Quagga stopped working after updates in Stretch

Question

Today, after the updates, in my DNS server using Debian Stretch, OSPF stopped working and thus the server does not belong to the DNS anycast group.

When I try to do /etc/init.d/quagga start, the init.d script is no longer there. I shall say I am still using sysVinit, and not systemd.

Nevertheless, I have quagga packages installed in the system. While I could in the past quagga had one package in Debian, nowadays it has installed the list bellow.

The package version currently installed is 1.1.0-2

What is happening?

$dpkg -l | grep quagga | awk ' { print $2 } '

libquagga0
quagga
quagga-bgpd
quagga-core
quagga-isisd
quagga-ospf6d
quagga-ospfd
quagga-pimd
quagga-ripd
quagga-ripngd

Solution

Apparently the quagga packages suffered a revision, and they are not supporting SysVinit anymore.

Several files have gone missing, including /etc/init.d/quagga, and /etc/quagga/daemons. The binary watchquagga is not longer installed too.

A temporary quick fix can be deinstalling all those quagga packages, and installing the jessie package.

The steps are:

dpkg --purge `dpkg -l | grep quagga | awk ' { print $2 } ' `

Getting the package from Jessie repositories: from packages.debian.org (jessie quagga)

wget http://security.debian.org/debian-security/pool/updates/main/q/quagga/quagga_0.99.23.1-1+deb8u3_amd64.deb
dpkg -i quagga_0.99.23.1-1+deb8u3_amd64.deb 

Activate the zebra (routing) and the OSPF daemon:

vi /etc/quagga/daemons
zebra=y
ospfd=y

And start the Quagga service:

/etc/init.d/quagga start

@derobert also most conveniently pointed out there is a version snapshot archive with the last versions at http://snapshot.debian.org/package/quagga

However, since this is a security patch, I advise maintaining the Jessie deb, and using later on 1.1.0-1 to make the basis for a deb of my own in my local repository.

I filed a bug #849011 with the Debian quagga team only to be told "move to systemd" by the maintainers of the package.

I will move my router daemon to BIRD or my DNS systems to FreeBSD, as that for me it is not an acceptable solution.

PS I eventually migrated to BIRD. see OSPF: Migrating Quagga to BIRD

PPS As @MatijaNalis points out in comments, the bug I filed resulting from this question was open for almost 1.5 years, and was solved only in Buster. So it is still less destabilising to the system, when doing dynamic networking configuration in Debian Stretch, using SysV, to use BIRD instead of Quagga.

Furthermore, whilst BIRD does not provide a small emulation of the Cisco command line console as Quagga, it is more elegantly designed, and allows multiple routing IDs/instances.

Comments

[derobert]

FYI: You can go back to any previous version @ snapshot.debian.org/package/quagga ... Also, was --remove sufficient (instead of --purge)? That should at least leave your config. Lastly, please report the bug to Debian.

[Rui F Ribeiro]

Did not know about snapshot, purge actually left the configurations on place. Thanks for the comments.

[derobert]

Make what an answer? Looks like you've already fully answered your own question. Feel free to edit in snapshots.d.o if you want (that's what comments on answers are mainly for, making the existing answers better)

[Rui F Ribeiro]

Thanks, will edit it later on. reported: Bug#849011: quagga 1.1.0-2 deleted support for sysV (init)

[Rui F Ribeiro]

I was told it is a feature, and to move to systemd. Edited my answer.

[Matija Nalis]

As noted in Debian bug 849011 this has finally been resolved in quagga 1.2.4-2 package. But it is in Buster only, not in Stretch, so you have to install them manually (using apt-pinning or manually from web. For manual install, you need libtinfo5 package as well as dependency, not just quagga-core and quagga-bgpd - but otherwise they works OK on Stretch for me)

[Rui F Ribeiro]

@MatijaNalis blast from the past, I moved jobs and never got that message from the closing of my ticked. In my former job I could not wait, DNS depended on that, and moved to BIRD, as I mention in the last paragraph and other related questions. I did not regret the decision, more elegant design, support for multiple routing ids and less quirks

[Rui F Ribeiro]

(about the wait comment, was checking dates the ticket was open 1.5 years. And only for buster. It is still less traumatic going for BIRD than using testing packages and dependencies)

[Rui F Ribeiro]

@MatijaNalis No idea if previous messages pinged you, was in Android. Now in my Mac. Thanks for the remembering from the past.