Containers won't start after host reboot, unwritable filesystems (shiftfs)

Today I rebooted a LXD host, after which some containers fail to start/launch at all, some start but have an effectively unwritable filesystem and others work just fine.

The non starting/launching error:

root@myhost:~# lxc launch ubuntu:22.04 mytest
Creating mytest
Starting mytest
Error: Failed to run: /snap/lxd/current/bin/lxd forkstart mytest /var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/containers /var/snap/lxd/common/lxd/logs/mytest/lxc.conf: exit status 1
Try `lxc info --show-log local:mytest` for more info
root@myhost:~# lxc info --show-log local:mytest
Name: mytest
Status: STOPPED
Type: container
Architecture: x86_64
Created: 2022/09/24 09:10 CEST
Last Used: 2022/09/24 09:10 CEST

Log:

lxc mytest 20220924071039.439 WARN     conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:lxc_map_ids:3592 - newuidmap binary is missing
lxc mytest 20220924071039.439 WARN     conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:lxc_map_ids:3598 - newgidmap binary is missing
lxc mytest 20220924071039.439 WARN     conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:lxc_map_ids:3592 - newuidmap binary is missing
lxc mytest 20220924071039.439 WARN     conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:lxc_map_ids:3598 - newgidmap binary is missing
lxc mytest 20220924071039.586 ERROR    conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:run_buffer:321 - Script exited with status 1
lxc mytest 20220924071039.586 ERROR    conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:lxc_setup:4400 - Failed to run mount hooks
lxc mytest 20220924071039.586 ERROR    start - ../src/src/lxc/start.c:do_start:1272 - Failed to setup container "mytest"
lxc mytest 20220924071039.586 ERROR    sync - ../src/src/lxc/sync.c:sync_wait:34 - An error occurred in another process (expected sequence number 4)
lxc mytest 20220924071039.588 WARN     network - ../src/src/lxc/network.c:lxc_delete_network_priv:3631 - Failed to rename interface with index 0 from "eth0" to its initial name "veth6d5202fe"
lxc mytest 20220924071039.588 ERROR    lxccontainer - ../src/src/lxc/lxccontainer.c:wait_on_daemonized_start:877 - Received container state "ABORTING" instead of "RUNNING"
lxc mytest 20220924071039.588 ERROR    start - ../src/src/lxc/start.c:__lxc_start:2107 - Failed to spawn container "mytest"
lxc mytest 20220924071039.588 WARN     start - ../src/src/lxc/start.c:lxc_abort:1036 - No such process - Failed to send SIGKILL via pidfd 17 for process 117604
lxc mytest 20220924071044.665 WARN     conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:lxc_map_ids:3592 - newuidmap binary is missing
lxc mytest 20220924071044.665 WARN     conf - ../src/src/lxc/conf.c:lxc_map_ids:3598 - newgidmap binary is missing
lxc 20220924071044.712 ERROR    af_unix - ../src/src/lxc/af_unix.c:lxc_abstract_unix_recv_fds_iov:218 - Connection reset by peer - Failed to receive response
lxc 20220924071044.712 ERROR    commands - ../src/src/lxc/commands.c:lxc_cmd_rsp_recv_fds:128 - Failed to receive file descriptors for command "get_state"
root@myhost:~# lxc config show mytest
architecture: x86_64
config:
  image.architecture: amd64
  image.description: ubuntu 22.04 LTS amd64 (release) (20220923)
  image.label: release
  image.os: ubuntu
  image.release: jammy
  image.serial: "20220923"
  image.type: squashfs
  image.version: "22.04"
  volatile.base_image: 4979c8f15a0003b2b72cac34e9676b4107ae330874935284d0ba5d54199c7744
  volatile.cloud-init.instance-id: 22294696-6b4d-401d-82af-b7f88f3a0fba
  volatile.eth0.hwaddr: 00:16:3e:72:5b:fa
  volatile.idmap.base: "0"
  volatile.idmap.current: '[{"Isuid":true,"Isgid":false,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000},{"Isuid":false,"Isgid":true,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000}]'
  volatile.idmap.next: '[{"Isuid":true,"Isgid":false,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000},{"Isuid":false,"Isgid":true,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000}]'
  volatile.last_state.idmap: '[]'
  volatile.last_state.power: STOPPED
  volatile.last_state.ready: "false"
  volatile.uuid: f7fcf1ac-7a90-4a8c-9ff3-d3c1f948c7c2
devices: {}
ephemeral: false
profiles:
- default
stateful: false
description: ""

The effectively unwritable filesystem problem:

root@myhost:~# lxc exec mycontainer bash
root@mycontainer:~# touch test
touch: cannot touch 'test': Value too large for defined data type

root@myhost:~# lxc config show mycontainer
architecture: x86_64
config:
  boot.autostart: "1"
  limits.cpu: "2"
  limits.memory: 4GB
  limits.memory.enforce: hard
  limits.memory.swap: "false"
  security.privileged: "false"
  volatile.base_image: 3e50ba589426c21f26370e2f949f30210f2d0419fbb9d4d4a0f860a035373353
  volatile.cloud-init.instance-id: 467a728d-2fbd-427d-94be-2f3fbcd0e676
  volatile.eth0.host_name: veth9216d5d3
  volatile.eth0.hwaddr: 00:16:3e:64:17:c8
  volatile.idmap.base: "0"
  volatile.idmap.current: '[{"Isuid":true,"Isgid":false,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000},{"Isuid":false,"Isgid":true,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000}]'
  volatile.idmap.next: '[{"Isuid":true,"Isgid":false,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000},{"Isuid":false,"Isgid":true,"Hostid":1000000,"Nsid":0,"Maprange":1000000000}]'
  volatile.last_state.idmap: '[]'
  volatile.last_state.power: RUNNING
  volatile.last_state.ready: "false"
  volatile.uuid: 6bc4ae93-7982-4c59-bdfb-a47f8330a6f3
devices:
  data:
    path: /tank/data
    source: /tank/data
    type: disk
  root:
    path: /
    pool: default
    type: disk
ephemeral: false
profiles:
- default
stateful: false
description: ""
root@myhost:~# lxc info
config: {}
api_extensions:
- storage_zfs_remove_snapshots
- container_host_shutdown_timeout
- container_stop_priority
- container_syscall_filtering
- auth_pki
- container_last_used_at
- etag
- patch
- usb_devices
- https_allowed_credentials
- image_compression_algorithm
- directory_manipulation
- container_cpu_time
- storage_zfs_use_refquota
- storage_lvm_mount_options
- network
- profile_usedby
- container_push
- container_exec_recording
- certificate_update
- container_exec_signal_handling
- gpu_devices
- container_image_properties
- migration_progress
- id_map
- network_firewall_filtering
- network_routes
- storage
- file_delete
- file_append
- network_dhcp_expiry
- storage_lvm_vg_rename
- storage_lvm_thinpool_rename
- network_vlan
- image_create_aliases
- container_stateless_copy
- container_only_migration
- storage_zfs_clone_copy
- unix_device_rename
- storage_lvm_use_thinpool
- storage_rsync_bwlimit
- network_vxlan_interface
- storage_btrfs_mount_options
- entity_description
- image_force_refresh
- storage_lvm_lv_resizing
- id_map_base
- file_symlinks
- container_push_target
- network_vlan_physical
- storage_images_delete
- container_edit_metadata
- container_snapshot_stateful_migration
- storage_driver_ceph
- storage_ceph_user_name
- resource_limits
- storage_volatile_initial_source
- storage_ceph_force_osd_reuse
- storage_block_filesystem_btrfs
- resources
- kernel_limits
- storage_api_volume_rename
- macaroon_authentication
- network_sriov
- console
- restrict_devlxd
- migration_pre_copy
- infiniband
- maas_network
- devlxd_events
- proxy
- network_dhcp_gateway
- file_get_symlink
- network_leases
- unix_device_hotplug
- storage_api_local_volume_handling
- operation_description
- clustering
- event_lifecycle
- storage_api_remote_volume_handling
- nvidia_runtime
- container_mount_propagation
- container_backup
- devlxd_images
- container_local_cross_pool_handling
- proxy_unix
- proxy_udp
- clustering_join
- proxy_tcp_udp_multi_port_handling
- network_state
- proxy_unix_dac_properties
- container_protection_delete
- unix_priv_drop
- pprof_http
- proxy_haproxy_protocol
- network_hwaddr
- proxy_nat
- network_nat_order
- container_full
- candid_authentication
- backup_compression
- candid_config
- nvidia_runtime_config
- storage_api_volume_snapshots
- storage_unmapped
- projects
- candid_config_key
- network_vxlan_ttl
- container_incremental_copy
- usb_optional_vendorid
- snapshot_scheduling
- snapshot_schedule_aliases
- container_copy_project
- clustering_server_address
- clustering_image_replication
- container_protection_shift
- snapshot_expiry
- container_backup_override_pool
- snapshot_expiry_creation
- network_leases_location
- resources_cpu_socket
- resources_gpu
- resources_numa
- kernel_features
- id_map_current
- event_location
- storage_api_remote_volume_snapshots
- network_nat_address
- container_nic_routes
- rbac
- cluster_internal_copy
- seccomp_notify
- lxc_features
- container_nic_ipvlan
- network_vlan_sriov
- storage_cephfs
- container_nic_ipfilter
- resources_v2
- container_exec_user_group_cwd
- container_syscall_intercept
- container_disk_shift
- storage_shifted
- resources_infiniband
- daemon_storage
- instances
- image_types
- resources_disk_sata
- clustering_roles
- images_expiry
- resources_network_firmware
- backup_compression_algorithm
- ceph_data_pool_name
- container_syscall_intercept_mount
- compression_squashfs
- container_raw_mount
- container_nic_routed
- container_syscall_intercept_mount_fuse
- container_disk_ceph
- virtual-machines
- image_profiles
- clustering_architecture
- resources_disk_id
- storage_lvm_stripes
- vm_boot_priority
- unix_hotplug_devices
- api_filtering
- instance_nic_network
- clustering_sizing
- firewall_driver
- projects_limits
- container_syscall_intercept_hugetlbfs
- limits_hugepages
- container_nic_routed_gateway
- projects_restrictions
- custom_volume_snapshot_expiry
- volume_snapshot_scheduling
- trust_ca_certificates
- snapshot_disk_usage
- clustering_edit_roles
- container_nic_routed_host_address
- container_nic_ipvlan_gateway
- resources_usb_pci
- resources_cpu_threads_numa
- resources_cpu_core_die
- api_os
- container_nic_routed_host_table
- container_nic_ipvlan_host_table
- container_nic_ipvlan_mode
- resources_system
- images_push_relay
- network_dns_search
- container_nic_routed_limits
- instance_nic_bridged_vlan
- network_state_bond_bridge
- usedby_consistency
- custom_block_volumes
- clustering_failure_domains
- resources_gpu_mdev
- console_vga_type
- projects_limits_disk
- network_type_macvlan
- network_type_sriov
- container_syscall_intercept_bpf_devices
- network_type_ovn
- projects_networks
- projects_networks_restricted_uplinks
- custom_volume_backup
- backup_override_name
- storage_rsync_compression
- network_type_physical
- network_ovn_external_subnets
- network_ovn_nat
- network_ovn_external_routes_remove
- tpm_device_type
- storage_zfs_clone_copy_rebase
- gpu_mdev
- resources_pci_iommu
- resources_network_usb
- resources_disk_address
- network_physical_ovn_ingress_mode
- network_ovn_dhcp
- network_physical_routes_anycast
- projects_limits_instances
- network_state_vlan
- instance_nic_bridged_port_isolation
- instance_bulk_state_change
- network_gvrp
- instance_pool_move
- gpu_sriov
- pci_device_type
- storage_volume_state
- network_acl
- migration_stateful
- disk_state_quota
- storage_ceph_features
- projects_compression
- projects_images_remote_cache_expiry
- certificate_project
- network_ovn_acl
- projects_images_auto_update
- projects_restricted_cluster_target
- images_default_architecture
- network_ovn_acl_defaults
- gpu_mig
- project_usage
- network_bridge_acl
- warnings
- projects_restricted_backups_and_snapshots
- clustering_join_token
- clustering_description
- server_trusted_proxy
- clustering_update_cert
- storage_api_project
- server_instance_driver_operational
- server_supported_storage_drivers
- event_lifecycle_requestor_address
- resources_gpu_usb
- clustering_evacuation
- network_ovn_nat_address
- network_bgp
- network_forward
- custom_volume_refresh
- network_counters_errors_dropped
- metrics
- image_source_project
- clustering_config
- network_peer
- linux_sysctl
- network_dns
- ovn_nic_acceleration
- certificate_self_renewal
- instance_project_move
- storage_volume_project_move
- cloud_init
- network_dns_nat
- database_leader
- instance_all_projects
- clustering_groups
- ceph_rbd_du
- instance_get_full
- qemu_metrics
- gpu_mig_uuid
- event_project
- clustering_evacuation_live
- instance_allow_inconsistent_copy
- network_state_ovn
- storage_volume_api_filtering
- image_restrictions
- storage_zfs_export
- network_dns_records
- storage_zfs_reserve_space
- network_acl_log
- storage_zfs_blocksize
- metrics_cpu_seconds
- instance_snapshot_never
- certificate_token
- instance_nic_routed_neighbor_probe
- event_hub
- agent_nic_config
- projects_restricted_intercept
- metrics_authentication
- images_target_project
- cluster_migration_inconsistent_copy
- cluster_ovn_chassis
- container_syscall_intercept_sched_setscheduler
- storage_lvm_thinpool_metadata_size
- storage_volume_state_total
- instance_file_head
- instances_nic_host_name
- image_copy_profile
- container_syscall_intercept_sysinfo
- clustering_evacuation_mode
- resources_pci_vpd
- qemu_raw_conf
- storage_cephfs_fscache
- network_load_balancer
- vsock_api
- instance_ready_state
- network_bgp_holdtime
- storage_volumes_all_projects
- metrics_memory_oom_total
- storage_buckets
api_status: stable
api_version: "1.0"
auth: trusted
public: false
auth_methods:
- tls
environment:
  addresses: []
  architectures:
  - x86_64
  - i686
  certificate: ...
  certificate_fingerprint: 9f38dcb24af27a73fb1ad8c1feb3920a7e02a378ae041b64a4446ead2bd58405
  driver: qemu | lxc
  driver_version: 7.0.0 | 5.0.1
  firewall: nftables
  kernel: Linux
  kernel_architecture: x86_64
  kernel_features:
    idmapped_mounts: "true"
    netnsid_getifaddrs: "true"
    seccomp_listener: "true"
    seccomp_listener_continue: "true"
    shiftfs: "true"
    uevent_injection: "true"
    unpriv_fscaps: "true"
  kernel_version: 5.15.0-48-generic
  lxc_features:
    cgroup2: "true"
    core_scheduling: "true"
    devpts_fd: "true"
    idmapped_mounts_v2: "true"
    mount_injection_file: "true"
    network_gateway_device_route: "true"
    network_ipvlan: "true"
    network_l2proxy: "true"
    network_phys_macvlan_mtu: "true"
    network_veth_router: "true"
    pidfd: "true"
    seccomp_allow_deny_syntax: "true"
    seccomp_notify: "true"
    seccomp_proxy_send_notify_fd: "true"
  os_name: Ubuntu
  os_version: "22.04"
  project: default
  server: lxd
  server_clustered: false
  server_event_mode: full-mesh
  server_name: myhost
  server_pid: 4704
  server_version: "5.5"
  storage: zfs
  storage_version: 2.1.4-0ubuntu0.1
  storage_supported_drivers:
  - name: dir
    version: "1"
    remote: false
  - name: lvm
    version: 2.03.07(2) (2019-11-30) / 1.02.167 (2019-11-30) / 4.45.0
    remote: false
  - name: zfs
    version: 2.1.4-0ubuntu0.1
    remote: false
  - name: btrfs
    version: 5.4.1
    remote: false
  - name: ceph
    version: 15.2.16
    remote: true
  - name: cephfs
    version: 15.2.16
    remote: true
  - name: cephobject
    version: 15.2.16
    remote: true

The host had been running fine since the last reboot 18 days ago. Other than applying updates no noteworthy change was made before the reboot.

Regarding the “unwritable” filesystems I found some references to ulimits, but these have bee adjusted on the host like

* soft nofile 1048576
* hard nofile 1048576
root soft nofile 1048576
root hard nofile 1048576
* soft memlock unlimited
* hard memlock unlimited

I too have just started experiencing this too.

I’ve identified the problem as something to do with LXD using shiftfs on ZFS or TMPFS.

What do you see for command:

sudo snap get lxd shiftfs.enable

If you see:

true

Then you could try disabling it using:

snap unset lxd shiftfs.enable
sudo systemctl reload snap.lxd.daemon

Then restart your instances.
Warning: This will likely cause your instance’s files to be manually ID shifted to the correct unprivileged UID/GID. It may also mean that if you’re relying on the shiftfs functionality to share a custom volume between multiple instances running with different UIDs then this will stop working.

I’ve not yet identified what has caused this change, but it seems likely to be a kernel change.
So potentially switching back to an earlier kernel may also fix this.

Yes, that did indeed solve the issue. Thank you!
I am sharing ZFS datasets between multiple containers but not using shiftfs, as IIRC it always had issues with ZFS dataset hierarchies, so I’m not seeing any fallout so far from switching off shiftfs.

1 Like

We’ve opened a bug to report the kernel regression:

I have disables shiftfs that way and remapped my storages manually to the correct uid/gid.

Now everything is working again.

Thank you very much Thomas.

Best regards

Jan

1 Like

Have experienced same issue on:
lxd 5.11-ad0b61e 24483 latest/stable
After enabling shiftfs, container root disk (zfs) is unwritable.
By disabling shiftfs, problem went away.