I have a computer that I rarely have physical access to. All my access to that computer is done using SSH. On that computer, there's a software RAID5 using MDADM. This array contains data in one folder and this folder is mounted automatically through fstab.
The problem is that if any issue happens with the RAID array, Debian fails to boot. This is a big problem for me because I'll have to request physical access to the drive when this happens, which is not that simple. Some times there's no real faulty drives, but there's a problem with some partition table that can be easily fixed. At least I need to know that a problem that needs physical intervention exists before I request physical access.
How can I get the following result: If MDADM fails or some drive is faulty or any problem with RAID exists:
1- Boot normally or at least to the level where I have ssh access
2- Don't assemble the array
3- Of course, don't mount that folder
4- Give me some kind of warning after logging with SSH (this is less important, because I'll notice the existence of a problem when I don't see that drive mounted).
Can this be achieved? And if any alternative exists, please tell me.
Thanks.
