[scanner] installer-test / Install and boot in QEMU fails on main — /var partition times out at boot

[kubestellar-hive]

Finding

installer-test / Install and boot in QEMU fails on main itself (run 34920225526, job 104235482419: "Build DDI artifacts"), not just on open PRs. Confirmed the same failure reproduces identically on two unrelated open PRs (#81 pin argocd digest — touches only files/k0s/manifests/argocd/install.yaml; #84 renovate series fix — touches only CI/renovate config), so this is a pre-existing regression on main, not caused by either PR's diff.

Serial log (from PR #81's run):

[ TIME ] Timed out waiting for device /dev/disk/by-partlabel/var.
[DEPEND] Dependency failed for /var.
[DEPEND] Dependency failed for Activate k0s sysext on boot.
...
You are in emergency mode.

Suspected cause

files/installer/repart.d/20-root-a.conf sets GrowFileSystem=yes with SizeMaxBytes=16G (i.e. up to the full 16G test disk, see SHOW_ME_THE_FUTURE_DISK_SIZE:-16G / INSTALL_VM_DISK_SIZE:-16G in Justfile), while files/installer/repart.d/30-var.conf (comment: "grows to fill disk") relies on getting the disk's leftover space with only SizeMinBytes=4G. Neither partition sets an explicit Priority=/Weight=, so systemd-repart splits remaining free space between the two GrowFileSystem=yes partitions by default weight. Depending on the actual size of the DDI payload copied via CopyBlocks=/dev/disk/by-partlabel/bluefin-installer-data in 20-root-a.conf, root-a's minimum footprint can grow large enough that the var partition either isn't created or ends up undersized/never appears, leaving var.mount (files/os/systemd/system/var.mount, WantedBy=local-fs.target) waiting on a device that never shows up, dropping the second boot into emergency mode.

Introduced/adjusted across recent commits: 1500324 (enable GrowFileSystem for root-a), 634eabc (configure xfs for /var), 3ac9d80/37c8356 (provision /var partition + var.mount wiring).

Recommendation

Give root-a a bounded, realistic SizeMaxBytes (sized to the actual DDI image, not the full test-disk size) and/or set explicit Priority=/Weight= on 30-var.conf so var is guaranteed its SizeMinBytes=4G regardless of how large root-a grows. Verify with just show-me-the-future locally (or in CI) that /dev/disk/by-partlabel/var appears before local-fs.target is reached on the second boot.

Impact

Blocks the installer-test gate on every open PR against server, including #81 and #84, even though neither is at fault. This is why "fix-before-new" for those two PRs is not achievable by editing their branches — the root cause lives on main.

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