7 Troubleshooting Oracle Linux Installations
This chapter describes some options for troubleshooting Oracle Linux installations. Also check the Oracle Linux release notes of the specific Oracle Linux release you are installing in Oracle Linux for any known issues.
For known hardware issues, see the release notes for your UEK release in the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel documentation.
Troubleshooting Menu Options
The boot menu on the Oracle Linux installation media contains a Troubleshooting option with the following options:
- Install the Oracle Linux release in basic graphics mode
-
Use this option if the screen goes blank or appears distorted when you try to install Oracle Linux in graphics mode.
- Rescue a Oracle Linux system
-
Use this option to boot an installed system in a mode that enables you to edit partitions or configuration files to fix a variety of boot problems.
- Run a memory test
-
Use this option to run the
memtest86
utility, which verifies the integrity of the system's RAM. - Boot from local drive
-
Use this option to boot an installed system from the hard disk.
Debug and Log Information
During an installation, you can press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the
virtual console for the installation program. This console
contains messages and debugging information output for the
installation program. Additional virtual consoles are available to
display log information from different sources, as described in
the following section. Press Ctrl+b, and then press either
n
(for next) or b
(for back)
to switch between the virtual consoles. To return to the graphical
installation program, press Ctrl+Alt+F6.
During an installation, several log files are generated, which capture messages from the following sources:
- Anaconda program
-
The
/tmp/anaconda.log
file contains Anaconda logs relating to the installation.During the installation you can access the messages stored in this log by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual console, then press Ctrl+b, and then press 3.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to
/var/log/anaconda/anaconda.log
. - Hardware detection and configuration
-
The
/tmp/syslog
file contains messages relating to the system hardware.If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to
/var/log/anaconda/syslog
. - Kickstart
-
The
/tmp/ks-name.log
file contains logs from kickstart installations.If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to
/var/log/anaconda/ks-script-name.log
. - Network detection and configuration
-
The
/tmp/ifcfg.log
file contains logs relating to network configuration.If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to
/var/log/anaconda/ifcfg.log
. - Other programs
-
The
/tmp/program.log
file contains logs from all other programs used during the installation.During the installation you can view the messages stored in this log by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual console, then press Ctrl+b, and then press 5.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to
/var/log/anaconda/program.log
. - Package installation
-
The
/tmp/packaging.log
file contains package installation messages output by thednf
andrpm
commands.If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to
/var/log/anaconda/packaging.log
. - Storage detection and configuration
-
The
/tmp/storage.log
file contains logs from the storage modules.During the installation you can view the messages stored in this log by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual console, then press Ctrl+b, and then press 4.
If the installation succeeds, the log file is copied to
/var/log/anaconda/storage.log
.
If the installation fails, the messages from these log files are
combined into a single log file at
/tmp/anaconda-tb-name
.
To access a shell prompt as the root
user
during the installation, press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to display the virtual
console. Then, press Ctrl+b, followed by pressing the number 2.
You can use the shell prompt to access the log files and to copy
them to a local storage device such as a USB device. Or, you can
copy the log files to a network location by using the
scp
command.