z90crypt.service startup fails

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 2 (SLES 12 SP2)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 3 (SLES 12 SP3)

Situation

boot.z90crypt a traditional sysV init script is loading a s390x specific crypto module
The systemd z90crypt.service and systemctl status information for z90crypt print that it failed to start during and after boot:


sles12 boot.z90crypt[1237]: Loading z90crypt module -  no device, maybe HW not found (see dmesg)..failed                       
sles12 systemd[1]: z90crypt.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1                                            
sles12 systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: Load the z90crypt module.                                                        
sles12 systemd[1]: z90crypt.service: Unit entered failed state.                                                           
sles12 systemd[1]: z90crypt.service: Failed with  result 'exit-code'.


sles12:~ # systemctl status z90crypt                                   
 z90crypt.service - LSB: Load the z90crypt module                      
  Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/boot.z90crypt; bad; vendor preset: disabled)                                                               
  Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2018-03-06 08:57:49 PST; 2 days ago
  Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)                                
  Process: 1237 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/boot.z90crypt start (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

After restarting z90crypt service, the status shows then it was started:

sles12:~ # systemctl status z90crypt 
z90crypt.service - LSB: Load the z90crypt module                        
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/boot.z90crypt; bad; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (exited) since Tue 2018-03-06 09:15:33 PST; 2 days ago         
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)                                
  Process: 2828 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/boot.z90crypt start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)

Resolution

For SLES12 SP3, the libica update, libica3-3.0.2-5.5.1 released November 2018 includes the patch to resolve the problem.

On SLES12 SP2 a future libica update will include the patch to resolve the problem. Customers affected by this issue can alternatively contact SUSE Customer Care to request a PTF (temporary fix).

Cause

The boot.z90crypt also prints:

boot.z90crypt[1237]: Loading z90crypt module -  no device, maybe HW not found (see dmesg)..failed

It looks like the z90crypt module is trying to load but can't find the hardware due to the timing of udev events.

Additional Information

Disclaimer

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