brain-dump/sysadmin/failed-unmounting-var.md

Failed Unmounting Drive During Shutdown

When using vanilla shutdown (no Plymouth):

[FAILED] Failed unmounting /var.

Cause

After moving /var/log onto a separate partition, shutdown doesn't unmount /var due to systemd-journald using it.

Solution

Make journald log to a volatile location, so it doesn't lock /var. Caveat being there will be no shutdown logs.

Apply the fix:

pico /etc/systemd/journald.conf

Beneath [Journal], add:

Storage=volatile