Linux Installation

C H A P T E R 3

Linux Installation

This chapter provides instructions for installing:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.4 Update 6 (or later) for x86 (32-bit and 64-bit); (RHEL4-U6)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 Update 1 (or later) for x86 (64-bit); (RHEL5-U1)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1 (or later) for x86 (32-bit and 64-bit); (SLES10SP1)

Note - Alternatively, you can choose to use the Sun Installation Assistant (SIA) to install the Linux operating system on your X2250 server. SIA provides and installs the device driver(s), if required, for you. For more information about using SIA to install an operating system, follow the instructions provided in the Sun Installation Assistant for Windows and Linux User’s Guide (820-3357).

Topics in this chapter are organized as follows:

Installation Requirements

Checklist of Tasks To Perform

Install RHEL4 or RHEL5 Using Local or Remote Media

Install RHEL4 or RHEL5 Using PXE Network Environment

Install SLES10 Using Local or Remote Media

Install SLES10 Using a PXE Network Environment

Installation Requirements

Before starting the Linux installation, you should ensure the following requirements are met.

Proper format of Linux distribution files. Depending on the installation method chosen to install Linux, you will need to have either the Linux Distribution CD/DVD, ISO image, or KickStart image readily available for installation.

Minimum supported Linux operating systems. The X2250 server supports the following minimum Linux operating systems:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.4 Update 6 (or later) for x86 (32-bit and 64-bit); (RHEL4-U6)

Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 Update 1 (or later) for x86 (64-bit); (RHEL5-U1)

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1 (or later) for x86 (32-bit and 64-bit); (SLES10SP1)

Established console access to installation. You should have already chosen a supported console option to display the input or output of the installation. For more information, see Supported Console Options.

Properly configured boot device in BIOS Setup Utility. If your permanent boot device in the BIOS is different from the installation boot device, you can use F8 to manually select a one-time boot device during the Linux OS installation.

Gather the information you need to install the Linux OS. For a non-networked system, you need to know the host name of the system you are installing and the language and the locales that you intend to use on the system.

For a networked system, use the checklist to gather the following information:

Host name of the system that you are installing

Language and locales that you intend to use on the system

IP address of the server

Subnet mask

Type of name service (for example, DNS, NIS, or NIS+)

IP address of gateway

Domain name

Host name of the name server

IP address of the name server

Root password

Linux documentation collection. In addition to using the instructions in this chapter to boot the Linux installation program, you should also refer to the Linux vendor documentation in the following table.

Linux Documentation	Description
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Documentation `http://www.novell. com`	README File. Provides late-breaking information and is available on the SUSE documentation CD. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Installation Manual. Provides information about installation requirements, disk partitioning, the YaST installation, and other configuration options. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Administration Manual. Provides additional information about configuring your system and integrating it with your existing network services. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Support Sites. Novell provides considerable technical information about the Enterprise Server operating system at its product and support web sites. See the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server home page at `http://www.novell.com/products/linuxenterpriseserver` for additional support information.
Red Hat Documentation `http://www.redhat. com/docs`	README File. Provides late-breaking information and is available on the Red Hat distribution media. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Quick Installation Guide. Provides essential information to assist you during the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide. Provides detailed information about the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation process. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Introduction to System Administration. Provides information about customizing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux software. System Administration for Diskless Booting. Provides information about configuring your server and Red Hat Linux for diskless booting.

Linux Documentation

Description

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Documentation

http://www.novell. com

README File. Provides late-breaking information and is available on the SUSE documentation CD.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Installation Manual. Provides information about installation requirements, disk partitioning, the YaST installation, and other configuration options.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Administration Manual. Provides additional information about configuring your system and integrating it with your existing network services.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Support Sites. Novell provides considerable technical information about the Enterprise Server operating system at its product and support web sites. See the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server home page at http://www.novell.com/products/linuxenterpriseserver for additional support information.

Red Hat Documentation

http://www.redhat. com/docs

README File. Provides late-breaking information and is available on the Red Hat distribution media.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Quick Installation Guide. Provides essential information to assist you during the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide. Provides detailed information about the Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation process.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Introduction to System Administration. Provides information about customizing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux software.
System Administration for Diskless Booting. Provides information about configuring your server and Red Hat Linux for diskless booting.

Reviewed the Sun Fire X2250 Server Product Notes. You should review the Product Notes for any late-breaking information concerning Linux installations.

Checklist of Tasks To Perform

The following tasks must be performed in the order in which they are listed. Note that not all tasks are mandatory.

TABLE 3-1 Checklist for Linux Installations
Steps	Mandatory or Optional	Task
1	Mandatory	Established installation environment. For more information see: Supported Console Options Supported Installation Media Options
2	Optional	Set optimal default settings in the BIOS Setup Utility. For more information, see Configure BIOS Settings for New Installations
3	Mandatory	Locate the Sun Fire X2250 Tools and Drivers CD or download the mandatory device drivers for Linux from the following site: `http//www.sun.com/servers/x64/X2250/downloads.jsp`
4	Mandatory	Boot the Linux installation media to initiate the operating system installation. For more information see: Install RHEL4 or RHEL5 Using Local or Remote Media Install RHEL4 or RHEL5 Using PXE Network Environment Install SLES10 Using Local or Remote Media Install SLES10 Using a PXE Network Environment
5	Mandatory	Installed the system device drivers required for Linux installations. For more information, see Install System Device Drivers (Post Linux Installation).

Install RHEL4 or RHEL5 Using Local or Remote Media

This section describes how to install the Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.4 Update 6 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.5 Update 1 from Linux Distribution CD/DVD or ISO CD-images.

Note - If you are using Sun-provided RHEL4 CDs, you must upgrade the RHEL4 operating system to Update 6 immediately after completing the installation.

Prerequisite

The following requirement must be met prior to performing the RHEL installation:

Established installation environment. For more information, see Supported Console Options, or Supported Installation Media Options, or Supported Installation Target.

Refer to the following procedures to install the Red Hat Enterprise Linux from local or remote media:

To Install RHEL4-U6 Using Local or Remote Media

To Install RHEL5-U1 Using Local or Remote Media

To install Red Hat Enterpise Linux from a PXE network environment, see Install RHEL4 or RHEL5 Using PXE Network Environment for more information.

To Install RHEL4-U6 Using Local or Remote Media

1. Prepare the installation media by performing one of the following:

For Distribution CD/DVD. Insert the Red Hat 4.0 Distribution media boot disc (CD labeled number 1 or the single DVD) into the CD/DVD drive of the X2250 server or the system hosting the ILOM Remote Console application.

If you are using the Sun ILOM Remote Console application to perform the installation, ensure that the CD-ROM option is selected in the Device menu of the Sun ILOM Remote Console application.

For ISO images. Ensure that the ISO image(s) are available and that the boot disc image (CD labeled number 1 or DVD) has been selected in the ILOM Remote Console application (Device menu->CD-ROM Image).

For more information about redirecting storage devices in the Sun ILOM Remote Console, see Appendix A.

2. Reset the X2250 server, for example:

From the ILOM web interface, select Reset on the Remote Power Control tab.

Press the Power button (approximately 1 second) on the front panel of the server to power off the server, then press the Power button again to power on the server.

The BIOS screen appears.

Note - The next events occur very quickly; therefore, focused attention is needed for the following steps. Watch carefully for these messages as they appear on the screen for a brief time. You might want to enlarge the size of your screen to eliminate scroll bars.

As the server begins the power-on sequence it will go through a series of tests and provide you the opportunity to configure the BIOS, storage, network controllers, and boot selection.

Tip - The default boot order should have CD/DVD (external or virtual) before disk and network devices. If the boot order does not list the CD/DVD device first, then you will need to press F8 to specify the CD/DVD device as the first boot device.

After a few seconds, the splash screen for the Red Hat installation appears. The bottom half of the splash screen lists instructions, function keys, and the boot prompt.

rhel_boot_screen

3. In the Red Hat Enterprise Linux splash screen, press Enter to continue the normal user interactive installation.

4. In the Testing CD Media screen, press the Tab key to select Skip and press Enter.

Note - If you are experiencing problems with the initial setup for the installation, it may be necessary to test the installation CD media by selecting OK.

RHEL_cd found

A message appears about running Anaconda, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux system installer. After a few seconds the Red Hat splash screen appears displaying the Welcome screen.

5. In the Red Hat Welcome screen, press Next to continue the installation.

RHEL_welcome

The Language screen appears.

6. In the Language screen, select the appropriate language and click Next.

RHEL_language selection

The Keyboard Configuration screen appears.

7. In the Keyboard Configuration screen, select the appropriate keyboard configuration and click Next.

RHEL_keyboard configuration

8. When the Disk Partitioning Setup screen appears, do the following:

a. Select the Manual Disk Partitioning radio button.

RHEL_disk partitioning

b. Partition the disk as appropriate by referring to the instructions presented on the Red Hat disk partitioning screen.

Note - If the Solaris OS is preinstalled on the disk, you can choose to partition the disk to remove Solaris; or, you can choose to keep Solaris and partition the disk to support dual-boot operating systems.

9. Continue the basic Red Hat installation setup.

10. Upon completing the basic Red Hat installation setup, perform the following post-installation tasks:

a. Configure your system for automatic updates.

Refer to Red Hat documentation for more information.

b. If required, download and install the latest errata and bug fixes for
RHEL4-U6.

Refer to Red Hat documentation for more information.

To Install RHEL5-U1 Using Local or Remote Media

1. Do one of the following:

For Distribution CD/DVD. Insert the Red Hat Distribution media boot disc (CD labeled number 1 or the single DVD) into CD/DVD drive of the X2250 server or the system hosting the Sun ILOM Remote Console application.

Note that if you are using the Sun ILOM Remote Console application to perform the installation, ensure that the CD-ROM option is selected in the Device menu of the Sun ILOM Remote Console application.

For ISO images. Ensure that the ISO image(s) are available and that the boot disc image (CD labeled number 1 or DVD) has been selected in the ILOM Remote Console application (Device menu->CD-ROM Image).

For more information about redirecting storage devices in the Sun ILOM Remote Console, see Appendix A.

2. Reset the X2250 server, for example:

From the ILOM web interface, select Reset on the Remote Power Control tab.

Press the Power button (approximately 1 second) on the front panel of the server to power off the server, then press the Power button again to power on the server.

The BIOS screen appears.

As the server begins the power-on sequence it will go through a series of tests and provide you the opportunity to configure the BIOS, storage, network controllers, and boot selection.

After a few seconds, the splash screen for the RHEL5-U1 installation appears. The bottom half of the splash screen lists instructions, function keys, and the boot prompt.

RHEL_boot screen

3. In the Red Hat Enterprise Linux splash screen, press Enter to continue the normal user interactive installation process.

4. In the Language screen, select the appropriate language and click OK.

RHEL_language

The Keyboard Type screen appears.

5. In the Keyboard Type screen, select the appropriate keyboard configuration and click OK.

RHEL_keyboard type

The Installation Method screen appears.

6. In the Installation Method screen, select the appropriate installation method (Local CDROM or NFS Image) and click OK.

[ D ]

The CD Found screen appears.

7. In the CD Found screen, click Skip.

RHEL_cd found

The Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 screen appears.

8. In the Red Hat Enterprise 5 screen, click Next.

The Installation Number dialog appears.

9. In the Installation Number dialog, enter the “Installation number” or click “Skip entering installation number” then click OK.

RHEL_license number

The Default Disk Partition screen appears.

10. In the Default Disk Partition screen, do the following:

a. In the drop-down list box, select the create custom option.

b. Partition the disk as appropriate by referring to the instructions presented on the Red Hat disk partitioning screen.

11. Continue the basic Red Hat installation setup.

12. Upon completing the basic Red Hat installation setup, perform the following post-installation tasks:

a. Configure your system for automatic updates.

Refer to Red Hat documentation for more information.

b. If required, download and install the latest errata and bug fixes for RHEL5-U1.

Refer to Red Hat documentation for more information.

Install RHEL4 or RHEL5 Using PXE Network Environment

This section describes how to install the Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.4 Update 3 or later software from an established PXE-based network environment using a customer-provided KickStart image.

KickStart is Red Hat’s automated installation method. It enables a system administrator to create a single image containing the settings for some to all installation and configuration parameters that are normally provided during a typical Red Hat Linux installation. Typically, a KickStart image is placed on a single network server and read by multiple systems for installation.

The following procedure documents the initial steps you must perform to install RHEL over the network.

Note - If you are installing RHEL4 and using Sun-provided RHEL4 CDs, you must upgrade the RHEL4 operating system to Update 6 or later immediately after completing the installation.

Prerequisite

The KickStart file must be configured with the RHEL4-U6 or later; or RHEL5-U1 operating system.

Tip - Information concerning how to properly set up and deploy a KickStart installation environment is outside the scope of this installation guide. Note that setting up a KickStart environment typically involves: creating a KickStart image, creating a boot diskette containing the KickStart image or placing the KickStart image on a shared-network location, and making the installation tree available. For complete details, see Red Hat’s KickStart documentation.

Note - The following procedure assumes that you are using a customer-provided KickStart image that contains all the Red Hat Enterprise Linux v.4 Update 6 (or later) OS files.

To Install RHEL4-U6 or RHEL5-U1 Using PXE

1. Reset the X2250 server, for example:

From the ILOM web interface, select Reset on the Remote Power Control tab.

Press the Power button (approximately, 1 second) on the front panel of the server to power off the server, then press the Power button (approximately 1 second) to power on the server.

The BIOS screen appears

Note - The next events, occur very quickly; therefore, focused attention is needed for the following steps. Watch carefully for these messages as they appear on the screen for a brief time. You might want to enlarge the size of your screen to eliminate scroll bars.

2. Press F12 to boot from the network.

A message appears prompting you to select the appropriate Ethernet port to perform the network boot.

3. In the message, select one of the two Ethernet ports listed then press enter.

After a few seconds, the splash screen for the Red Hat installation appears. The bottom half of the splash screen lists instructions, function keys, and the boot prompt.

RHEL_boot screen

4. At the boot prompt, press Enter to initiate the installation process.

As the Red Hat installation program initializes, a series of messages appear. After about 20 to 40 seconds, a message appears about running Anaconda, the Red Hat Enterprise Linux system installer. After a few more seconds the Red Hat splash screen appears displaying the Red Hat Welcome screen.

5. In the Red Hat Welcome screen, press Next to continue the installation.

RHEL_welcome

6. When the Disk Partitioning screen appears, do the following

a. Select the Manual Disk Partitioning option.

RHEL_disk partitioning

b. Partition the disk as appropriate.

Refer to the instructions presented on the Red Hat disk partitioning screen for details.

7. Continue the basic Red Hat installation setup.

8. Upon completing the basic Red Hat installation setup, refer to the Red Hat installation documentation and perform the following post-installation tasks:

a. Configure your system for automatic updates.

b. If required, automatically download and install the latest errata and bug fixes for RHEL4-U6 or later.

Install SLES10 Using Local or Remote Media

This section describes how to install the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (SLES10) with Service Pack 1 or later software from the Linux Distribution CD/DVD or ISO CD images.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installation program provides an easy-to-use graphical interface for installing and configuring the operating system. Whether you are using distribution CDs/DVDs to install SLES from a locally attached CD/DVD drive or from a remote CD/DVD drive attached via KVMS, the installation procedure is fundamentally the same.

Prerequisite

The following requirements must be met prior to performing the SLES10 installation:

Established installation environment. For more information, see Supported Console Options, or Supported Installation Media Options, or Supported Installation Target.

To Install SLES10 Using Local or Remote Media

1. Prepare the installation media by performing one of the following:

For Distribution CD/DVD. Insert the SLES10 boot disc (CD labeled number 1 or DVD) into the CD/DVD-ROM drive of the X2250 server or the system hosting the Sun ILOM Remote Console application.

If you are using the Sun ILOM Remote Console application to perform the installation, ensure that the CD-ROM option is selected in the Device menu of the Sun ILOM Remote Console application.

For ISO CD images. Ensure that the ISO images are available and that the boot disc image (CD labeled number 1 or DVD) has been selected in the ILOM Remote Console application (Device menu->CD-ROM Image).

For more information about redirecting storage devices in the Sun ILOM Remote Console, see Appendix A.

2. Reset the X2250 server, for example:

From the ILOM web interface, select Reset on the Remote Power Control tab.

Press the Power button (approximately, 1 second) on the front panel of the server to power off the server, then press the Power button again to power on the server.

The BIOS screen appears.

Note - The next events occur very quickly; therefore, focused attention is needed for these steps. Watch carefully for the messages as they appear on the screen for a brief time. You may want to enlarge the size of your screen to eliminate scroll bars.

As the server begins the power-up sequence it will go through a series of test(s) and provide you the opportunity to configure the BIOS, storage, network controllers, and boot selection.

Note - The default boot order should have CD/DVD (external or virtual) before disk and network devices. If the boot order does not list the CD/DVD device first, then you will need to press F8 to specify the CD/DVD device as the first the boot device.

After a few seconds the SUSE initial boot screen appears.

3. In the initial SUSE boot installation screen, use the tab key to select the second option Installation and press Enter.

This option continues the normal user interactive installation process.

The Language screen appears.

4. In the Language screen, select the appropriate language option then click Next.

Note - It may take several minutes for the Language screen to appear.

The License Agreement screen appears.

5. In the License Agreement screen, select Yes I agree then click Next.

The Installation Mode screen appears.

6. In the Installation Mode screen, select New Installation then click Next.

The Clock and Time Zone screen appears.

7. In the Clock and Time Zone screen, select the appropriate clock and time zone settings then click Next.

The Installation Settings screen appears.

8. In the Installation Settings screen, click the Expert tab.

SLES_installation settings

9. In the Expert tab of the Installation Settings screen, do the following

a. Click the Partitioning option.

b. Click the Booting option.

The Boot Loader Settings screen appears.

SLES_boot loader settings

10. In the Boot Loader Settings screen, click the Boot Loader Installation tab.

The Boot Loader Installation tab appears.

11. In the Boot Loader Installation tab, type Boot Loader then click Finish.

Caution - Do NOT install any boot loader.

The Expert tab of the Installation Setting screen appears.

12. In the Expert tab of the Installation Settings screen, click the Partitioning option.

The Suggested Partitioning screen appears.

13. In the Suggested Partitioning screen, click the Create Custom Partition Setup option then click Next.

The Preparing Hard Disk screen appears.

14. In the Preparing Hard Disk screen, click the Custom Partitioning option then click Next.

SLES_prepare hard disk

The Expert Partitioner screen appears.

15. In the Expert Partitioner screen, partition the drive as appropriate then click Finish.

Refer to the YaST partitioning documentation for more information.

The Expert tab of the Installation Settings screen appears.

16. In the Expert tab of the Installation Settings screen, click the Booting option.

The Boot Loader Setting screen appears.

17. In the Boot Loader Settings screen, do the following:

a. In the Boot Loader Type drop-down list box, select GRUB.

b. In the Boot Loader Location, select or specify the appropriate location.

For example, a Master Boot Record may be specified as /dev/sda.

c. Click Finish.

The Expert tab of the Installation Settings screen appears.

18. In the Expert tab of the Installation Settings screen, do the following:

a. Specify the appropriate software options for your installation.

b. Verify that the appropriate Installation Settings are configured.

c. Click Accept to begin the installation

A confirmation dialog appears.

d. In the confirmation dialog, click Install.

19. Continue the basic installation setup until all the SLES10 OS files are installed and the system reboots.

20. After completing the basic installation setup, refer to the YaST documentation and perform the following post-installation tasks:

a. Provide a password for your account.

b. Configure and test the Internet access and network settings.

c. Automatically download and install the latest errata and bug fixes for SLES10-SP1 or later.

Install SLES10 Using a PXE Network Environment

This section describes how to install the SLES10 SP 1 or later software over an established PXE-based network environment using an AutoYaST control file.

Novell AutoYaST is a method for installing one or more SUSE Linux systems automatically and with minimal user intervention. You must perform AutoYaST installations using a control file containing both installation and configuration data. For more information about creating the AutoYaST control file and applying it to a YaST installation, consult Novell’s documentation (http://www.novell.com).

The following procedure documents the initial steps you must perform to install SUSE Linux over the network using an AutoYaST control file.

Prerequisite

The following requirement must be met prior to performing the SLES10 PXE installation:

Established AutoYaST network installation environment. Information concerning how to properly set up and deploy an AutoYaST network installation environment is outside the scope of this installation guide. You should refer to the instructions in the Novell AutoYast installation documentation for setting up and configuring an AutoYaST network installation.

To Install SLES10 Using AutoYaST

1. Reset the X2250 server, for example:

From the ILOM web interface, select Reset on the Remote Power Control tab.

Press the Power button (approximately 1 second) on the front panel of the server to power off the server, then press the Power button again to power on the server.

The BIOS screen appears.

2. Press F12 to boot from the network.

The network bootloader loads and a boot prompt appears. Wait for the five second time-out and the installation kernel will begin to load.

After a few seconds the SLES installation program will load.

The SUSE Linux Novell License Agreement screen appears.

3. In the SUSE Linux Novell License Agreement screen, click Accept.

The SUSE YaST installation program initializes. The YaST graphical installation screen appears.

Depending on the AutoYaST file configuration, the YaST Language Selection screen might appear.

4. If the YaST Language Selection screen appears, specify which language to use.

Depending on the AutoYaST file configuration, the YaST Installation Mode screen might appear.

5. If the YaST Installation Mode screen appears, select New Installation, then click OK to continue.

The system’s hardware is detected. The YaST Installation Settings screen appears.

6. In the YaST Installation Settings screen, do the following:

a. Click the Partitioning option.

b. Select Create Custom Partition and click OK.

c. Partition the disk as appropriate.

Refer to the YaST Partitioning instructions for more information.

7. Continue the basic installation setup until all the SLES OS files are installed and the system reboots.

8. After completing the basic installation setup, refer to the YaST documentation and perform the following post-installation tasks:

a. Provide a password for your account.

b. Configure and test the Internet access and network settings.

c. Register the OS, then download available updates to the operating system.

Install System Device Drivers (Post Linux Installation)

After installing the Linux software on the X2250 server, you should install the AST2000 VGA driver.

Prerequisites

Sun Fire X2250 Server Tools and Driver CD or the Sun Fire X2250 Tools and Driver CD ISO image

Note - The Sun Fire X2250 Server Tools and Drivers CD in the Documentation and Media Kit, which is a customer-orderable option. If necessary, you can also download an ISO image of the Tools and Drivers CD at http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/X2250/downloads.jsp.

Established installation environment. For more information, see Supported Console Options and Supported Installation Media Options.

Note - This installation method includes directing the server output to the local console or to the Sun ILOM Remote Console when a local or remote CD/DVD drive is used. For more information about redirecting devices to the Sun ILOM Remote Console, see Appendix A.

To Install System Device Drivers From Local or Remote Media

If your server has an onboard DVD drive or attached CD drive, you can install the drivers directly, using the Sun Fire X2250 Server Tools and Drivers CD.

1. Prepare the installation media by performing one of the following:

For distribution CD/DVD. Insert the X2250 Tools and Driver CD into the local or remote CD/DVD-ROM drive.

For customer-provided ISO image. In the Device menu of the Sun ILOM Remote Console, select CD-ROM image to specify the location of the customer provided CD image.

2. Depending on the Linux operating system, change to the linux/red_hat or linux/suse directory by typing the one of the following commands:

# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/drivers/linux/red_hat

# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/drivers/linux/suse

3. Run the install script by typing the following command:

# sh install.sh

The system device drivers are now installed. The script prompts you to reboot the system for changes to take effect.

4. Reboot the server.