Can't boot when moving Linux installation from one server to another - UEFI

Question

Scenario

I have two identical Lenovo (previously IBM) servers [xSeries 3250 M5 - model 5458EHM]. I've built Linux on server 1 and I want to be able to cold swap that hard drive to server 2. (This is so that I can build a specific Linux configuration and send it to a client for them to cold swap on the same hardware).

Further information

It is a clean Linux install (Debian) on a fresh drive.
Linux was installed from CD in UEFI mode.

Once the install boots, here is the output I think is relevant:

# efibootmgr -v
BootCurrent: 0004
Timeout: 10 seconds
BootOrder: 0004,0000,0001,0002,0003
Boot0000* CD/DVD Rom   ACPI(a0341d0,0) PCI(1d,0) USB(0,0) USB(1,0)
Boot0001* Hard Disk 0  ACPI(a0341d0,0) PCI(1f,2) SATA(0,0,0) HD(1,800,100000,ab3dde4a-f8dd-420c-a103-53bbe95bc74f)
Boot0002* PXE Network  ACPI(a0341d0,0) PCI(1c,0) PCI(0,0) MAC(MAC(6cae8b5b6ae0,0)
Boot0003* Hard Disk 1  Vendor(0c588db8-6af4-11dd-a992-00197d890238,09)
Boot0004* debian       HD(1,800,100000,ab3dde4a-f8dd-420c-a103-53bbe95bc74f) File(\EFI\debian\grubx64.efi)

You can see that the Boot0004 debian installation is installed in UEFI mode.

Output from cat /etc/fstab

# <file system>                           <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=8ac79015-aa86-4105-85dd-43e3e8761ed4 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /boot/efi was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=4539-CB77                            /boot/efi       vfat    umask=0077        0       1
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=ddcc51da-f15a-4d36-b799-2fb00789e676 none            swap    sw                0       0

Edit: I've tried removing the UUID lines so instead it points to the /dev/sda partitions, same problem.

I have reloaded the default Boot firmware settings and UEFI doesn't try to load BIOS legacy boot by default.

Output from # parted /dev/sda

GNU Parted 3.2
Using /dev/sda
    Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
    (parted) p
    Model: ATA ST2000NM0033 (scsi)
    Disk /dev/sda: 2000GB
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
    Partition Table: gpt
    Disk Flags:

    Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name  Flags
     1      1049kB  538MB   537MB   fat32                 boot, esp
     2      538MB   1992GB  1991GB  ext4
     3      1992GB  2000GB  8418MB  linux-swap(v1)`

Problem

I can't boot the HDD on server 2. On load the UEFI messages state that it can't boot the 'debian' image.

What I have tried

I have tried doing the reverse, installing Linux on server 2 and cold swapping the disk to server 1 and have the same problem.
I have moved the HDD to a third machine (desktop grade PC) and it won't boot either.

What am I missing?

I suppose that the 2nd machine isn't configured to boot directly to debian (UEFI problem): if you run efibootmgr -v on the 2nd machine, you'll probably see that the debian line isn't there. — cylgalad, May 10 '16 at 07:17
Also check if /boot/EFI/boot/bootx64.efi exists, if not, copy your bootloader .efi to it, that might solve the problem. — cylgalad, May 10 '16 at 07:24
@cylgalad, on boot I DO see the debian entry on the 2nd machine within the hardware firmware. I can select it and try to boot off it and it still says it can't boot from it. Also, the boot file exists on the hard drive. I'm also moving the physical hard drive, not cloning, not copying. Pulling it from one server to another. — Heath, May 10 '16 at 20:51
Have you tried to mount the ESP as /boot instead of /boot/efi? Have you checked efibootmgr -v on the other machine? Do you use an actual bootloader like grub or systemd-boot? Have you disabled useless SecureBoot? — cylgalad, May 11 '16 at 07:46

Can't boot when moving Linux installation from one server to another - UEFI

0 Answers0