CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released • Hacker News Board

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#31

Post by jlgaddis » Tue, May 15, 2018, 12:45 AM UTC

eatandwonder wrote: post #13

Technical problem for which I haven't found a hint of an answer online: I'm installing CentOS 7.0 x64 on a Thinkpad, my first Linux install. The install seems to go fine but on boot, right after the BIOS splash screen, in text mode, I see the following, then it stops (I'm going to use italics to be nice to people with small screens): Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\grubx64.efi - Not Found Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\grub…

First, let me say that if you're doing a clean/new installation, I'd recommend installing CentOS 7.5 directly (as opposed to, say, installing 7.0 and immediately upgrading to 7.5). 7.0 is almost four years old at this point and your ThinkPad's hardware may be slightly better supported by 7.5.

Anyways, you might consider posting the details (including verbatim error messages, hardware (partitioning) details, etc.) in a new post on the CentOS forums [0] or inquire about the error message on the CentOS IRC channel [1].

Alternatively, if you continue to run into issues with the installation, feel free to reach out to me if you'd like. I'm not associated with either Red Hat or CentOS but I do run a lot of RHEL/CentOS machines (mostly on servers but I do happen to have a ThinkPad running RHEL 7.5 sitting here by me) and I'd be happy to help troubleshoot the issue with you, if necessary.

[0]: https://www.centos.org/forums/

[1]: https://wiki.centos.org/irc

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#32

Post by jlgaddis » Tue, May 15, 2018, 12:47 AM UTC

volkadav wrote: post #30

eatandwonder wrote: post #13

Technical problem for which I haven't found a hint of an answer online: I'm installing CentOS 7.0 x64 on a Thinkpad, my first Linux install. The install seems to go fine but on boot, right after the BIOS splash screen, in text mode, I see the following, then it stops (I'm going to use italics to be nice to people with small screens): Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\grubx64.efi - Not Found Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\grub…

Echoing others, you may have a much easier time installing linux in a virtualbox(.org) vm than doing so onto a laptop as a bare metal install. CentOS is not targeted at desktop use much; if that's your goal and you're new to linux, Ubuntu may be an easier ride. Good luck!

I'd certainly agree with you in general but ThinkPads are pretty popular at Red Hat (and at their biggest customer) and, as a result, they are probably better supported than other any model of laptops.

I've been running RHEL on a ThinkPad T420 for years without any major issues. It Just Works(tm).

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#33

Post by jlgaddis » Tue, May 15, 2018, 12:58 AM UTC

Diggity wrote: post #20

One major undocumented problem that I did not see in the patch notes involves openldap. Specifically there is some error in generating a PID file in the system-d service call. I solved the problem by removing/commenting out the run PID line in /usr/lib/systemd/system/slapd.service

There are a few "known issues" with OpenLDAP [0] in the RHEL 7.5 release notes but I don't see that one mentioned.

ICYMI, the openldap-servers package is "deprecated and will not be included in a future major release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux".

For RHEL, that means it will remain in the 7.x versions but will not be included in 8.x when it is released (which should be Real Soon Now(tm)).

For CentOS, that also (likely) means that OpenLDAP will not be included in future (major) versions.

[0]: https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterp...

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#34

Post by eatandwonder » Tue, May 15, 2018, 1:35 AM UTC

jlgaddis wrote: post #31

eatandwonder wrote: post #13

Technical problem for which I haven't found a hint of an answer online: I'm installing CentOS 7.0 x64 on a Thinkpad, my first Linux install. The install seems to go fine but on boot, right after the BIOS splash screen, in text mode, I see the following, then it stops (I'm going to use italics to be nice to people with small screens): Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\grubx64.efi - Not Found Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\grub…

First, let me say that if you're doing a clean/new installation, I'd recommend installing CentOS 7.5 directly (as opposed to, say, installing 7.0 and immediately upgrading to 7.5). 7.0 is almost four years old at this point and your ThinkPad's hardware may be slightly better supported by 7.5. Anyways, you might consider posting the details (including verbatim error messages, hardware (partitioning) details, etc.) in…

That's very kind, thank you. I'll try your suggestions and will keep your generous offer in mind.

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#35

Post by eatandwonder » Tue, May 15, 2018, 1:44 AM UTC

topspin wrote: post #29

eatandwonder wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This may be related to having an older machine that doesn't support EFI boot. The machine is a Thinkpad from the last couple of years. It definitely supports UEFI. I'd think it would have to be a very old machine to not support it at this point, or am I misunderstanding something?

May I ask why you chose CentOS for a laptop? You mentioned this was your first Linux install, which makes me suspect you might do better with another Linux distribution. CentOS, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux from which it is derived, is usually used on server hardware and virtual machines. It certainly can be installed on a portable machine, but you will struggle more than you would with a distribution that is optimiz…

Good question. I'm aware there are distros with better laptop compatibility and more features, and that CentOS is a bit of an unconventional choice. Here is my reasoning, but I have very limited experienced with the nuts and bolts of Linux and I appreciate any feedback I can get:

I work professionally in IT and one reason I'm installing it is to better learn my way around Linux. RHEL is the most prominent distro in business so CentOS seems the place to start. There's no better way to learn than to keep burning my hand. :)

I did make sure I used a Thinkpad to maximize the chance of a successful, functional outcome with CentOS or any other distro or 'nix. AFAICT, Thinkpads are by far the most popular machines among the developers of the various 'nixes.

One advantage to CentOS, for me, is its stability. I don't want rapid upgrade cycles. I have no need for the latest and greatest; I'm not gaming; I don't even use Bluetooth. Vim and a web browser should work fine regardless of the distro.

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#36

Post by digitalzombie » Tue, May 15, 2018, 2:21 AM UTC

mlindner wrote: post #10

hd4 wrote: post #3

Is it true that most of Silicon Valley runs on CentOS?

It's literally the oldest most out of date Linux distro available (even this update), so probably. CentOS recently added Python 2.7 instead of Python 2.6...

IIRC it's a clone of redhat and redhat is in the business of support.

Big companies goes to red hat because they promise to support software beyond their life cycle for years. So that's that.

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#37

Post by fl0wenol » Tue, May 15, 2018, 2:30 AM UTC

eatandwonder wrote: post #13

Technical problem for which I haven't found a hint of an answer online: I'm installing CentOS 7.0 x64 on a Thinkpad, my first Linux install. The install seems to go fine but on boot, right after the BIOS splash screen, in text mode, I see the following, then it stops (I'm going to use italics to be nice to people with small screens): Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\grubx64.efi - Not Found Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\grub…

Your intuition is right, your EFI boot menu entries are pointing to the wrong path for GRUB (grubx64.efi).

Basically this problem is because Anaconda (the RedHat / CentOS installer) puts the files in [/boot]/efi/centos/... when you install into a UEFI-capable system, but efibootmgr, the tool that manipulates your laptop's NVRAM to tell the UEFI boot loader what to display/default boot, was being told they're in [/boot]/efi/boot/... That's the standard location on other Linux types (Ubuntu, Arch, etc.) and is being picked up as a default somewhere.

If you patch or upgrade the system subsequent to your initial installation, it can mess this part up (supposedly this was fixed in RH/CentOS 7.4)

You can make a one-time fix using efibootmgr from rescue mode from the installation DVD as pointed out in the linked mailing list post by others.

But my recommendation would be to blow away the existing partitions and try doing it from scratch using 7.5 if you haven't done anything with the system yet.

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#38

Post by eatandwonder » Tue, May 15, 2018, 3:12 AM UTC

fl0wenol wrote: post #37

eatandwonder wrote: post #13

Technical problem for which I haven't found a hint of an answer online: I'm installing CentOS 7.0 x64 on a Thinkpad, my first Linux install. The install seems to go fine but on boot, right after the BIOS splash screen, in text mode, I see the following, then it stops (I'm going to use italics to be nice to people with small screens): Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\grubx64.efi - Not Found Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\grub…

Your intuition is right, your EFI boot menu entries are pointing to the wrong path for GRUB (grubx64.efi). Basically this problem is because Anaconda (the RedHat / CentOS installer) puts the files in [/boot]/efi/centos/... when you install into a UEFI-capable system, but efibootmgr , the tool that manipulates your laptop's NVRAM to tell the UEFI boot loader what to display/default boot, was being told they're in [/bo…

Awesome! Thank you. I was hoping someone would recognize the problem. Yes, I have nothing invested in the current install (it hasn't even booted), so I was going to take the opportunity to switch to 7.5 anyway.

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#39

Post by eatandwonder » Tue, May 15, 2018, 3:12 AM UTC

volkadav wrote: post #30

eatandwonder wrote: post #13

Technical problem for which I haven't found a hint of an answer online: I'm installing CentOS 7.0 x64 on a Thinkpad, my first Linux install. The install seems to go fine but on boot, right after the BIOS splash screen, in text mode, I see the following, then it stops (I'm going to use italics to be nice to people with small screens): Failed to open \EFI\BOOT\grubx64.efi - Not Found Failed to load image \EFI\BOOT\grub…

Echoing others, you may have a much easier time installing linux in a virtualbox(.org) vm than doing so onto a laptop as a bare metal install. CentOS is not targeted at desktop use much; if that's your goal and you're new to linux, Ubuntu may be an easier ride. Good luck!

> CentOS is not targeted at desktop use much; if that's your goal and you're new to linux, Ubuntu may be an easier ride.

Thanks. Here's my reasoning regarding my choice of distro, FWIW:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17070970

Re: CentOS Linux 7.5 (1804) Released

#40

Post by rev » Tue, May 15, 2018, 5:19 AM UTC

eatandwonder wrote: post #35

topspin wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask why you chose CentOS for a laptop? You mentioned this was your first Linux install, which makes me suspect you might do better with another Linux distribution. CentOS, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux from which it is derived, is usually used on server hardware and virtual machines. It certainly can be installed on a portable machine, but you will struggle more than you would with a distribution that is optimiz…

Good question. I'm aware there are distros with better laptop compatibility and more features, and that CentOS is a bit of an unconventional choice. Here is my reasoning, but I have very limited experienced with the nuts and bolts of Linux and I appreciate any feedback I can get: I work professionally in IT and one reason I'm installing it is to better learn my way around Linux. RHEL is the most prominent distro in b…

Is it your first foray into Unix? If so, it brings joy and a little tear to my eye to see such a properly motivated new user. Joy, as you hit all the right spots for being a good Unix user (Great Editor Holy War notwithstanding), and tear, well, because of systemd, intelligenti pauca. Maybe one day something like OpenBSD will find its way onto your machine. It works great on ThinkPads and doesn't even support Bluetooth!