Request: storage alerts for dom0 and domUs

[brendanhoar]

Qubes OS version:

R4.0

Affected component(s):

Storage subsystems.
System stability.

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Steps to reproduce the behavior:

Run out of storage on a volume or pool in dom0 or a domU.

Expected behavior:

User would be alerted before this happens and can take action to avoid bad and sometimes irreversible outcomes.

Actual behavior:

User is surprised when entire system or a particular VM fails to work correctly and/or becomes corrupted and unusable.

General notes:

It may be useful to alert the user of storage issues before the (generally bad) effects of running out of storage occur. Probably best with configurable thresholds, e.g.: "predefined % remaining" or perhaps "total remaining storage". Monitoring could be broken down into two or three categories, all reported via a new widget (or updates to an existing one):

1. Alerts for dom0 via widget: monitor dom0 volumes as well as any pools that Qubes utilizes for VM volume storage.

2. Alerts for domU via widget utilizing Qubes Linux/windows tools: reported via RPC by the VM. Probably most critical for Linux and non-fullscreen Windows.

3. Alerts for domU via widget without Qubes tools support: optional delayed-reporting scan after shutdown by temporarily attaching the VM's volumes to a newly-run dvm and performing a filesystem scan for mountable filesystems, then reported via RPC. Widget would be reporting on RPC data from dvm, but knows the original domU it was checking. OK, this one is probably a pipe dream. Probably best to create a script to do suggestion number 3.

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Related issues:

[andrewdavidwong]

Duplicate of #1872

[andrewdavidwong]

This appears to be a duplicate of an existing issue. If so, please comment on the appropriate existing issue instead. If you believe this is not really a duplicate, please leave a comment briefly explaining why. We'll be happy to take another look and, if appropriate, reopen this issue. Thank you.