| Sun Fire X4540 Server Linux and Solaris OS Installation Guide |    
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| C H A P T E R 4 |
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Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) |
This chapter includes information on installing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating systems and system specific drivers onto your Sun Fire X4540 server.
This chapter includes the following sections:
This section describes the various requirements and methods for installing RHEL 4.7 and 5.1 64-bit on your Sun Fire X4540 server.
Consult the following table to determine which sections in this document are relevant to the installation tasks that you want to perform.
Before you install the RHEL software on a Sun Fire X4540 server, consult the following RHEL documentation.
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Contains late-breaking information about system requirements and system configuration for your version of the RHEL software. |
On the RHEL CD 1, and online at http://www.redhat.com/docs/ |
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A printed guide containing useful information to assist you during the installation of RHEL. |
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The expanded version of the printed Quick Installation Guide. |
Included on the Red Hat Documentation CD, and available for download at http://www.redhat.com/docs/ |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux Introduction to System Administration |
Available for download at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ |
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Available for download at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ |
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Information on configuring your server and Red Hat Linux for diskless booting. |
Available for download as the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for the x86, Itanium |
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Available for download at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ |
Although you can install the Red Hat Enterprise Linux software you will need to collect some information about your system and your network before you proceed with the installation.
You might need to verify the following information before installing the RHEL software on the server.
To install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the Sun Fire X4540 server, you will need to obtain the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Update Media Kit.
To obtain this kit, log in to:
You will need your enterprise account information to download the updated ISO images. An enterprise account is an account that the customer creates to access Red Hat's support network after purchasing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux media kit.
After you obtain the updated.iso images, write them to CDs and use them in place of the media you obtained with your Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 box.
The Tools and Drivers DVD for your Sun server contains important drivers that are required for your Linux installation (for example, video, chipset and the server’s LSI MPT disk controller). The latest ISO image of the Tools and Drivers DVD for your Sun Fire server can downloaded at:
http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4540/support.xml
After installing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux software on the server, you might also need to update your system software with patches and packages. See Updating the RHEL OS for details.
Your Sun server can be equipped with an internal Compact Flash (CF) card, on which you can install supported Linux or Solaris operating systems. Due to the limited size of the CF card, a full installation might not be possible and some installation modes and functions, such as LVM and swap, are not recommended. A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of booting from CF and CF card optimization procedures are available in Installing and Booting an OS on Compact Flash.
Before installing the OS on a Compact Flash card, you must identify and configure it as your system’s primary boot device. The primary boot device is the device upon which you install and boot the OS. You can install the OS on, and boot from, an internal HDD, an external HDD (for example, a hard disk in a storage enclosure), or the internal CF card.
The server’s boot device priority is set through the server’s BIOS setup program. During the boot process, press the F2 key when prompted and navigate to the Boot Device Priority screen to set the internal CF card as the primary boot device.
For the Sun Fire X4500 server, typically, the boot device nodes are /dev/sdy which is located at Slot 0, and /dev/sdac located at Slot 1.
Installing Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) 2.0.2.5 changes the controller IDs and the names of the system drives. For more information see “Upgrading to ILOM 2.0.2.5 Changes Controller IDs” in the Sun Fire
X4500/X4540 Server Installation Guide.
The OS must be installed on one of these device nodes. You must also ensure that the GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) is installed on the boot device.
To ensure that GRUB gets installed on the boot device, you should perform the following step(s):
1. During RHEL installation (using the graphical user interface), in the Advanced GRUB menu, select the device /dev/disk_name.
2. Click the up-arrow until /dev/disk_name is at the top of the list. This process could require approximately 90 clicks.
Once the installation is complete, GRUB resides on /dev/disk_name.
To perform a basic installation from local media, Sun recommends using the Sun Installation Assistant (SIA) CD. By using the SIA CD, you can install the OS, the appropriate drivers, and additional software on your system by simply booting from the SIA CD. SIA eliminates the need to inventory your system hardware, search out and download Sun-supported drivers, and create a driver CD. For more information on the SIA CD, refer to Chapter 2.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides both a text mode and an easy-to-use graphical interface for installing and configuring the operating system. At the boot prompt, you can select the interface that you want to use.
Installation from distribution media requires the following items:
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3. Make a note of the following issues specific to your server:
5. Insert the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Distribution CD 1 into the local DVD/CD drive on the Sun Fire X4540 server.
The server will boot from the CD and display a boot: prompt.
6. Do one of the following at the boot prompt, depending on which type of interface you want to use:
7. Follow the installation instructions provided with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide to complete the installation of the operating system.
This section explains how to install the RHEL operating system on your server using the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Remote Console application. For more information see the Integrated Lights-Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide. Note that there are multiple versions of ILOM, be sure to refer to the guide that matches your server’s installed version of ILOM.
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1. Locate your RHEL installation CD/DVD or the equivalent ISO images.
| Note - The ILOM Remote Console application can redirect ISO images. |
2. Locate the appropriate LSI MPT driver update ISO file from the Tools and Drivers CD.
The X4540 server requires the LSI MPT disk controller driver update file located on the Tools and Drivers DVD. You may opt to install this driver after the initial installation of RHEL. Check the directory /linux/drivers/ on your server Tools and Drivers CD for .rpm files that relate to the version of Linux you are installing.
3. Connect to the ILOM Service Processor web GUI.
If necessary, refer to the Integrated Lights-Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide (note that there are multiple versions of ILOM, be sure to refer to the guide that matches your server’s installed version of ILOM).
4. If necessary, change the mouse mode to Relative Mouse Mode.
6. Click the Launch Redirection button to start the JavaRConsole application.
7. Log in to the JavaRConsole.
8. Start keyboard and mouse redirection.
Select Keyboard and Mouse in the Devices menu.
From the JavaRConsole Devices menu, you can redirect the CD in two ways:
10. Turn on the server using the ILOM web GUI.
11. Set up the BIOS as follows:
a. Press Ctrl-E to enter BIOS Setup Utility.
d. Set AMI Virtual CD as the first boot device.
e. Press F10 to save changes and exit.
f. Reboot and press Ctrl-P to select CD/DVD as the boot device.
12. Reboot and press Ctrl-P to select CD/DVD as the boot device. When the boot prompt appears, enter:
13. When prompted for the driver disk, select Yes.
14. When prompted for the driver disk source, select sda.
15. After the driver is done loading, select No when asked for additional driver.
16. When prompted for testing the CD media before installation, select Skip if you do not want the media test to run.
17. Proceed with Red Hat OS installation, but first take note of the following issues specific to your server:
The onboard network interface card (NIC) in your Sun Fire X4540 server supports the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) network booting protocol. The system BIOS and network interface BIOS on your server automatically query the network for a DHCP server. If that DHCP server on the network has been configured to support the PXE protocol and PXE image servers on the same network, then the BIOS on your system can be used to install a bootable RHEL image on your server.
| Note - PXE is a powerful and convenient solution for setting up a number of Sun Fire X4540 servers so their configuration is identical. |
To take advantage of RHEL and PXE on your network, you need to perform the following tasks.
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Obtain the updated media kit at http://rhn.redhat.com. |
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Preconfiguring Your Network to Support PXE Installation of RHEL |
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Configure your server to install from a RHEL image on a PXE server. |
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This section describes how to preconfigure your network running RHEL to support PXE installation of RHEL software on your server. These procedures assume that you already have a bootable server that is running a version of the RHEL OS to use as a PXE server.
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation involves the following procedures:
1. To Copy Files From the Tools and Drivers CD
4. To Configure the TFTP Service
5. To Install and Configure the neopxe Boot Server Daemon
6. To Configure the NFS Service
8. To Complete the PXE Preconfiguration
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation requires the following items:
http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4540/support.xml
This section describes how to copy the PXE support files, which are required for PXE configurations, from the Tools and Drivers CD.
| Note - This example uses RHEL 4. If you are installing another version/update of RHEL, replace rhel4 with the file name that corresponds to your version of RHEL. |
1. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the DHCP/PXE server.
2. Create a temporary directory to copy the PXE support files if /tmp does not exist. Enter:
3. Enter the following commands to copy the files to the /tmp/ directory:
# cp /mnt/cdrom/linux/pxe/rhel4-pxefiles.tar.gz /tmp/
4. Uncompress and extract the contents of the tar file into the /tmp/ directory. Enter:
# tar -zxvf rhel4-pxefiles.tar.gz
When you extract the file, a directory with all required files is created at /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles/.
Complete the following steps on the server that will be your DHCP server.
1. Power on the server and log in as superuser.
2. Determine whether the DHCP server package is already installed on the server. Enter:
3. If the DHCP server package is not listed, insert the RHEL CD 5 and install the DHCP server. Enter:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/dhcp-*.rpm
4. Unmount the CD, by entering the following command:
5. Remove the CD from the server.
6. Set up your DHCP configuration file (for example, /etc/dhcpd.conf) so that only PXEClient requests receive PXEClient responses.
| Note - Refer to the dhcpd.conf man page for more information. |
Enter the following in the DHCP configuration file:
class "PXE" {match if substring(option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) ="PXEClient"; option vendor-class-identifier "PXEClient"; vendor-option-space PXE; next-server n.n.n.n}
Where n.n.n.n is the PXE server’s IP address.
| Note - If the server does not already have a dhcpd.conf file in its /etc directory, you can copy the dhcpd.conf file from the sample DHCP configuration file in the /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles directory. |
7. In the DHCP configuration file, edit the server-identifier entry:
Where n.n.n.n is the PXE/dhcp server’s IP address.
8. Also in the DHCP configuration file, find the subnet entry fields:
subnet 1.2.3.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range dynamic-bootp 1.2.3.100 1.2.3.200;
option broadcast-address 1.2.3.225;
Edit the subnet, range, router and broadcast-address entries according to the PXE/dhcp server’s network configuration.
9. Start the DHCP service. Enter:
10. Configure the server to always start DHCP. Enter:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the portmap server package is already installed on the server. Enter:
2. If portmap is not listed, insert the RHEL CD 2 and install the portmap service by entering the following commands:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/portmap-*
3. Unmount the CD, by entering the following command:
4. Remove the CD from the server.
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the TFTP server package is already installed on the server. Enter:
2. If the TFTP server package is not listed, insert the RHEL CD 4 and install the TFTP service by entering the following commands:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/tftp-server*
3. Unmount the CD, by entering the following command:
4. Remove the CD from the server.
5. Edit and save the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file.
6. Restart the inetd server. Enter:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server. The neopxe server is designed for use with a DHCP server that is running on the same system.
1. Install the neopxe boot server daemon onto the system that is your DHCP server. Enter:
# cd /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles/neopxe-0.2.0
2. Append the path /usr/local/sbin/neopxe to the rc.local file by entering the following command, making sure to use two greater-than signs:
# echo "/usr/local/sbin/neopxe" >> /etc/rc.d/rc.local
3. Copy the PXE Linux image from the /tmp/ directory. Enter:
# cp /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles/pxelinux.0 /home/pxeboot
4. Configure the PXE Linux image. Enter:
# mkdir /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/
# touch /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default
5. Edit the /usr/local/etc/neopxe.conf configuration file, which is read by neopxe at startup.
If the neopxe.conf file is not in the /usr/local/etc directory, you can copy it from the /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles/neopxe-0.2.0/ directory.
A valid configuration file must have entries for each of the following lines, including at least one service line:
service=service-number,boot-server,boot-file,label
service=1,192.168.0.1,pxelinux.0,Linux
service=2,192.169.0.1,nbp.unknown,Solaris
| Note - Refer to the neopxe.conf man page for more information. |
6. Start the neopxe daemon. Enter:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the NFS service package is already installed on the server. Enter:
2. If the NFS service package is not listed, insert the RHEL CD 2 and install the NFS service with the following commands:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/nfs-utils-*
3. Remove the CD from the server after you enter the following command:
4. Edit and save the /etc/exports file to add the following line to it:
/home/pxeboot *(no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,insecure)
5. Start the NFS service. Enter:
6. Configure the server to always start the NFS service. Enter:
If you enabled firewall security when you installed RHEL software on the system that will be your PXE server, complete the following steps to disable the firewall so that PXE clients can download from the server.
1. Stop the ipchains service. Enter:
2. Stop the iptables service. Enter:
3. Stop the ipchains service from starting when you restart the server. Enter:
4. Stop the iptables service from starting when you restart the server. Enter:
| Note - You might encounter error messages if the ipchains service is not installed on the server. You can safely ignore these messages. |
When you have completed all the previous configuration steps, do the following.
1. Reboot the PXE/DHCP server.
2. Refer to the next section, Creating a PXE Install Image on the PXE Server.
This procedure describes how to create a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) install image on the same server that is your DHCP server so that it will also act as your PXE server. The PXE server provides the OS files to your PXE client.
Before you install a RHEL image on your PXE server, you must configure your Linux network to support PXE images. See Preconfiguring Your Network to Support PXE Installation of RHEL.
The PXE installation procedure requires the following items:
1. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the CD/DVD drive of the DHCP/PXE server.
| Note - The following examples refer to RHEL 4. Replace rhel4 with the file name that corresponds to your update. |
2. Enter the following commands to copy the Sun support files from the Tools and Drivers CD to the /tmp directory on your DHCP/PXE server:
# cp -a /mnt/cdrom/linux/pxe/rhel4-pxefiles.tar.gz /tmp
# tar -zxvf rhel4-pxefiles.tar.gz
3. Set up the directory structure that will hold the RHEL software. Enter:
# mkdir -p /home/pxeboot/rhel4/
4. For each RHEL distribution CD, enter the following commands to copy the contents of the distribution CD to the PXE target subdirectory:
| Note - Eject and insert RHEL CDs only when the CD/DVD drive is unmounted. |
# cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /home/pxeboot/rhel4/
5. Copy the vmlinuz and initrd.img files to the appropriate PXE target subdirectory (/home/pxeboot/rhel4/).
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# cp /home/pxeboot/rhel4/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz /home/pxeboot/rhel4/ |
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# cp /home/pxeboot/rhel4/images/pxeboot/initrd.img /home/pxeboot/rhel4/ |
6. Copy the kickstart file ks.cfg to your PXE server. Enter:
# cp /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles/ks.cfg /home/pxeboot/rhel4/
The kickstart configuration file contains a configuration that might not be optimal for your operating environment. Modify the file as necessary to suit your environment.
7. On your PXE server, edit and save the kickstart file, /home/pxeboot/rhel4/ks.cfg.
Edit the nfs line is as follows:
nfs --server n.n.n.n --dir /home/pxeboot/rhel4/
Where n.n.n.n is the IP address of your PXE server. Ensure that the location indicated after --dir is pointing to the top level of your image.
8. Add the following entry to the file /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default:
| Note - Enter the text block from append through ks.cfg as one continuous string with no returns. |
default rhel4
label rhel4
kernel rhel4/vmlinuz
append ksdevice=eth0 console=tty0 load_ramdisk=1
initrd=rhel4/initrd.img network
ks=nfs:n.n.n.n:/home/pxeboot/rhel4/ks.cfg
Where n.n.n.n is the IP address of your PXE server.
| Note - For console-based installations, add console=ttyS0,9600 to the append line. |
9. Save the modified version of the /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default file.
This procedure describes how to configure your Sun Fire X4540 server to initiate the request to download the boot image file from the PXE/DHCP server and how to install the RHEL boot image onto your Sun Fire X4540 server.
Before you configure your server to install RHEL from a PXE server, you need to have done the following:
To configure your server to install a RHEL image from a PXE server, do the following.
1. Connect the PXE client to the same network as the PXE server, and power on the PXE client.
The PXE client is the target Sun Fire X4540 server to which you are installing RHEL software.
2. When the PXE client prompts you for a network boot, press the F12 key.
The PXE client connects to the PXE server and attempts to obtain an IP address from the DHCP server.
3. When prompted, press the F8 key to begin downloading the PXE boot image.
4. At the boot: prompt, enter in the label you gave the image when you installed a RHEL image on the PXE server.
The RHEL install image downloads onto the target Sun Fire X4540 server.
5. To configure the Linux OS for your server, refer to the manual that is shipped with your RHEL media kit.
See Updating the RHEL OS.
This procedure describes how to update the RHEL OS.
Since software is constantly being updated, it is possible that your distribution media might not contain the most up-to-date versions of the OS. This procedure explains how to update a RHEL installation to the latest OS. The following procedure assumes that you have already installed the RHEL software on the Sun Fire X4540 server.
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Follow these steps to update the OS software. These procedures assume that your system has access to the Internet.
1. Set up the up2date program on the server.
Refer to the documentation included with your RHEL media kit for details.
Select the kernel packages in the available package updates section.
If you install your RHEL OS with SIA, these drivers are automatically updated. If you install the OS manually, you must update the drivers yourself.
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1. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD for your Sun Fire X4540 server and mount it onto the directory /mnt.
2. Enter the following commands:
# cd /mnt/linux/drivers # rpm -ivh mptlinux-redhat4.0-3.13.04.00-2.i686.rpm
# cd /mnt/linux/drivers # rpm -ivh mptlinux-4.00.22.00-1-rhel5.x86_64.rpm
# cd /mnt/linux/drivers # rpm -ivh mptlinux-4.00.41.00-1-rhel5.x86_64.rpm
3. Installation of the new drivers is now complete. Reboot the server for the changes to take effect.
| Sun Fire X4540 Server Linux and Solaris OS Installation Guide | 820-4893-13 |
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Copyright © 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
To Install From Local Media