# Ubuntu 24 converted image runs but mender-client not running and device not recognized

**URL:** <https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Tags:** mender-convert, mender-client\
**Created:** [September 10, 2024, 8:19am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168 "2024-09-10T08:19:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 12\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@grasshopper](https://hub.mender.io/u/grasshopper)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 8:19am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/1 "2024-09-10T08:19:04Z")

</div>

I converted a Ubuntu 24 image and copied it onto the target device.  
With using part-uuids for the partitions it finally boots correctly now on the device.  
However, it is not recognized in the mender web ui under devices. It seems, the mender-client service is not running nor available. There is a `/lib/systemd/system/mender-client.service.wants` directory.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

PS: I’m using the trial, if that matters.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheYoctoJester](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/theyoctojester/32/1444_2.png) [@TheYoctoJester](https://hub.mender.io/u/TheYoctoJester)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/2 "2024-09-10T13:41:31Z")

</div>

Hi @grasshopper,

Thanks for reaching out! The trial or not should matter here - in fact it’s helpful, because then we can rule out problems with self-hosted instances.

Can you please check which version of the Mender Client is installed? For 3.x and earlier, the main binary is called `mender`, on 4.0 and later it has been split in `mender-auth` and `mender-update`. So the `systemd` units are also called `mender-client`, respectively `mender-authd` and `mender-updated`. What is the state of those?

And last for now, which board and version of `mender-convert` did you use?

Greets,  
Josef

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@grasshopper](https://hub.mender.io/u/grasshopper)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/3 "2024-09-10T14:11:42Z")

</div>

Thanks for the quick reply.

```auto
mender-auth: command not found

mender-update: command not found

Unit mender-client.service could not be found.

mender-authd.service
     Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit mender-authd.service is masked.)
     Active: inactive (dead)

mender-updated.service
     Loaded: masked (Reason: Unit mender-updated.service is masked.)
     Active: inactive (dead)

```

The version for mender-convert: 4.2.2 (at least that was the branch)

So I guess the mender client version would be \>=4.0

The board: [https://www.kontron.com/en/products/d3641-s-uatx/p157724](https://www.kontron.com/en/products/d3641-s-uatx/p157724)

Just to be sure: Using mender-convert already integrates the client into the image, right? Because I did not explicitly install the mender client onto the device.

Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@grasshopper](https://hub.mender.io/u/grasshopper)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 9:16am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/4 "2024-09-11T09:16:29Z")

</div>

I assume unmasking and enabling the services is not the solution because it should work out of the box, i.e. menderized os image, right? If there is anything I could have missed when creating the image or I could try out or if there is information I could provide, please let me know, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JamesTann](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/jamestann/32/2274_2.png) [@JamesTann](https://hub.mender.io/u/JamesTann)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/5 "2024-09-18T19:18:49Z")

</div>

I am having the same problem with the same OS and same version of `mender-convert`. @grasshopper were you able to solve it?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@grasshopper](https://hub.mender.io/u/grasshopper)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 3:30pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/6 "2024-09-19T15:30:47Z")

</div>

@JamesTann no, I have not unfortunately.

@TheYoctoJester  
Here are the specific steps I have taken:

1. Created a bootable usb drive with Ubuntu 24.04
2. Installed Ubuntu 24.04 on a separate USB drive
3. dd the complete drive to ubuntu24\_golden\_image.img
4. Run mender-convert on ubuntu24\_golden\_image.img:  
Since I was not successful in setting the partition names correctly, I used the exact partuuids. I adapted the generic\_x86-64\_hdd\_config for that. However, since I still encountered issues, I changed some config attributes in the mender\_convert\_config file itself since the config overwrite did not seem to work as expected. I will just attach the files I used, please see below.

```auto
	MENDER_ARTIFACT_NAME=release-1 ./docker-mender-convert \            
    --disk-image input/ubuntu24_golden_image.img \
    --config configs/generic_x86-64_hdd_config_custom \
    --overlay input/rootfs_overlay_demo/

```

1. Conversion did not have errors. dd the mender-image.img of deploy/ onto the empty nvme SSD of the target system.
2. Ubuntu 24.04 boots without issues on the target system. After the login, I check whether the two mender-client services are running which was not the case.

[mender\_convert\_config.yml](https://hub.mender.io/uploads/short-url/k5uiEmxUGb0ObF1Tg2KQBWkDaBR.yml) (10.5 KB)  
[generic\_x86-64\_hdd\_config\_custom.yml](https://hub.mender.io/uploads/short-url/ieT2AKHZ5YEaA2XgH5ZYTd5b6Db.yml) (2.0 KB)

Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JamesTann](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/jamestann/32/2274_2.png) [@JamesTann](https://hub.mender.io/u/JamesTann)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/7 "2024-09-19T20:53:34Z")

</div>

@grasshopper wow I was also trying to go from an SSD to an NVME! I too struggled with the partitions but eventually ended up just buying a second NVME and cloning with that so that I didn’t have to change anything. I also have no errors with convert but end up with the same issue as you: no `mender-client` installed in the converted image…

FWIW everything else seems correct, i.e. `mender-convert` created 2 root partitions and a data partition.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JamesTann](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/jamestann/32/2274_2.png) [@JamesTann](https://hub.mender.io/u/JamesTann)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/8 "2024-09-20T17:10:56Z")

</div>

@TheYoctoJester @grasshopper Not sure if this is helpful, but I just ran another conversion today and see this in the output:

```auto
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Using boot partition device in fstab: /dev/sda1
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Using data partition device in fstab: /dev/sda4
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Installing Mender client and related files
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Installing Mender Auth and Mender Update version latest
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Successfully downloaded mender-auth_4.0.2-1+debian+buster_amd64.deb
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Installing dependencies for /mender-convert/work/deb-packages/mender-auth_4.0.2-1+debian+buster_amd64.deb
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Successfully downloaded mender-update_4.0.2-1+debian+buster_amd64.deb
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Installing dependencies for /mender-convert/work/deb-packages/mender-update_4.0.2-1+debian+buster_amd64.deb
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Installing Mender Flash version latest
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Successfully downloaded mender-flash_1.0.0-1+debian+buster_amd64.deb
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Installing Mender Setup version latest
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Successfully downloaded mender-setup_1.0.0-1+debian+buster_amd64.deb
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Installing Mender Snapshot version latest
[INFO] [mender-convert-modify] Successfully downloaded mender-snapshot_1.0.0-1+debian+buster_amd64.deb

```

Everything seems correct to me? But the converted image still does not appear to have the mender client installed.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@grasshopper](https://hub.mender.io/u/grasshopper)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 10:12am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/9 "2024-09-25T10:12:18Z")

</div>

I retried all the steps I did now with Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) and the result was that the `mender-client.service` existed and was active when booting the system, so this is good. Also I was able to deploy a test artifact via the hosted.mender UI. I am a bit confused that the `mender-client.service` was running rather than the `mender-authd` and `mender-updated` because these two were at least labeled as `inactive` when I did the first try with Ubuntu 24. So, how is the mender client version determined? I used the same script and configs for mender-convert.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![grasshopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f19dbf/32.png) [@grasshopper](https://hub.mender.io/u/grasshopper)\
**Post date:** [September 26, 2024, 7:23am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/10 "2024-09-26T07:23:08Z")

</div>

From the `mender_convert_config` file:

```auto
# Valid values are "auto" (default), "latest", "master" or a specific version
# If set to "auto" then the Mender Client 4.0 or later will be installed unless
# the distribution is Ubuntu jammy or older or Debian bullseye or older;
# the latest Mender 3.x client will be installed in those cases.
# If set to "latest", it will install the latest version of the Mender Client
# from the 4.x series.

```

This answers my question.  
My `mender --version` produces `3.5.3`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sr1134](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@sr1134](https://hub.mender.io/u/sr1134)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 11:38am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/11 "2024-11-05T11:38:12Z")

</div>

Hi, I’m trying out mender with Ubuntu Server 24.04 on a few QEMU VMs.  
I’m using the hosted trial version, with `mender-convert` 4.2.2. My workstation is also Ubuntu 24.04.

My issue is that after booting the converted image, any mender services are listed by `systemctl` as masked and dead. Unmasking them deletes the service files.  
I think this issue is the same problem? [Ubuntu 24 converted image runs but mender-client not running and device not recognized](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168)

This is the command I use when I invoke `mender-convert`:

```auto
MENDER_ARTIFACT_NAME=release-1.0.0 ./docker-mender-convert \
    --disk-image input/golden-image.v1.0.0.img \
    --config configs/ubuntu-qemux86-64_config \
    --config configs/sr_ubn_qemu_config \
    --overlay input/rootfs_overlay/

```

And this is the contents of my own config file, `sr_ubn_qemu_config`:

```auto
MENDER_COMPRESS_DISK_IMAGE=none
MENDER_STORAGE_DEVICE_BASE=/dev/vda
MENDER_DEVICE_TYPE="x86_64"
MENDER_BOOT_PART_SIZE_MB=2048
MENDER_DATA_PART_SIZE_MB=2048
MENDER_STORAGE_TOTAL_SIZE_MB=32000

```

I have tried both with and without setting `MENDER_CLIENT_VERSION="3.5.2"` in my own config file.  
Without it

- `mender-authd` and `mender-updated` are known by `systemctl`, but masked and dead.
- `mender-flash`, `mender-setup`, and `mender-snapshot` available as commands.

With it

- `mender-client` is known by `systemctl`, but masked and dead.

In both cases, if I do `systemctl unmask <service>` it removes the `/etc/systemd/system/<service>.service` file, after which `systemctl` no longer recognizes the service, so I cannot enable it.

This is my first time using Mender, FYI.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheYoctoJester](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/hub.mender.io/theyoctojester/32/1444_2.png) [@TheYoctoJester](https://hub.mender.io/u/TheYoctoJester)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2024, 11:46am UTC](https://hub.mender.io/t/ubuntu-24-converted-image-runs-but-mender-client-not-running-and-device-not-recognized/7168/12 "2024-11-05T11:46:45Z")

</div>

@sr1134,

Thanks for reaching out - yes, this sounds exactly like this issue so I merged the threads for now. I’ll try to reproduce it and then report back.

Greetz,  
Josef