almalinux 92 on EFI systems

[Jiroun]

when try to install almalinux 9 using installimage

I got this error

ERROR: we do not yet support almalinux 92 on EFI systems

is this possible to be fixed soon ?

or is there anyway I can install it myself ?

Thanks

[kleisauke]

I think AlmaLinux 9 (and other RHEL 9 derivatives) isn't officially supported yet, see: #57.

That said, it seems that the installimage version via NFS is different from what is here on GitHub (similar to issue #89), at least on the AX41-NVMe server. For example, it has this change:

--- a/functions.sh
+++ b/functions.sh
@@ -1024,7 +1024,7 @@ validate_vars() {
     graph_error "ERROR: CentOS 6 is EOL since Nov 2020 and installimage does not support CentOS 6 anymore"
     return 1
   fi
-  if (( UEFI == 1 )) && rhel_9_based_image; then
+  if (( UEFI == 1 )) && rhel_9_based_image && test -z "$RHEL9_UEFI_OVERRIDE" ; then
     graph_error "ERROR: we do not yet support $IAM $IMG_VERSION on EFI systems"
     return 1
   fi

which means that this check is disabled whenever the RHEL9_UEFI_OVERRIDE variable is not set. However, I suspect that only the AX41-NVMe servers have this change.

[uzairjhandir]

i have hetzer dedicated server i dont want to install almalinux 8

when try to install almalinux 9 using installimage

I got this error

ERROR: we do not yet support almalinux 92 on EFI systems

is this possible to be fixed soon ?

or is there anyway I can install it myself ?

Thanks

[duderuud]

@uzairjhandir Yes you can:
https://www.endpointdev.com/blog/2023/07/rocky-linux-9-at-hetzner-robot-made-quick-and-easy/

But look at the comments, it's a workaround. Just make sure you exclude grub2 from updating:
edit /etc/yum.conf and add line
exclude=grub2-*

Again, this is a workaround and not a long term solution.

[rafelamer]

Hi,
I have the same problem with a AX102 server and I need to install Rocky Linux.
what can I do?
Best regards,
Rafel Amer

[duderuud]

Install Alma9 and change
/boot/efi/EFI/almalinux/grub.cfg:
search --no-floppy --root-dev-only --fs-uuid --set=dev
to
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=dev

So remove "--root-dev-only"

No guarantees it will survive an update so test it before using it in a prod environment

[rafelamer]

Hi,
but how can I install Rocky Linux 9.2? I'm not able to install it.

When I run installimage, I get the error
ERROR: we do not yet support rockylinux 92 on EFI systems

Best regards,
Rafel Amer

[duderuud]

Start rescue mode and run:
cp /root/images/Alma-92-amd64-base.tar.gz /root/Alma-87-amd64-base.tar.gz
installimage -> custom image
edit "hostname" and "image": IMAGE /root/Alma-87-amd64-base.tar.gz
Press F10 and save

[SeanBremner]

Hi there duderuud! :)

Thank you so much for always coming back to this topic & offering these tips - they've really helped me successfully install Almalinux 9 on a new AX42 server from Hetzner.

I managed to have mine working fine for more than a day, and a series of reboots were done without any issue between installs of other software like Plesk, Litespeed & Redis - however it has now just failed again, despite the exclusion of grub2 from yum's update.

Is there any way to recover it in the current state, or will I need to wipe it clean & reinstall Almalinux 9 from scratch again? Also, do you have any further ideas of what could've possibly caused it to fail like this?

I'm in the middle of migrating from a server running CentOS 7 to a new one, which I was hoping could've run Alma 9, and have various trial periods which will only last 14 days - so I'm working against the clock here haha!

[duderuud]

No problem, happy to help.

It isn't possible to restore a snapshot so you have to reinstall using the rescue mode described above.

Without knowing any details it's impossible to tell what went wrong.

Not a 100% sure if the latest Grub patches are applied in Alma 9 already but just to be certain:

• Install Alma9 as I described above
• Run a "dnf update"
• "vi /boot/efi/EFI/almalinux/grub.cfg" -> remove “--root-dev-only”
• "grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/almalinux/grub.cfg"
• Reboot

That should fix the Grub issues.

And if you are up for some broadening of your horizon, check out Centminmod
Fantastic software stack which is reliable, easy to understand once you read into it and above all...it's FAST!

I use it on all my servers, it's really great.