Bug#381303: UUID-based root-partition setup

[Stephen Frost]

Package: mdadm
Version: 2.5.2-9
Severity: wishlist

Greetings,

  Using hostname, or using the super-minor, can result in some serious
  problems when attempting to assemble arrays.  The hostname is a very
  poor choice as it's not uncommon for a machine which is being upgraded
  (ie: most of the hardware is being swapped out except, perhaps, the
  disks or external raid enclosures) to have the same hostname as the
  machine being replaced.  The super-minor is also a poor choice due to
  potential overlaps which can happen pretty easily.

  Therefore, I would strongly encourage the use of UUID and thus the use
  of the mdadm.conf in the initrd.  There is a potential that the
  mdadm.conf at the time of initrd creation doesn't match what the
  currently running system has.  This may or may *not* be incorrect,
  however, depending on what the user is doing or what the user intends.

  As there would be some danger to having an incorrect mdadm.conf in the
  initrd, during initrd creation the contents of the mdadm.conf should
  be compared to the currently running system and the user notified if
  they differ.  Acceptable options would include:

    Defer to the mdadm.conf with a strong warning
	Fail the initrd creation unless an override is provided
	Ignore the mdadm.conf with a strong warning, but provide override

  If the mdadm.conf is ignored then we can fall back to the other
  options which have been discussed.  However, the user may *want* to
  change the booting root partition in which case there must exist a way
  to override and force mdadm.conf usage even if it differs from the
  currently running system.  Failing the initrd may be dangerous because
  the user may not notice prior to reboot.  Deferring to the mdadm.conf
  and issuing a warning may result in the warning being missed/ignored
  and an incorrect mdadm.conf causing problems during the initrd.

  Therefore, the 3rd option would probably be that of least suprise
  while still allowing the flexibility for those who know what they're
  doing to override the guess-and-pray fallback of hostname/super-minor.

  	Thanks,

		Stephen
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