Unable to Manage Libvirtd Process With Systemctl

Problem

• After upgrading from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, systemctl shows libvirt-bin in an inactive/dead state.
• Attempts to manage the process using systemctl commands or /etc/init.d/* scripts fail silently.

Environment

• Platform9 Managed OpenStack - All Versions
• Ubuntu 16.04 LTS after upgrading from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Cause

Upgrading from Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with libvirt-bin installed, to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS does not consistently update the /etc/default/libvirt-bin configuration file causing an option which attempts to fork the libvirtd process to be left in place.

Resolution

1. Open the /etc/default/libvirt-bin file for editing on the affected host.

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$ sudo vi /etc/default/libvirt-bin

2. Remove the ' -d' flag from Libvirt options.

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# options passed to libvirtd, add "-l" to listen on tcplibvirtd_opts="-l -d"

3. Attempt to stop the Libvirt daemon.

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$ sudo systemctl stop libvirt-bin

4. Verify the service has been stopped.

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$ ps -ef | grep libvirtd

5. If the process is still present, attempt to gracefully kill it.

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# pkill libvirtd

6. Repeat Step #4 to verify the process exist. If it still does then kill it forcefully.

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# pkill -9 libvirtd

7. Start the service.

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$ sudo systemctl start libvirt-bin