Recovering YaST logs after a failed installation attempt

This document (3673842) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

 

Situation

SUSE support has asked for YaST2 logs after a failed installation attempt.

Resolution

On occasion it may be necessary to recover log files from a failed installation. These log files can be obtained during the installation owing to the fact that the installation program is a limited installation.

Save the logs
 
  1. Start the installation and proceed to the failure
  2. Once the failure happens, hit SHIFT-F8 & save the logs when prompted.  If not prompted, hit CTRL-ALT-F2 to reach a terminal
  3. Save the logs using the "save_y2logs" command.
    save_y2logs /tmp/y2logs.tgz
  4. Pick one of the log recovery methods
  5. If requested, obtain additional logs as instructed
     
 
Network log recovery method

This method will only work when the default Linux kernel recognizes the Ethernet device.
  1. Test to see if you can do a network transfer
    ifconfig eth0

    If network transfer can be done output may be similar to:
    eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1A:4B:B7:31:13
    inet addr:10.0.0.1 Bcast:10.0.0.255 Mask:255.255.252.0
    UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
    RX packets:10391609 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
    TX packets:1509514 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
    collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
    RX bytes:7441707132 (7096.9 Mb) TX bytes:151197714 (144.1 Mb)
    
    An IP address may or may not be assigned, If you see output for eth0, then you may do a network based transfer of the log files.
     
  2. Select a method for assigning an IP address if one is not present
    • When a DHCP Server exists
      dhcpcd eth0
    • Static Assignment for transfer within same subnet
      ifconfig eth0 NETADDRESS broadcast BROADCAST_ADDRESS
    • Static Assignment for transfer outside the the subnet
      ifconfig eth0 NETADDRESS broadcast BROADCAST_ADDRESS
      route add default gw ROUTER_IP_ADDRESS netmask BROADCAST_ADDRESS
       
  3. Ping the target to make sure that it is setup correctly
    ping 10.0.0.10
     
  4. Transfer methods
    • SSH (Recommended between Linux hosts)
      scp /tmp/y2logs.tgz USER@host:/LOCATION/name
    • Transfer to Samba Share or Windows Server
      mount -t cifs //IPADDRESS/share /mnt -o username=USER
      cp /tmp/y2logs.tgz /mnt
      umount /mnt
    • NFS to Linux or UNIX server
      mount -t nfs IPADDRESS:/share /mnt
      cp /tmp/y2logs.tgz /mnt
      umount /mnt
       
  5. Retrieve the logs from the remote server

USB drive log recovery

This method requires the following
  • The computer must have USB drive capabilities
  • The USB drive must be formatted with a FAT, VFAT, EXT2, EXT3, ReiserFS, XFS, FAT, or VFAT file systems. Other filesystems, in particular NTFS, are not suitable.
  1. Load the USB kernel modules
    modprobe usb-storage
  2. Plug the USB drive in the computer
  3. Determine what device it is
    dmesg
    Example:
    USB Mass Storage support registered.
    scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access CRUCIAL USB Flash Disk 2.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
    ready
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] 1017856 512-byte hardware sectors (521 MB)
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] 1017856 512-byte hardware sectors (521 MB)
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
    sdd: sdd1 <-- THIS IS THE DEVICE NAME
    sd 6:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI removable disk
    sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
    usb-storage: device scan complete
    Look for the kernel device name, in this case, /dev/sdd, with a partition on /dev/sdd1
  4. Mount the volume
    mount /dev/sdd1 /mnt
  5. Copy the file over
    cp /tmp/y2logs.tgz /mnt
  6. Dismount the volume
    umount /mnt
  7. Remove the USB drive and examine the logs another another computer

Additional files or output that may be needed
  • /var/log/messages
  • Hardware information (the file after -log is the name of the file)
    hwinfo -log /tmp/hwinfo.log
  • Kernel messages output (the file after > is name of the file)
    dmesg > /tmp/dmesg.log

Additional Information

See also the openSUSE document: Report a YaST bug

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

  • Document ID:3673842
  • Creation Date: 27-Feb-2008
  • Modified Date:05-Mar-2021
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time Extension

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