvccaptureBuild
  15. WikiEinrichten
  16. WlanRepeater
  17. WordPress

-- RudolfReuter 2010-12-19 13:02:01

Go back to CategoryHowTo or FrontPage ; KontaktEmail (ContactEmail)

UbuntuRaid1 (last edited 2014-07-13 09:34:12 by RudolfReuter)