Kernel Options Mangled in Autoinstallation Profile

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Environment

SUSE Manager 4

Situation

When creating or editing an autoinstallation profile using the SUSE Manager WebUI, a kernel option is used that is unassigned. For example, a kernel option is entered like "useonlinerepo" instead of "useonlinerepo=0". When the autoinstallation profile is updated with this configuration, the kernel options are mangled and the option that was previously unassigned is set to "~", as in "useonlinerepo=~". The "~" setting persists in the kernel options used by Cobbler, and can be seen in the generated GRUB entries, as well as in the output of 'cobbler system report':

cobbler system report --name=<system name> | grep "Kernel Options"

Resolution

To workaround this issue, use each kernel option with an explicit setting. For example, instead of entering "useonlinerepo", enter "useonlinerepo=0".

Cause

This issue appears to be caused by a bug with kernel options parsing in Cobbler.

Disclaimer

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