C H A P T E R 3

Installing Linux

This chapter provides information about installing the Linux OS on your workstation, if you do not want to use the preinstalled Solaris OS.

This chapter includes the following sections:

Section 3.1, Choosing and Updating the Operating System.

Section 3.2, Setting the BIOS for Linux

Section 3.3, Setting the LSI RAID Configuration

Section 3.4, Erasing the Currently-Installed OS

Section 3.5, Installing the Linux OS

Section 3.6, Installing Drivers.

3.1 Choosing and Updating the Operating System

The following Linux operating systems (or later versions) are supported for this workstation:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 WS Update 5, 32-bit and 64-bit

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Client Update 0, 32-bit and 64-bit

SUSE 9 SP3 64-bit only

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP1 64-bit only

You can order Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS or SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop for the workstation from the following Sun web site:

http://wwws.sun.com/software/linux/index.html

3.2 Setting the BIOS for Linux

SATA is configured as IDE in the BIOS by default. If the Configured SATA as option in the BIOS was not changed from the default, do the following:

1. Power on the workstation.

2. Press the F2 key at the Sun logo screen to enter the BIOS Setup menu.

3. Go to Advanced => Integrated Devices.

4. Change the Configured SATA as option.

If your Linux OS has onboard SATA support, change the Configured SATA as option to AHCI.

If your Linux OS does not have onboard SATA support, change the Configured SATA as option to IDE.

5. Press the F10 key to save your changes and exit the BIOS.

3.3 Setting the LSI RAID Configuration

To configure a RAID array in LSI:

1. During the BIOS portion of the boot, press Control-C to open the LSI configuration tool.

2. Select the SAS controller you want and press Enter.

3. Select RAID properties.

4. Select the type of RAID array you would like.

5. Select the volumes you would like to include in the RAID.

Note - Do not mix SAS and SATA volumes within a given RAID.

6. When the array is set up, save changes and exit.

Note - After you create IM and IME RAID arrays, the system will perform an automatic reset to enable write the cache feature.

3.4 Erasing the Currently-Installed OS

To erase the currently-installed OS, you can use the Tools and Drivers DVD to erase partitions on the boot hard drive. If you use the Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk option, it erases all partitions except the diagnostic partition.

3.4.1 About the Diagnostic Partition

The system diagnostic software requires the diagnostic partition to write its test scripts. Otherwise, the only output is the display on the diagnostic screen.

The procedures in this section do not remove the diagnostic partition.

If you accidentally remove the diagnostic partition, you can re-create and mount it using the Create Diagnostic Partition option on the Tools and Drivers DVD. See the Sun Ultra 24 Workstation Service Manual for instructions.

3.4.2 Erasing Currently-Installed OS Procedure

Caution - The Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk option erases all partitions and all user data on the hard drive, except the diagnostic partition. Be sure to back up all data on the hard drive before performing this action.

To erase all partitions on the boot hard drive, except the diagnostic partition:

1. Back up all data that you want to save on the hard drive.

2. Insert the Tools and Drivers DVD into the workstation.

3. When the main menu appears, choose the following option from the Tools and Drivers DVD main menu:

3. Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk

This option erases all partitions currently located on the primary hard drive, except for the diagnostic partition. The diagnostic partition, if it is present, remains untouched.

3.5 Installing the Linux OS

Install Linux from distribution media, as described in your Linux documentation.

If you are installing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS, after installing the OS but before installing the video drivers, run the up2date utility.

If you have already installed the NVIDIA video drivers, run the install.sh script after running up2date.

3.6 Installing Drivers

After installing the OS, run the installation script provided on the Tools and Drivers DVD to install the drivers that correspond to your OS.

The Tools and Drivers DVD is included with your workstation.

Note - The Tools and Drivers DVD also contains the tools to recreate and mount the diagnostic partition. You should not have to do this unless you accidentally erased it. See the Sun Ultra 24 Workstation Service Manual for details.

3.6.1 Installing the Linux Drivers

To install the Linux drivers:

1. Log in to the system as superuser.

2. Insert the Tools and Drivers DVD into the DVD drive and type:

# cd /mountpoint/drivers/linux/operating_system

Where:

mountpoint is the directory to which the DVD is mounted.

operating_system is the type of Linux installed on the workstation.

If the directory does not exist, the DVD did not automount. You will need to mount the DVD and change to the correct directory as shown in Step 3 and Step 4.

If you were able to access the operating_system directory, go to Step 5.

3. If the DVD does not automount, open a terminal window and mount the DVD by typing the following command:

# mount -o ro /dev/cdrom /mountpoint

Where mountpoint is the appropriate mount point for the OS and optical drive type.

For example:

# mount -o ro /dev/cdrom /mnt/dvdrom

4. Change to the /mountpoint/drivers/linux/operating_system directory.

Where:

mountpoint is the directory to which the DVD is mounted.

operating_system is the type of Linux installed on the workstation.

For example:

# cd /mnt/dvdrom/drivers/linux/red_hat

5. Run the installation script by typing the following command:

# ./install.sh

This script does not execute if the Xserver is running.

If the script exits and you receive an error message, go to Step 6.

If the script executes correctly, go to Step 7.

6. If the script exits and you receive an error message, perform the following procedure to disable the X server:

a. Type the following at the system prompt:

% init 3

b. Log in as superuser.

c. Repeat Step 4 and Step 5.

7. Eject the DVD after the driver installation is complete.

8. Reboot the workstation.