OpenStack Console log is Empty

Problem

The console log within the instance storage directory as well as the output of the following command is empty.

# openstack console log show [VM_UUID]

Environment

• Platform9 Managed OpenStack - All versions.
• Nova
• Grub

Cause

This occurs when the compute service attempts to retrieve the log output of the instance via a serial console while the instance itself is not configured to send output to the console.

Resolution

1. Find the default grub configuration within an instance by running the following command.

$ cat /etc/default/grubGRUB_DEFAULT=0GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hiddenGRUB_TIMEOUT=0GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="apparmor=1 security=apparmor audit=1 audit_backlog_limit=8192"

2. Add the following highlighted line to the /etc/default/grub file.

GRUB_DEFAULT=0GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hiddenGRUB_TIMEOUT=0GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200"GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="apparmor=1 security=apparmor audit=1 audit_backlog_limit=8192"

3. Update grub.

# sudo update-grub

Additional Information

Since the above actions will only correct a single instance, please make sure the correct configuration is set when OpenStack images are created.