MAAS-managed LXD Host VM Commissioning Timeout - DHCP Replies but No PXE/IP? (MAAS 3.5.6)

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1

Hi,

I’m hitting a wall with a similar scenario on my all-in-one MAAS instance (v3.5.6, apt install).

I’ve got a bare-metal machine set up as an LXD Host via MAAS. VM composition works fine, but the commissioning process times out after 30 minutes.

Symptoms:

  • lxc ls --project maas shows the VM RUNNING but with no IPV4 address.
  • tcpdump on the tap interface, bridge, and physical interface on the LXD host clearly shows multiple DHCP Discover and DHCP Reply exchanges.
  • rackd logs also confirm these DHCP flows.

This strongly suggests the VM isn’t completing the PXE boot process, despite receiving DHCP replies.

My core question:
Does the commissioning process for a MAAS-managed VM follow the exact same PXE boot and commissioning steps as a bare-metal machine? Are there common differences in network config that could cause the VM to “miss” its IP or PXE boot instructions, even with clear DHCP reply traffic?

Any insights or troubleshooting tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

2

Hi @trsoumi88

Is there anything in the console of your LXD VM?
lxc console <instance_name>
https://documentation.ubuntu.com/lxd/latest/howto/instances_console/

3

@troyanov , yes it fails on PXE boot attempt over IPv4 and IPv6, after which it attempts an HTTP boot, which fails too (which is expected). For baremetal machines, PXE over IPv4 works as expected.

# lxc console vm4  --project maas
To detach from the console, press: <ctrl>+a q

>>Start PXE over IPv4.
  PXE-E18: Server response timeout.
BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0002 "UEFI PXEv4 (MAC:00163EBA3DFE)" from PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/MAC(00163EBA3DFE,0x1)/IPv4(0.0.0.0,0x0,DHCP,0.0.0.0,0.0.0.0,0.0.0.0): Not Found

>>Start PXE over IPv6.
  PXE-E16: No valid offer received.
BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0003 "UEFI PXEv6 (MAC:00163EBA3DFE)" from PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/MAC(00163EBA3DFE,0x1)/IPv6(0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000,0x0,Static,0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000,0x40,0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000): Not Found

>>Start HTTP Boot over IPv4.
  Error: Could not retrieve NBP file size from HTTP server.

  Error: Server response timeout.
BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0004 "UEFI HTTPv4 (MAC:00163EBA3DFE)" from PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/MAC(00163EBA3DFE,0x1)/IPv4(0.0.0.0,0x0,DHCP,0.0.0.0,0.0.0.0,0.0.0.0)/Uri(): Not Found

>>Start HTTP Boot over IPv6.
  Error: Could not retrieve NBP file size from HTTP server.

  Error: Unexpected network error.
BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0005 "UEFI HTTPv6 (MAC:00163EBA3DFE)" from PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x4)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/MAC(00163EBA3DFE,0x1)/IPv6(0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000,0x0,Static,0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000,0x40,0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000)/Uri(): Not Found
BdsDxe: failed to load Boot0001 "UEFI QEMU QEMU HARDDISK " from PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x1)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Scsi(0x0,0x1): Not Found
BdsDxe: loading Boot0006 "EFI Internal Shell" from Fv(7CB8BDC9-F8EB-4F34-AAEA-3EE4AF6516A1)/FvFile(7C04A583-9E3E-4F1C-AD65-E05268D0B4D1)
BdsDxe: starting Boot0006 "EFI Internal Shell" from Fv(7CB8BDC9-F8EB-4F34-AAEA-3EE4AF6516A1)/FvFile(7C04A583-9E3E-4F1C-AD65-E05268D0B4D1)
UEFI Interactive Shell v2.2
EDK II
UEFI v2.70 (EDK II, 0x00010000)
Mapping table
     BLK0: Alias(s):
          PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x1,0x1)/Pci(0x0,0x0)/Scsi(0x0,0x1)
Press ESC in 1 seconds to skip startup.nsh or any other key to continue.
Shell>
4

Did you disable the LXD DHCP on such virtual networks?

5
  1. lxc config show vm4
    There should be a section like:
profiles:
- maas-pxe
  1. For the listed profile please do lxc profile show $profile-name
    There will be a section related to network devices
devices:
  eth0:
    nictype: bridged
    parent: maas-net
    type: nic
  1. Can you please share the output lxc network show $network-name (from the example above it is maas-net)