Install Ubuntu on RAID 0 and UEFI/GPT system

ubuntu-raid.sh

# http://askubuntu.com/questions/505446/how-to-install-ubuntu-14-04-with-raid-1-using-desktop-installer
# http://askubuntu.com/questions/660023/how-to-install-ubuntu-14-04-64-bit-with-a-dual-boot-raid-1-partition-on-an-uefi%5D

sudo -s
apt-get -y install mdadm
apt-get -y install grub-efi-amd64
sgdisk -z /dev/sda
sgdisk -z /dev/sdb
sgdisk -n 1:0:+100M -t 1:ef00 -c 1:"EFI System" /dev/sda
sgdisk -n 2:0:+8G -t 2:fd00 -c 2:"Linux RAID" /dev/sda
sgdisk -n 3:0:0 -t 3:fd00 -c 3:"Linux RAID" /dev/sda
sgdisk /dev/sda -R /dev/sdb -G
mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/sda1
mkdir /tmp/sda1
mount /dev/sda1 /tmp/sda1
mkdir /tmp/sda1/EFI
umount /dev/sda1

mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=0 --raid-disks=2 /dev/sd[ab]2
mdadm --create /dev/md1 --level=0 --raid-disks=2 /dev/sd[ab]3

sgdisk -z /dev/md0
sgdisk -z /dev/md1
sgdisk -N 1 -t 1:8200 -c 1:"Linux swap" /dev/md0
sgdisk -N 1 -t 1:8300 -c 1:"Linux filesystem" /dev/md1

ubiquity -b

mount /dev/md1p1 /mnt
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/dev
mount -o bind /dev/pts /mnt/dev/pts
mount -o bind /sys /mnt/sys
mount -o bind /proc /mnt/proc
cat /etc/resolv.conf >> /mnt/etc/resolv.conf
chroot /mnt

nano /etc/grub.d/10_linux
# change quick_boot and quiet_boot to 0

apt-get install -y grub-efi-amd64
apt-get install -y mdadm

nano /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf 
# remove metadata and name

update-grub

mount /dev/sda1 /boot/efi
grub-install --boot-directory=/boot --bootloader-id=Ubuntu --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --recheck
update-grub
umount /dev/sda1

dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sdb1

efibootmgr -c -g -d /dev/sdb -p 1 -L "Ubuntu #2" -l '\EFI\Ubuntu\grubx64.efi'

exit # from chroot
exit # from sudo -s
reboot

Hey, I am very impressed by how simple this installation can be. Good job mate.

But I wonder, do you have such simple script for a legacy BIOS machine, as EFI doesnt work on my PC sadly.

Thank you for your response!

There are some 'rough edges' that have to be worked out with the PC's boot menu (in order to get only one boot entry to show for Ubuntu) and with how the 1st (EFIBoot) partition is mounted or not mounted on each of the three devices (or whether all 3 should be...given all 3 do not work together inside a RAID 0 partition then only one can be effectively used anyway, since the other two are not used). To answer your concern, I honestly don't know if this can be made to work on Legacy or not as I don't have anything that shows how this gets done without EFI. It was a real stretch for me just to get working what I did, and adapt the given script from 2 to 3 devices. I don't want to say using Legacy (CSM) is impossible, just that I don't understand the mechanism well enough to tell you. An expensive hardware solution might be needed for Legacy unless you can find evidence to the contrary or you MIGHT be able to use the SATA RAID that's built into your motherboard - IF IT IS. The boot info for Linux software RAID has to be stored somewhere in NVRAM and changing to the smaller Legacy BIOS may not provide enough space for that, and I don't know what utility you would use in Linux that substitutes for efibootmgr if you don't have a hardware RAID 0 solution. Steve Sybesma

On 2020-10-11 17:34, retserj-jrester wrote: @retserj-jrester commented on this gist. ------------------------- Hey, I am very impressed by how simple this installation can be. Good job mate. But I wonder, do you have such simple script for a legacy BIOS machine, as EFI doesnt work on my PC sadly. Thank you for your response! -- You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub [1], or unsubscribe [2].

Links: ------ [1] https://gist.github.com/6ee1f870e759815333c8#gistcomment-3485678 [2] https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AK7AT2KX5ZGVJ4NMJ5M6XY3SKI6H3ANCNFSM4H4FTQEA

Thank you for this amazingly fast response.

For my part, setting up the working RAID partition is no problem. My software RAID0 over two HDDs works fine.
My only problem is a working bootloader for legacy BIOS that is able to work with the RAID as such.
I am pretty sure it will work somehow, but like you, I am clueless atm.

Guys!
I did it. Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 up and running on software RAID 0.
Everything works and boots correctly.

If anyone is trying this with nvme keep in mind that sda1 would become nvme0n1p1, partition needs "p" to define the num.

sdb2 would be nvme1n1p2 and so on. If you get "is in use/busy" during the mkfs fat formatting it might be due to a previous raid being active on the disk, check mdadm commands to stop and remove a specific raid, then try again.

Hey,

I really appreciate the work and wanted to thank you for the code, I also wanted to warn people that I had an issue with the array being locked after OS installed and it was listed as "Encrypted" in spite of me not encrypting it. In this case I rebooted into the live USB again then re assembled the array and proceeded from there. I also wanted to clarify for inexperienced users like myself that at line 29 you need to mount the partition where the OS was installed to "/mnt" which in my case was "/dev/md1p2" and not "/dev/md1p1". I've also mentioned these issues in my fork of this repo which also modified the commands for a 4 disk raid 0 array.

Hello swatwithmk3, Have you figured out how to solve the problem I ran into with the 3 disk array? That is when you boot the machine, you're presented with 3 (2 are duplicated) boot devices for the array in the list of all bootable devices. I could not figure out how to get that list of bootable devices to show only 1 bootable device for the array, otherwise you have to guess which one of the 3 actually boots, because 2 of them will not (and should not). Solving that completes the script so that it's clean, and the result looks and works properly. Steve

On 2022-01-25 01:56, swatwithmk3 wrote: @swatwithmk3 commented on this gist. ------------------------- Hey, I really appreciate the work and wanted to thank you for the code, I also wanted to warn people that I had an issue with the array being locked after OS installed and it was listed as "Encrypted" in spite of me not encrypting it. In this case I rebooted into the live USB again then re assembled the array and proceeded from there. I also wanted to clarify for inexperienced users like myself that at line 29 you need to mount the partition where the OS was installed to "/mnt" which in my case was "/dev/md1p2" and not "/dev/md1p1". I've also mentioned these issues in my fork of this repo which also modified the commands for a 4 disk raid 0 array. -- Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub [1], or unsubscribe [2]. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS [3] or Android [4]. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

Links: ------ [1] https://gist.github.com/6ee1f870e759815333c8#gistcomment-4040945 [2] https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AK7AT2PL565WNILJVTYOMBTUXZQUDANCNFSM4H4FTQEA [3] https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 [4] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub

Hi ssybesma,

Given that the EFI partition is copied to the second disk in the original script, I believe that it is intended for all disks to be visible so that no matter which one you choose you would boot into the RAID array which is why in my 4 disk script the EFI is copied to the other three disks. At line 55, the command is supposed to give a name you specify to the disk and this name will appear in the bios boot menu. Upon further inspection of my bios, it seems that 1 of the disks was named incorrectly and I am not sure if this is an issue with the motherboard or from the OS. If you want each disk to be identified with a unique name in the bios then use the command at line 55 once for each disk except the first one which in your case would be two times since you have 3 disks. You need to make sure that at the end of the command the correct /dev/nvme is set and change the name from "Ubuntu #2" to whatever you want and that should appear in your bios. You can try skipping the command altogether and that should leave the names in the Bios as what they were set by the manufacturer.

PS: I have just tested it to be sure and choosing any of my array disks at bootup will still load Ubuntu normally, the fact that you choosing the wrong one did not boot Ubuntu for you means that you have either skipped copying the EFI partition to your other 2 SSD's or that the copy of the partition was not successful. I hope I managed to clear things up and help :)

If you're still having trouble then a video recording of the installation you're doing might help with discovering the source, the next best thing would be a doc with every command you have used for the array creation and OS installation would be helpful too.

Confirmed this works for Ubuntu 22.04

I've been looking for how to install raid on linux for a few years now ( with the o/s as part of the bootable array ).
I tested ubuntu about vers 18 or there abouts and with the Server Vers it's possible to do it, and you can install the desktop later to get a more user friendley system.
I've also used fedora 36 and it is by far the easiest version to set up raid with ( so far from my observations ).
It's a pitty one can't swap ubuntu into fedora to get their easy raid setup.
The way that ( umpirsky ) has done it looks interesting.
And I'm sure he's put a lot of time into it ( Congrats ).
But it's a very long set of procedure ( 59 to be precise ).
And am I right in guessing that each of the 59 have to be entered Line by Line.
That's a Long Process.
I would be happy to use fedora because of it's easy raid setup.
But I'm not very conversant with linux and I just find fedora to hard use.
I am an avid windows user as for the last 27 years.
And at the age of 74 I really need a linux system in raid0 that is similar to windows.
Or at least a bit easier to use.
Has anyone got any sugestions.

Me gustaría que explicaras con detalle esos comandos. Esto es por que requiero lo siguiente:

• Instalar Ubuntu en su versión mas reciente, en los 4 SSD x 240Gb, En RAID 0, SIN SWAP. Debido, a que no tiene sentido meter SWAP en los SSD (Mi tarjeta madre lleva Intel Rapid Storage para dejar listo el Raid 0 desde la BIOS (MSI Z97 MPOWER), Y el Ubuntu no desencadena el aviso de que no se puede instalar con IRST)
• Dejar configurado los 4 HDD x 2Tb en RAID 0, Para almacenamiento