Running Mageia 7 with latest kernel and Xfce desktop.

There was talk about overcoming the recent Cups problem by adding a
command to rc.local. I decided to use the same method to keep my
customized /etc/default/grub file. Commands in rc.local are run during bootup, after all the numbered "rc" files.

rc.local used to be an empty entry in the rc.d series, but recently,
some distros (including Mageia) have omitted it entirely, so I added
one. It turned out not to be that easy.

First off, I treated rc.local as a FILE, while all the other items are FOLDERS. That may be one reason why it didn't work, but there is always
the statement "Be sure to make rc.local executable." Anyway, I simply
deleted rc.local, assuming that it would put me back as before, but that
made the bootup hang. Shorewall and the display manager couldn't start,
and that was only the beginning. Apparently what I went back to, wasn't
what I had before.

Here is what I discovered.

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can
be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run. There
is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create those
..service files at

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd

I haven't tried it. I don't need my new command every time, only for a
new kernel. I will keep the command as an executable file I can run
when required. I fixed my system with my usual first try, running the
Mageia installer with the "update" option.

Doug.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

Running Mageia 7 with latest kernel and Xfce desktop.

There was talk about overcoming the recent Cups problem by adding a
command to rc.local. I decided to use the same method to keep my
customized /etc/default/grub file.

I do not understand that relation between /etc/default/grub and rc.local

Commands in rc.local are run during
bootup, after all the numbered "rc" files.

rc.local used to be an empty entry in the rc.d series, but recently,
some distros (including Mageia) have omitted it entirely, so I added
one. It turned out not to be that easy.

Hmmm, it is pretty easy.

First off, I treated rc.local as a FILE,

Which it should be.

while all the other items are FOLDERS.

Very true, those rc scripts are kept in folders, or have links in
the folders to scripts.

That may be one reason why it didn't work, but there is always
the statement "Be sure to make rc.local executable."

That is a good basic rule used to make it easy for the shell to run them
as coded.

Anyway, I simply
deleted rc.local, assuming that it would put me back as before, but that
made the bootup hang.

Now that is odd. You do an install, there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local and
the system boots. You create one then delete it and now system does not
boot. Not sure how that happens. At worst it should have been logged
in the journal and the system would continue without it.

Shorewall and the display manager couldn't start,
and that was only the beginning.

Intriguing that shorewall did not start since the rc.local has
After=network.target
which means rc.local will not start executing till after the network is up.

Apparently what I went back to, wasn't
what I had before.

Still not following logically speaking. You install/boot, create rc.local
don't like it, deleted it, and now system does not boot correctly.

Here is what I discovered.

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can
be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run.

Not my experience. I see the service file, but as you have found out
there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local file which you would have to create,
set executable, test, then run systemctl enable rc-local.service

There
is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create those
.service files at

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd

I can not resolve the site let alone the link.

I haven't tried it. I don't need my new command every time, only for a
new kernel.

Hmmmm, guessing now the conversion is really about your script modify /etc/default/grub

I suggest that you show us your modification(s). I would guess a new one
line entry would make all this extra work go away.

I will keep the command as an executable file I can run
when required. I fixed my system with my usual first try, running the
Mageia installer with the "update" option.

Can only guess /etc/default/grub fixed, or update had a new kernel with
caused a new grub.cfg to be generated.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 04:52:05 -0600, Bit Twister wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can
be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run.

Not my experience. I see the service file, but as you have found out
there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local file which you would have to create,
set executable, test, then run systemctl enable rc-local.service

There is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create
those .service files at

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local- with-systemd.

I can not resolve the site let alone the link.

There is a typo in the server name. Search for how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd and you will find it.

The tutorial mentions an alternative of using a @reboot line in crontab.
I can find no documentation on my system man pages for such a line. Is
it an Ubuntu/Kubuntu thing?

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 2019-11-04, Doug Laidlaw <laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> wrote:

Running Mageia 7 with latest kernel and Xfce desktop.

There was talk about overcoming the recent Cups problem by adding a
command to rc.local. I decided to use the same method to keep my
customized /etc/default/grub file. Commands in rc.local are run during bootup, after all the numbered "rc" files.

rc.local used to be an empty entry in the rc.d series, but recently,
some distros (including Mageia) have omitted it entirely, so I added
one. It turned out not to be that easy.

First off, I treated rc.local as a FILE, while all the other items are

It is a file. And it needs to be executable. And if it does not exist,
it is not run.

FOLDERS. That may be one reason why it didn't work, but there is always
the statement "Be sure to make rc.local executable." Anyway, I simply deleted rc.local, assuming that it would put me back as before, but that made the bootup hang. Shorewall and the display manager couldn't start,
and that was only the beginning. Apparently what I went back to, wasn't what I had before.

That is strange.

Here is what I discovered.

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can
be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run. There
is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create those .service files at

Yes, there is It starts running rc.local


Here id the /lib/systemd/system/rc-local.service file (from Mga7)

----------------

# SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
#
# This file is part of systemd.
#
# systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
# under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.

# This unit gets pulled automatically into multi-user.target by
# systemd-rc-local-generator if /etc/rc.d/rc.local is executable.
[Unit]
Description=/etc/rc.d/rc.local Compatibility Documentation=man:systemd-rc-local-generator(8) ConditionFileIsExecutable=/etc/rc.d/rc.local
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/etc/rc.d/rc.local start
TimeoutSec=0
RemainAfterExit=yes
GuessMainPID=no
------------------------------------------------------------




https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd

I haven't tried it. I don't need my new command every time, only for a
new kernel. I will keep the command as an executable file I can run
when required. I fixed my system with my usual first try, running the Mageia installer with the "update" option.

Doug.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 15:11:31 -0000 (UTC), Jim Beard wrote:

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 04:52:05 -0600, Bit Twister wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-

with-systemd.

I can not resolve the site let alone the link.

There is a typo in the server name. Search for how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd and you will find it.

The tutorial mentions an alternative of using a @reboot line in crontab.
I can find no documentation on my system man pages for such a line.

Let alone the cron executable. :)
$ type cron
bash: type: cron: not found

Is it an Ubuntu/Kubuntu thing?

Yes.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

In alt.os.linux.mageia, you wrote:

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 04:52:05 -0600, Bit Twister wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can
be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run.

Not my experience. I see the service file, but as you have found out
there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local file which you would have to create,
set executable, test, then run systemctl enable rc-local.service

There is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create
those .service files at

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-

with-systemd.

I can not resolve the site let alone the link.

There is a typo in the server name. Search for how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd and you will find it.

And would it have been harder to state that it should be linuxbabe
rather than linux-babe?
The original poster had already found that page. It is just the readers
of his post who might have been confused, and who you are making more
work for.

Note that the advice in that post is pretty useless as far as I can see.
You do not (certainly not on Mageia) need to alter /local/systemd/system/rc-local.service ( which does exist). All you have
to do is to created an /etc/rc.d/rc.local file as a shell script )(ie
first line is
#!/bin/bash
or
#!/bin/sh
)
and make it executable.
No need to mess with systemd.

Note that on Mageia it is /etc/rc.d/rc.local that is needed, NOT
/etc/rc.local



--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 4/11/19 9:52 pm, Bit Twister wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

Running Mageia 7 with latest kernel and Xfce desktop.

There was talk about overcoming the recent Cups problem by adding a
command to rc.local. I decided to use the same method to keep my
customized /etc/default/grub file.

I do not understand that relation between /etc/default/grub and rc.local

Keep reading. I find the "corner" problem with Grub2 an ongoing
nuisance. I have /etc/default/grub configured to make my box boot into
Mageia by default, then the next kernel upgrade restores it to "saved." rc.local seemed like a good place to put a command to keep my config.
Anyway, this thread is about using rc.local, whatever the reason.

Commands in rc.local are run during
bootup, after all the numbered "rc" files.

rc.local used to be an empty entry in the rc.d series, but recently,
some distros (including Mageia) have omitted it entirely, so I added
one. It turned out not to be that easy.

Hmmm, it is pretty easy.

Adding it was easy. Removing it when it didn't work, was not.

First off, I treated rc.local as a FILE,

Which it should be.

while all the other items are FOLDERS.

Very true, those rc scripts are kept in folders, or have links in
the folders to scripts.

That may be one reason why it didn't work, but there is always
the statement "Be sure to make rc.local executable."

That is a good basic rule used to make it easy for the shell to run them
as coded.

Anyway, I simply
deleted rc.local, assuming that it would put me back as before, but that
made the bootup hang.

Now that is odd. You do an install, there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local and
the system boots. You create one then delete it and now system does not
boot. Not sure how that happens. At worst it should have been logged
in the journal and the system would continue without it.

No, the system hung when it couldn't start the rc-local service. The
command in the journal had no timeout, i.e. it would stay at that point forever.

Shorewall and the display manager couldn't start,
and that was only the beginning.

Intriguing that shorewall did not start since the rc.local has
After=network.target
which means rc.local will not start executing till after the network is up.

I think that you mean that shorewall's .service file has that line.
Maybe the network hadn't started, so shorewall wouldn't.

Apparently what I went back to, wasn't
what I had before.

Still not following logically speaking. You install/boot, create rc.local don't like it, deleted it, and now system does not boot correctly.

Which I found surprising. All I did was delete a file, a script.

Here is what I discovered.

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can
be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run.

Not my experience. I see the service file, but as you have found out
there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local file which you would have to create,
set executable, test, then run systemctl enable rc-local.service

There
is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create those
.service files at

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd

I can not resolve the site let alone the link.

A typo. I copied it from my tablet. It should be: https://www.linuxbabe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etcrc-local-with-systemd
#All on one line. Two differences.

I haven't tried it. I don't need my new command every time, only for a
new kernel.

Hmmmm, guessing now the conversion is really about your script modify /etc/default/grub

Don't guess what it is about. I tried to keep out all peripheral
information.

I suggest that you show us your modification(s). I would guess a new one
line entry would make all this extra work go away.

Maybe. This post isn't a request for help. It is meant to be rather
like a HOWTO, for those who experience a similar problem..

I will keep the command as an executable file I can run
when required. I fixed my system with my usual first try, running the
Mageia installer with the "update" option.

Can only guess /etc/default/grub fixed, or update had a new kernel with caused a new grub.cfg to be generated.

Isn't that what I said?

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 5/11/19 2:11 am, Jim Beard wrote:

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 04:52:05 -0600, Bit Twister wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can
be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run.

Not my experience. I see the service file, but as you have found out
there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local file which you would have to create,
set executable, test, then run systemctl enable rc-local.service

There is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create
those .service files at

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-

with-systemd.

I can not resolve the site let alone the link.

There is a typo in the server name. Search for how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd and you will find it.

The tutorial mentions an alternative of using a @reboot line in crontab.
I can find no documentation on my system man pages for such a line. Is
it an Ubuntu/Kubuntu thing?

Cheers!

jim b.

The site is a new one to me. It is not meant to be distro specific. See

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/109804/crontabs-reboot-only-works-for- root

That user had CentOS.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Aioe.org NNTP Server (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 10:11:31 -0500, Jim Beard <jim.beard@verizon.net> wrote:

The tutorial mentions an alternative of using a @reboot line in crontab.
I can find no documentation on my system man pages for such a line. Is
it an Ubuntu/Kubuntu thing?

No. See "man 5 crontab".

Regards, Dave Hodgins

--
Change dwhodgins@nomail.afraid.org to davidwhodgins@teksavvy.com for
email replies.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 2019-11-04, Doug Laidlaw <laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> wrote:

On 4/11/19 9:52 pm, Bit Twister wrote:

....

Now that is odd. You do an install, there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local and
the system boots. You create one then delete it and now system does not
boot. Not sure how that happens. At worst it should have been logged
in the journal and the system would continue without it.

No, the system hung when it couldn't start the rc-local service. The command in the journal had no timeout, i.e. it would stay at that point forever.

Are you using the Mageia systemd file? (rc-local.service) because it
explicitly checks where or not rc.local exists and is executable. If
not, it quits as I understand it.
So something is weird in your system. What is the content of /etc/systemd/system/rc-local.service. And do NOT use that Ubuntu version
you gave the link to.

.....

There
is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create those
.service files at

It is a bad tutorial for mageia.

....

https://www.linuxbabe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etcrc-local-with-systemd

.......

Hmmmm, guessing now the conversion is really about your script modify
/etc/default/grub

Don't guess what it is about. I tried to keep out all peripheral information.

You do not understand what is happening. Why should you trust your
judgement as to what is peripheral?
And if you do not give the information, what can anyone do but guess?



--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 2019-11-04, Doug Laidlaw <laidlaws@hotkey.net.au> wrote:

On 5/11/19 2:11 am, Jim Beard wrote:

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 04:52:05 -0600, Bit Twister wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

There is a systemd service, rc-local. On a default installation it can >>>> be queried, but initially, it has no .service files and can't run.

Not my experience. I see the service file, but as you have found out
there is no /etc/rc.d/rc.local file which you would have to create,
set executable, test, then run systemctl enable rc-local.service

There is a good tutorial on what the service does, and how to create
those .service files at

https://www.linux-babe.com/linux-server/how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-

with-systemd.

I can not resolve the site let alone the link.

There is a typo in the server name. Search for
how-to-enable-etc-rc-local-with-systemd and you will find it.

The tutorial mentions an alternative of using a @reboot line in crontab.
I can find no documentation on my system man pages for such a line. Is
it an Ubuntu/Kubuntu thing?

Cheers!

jim b.

The site is a new one to me. It is not meant to be distro specific. See

But is IS distro specific. I posted the
/lib/systemd/system/rc-local.service file from Mageia 7. Why not use
that which is designed for Mageia 7, especially since you admit you do
not know what you are doing.



https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/109804/crontabs-reboot-only-works-for- root

That user had CentOS.

Fine. And you have Mageia. Distributions differ. Some people believe
that the only Linux distribution is Ubuntu, so that if they present
something for that it is for everything. Some believe Redhat is the only
good distrution and everyone else deseres to be punished.
Use the Mageia solution. It certainly works for me, and yes I do use
rc.local, and have about five different commands in it. And it works.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On 04.11.2019 at 23:21, William Unruh scribbled:

Some believe Redhat is the only good distrution and everyone else
deseres to be punished.

No, the punishing thing only comes from Slackware users. RedHat's style
is more along the lines of "Resistance is futile, you will be
assimilated."

:p


--
With respect,
= Aragorn =


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Strider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Tue, 5 Nov 2019 07:31:11 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

On 4/11/19 9:52 pm, Bit Twister wrote:

On Mon, 4 Nov 2019 20:22:32 +1100, Doug Laidlaw wrote:

Running Mageia 7 with latest kernel and Xfce desktop.

There was talk about overcoming the recent Cups problem by adding a
command to rc.local. I decided to use the same method to keep my
customized /etc/default/grub file.

I do not understand that relation between /etc/default/grub and rc.local

Keep reading. I find the "corner" problem with Grub2 an ongoing
nuisance. I have /etc/default/grub configured to make my box boot into Mageia by default, then the next kernel upgrade restores it to "saved."

Then I suggest you update https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=18783 GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT is still being clobbered on mga7 kernel updates.

Since my grub setup is heavily updated, my grub make file has hidden that problem from me since I execute it after my install_script updates a kernel.

No, the system hung when it couldn't start the rc-local service. The
command in the journal had no timeout, i.e. it would stay at that point forever.

Hmmm, seems like I have seen a few threads where one or more people
would complain about the default 5 minutes it takes for a service to
do its think before systemd would move on to the rest of the sequence
in the event of failure.

Shorewall and the display manager couldn't start,
and that was only the beginning.

Intriguing that shorewall did not start since the rc.local has
After=network.target
which means rc.local will not start executing till after the network is up. >>

I think that you mean that shorewall's .service file has that line.

Or just maybe I did a "systemctl status rc-local.service"
on the rc-local service file, that you said did not exist. and actually did
a "cat /usr/lib/systemd/system/rc-local.service" indicated in service file prior to my reply.



--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 15:07:22 -0500, David W. Hodgins wrote:

On Mon, 04 Nov 2019 10:11:31 -0500, Jim Beard <jim.beard@verizon.net>
wrote:

The tutorial mentions an alternative of using a @reboot line in
crontab.
I can find no documentation on my system man pages for such a line. Is
it an Ubuntu/Kubuntu thing?

No. See "man 5 crontab".

Found it. It has been years since I looked in man 5 documentation, and
it did not even cross my mind.

Thank you.

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly, it merely expects users to be computer-
friendly.

--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.12A (GNU/Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (2:250/1@fidonet)