Add system image error: grub configuration /dev/mem operation not permitted

#1

Hey,

100% new to vyos. Looking to have it hand out IPs and cache/resolve hostnames for 40Gb storage network in lab.

Fumbling through setup, I realized I was on a really old ISO and did a system upgrade. It gave me this odd error message:

# add system image https://downloads.vyos.io/rolling/current/amd64/vyos-1.4-rolling-202101301326-amd64.iso
. . . 
error: grub configuration
/dev/mem operation not permitted
/dev/mem operation not permitted

Sorry, I wasn’t attached via ssh so I couldn’t copy an exact message, but that is the gist.

When I rebooted, the new image was present in grub, which I booted from and worked, so I suppose everything is OK. Anyone know what that was all about?

#2

Hello @AveryFreeman, from which VyOS version did you upgrade your router?
Not recommended update to rolling if version less the 1.1.8. At first upgrade to 1.1.8 and then to rolling.

#3

(digs up old server iso bank)

avery@napp-it01:/mnt/wdgreen/tub/esxi_backup/ISOs/Appliances$ ls vyos-
vyos-1.2.2-amd64.iso

I think I downloaded it before VyOS went to a rolling model, or maybe was last version available non-rolling when rolling was rolled out …

Would it be prudent for me to make a backup of my config and start from scratch?

#4

Yes, you definitely need to try.
For test I successfully update LTS 1.2.2 to the latest rolling

Do you want to continue without signature check? (yes/no) [yes] 
Checking MD5 checksums of files on the ISO image...OK.
Done!
What would you like to name this image? [1.4-rolling-202102141111]: 
OK.  This image will be named: 1.4-rolling-202102141111
Installing "1.4-rolling-202102141111" image.
Copying new release files...
Would you like to save the current configuration 
directory and config file? (Yes/No) [Yes]: 
Copying current configuration...
Would you like to save the SSH host keys from your 
current configuration? (Yes/No) [Yes]: 
Copying SSH keys...
Running post-install script...
Setting up grub configuration...
Done.
#5

Interesting, the last lines (re: grub configuration) is where I got the /dev/mem error.

I’ll have to find the wiki for backing up the config and try it later. Thanks for your help

#6

The simple way is to get configuration commands and put them to new installed device:

show configuration commands
#7

Interesting way of doing things. Then I just put these into a bash script and run on the new server, huh?

Is there a repo where people keep copies of common configurations?

Thanks :slight_smile:

Edit: I’m noticing what look like json files in /config directory - is there a reason you recommend issuing the commands instead of replacing these files with saved ones?