Ubuntu 24.04 noble-minimal VM kernel boot problems

User Support
1

Hello @unman,

Thank you for providing this template for the older release of Ubuntu. I am experimenting with booting VM-local kernels and I ran into an issue with this template. After installing a kernel and running grub-install /dev/xvda and update-grub, and then configuring for VM kernel boot, the VM does not come up. I see this in the /var/log/xen/console/guest-noble-minimal.log log:

/scripts/local-top/qubes_cow_setup: line 116: sfdisk: not found
Qubes: failed to setup partitions on volatile device

Which I can bypass by installing the fdisk package and updating the qubes_cow_setup.sh script to change sfdisk references to /sbin/sfdisk and reinstalling the kernel.

I then meet this error in the log on next boot:

/scripts/local-top/qubes_cow_setup: line 128: swapon: not found

This one I bypassed by commenting out the swapon call and that allowed the boot to continue. The swapon binary does not appear to be available in the initramfs.

After these changes the VM kernel boot succeeds.

2

Thanks for the interesting note. You’ve done an excellent job in
diagnosing and resolving the issues. Great use to any other users who
wants to do the same.
I dont know if the same issues will arise with other templates: I will
check at some point. It shouldnt be difficult to incorporate your work
in to the template build so that native kernels boot correctly.
Thanks again.

I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.