plymouth-start.service takes up a lot of memory and continues to grow

This document (000019766) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 12

Situation

plymouth-start.service is in the active state, the service takes up a lot of memory and continues to grow.

Check the status of plymouth-start.service

# systemctl status plymouth-start.service
● plymouth-start.service - Show Plymouth Boot Screen
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/plymouth-start.service; static; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Thu 2020-10-29 10:55:57 CST; 2s ago
  Process: 7208 ExecStartPost=/usr/bin/plymouth show-splash (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
  Process: 7206 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/plymouthd --mode=boot --pid-file=/run/plymouth/pid --attach-to-session (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
 Main PID: 7207 (plymouthd)
    Tasks: 1 (limit: 512)
   CGroup: /system.slice/plymouth-start.service
           └─7207 @usr/sbin/plymouthd --mode=boot --pid-file=/run/plymouth/pid --attach-to-session

Resolution

Please execute the following steps to permanently disable plymouth :

(Perform these actions as the 'root' user)

1. Edit /etc/default/grub and change the kernel load line from this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="resume=/dev/systemvg/swaplv splash=silent quiet showopts"

To this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="resume=/dev/systemvg/swaplv splash=silent quiet showopts plymouth.enable=0"

2. Run this command to re-compile the grub.cfg

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg

3. Ready for a reboot. Next time the system is rebooted it will disable plymouth.

Cause

The plymouth-start service did not terminate normally.
plymouth-start only provides the splash screen during system startup and should then terminate.

For a production server, you can choose to disable plymouth to circumvent the problem.

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

Document ID:000019766
Creation Date: 29-Oct-2020
Modified Date:29-Oct-2020
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications

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