Debugging DevStack
Abby Nduta

Abby Nduta @ndutared

About: My name is Abby. A techie who writes. I contribute to OpenStack Horizon and I’m working to become an OpenStack specialist.

Location:
Nairobi, Kenya, Africa
Joined:
Jan 27, 2021

Debugging DevStack

Publish Date: Sep 28 '24
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I first installed OpenStack via DevStack months ago. I honestly forgot how frustrating it can be.

I followed the official docs and an article from DigitalOcean.

I'll summarize the main steps so that we can focus on debugging. Note that you need a fresh Ubuntu install for DevStack to work.

Main steps

  1. Install Linux
  2. Add Stack User
  3. Download DevStack
  4. Create a local.conf file
  5. Start the install
  6. Access OpenStack on a web browser

Usually, these steps should work seamlessly.

However, with subsequent installs, things may not go as expected.

Debugging options

There are some things you could try first:

  • Doing a fresh Ubuntu install and then repeating the above mentioned main steps
  • Running a most recent stable branch of devstack, not master.
  • Running './unstack.sh' and then './clean.sh'
  • Cleaning your 'opt/stack' directory
  • Running './stack.sh' again using the stable branch of devstack

Checking your errors

At this point in time, you have tried all the recommended debugging options and are convinced that there is a devstack bug somewhere.

There are a few workarounds depending on the errors you get, as well as a few changes to the local.conf file.

My errors

Image description

As you can see, I was getting a 'devstack@etcd.service' error. Stack overflow gave me the first workaround. I added 'disable_service etcd3' to my local.conf file and run 'stack.sh' again.

This cleared the 'devstack@etcd.service' error but introduced a 'keystone did not start' error.

After spending hours and hours down rabbit holes, after a brainstorming session with a friend, we suspected that the IP address could be the problem.

I had set my HOST_IP as my computer's IP address. I was reinstalling DevStack using a different network and there was a possibility that it could be picking the wrong IP address.

Initially, I tried to include my ISP's router IP address, but it didn't help.

Home run

I eventually changed my HOST_IP to 127.0.0.1 and passed it to the SERVICE_HOST.

I also added enabled Horizon in my local.conf 'ENABLED_SERVICES+=,horizon'

Image description

I then rerun 'stack.sh' and everything worked!!!!

Final thoughts

Debugging DevStack can be challenging. What are the bugs you've encountered? Feel free to share in the comments.

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