templates/linux_xen: Properly order the multiple initrd files

The linux_xen template orders the "early" initrd file(s) _first_
(i.e., before the "real" initrd files) and that seems reasonable,
as microcode updates usually come first.

However, this usually breaks Linux boot with initrd under Xen
because Xen assumes the real initrd is the first multiboot[2]
module after the kernel, passing its address over to Linux in
Xen's start_info struct.

So, if a microcode-only initrd (i.e., without init/userspace)
is found by grub-mkconfig, it ends up considered as a normal
initrd by the Linux kernel, which cannot do anything with it
(as it has no other files) and panic()s unable to mount root
if it depends on a initrd to do that (e.g., root=UUID=...).

...

Well, since Xen doesn't actually use the provided microcode
by default / unless the 'ucode=<module number|scan>' option
is enabled, this isn't used in the general case (and breaks).

Additionally, if an user enables the 'ucode=' option, that
either specifies which module is to be used for microcode,
or scans all modules (regardless of being first) for that.

Thus, for Xen:
- it is *not required* to have microcode first,
- but it is *required* to have real initrd first

So, fix it by ordering the real initrd before early initrd(s).

After:

    # touch /boot/xen /boot/microcode.cpio
    # grub-mkconfig 2>/dev/null | grep -P '^\t(multiboot|module)'
            multiboot      /boot/xen ...
            module  /boot/vmlinuz-5.4.0-122-generic ...
            module  --nounzip   /boot/initrd.img-5.4.0-122-generic
            module  --nounzip   /boot/microcode.cpio

...

Corner case specific to Xen implementation details:

It is actually _possible_ to have a microcode initrd first,
but that requires a non-default option (so can't rely on it),
and it turns out to be inconsistent with its counterpart
(really shouldn't rely on it, as it may get confusing; below).

'ucode=1' does manually specify the first module is microcode
_AND_ clears its bit in the module bitmap. The next module is
now the 'new first', and gets passed to Linux as initrd. Good.

'ucode=scan' checks all modules for microcode, but does _NOT_
clear a bit if it finds one (reasonable, as it can find that
prepended in a "real" initrd anyway, which needs to be used).
The first module still gets passed to Linux as initrd. Bad.

Fixes: e86f6aafb8de (grub-mkconfig/20_linux_xen: Support multiple early initrd images)

Signed-off-by: Mauricio Faria de Oliveira <mfo@canonical.com>
Acked-by: Juergen Gross <jgross@suse.com>
Reviewed-by: Daniel Kiper <daniel.kiper@oracle.com>

1 files changed, 4 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in b/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in
index 50c62562b..626aed40c 100644
--- a/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in
+++ b/util/grub.d/20_linux_xen.in
@@ -307,7 +307,10 @@ for current_xen in ${reverse_sorted_xen_list}; do
 
 	initrd=
 	if test -n "${initrd_early}" || test -n "${initrd_real}"; then
-	    initrd="${initrd_early} ${initrd_real}"
+	    # Xen assumes the real initrd is the first module after the kernel.
+	    # Additional (later) initrds can also be used for microcode update,
+	    # with Xen option 'ucode=<scan|module number> (non-default anyway).
+	    initrd="${initrd_real} ${initrd_early}"
 
 	    initrd_display=
 	    for i in ${initrd}; do