Bug#777025: LogLevel=debug is ignored whether set from kernel args or /etc/systemd/system.conf

[Paul H]

Package: systemd
Version: 215-11
Severity: normal

Dear Maintainer,

During my adventures in trying to find a suitable target for a unit file to depend upon (network-online.target seems too early, DNS isn't resolving by then unless I add a sleep 20 &&... in front of ExecStartPre), I discovered that I couldn't coax any "Reached target.." log lines from the journal which would help me out.

So I tried to follow the advice at https://wiki.debian.org/systemd#Debugging -
   * I tried adding LogLevel=debug in /etc/systemd/system.conf, this didn't work.
   * I added GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="systemd.log_target=kmsg systemd.log_level=debug" in /etc/default/grub && update-grub && reboot, this didn't work.
   * apt-get install -t experimental systemd && reboot which upgraded from 215-11 to 218-7, now I can see the log messages I was missing!
   * apt-get install -t sid libsystemd0=215-11 systemd=215-11 systemd-sysv=215-11 && reboot which downgrades back to sid versions, and the problem has returned.
   * apt-get install -t jessie libsystemd0=215-10 systemd=215-10 systemd-sysv=215-10 && reboot and the problem persists.
   * apt-get install -t experimental systemd && reboot and back to 218-7 packages the problem is resolved, I can see the log messages I was misssing once again.

This is the command below which tests whether my LogLevel=debug was working or not, and demonstrates the log lines I was looking for:

$ sudo journalctl |grep 'Reached target'
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Encrypted Volumes.
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Slices.
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Remote File Systems (Pre).
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Paths.
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Swap.
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Local File Systems (Pre).
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Local File Systems.
Feb 04 12:09:37 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Remote File Systems.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Network.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Network is Online.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target RPC Port Mapper.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target System Initialization.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Timers.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Sockets.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Basic System.
Feb 04 12:09:40 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Login Prompts.
Feb 04 12:10:07 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Multi-User System.
Feb 04 12:10:07 vm2481 systemd[1]: Reached target Graphical Interface.

NB: These are netboot/preseed virt-installed VMs running on xen 4.4.

-- Package-specific info:

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 8.0
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 3.16.0-4-amd64 (SMP w/1 CPU core)
Locale: LANG=en_AU.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_AU.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)

Versions of packages systemd depends on:
ii  acl             2.2.52-2
ii  adduser         3.113+nmu3
ii  initscripts     2.88dsf-58
ii  libacl1         2.2.52-2
ii  libaudit1       1:2.4-1+b1
ii  libblkid1       2.25.2-4.2
ii  libc6           2.19-14
ii  libcap2         1:2.24-6
ii  libcap2-bin     1:2.24-6
ii  libcryptsetup4  2:1.6.6-5
ii  libgcrypt20     1.6.2-4+b1
ii  libkmod2        18-3
ii  liblzma5        5.1.1alpha+20120614-2+b3
ii  libpam0g        1.1.8-3.1
ii  libselinux1     2.3-2
ii  libsystemd0     215-11
ii  mount           2.25.2-4.2
ii  sysv-rc         2.88dsf-58
ii  udev            215-11
ii  util-linux      2.25.2-4.2

Versions of packages systemd recommends:
ii  dbus            1.8.14-1
pn  libpam-systemd  <none>

Versions of packages systemd suggests:
pn  systemd-ui  <none>

-- Configuration Files:
/etc/dbus-1/system.d/org.freedesktop.resolve1.conf 6969148b4616c56a5c9065cec5ab0775 [Errno 2] No such file or directory: u'/etc/dbus-1/system.d/org.freedesktop.resolve1.conf 6969148b4616c56a5c9065cec5ab0775'
/etc/systemd/system.conf changed:
[Manager]
LogLevel=debug
LogTarget=journal-or-kmsg
LogColor=yes


-- no debconf information
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