grub-common recreates /etc/grub/grubenv

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Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

This patch is not sufficient, as grub-install calls grub-editenv /boot/grub/grubenv create unconditionally. I've attached another patch which stops grub-install from creating grubenv when /boot/grub is on ZFS.

If we care about the possible use case of an admin who doesn't want grubenv, further work will be required; otherwise it'll come back on every GRUB package upgrade. However, this use case isn't covered now, so I'd hate to see the ZFS fix held up on that.

Jordan_U in #grub suggested that GRUB should just not fail on boot when grubenv is read-only. That would sidestep the need for these changes. I'll pursue that option a bit. Ignore the patches for now.

My original description was wrong. This does not stop the boot. GRUB does timeout and continue.

After more thought, I believe my two patches are the correct solution to this problem. If we were to simply suppress the error on boot, then an admin who wants the features provided by the grubenv file would be thinking, "This appears to be setup correctly. The grubenv file exists. I don't get any errors. Why doesn't this work?"

I've attached "zfs-ubuntu-disable-recordfail.patch".

This supersedes my previous patches and takes a different approach. It disables the recordfail feature for filesystems to which GRUB cannot write (btrfs, zfs, etc.).

The changes from this patch are on top of (and should be folded into) debian/patches/ubuntu_failed_boot_menu.patch in the existing Ubuntu package.

This approach has the following benefits:
* On btrfs (and zfs, etc.), we don't show an error (and add delay) on every boot.
* We allow for the use of any and all features where GRUB only needs to *read* grubenv at boot.
* If the admin enables a different feature that uses save_env, it fails with an error rather than silently.

Can I get a review on the most recent patch? It's been a year with no comment.

Applied, thanks; apologies for the long delay.

After this update grub-pc failed to install

This bug was fixed in the package grub2 - 2.00-18ubuntu3

---------------
grub2 (2.00-18ubuntu3) saucy; urgency=low

  * Fix recordfail-disabling patch to take account of the GRUB_PREFIX
    variable no longer existing.
 -- Colin Watson <email address hidden> Wed, 11 Sep 2013 17:41:22 +0100