Installation of gpfs.gpfsbin reports an error

The depmod: ERROR: fstatat(4, mmfs26.ko): No such file or directory error message is related to the installation of the gpfs.gpfsbin rpm.

During a kernel update, the Red Hat Driver Update program checks if kernel modules present for older kernels are compatible with the new kernel. If the kernel modules are compatible with the new kernel, the kernel creates symlinks in the weak-updates directory. Symlinks are created for mmfs26.ko, mmfslinux.ko, and tracedev.ko object files of IBM Storage Scale.

If the system administrator removes a gpfs.gplbin rpm for older kernels after the kernel is updated then the object files, mmfs26.ko, mmfslinux.ko, and tracedev.ko, get removed for older kernels. The dangling symlinks that are created for the object files are left in the weak-updates directory for the new kernel.

While installing the gpfs.gplbin rpm, the depmod -a command can result in the depmod: ERROR: fstatat(4, mmfs26.ko): No such file or directory error as the object files, mmfs26.ko, mmfslinux.ko, and tracedev.ko, are absent in the weak-updates folder. The dangling symlinks are not used for the installation, upgrade, or execution of IBM Storage Scale, the error message can be ignored.

To avoid the error message, run the following steps before you install the gpfs.gplbin rpm to clean up the dangling symlinks:

  1. After removal of a gpfs.gplbin rpm, determine the kernel version by running the uname -r command, and then check the kernel weak-updates directory /lib/modules/<kernel version> for broken symlinks using the ls -l command.
  2. Remove dangling symlinks, if any.
  3. Run the depmod -a command to confirm that there are no dangling symlinks.
  4. Install the new gpfs.gplbin rpm.