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Sun Server X2-8 Product Documentation     Sun Server X2-8 (formerly Sun Fire X4800 M2) Documentation Library
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Document Information

Using This Documentation

Hardware Installation

Operating System Installation

Linux

Linux Installation Task Map

Oracle Hardware Installation Assistant (OHIA)

Task Overview

Obtaining OHIA

Preparing for OS Installation

How to Erase Your Boot Hard Disk

Creating a Virtual Disk

How to Create a Virtual Disk

About Using the x2APIC Option

Selecting a Media Delivery Method

Local Installation by Accessing the Console Using the Serial or Video Port

How to Configure the Serial Port

Remote Installation by Accessing the Console Using Oracle ILOM

How to Access the Server Console Using Oracle ILOM Web Interface

How to Access the Server Console Using the Oracle ILOM CLI Interface

Installing Oracle Linux

Installing Oracle Linux From Distribution Media

How to Download Oracle Linux Media

How to Install Oracle Linux From Distribution Media

Updating Oracle Linux

How to Update the Oracle Linux Operating System

Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Installing RHEL From Distribution Media

How to Download RHEL Media Kits

How to Install RHEL From Distribution Media

Updating RHEL

How to Update the RHEL Operating System

How to Update the RHEL Drivers

Installing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

Installing SLES From Distribution Media

How to Download SLES Media Kits

How to Install SLES From Distribution Media

Updating SLES

How to Update the SLES Operating System

How to Update the SLES Drivers

Configuring a Linux Server to Support PXE Installation

Overview of PXE

How to Install and Configure a DHCP Server for PXE

How to Install Portmap on Your PXE Server

How to Configure the TFTP Service on Your PXE Server

How to Configure PXELINUX on Your PXE Server

How to Configure the NFS Service on Your PXE Server

Disabling the Firewall

How to Disable the Firewall for SUSE Linux

How to Disable the Firewall for Oracle Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Linux

How to Create a PXE Installation Image for Oracle Linux

How to Create a PXE Installation Image for RHEL

How to Create a PXE Installation Image for SLES

How to Create a PXE Installation Image for Oracle VM

How to Install Linux From a PXE Server

Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names for Linux OS Configuration

How to Identify Installed Network Ports

How to Identify Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing Oracle Linux or RHEL

How to Identify Logical and Physical Network Interface Names While Installing SLES

Administration, Diagnostics, and Service

Index

How to Create a PXE Installation Image for RHEL

This procedure creates a supported Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS installation image on the PXE server. The PXE server allows the target server to do a network boot and install the operating system files over the network.

Before You Begin

The PXE installation procedure requires the following items:

  1. Set up the directory structure that will hold the Linux OS software. For example:
    # mkdir -p /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64/

    Note - The examples in this procedure use RHEL and the image source directory /home/pxeboot/rhelas64 as an example. You can also choose to use a different source directory structure.


  2. Enter the following commands to copy the contents of each Linux OS distribution CD to the appropriate PXE subdirectory. For example:

    Note - Eject and insert CDs only when the CD/DVD drive is unmounted.


    # mount dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
    # cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64/
    # umount /mnt/cdrom

    If you are installing from a DVD, you only have to do this once. When the copy is done, proceed to the next step.

  3. Copy the vmlinuz and initrd.img files to the appropriate PXE subdirectory. For example:

    # cp /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64

    # cp /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64/images/pxeboot/initrd.img /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64

  4. Using a text editor, create a kickstart file (ks.cfg) in the following location on your PXE server:

    /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64/ks.cfg

  5. Add the necessary kickstart commands.

    If you are creating a RHEL image, for example, copy and insert the following content:

    lang en_US
    keyboard us
    timezone --utc America/Los_Angeles
    rootpw xxxx
    reboot
    bootloader --location=mbr
    install
    nfs --server n.n.n.n --dir /home/pxeboot/rhelas_64
    clearpart --all
    part /boot --fstype ext3 --size 512 --ondisk sda
    part  swap --size 65536 --ondisk sda
    part / --fstype ext3 --size 1 --grow --ondisk sda
    network --bootproto dhcp
    auth  --useshadow  --enablemd5
    firewall --disabled
    #Do not configure the X Window System
    skipx
    text
    
    %packages
    @Everything
    
    %pre
    
    %post --nochroot

    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.

  6. Save the kickstart file.
  7. Using a text editor, create the PXE configuration file (to be named default).

    This file defines the menu shown to the target host during network boot. The following is an example of what should be in the file for a RHEL menu label:


    Note - Type the text block from append through ks.cfg as one continuous string with no returns.


    default rhelas_64
    label rhelas_64
    kernel rhelas_64/vmlinuz
    append ksdevice=eth0 console=tty0 load_ramdisk=1 initrd=Oracle Linuxas_64/initrd.img 
    network ks=nfs:n.n.n.n :/home/pxeboot/rhelas_64/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.


  8. Save the file as default in the pxelinux.cfg directory on the PXE server. For example:

    /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default