Why is my GFS/GFS2 filesystem failing to mount after an interrupted or failed fsck attempt?

Solution Verified - Updated

Environment

  • Red Hat Cluster Suite 4+ and Red Hat GFS 6.1:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5, 6, 7, 8 (with the High Availability Add On and Resilient Storage Add Ons)

Issue

  • The following error is occurring when mounting a gfs or gfs2 filesystem?
Jun 19 14:59:35 node1 kernel: GFS2: fsid=: Trying to join cluster "fsck_dlm", "appCluster:gfs2-a"
Jun 19 14:59:36 node1 kernel: GFS2: can't find protocol fsck_dlm
Jun 19 14:59:36 node1 kernel: GFS2: fsid=: can't mount proto=fsck_dlm, table=appCluster:gfs2-a, hostdata=

Resolution

To recover a filesystem for which fsck.gfs of fsck.gfs2 has failed to complete, re-run fsck.gfs2 or fsck.gfs2 again and when it completes it will reinstate the original lock protocol. Its recommended to leave the fsck running until completes to avoid corruption.

When running fsck.gfs2 or fsck.gfs2 make sure that the filesystem is not mounted on any cluster node or corruption will occur.

For more information on running fsck.gfs or fsck.gfs2 then see the following article: How can I recover from a gfs2 withdrawal and fix any filesystem corruption that might exist in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, or 7 Resilient Storage cluster?

If the fsck operation fails on the second pass, it is recommended to contact Red Hat Global Support Services for assistance before proceeding*

Root Cause

If for some reason the fsck operation were to fail unexpectedly (for example from a segmentation fault) or if it were killed by the user (for instance if it were appearing to hang), then this locking protocol string does not get changed back automatically and further attempts to mount it will fail because the default locking protocol on the gfs or gfs2 filesystem is set to fsck_dlm.

In order to mount a gfs or gfs2 filesystem locking protocol should be lock_dlm.

Diagnostic Steps

If the default locking protocol on the gfs or gfs2 filesystem is fsck_dlm then you are hitting this issue. To find out the default locking protocol for the gfs or gfs2 filesystem then see the following solution: How to change the lock protocol in the superblock for a gfs2 filesystem in RHEL 6, 7, 8?

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