Sun Blade X6440 Server Module Operating System Installation Guide

This chapter provides information about installing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system on a Sun Blade X6440 server module.

This chapter contains the following sections:

• About the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation
• Preparing to Install the RHEL Operating System
• Installing the RHEL Operating System From Local Distribution Media
• Installing the RHEL Operating System Using the Remote Console Application
• Installing the RHEL Operating System Using PXE
• Updating the RHEL Operating System

---

About the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation

If you have installed Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating system (OS) on other Intel or AMD Opteron servers, you are already familiar with how to install it on a Sun Blade X6440 server module. The two most common methods of installing the RHEL OS on your server are as follows:

• Using the RHEL OS distribution media
• Using the automatic KickStart installation from RHEL OS (installation tree) stored on a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) network server

You can also use the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Remote Console application to install the RHEL OS.

For more information about the installation, see the following topics:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation and Administration Documentation
• Task Map for the RHEL Installation

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation and Administration Documentation

Before you install the RHEL OS on a Sun Blade X6440 server module, consult the following RHEL documentation.

Task Map for the RHEL Installation

Consult TABLE 2-2 to determine which topics documented in this guide are relevant to the installation tasks that you want to perform.

---

Preparing to Install the RHEL Operating System

You can install the RHEL OS from a local CD/DVD or from the network. However, you will need to collect some information about your system and your network before you proceed with any of these installation methods. Before you begin installing the RHEL OS, review the procedures provided in this chapter that apply to your installation method.

Obtaining Updated RHEL Operating System Media Kits

The Sun Blade X6440 server module supports the latest versions of the RHEL OS: RHEL 4.6 and RHEL 5.1. To install either of these versions on the server module, you have to obtain either the RHEL 4.6 or RHEL 5.1 Update Media Kit, available at http://rhn.redhat.com.

To download the updated RHEL ISO images, you need your Red Hat Enterprise account information. An Enterprise account is an account that the customer creates to access Red Hat's support network after purchasing the RHEL Update Media Kit.

Installing RHEL Operating System Updates and Patches

After installing the RHEL OS on the server module, you may also need to update the operating system with updates or patches. For more information, see Updating the RHEL Operating System.

---

Installing the RHEL Operating System From Local Distribution Media

The RHEL OS provides both a text mode and graphical user interface for installing and configuring the OS from local distribution media. At the boot prompt, you can select the interface that you want to use. Both options are shown later in this section.

Before You Begin

Installing the RHEL operating system from CD-ROMs consists of the following procedures:

1. Download the RHEL OS Update Media Kit from http://rhn.redhat.com.

See Obtaining Updated RHEL Operating System Media Kits.

2. Install the RHEL OS.

3. Update the RHEL OS with latest updates and patches.

See Updating the RHEL Operating System.

Required Items

Installation from local distribution media requires the following items:

• Sun Blade X6440 server module equipped with the following four items:
• USB keyboard and mouse
• USB CD/DVD drive
• Monitor
• Multi-port dongle cable to connect to the front of the Sun Blade X6440 server module

• RHEL OS CD media set

1. Connect the multi-port dongle cable to the connector on the front of the Sun Blade X6440 server module.

For more information, refer to the Sun Blade X6440 Server Module Installation Guide (820-3961).

2. Connect the USB connector of the CD/DVD drive to the USB port of the dongle cable.

3. Power on the system.

4. Insert the RHEL Distribution CD #1 into the CD/DVD drive connected to the dongle cable and reboot the server.

The server will boot from the CD and display a boot: prompt.

If the installation process does not recognize the CD-ROM, refer to the Sun Blade X6440 Server Module Product Notes (820-3965).

5. At the boot prompt, select one of the following:

• For text mode, enter the following command:

boot: linux text

• For graphical mode, press Enter.

6. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide to guide you through the remainder of the installation process.

7. After completing the operating system installation, proceed to Updating the RHEL Operating System.

---

Installing the RHEL Operating System Using the Remote Console Application

This section explains how to install the RHEL OS on your Sun Blade X6440 server module using the Sun Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Remote Console application.

Use the following procedure to install the RHEL 4.6 (or later) OS using the ILOM Remote Console application.

1. Locate your RHEL installation CD/DVD or the equivalent ISO images.

2. Connect to the ILOM service processor web interface.

3. Select the Remote Control tab, then select the Mouse Mode Settings tab.

4. If necessary, change the mouse mode to Relative Mouse Mode.

See the “Remote Console Application” chapter of the Sun Integrated Lights Out Manager 2.0 User’s Guide for further instructions.

5. Select the Redirection tab.

6. Click the Launch Redirection button to start the JavaRConsole application.

7. Log in to the JavaRConsole.

8. Select Keyboard and Mouse in the Devices menu to start keyboard and mouse redirection.

9. Start CD/DVD redirection.

From the JavaRConsole Devices menu, you can redirect the CD in one of two ways:

• If you are installing a physical CD-ROM into the remote console CD drive, insert the CD-ROM into the drive and select CD-ROM.
• If you are using an ISO image installed on the remote console, select CD-ROM image and provide the location of the ISO file.

10. Power on the server using the ILOM web interface.

11. Configure the BIOS to have CD/DVD as the boot device.

a. Press Ctrl-E to enter the BIOS Setup utility.

b. Select the Boot menu.

c. Select CD/DVD Drives.

d. Set AMI Virtual CD as the first boot device.

e. Press F10 to save changes and exit.

f. Reboot.

g. Press Ctrl-P to select CD/DVD as the boot device.

12. When the boot: prompt appears, type linux text.

13. When prompted to test the CD media before installation, select Skip if you do not want the media test to run.

14. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide to guide you through the remainder of the installation process.

---

Installing the RHEL Operating System Using PXE

The on-board network interface card (NIC) in your Sun Blade X6440 server module supports the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) network booting protocol. The system BIOS and network interface BIOS on the server module automatically query the network for a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. If a 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 the server module can be used to install a bootable RHEL image.

Task Map for RHEL Installation Using PXE

If you do not have PXE set up on your network and you would like to take advantage of PXE to install the RHEL OS on your network, perform the following tasks.

Preconfiguring a Network to Support PXE Installation of RHEL

This section describes how to preconfigure a network running the RHEL OS to support PXE installation of the RHEL OS on a server module. 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.

Perform the following procedures to preconfigure your network for PXE installation:

• Configure a DHCP Server.

See To Configure a DHCP Server.

• Install Portmap.

See To Install Portmap on a DHCP Server.

• Configure the TFTP Service.

See To Configure the TFTP Service on the DHCP Server.

• Install and Configure the neopxe Boot Server Daemon.

See To Install and Configure the neopxe Boot Server Daemon.

• Configure the NFS Service.

See To Configure the NFS Service on the DHCP Server.

• Disable the Firewall.

See To Disable the Firewall.

• Reboot the PXE/DHCP server.

See Rebooting the PXE/DHCP Server.

Required Items

Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation requires the following items:

• RHEL server equipped with:
• Dongle cable
• USB CD/DVD drive connected to the server module through a dongle cable
• USB keyboard
• Monitor

• RHEL operating system CD media set
• Tools and Drivers DVD (708-0347)

Complete the following steps to configure the server that will be the DHCP server.

1. Turn on the server and log in as a superuser.

2. Determine whether the DHCP server package is already installed on the server. Type the following command:

# rpm -qa | grep dhcp-

3. If the DHCP server package is not listed, insert the RHEL OS media CD #5 into the CD/DVD drive of the DHCP/PXE server.

4. Type the following commands to install the DHCP server:

# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/dhcp-*.rpm

# umount /mnt/cdrom

5. Remove the CD from the CD/DVD drive.

6. Set up your DHCP configuration file (for example, /etc/dhcpd.conf) so that only PXEClient requests receive PXEClient responses.

Type the following entry to the DHCP configuration file. Refer to the dhcpd.conf man page for more information.

class "PXE" {match if substring(option vendor-class-identifier, 0, 9) ="PXEClient"; option vendor-class-identifier "PXEClient"; vendor-option-space PXE;}

7. To start the DHCP service, type:

# service dhcpd start

8. To configure the server to always start DHCP, type:

# chkconfig dhcpd on

1. Determine whether the portmap server package is already installed on the DHCP server. Type:

# rpm -qa | grep portmap

2. If portmap is not listed, insert RHEL CD #2 into the CD/DVD drive of the DHCP/PXE server and install the portmap service by typing the following commands:

# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/portmap-*

# umount /mnt/cdrom

3. Remove the CD from the DHCP/PXE server.

1. Determine whether the TFTP server package is already installed on the server. Type:

# rpm -qa | grep tftp-server

2. If the TFTP server package is not listed, insert RHEL CD #4 into the CD/DVD drive of the DHCP/PXE server and install the TFTP service by typing the following commands:

# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/tftp-server*

# umount /mnt/cdrom

3. Remove the CD from the server.

4. Edit and save the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file.

Make the following changes:

• Change the -s /tftpboot entry to -v -s /home/pxeboot.
• Change the disable attribute to no.

5. Restart the inetd server. Type:

# service xinetd restart

Complete the following steps on the DHCP server to install and configure the neopxe boot 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 the DHCP server. Type:

# cd /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles/neopxe-0.2.0

# ./configure

# make

# make install

2. Append the path /usr/local/sbin/neopxe to the rc.local file by typing 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. Type:

# mkdir /home/pxeboot

# cp /tmp/rhel4-pxefiles/pxelinux.0 /home/pxeboot

4. Configure the PXE Linux image. Type:

# 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, 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.

ip_addr=n.n.n.n

prompt=boot-prompt-string

prompt_timeout=timeout

service=service-number,boot-server,boot-file,label

Where:

• n.n.n.n is the IP address of your PXE server.
• boot-prompt-string is the character string displayed during a network boot that prompts the user to press the F8 key for a boot menu.
• timeout is the number of seconds the prompt is displayed before the server defaults to the first service for booting.
• service-number is an integer in the range of 1 to 254 that identifies the boot service.
• boot-server is the IP address of the boot server for that boot service.
• boot-file is the name of the boot file that is read from your /home/pxeboot directory.
• label is the text string that is displayed when the boot menu is invoked by pressing the F8 key.

For example:

ip_addr=192.168.0.1

prompt=Press [F8] for menu.

prompt_timeout=10

service=1,192.168.0.1,pxelinux.0,Linux

service=2,192.169.0.1,nbp.unknown,Solaris

6. Start the neopxe daemon. Type:

# /usr/local/sbin/neopxe

1. Determine whether the NFS service package is already installed on the server. Type:

# rpm -qa | grep nfs-utils

2. If the NFS service package is not listed, insert RHEL CD #2 in to the CD/DVD drive of the DHCP server and install the NFS service by typing the following commands:

# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/nfs-utils-*

# umount /mnt/cdrom

3. Remove the CD from the DHCP server.

4. Edit and save the /etc/exports file to add the following line:

/home/pxeboot *(no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,insecure)

5. Start the NFS service. Type:

# service nfs start

6. Configure the server to always start the NFS service. Type:

# chkconfig nfs on

# chkconfig nfslock on

Caution - Security vulnerability. When you disable the firewall protection on the system that is your PXE server, the security of the data on that server cannot be ensured. If this server is networked outside of your local intranet, be sure to re-enable the firewall after downloading software to PXE clients.

If you enabled firewall security when you installed the RHEL OS 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. Type:

# service ipchains stop

2. Stop the iptables service. Type:

# service iptables stop

3. Stop the ipchains service from starting when you restart the server. Type:

# chkconfig ipchains off

4. Stop the iptables service from starting when you restart the server. Type:

# chkconfig iptables off

Rebooting the PXE/DHCP Server

When you have completed all the previous configuration steps, reboot the PXE/DHCP server and proceed to the next section, Creating a PXE Install Image on the PXE Server.

Creating a PXE Install Image on the PXE Server

This procedure describes how to create a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) install image on the DHCP server so that it can also act as your PXE server. The PXE server provides the operating system files to your PXE client.

Before You Begin

Before you install a RHEL image on the PXE server, you must configure your Linux network to support PXE images. If you have not done so, see Preconfiguring a Network to Support PXE Installation of RHEL.

Required Items

The PXE installation procedure requires the following items:

• CD/DVD drive on the DHCP server
• USB CD/DVD drive connected to the server module
• RHEL 4.6 (or later) CD media kit (see Obtaining Updated RHEL Operating System Media Kits)
• Tools and Drivers DVD (707-0347)

Installing the RHEL Operating System From a PXE Server

This procedure describes how to configure your Sun Blade X6440 server module to initiate the request to download RHEL the OS boot image file from the PXE/DHCP server and how to install the boot image onto your Sun Blade X6440 server module.

Before You Begin

Before you install the RHEL OS from a PXE server, you need to complete the following tasks:

• Configured your Linux network to support a PXE server. See Preconfiguring a Network to Support PXE Installation of RHEL.
• Installed a RHEL operating system boot image on that PXE server. See Creating a PXE Install Image on the PXE Server.
• Reboot the PXE Server. See Rebooting the PXE/DHCP Server.

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 Blade X6440 server module on which you are installing RHEL OS.

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 RHEL image when you installed it on the PXE server (rhel4 in the example above).

The RHEL install image downloads onto the target Sun Blade X6440 server module.

5. To configure the RHEL operating system for your server, refer to the manual that is shipped with your RHEL Update Media Kit.

6. Update the RHEL OS files.

See Updating the RHEL Operating System

---

Updating the RHEL Operating System

Because software is constantly being updated, your distribution media might not contain the most up-to-date versions of the operating system. This procedure describes how to update the RHEL OS.

This procedure assumes that your server module has access to the internet.

1. Set up the up2date program on the server module.

Refer to the documentation included with your RHEL Update Media Kit for details.

2. Run the up2date program.

Select the kernel packages in the available package updates section.

Sun Blade X6440 Server Module Operating System Installation Guide

820-3962-11

Copyright © 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.