Strange (?) Device.map In CentOS 7 VM Installations

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Hello,

After repeated failing efforts to restore CentOS 7 backups (taken using mondorescue software), I have found that all my CentOS 7 installations
(VMs under KVM) have the same /boot/grub2/device.map, which seemingly refers to two HDs, although the VMs in fact include only one (virtual) HD.

For example: /boot/grub2/device.map

# this device map was generated by anaconda
(hd0) /dev/vda
(hd1) /dev/vda

Here is the hardware of the VM:

# parted -l
Model: Linux device-mapper (linear) (dm)
Disk /dev/mapper/CentOS-swap: 2147MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Flags
1 0.00B 2147MB 2147MB linux-swap(v1)

Model: Linux device-mapper (linear) (dm)
Disk /dev/mapper/CentOS-root: 18.8GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Flags
1 0.00B 18.8GB 18.8GB xfs

Model: Virtio Block Device (virtblk)
Disk /dev/vda: 21.5GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 525MB 524MB primary xfs boot
2 525MB 21.5GB 20.9GB primary lvm

This is NOT the case with my CentOS 5 and CentOS 6 VMs, which all have a
“correct” device map, with a single (hda0) entry.

Is the above behavior expected? If not, what should be the expected way of operation and what may be the cause of it?

I am trying to understand where something may be going wrong, so please help.

Many Thanks!
Nick

8 thoughts on - Strange (?) Device.map In CentOS 7 VM Installations

  • Hello,

    I never got a reply on this, so I repeat the question:

    Is it normal in CentOS 7 to have a device map with two entries esp. when the (physical or virtual) hardware has only one hd ?

    Is the following normal?

    /boot/grub2/device.map:

    # this device map was generated by anaconda
    (hd0) /dev/vda
    (hd1) /dev/vda

    Please advise!

    Thanks, Nick

  • I don’t see that on VMs that I manage. Some of the physical machines that I manage do have duplicates in the device.map.

  • Thank you Gordon for your feedback!

    Can others please report the content of /boot/grub2/device.map on their CentOS 7 (physical or virtual) installations?

    And can any tech geek please explain when why do we have these duplicates and if they are intentional or not?

    Thanks, Nick

  • On my CentOS7 installs I find dups too.

    Physical
    # this device map was generated by anaconda
    (hd0) /dev/sda
    (hd1) /dev/sda

    Virtual (KVM VM)
    # this device map was generated by anaconda
    (hd0) /dev/vda
    (hd1) /dev/vda

    —
    —~~.~~—
    Mike
    // SilverTip257 //

  • Thank you all for your reports. Since it seems this is generally the case with CentOS 7, does anyone also have access to RHEL 7 installations to verify if this is the case with these installations as well?

    Any feedback regarding this “issue” and its possible repercussions will be appreciated!

    Thanks a lot, Nick

  • Probably none. That file indicates which Linux device file corresponds to the (hdX) references in grub.cfg. I’m not really sure it’s even used under grub2, since I don’t see any of the (hdX) references in grub.cfg on the system I checked.

  • Gordon Messmer wrote:

    It’s used. I can assure you of that, having had to fight one or two systems back and bootable again….

    mark