C H A P T E R 4 |
Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux |
This chapter contains information about manually installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on a Sun Fire X4100, X4100 M2, X4200, or X4200 M2 server. It contains the following sections:
Note - If you want to mirror your OS, you must create the RAID before you install the OS. See Configuring RAID for Any Operating System from the BIOS |
If you have installed RHEL software on other Intel or AMD Opteron servers, you are already familiar with how to install it on a Sun Fire X4100, X4100 M2, X4200, or X4200 M2 server. The two most common methods to install RHEL on your server are to use:
Before you install the RHEL software on a Sun Fire X4100/X4100 M2 or X4200/X4200 M2 server, consult the following RHEL documentation.
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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Brief printed guide containing useful information to assist you during the installation of RHEL. |
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This is the full 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 |
Contains introductory information for RHEL system administrators. |
Available for download at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ |
Available for download at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ |
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Contains information on configuring your server and RHEL for diskless booting. |
Available for download as the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide for the x86, Itanium, and AMD64 Architectures at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ |
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Available for download at http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/ |
If you need to know the logical names of your physical Internet interfaces when configuring your OS, refer to the appendix: Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names for Solaris OS Installation.
Consult TABLE 4-2 to determine which sections in this guide are relevant to the installation tasks that you want to perform.
Install RHEL from distribution media using a local or network-attached CD or DVD drive. |
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You can install the RHEL software from a local CD/DVD, a remote CD/DVD, or the network; however, you need to collect some information about your system and your network before you proceed with any of these installation methods.
You might need to verify the following information before installing the RHEL software on the server.
After installing the RHEL software on the server, you might also need to update your system software with the following patches and packages.
Download the driver RPMs from the product pages for the server. See To Update the RHEL SCSI Drivers. |
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Use the Red Hat up2date program. See Updating the RHEL Operating System. |
This section describes the process of creating a RHEL-specific driver CD.
Before you create a Red Hat-specific driver CD, you must have access to a functioning Linux server or Linux workstation that can burn a CD. Note the following:
1. Log in as root to the Linux server or workstation that has a recordable CD/DVD drive.
2. Determine the name of the recordable CD/DVD drive. Do one of the following:
The system reports the names of matching devices:
0,0,0 0) ’SAMSUNG ’’CDRW/DVD SM-352F’’T900’Removable CD-ROM
In this example, the name of the IDE CD device is ATAPI:0,0,0.
The system reports the names of matching devices:
4,0,0 0) ’SONY’’DVD RW DRU-530A’’1.0e’Removable CD-ROM
In this example, the name of the SCSI CD device is 4,0,0.
3. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the local system CD/DVD drive.
4. Mount the CD. Enter the following command:
5. Copy the driver image to the local /tmp directory. Enter the following command:
# cp /mnt/cdrom/support/update_media/rhel3/32/driverUpdate.img /tmp
6. Unmount and remove the Tools and Drivers CD. Enter the following command:
7. Insert a blank CD-R disc into the CD recorder drive.
8. Create the driver CD. Enter the following command:
# cdrecord dev=drivename /tmp/driverUpdate.img
Where drivename is the device name of the CD recorder you obtained in Step 2.
Note - If you use a program other than cdrecord, it might warn you that driverUpdate.img is not a valid file. You can ignore this warning. |
When the recording process is complete the CD/DVD drive ejects the CD.
9. Remove the newly created CD from the CD/DVD drive.
Note - Use this Red Hat-specific driver CD when you install the RHEL software from the Red Hat distribution media. |
Note - Before proceeding be sure you have read the following sections, About the RHEL Installation and Preparing to Install RHEL. |
RHEL provides both a text mode and an easy-to-use graphical interface for installing and configuring the operating system. You can select the interface that you want to use from the boot prompt, and both options are shown later in this section.
Installing RHEL software from CDs consists of the following procedures:
Note - If you are using RHEL 4 Update 2 or later version, you do not need to create a driver CD. Proceed to Step 2. |
1. If necessary, create the Enterprise driver CD.
See Creating a RHEL Driver CD.
See Updating the RHEL Operating System.
Installation from distribution media requires the following items:
You create this yourself. See Creating a RHEL Driver CD.
To Install RHEL From Local Media |
1. Power on the system, and insert the RHEL Distribution CD 1 into the local DVD/CD drive on the Sun Fire X4100/X4100 M2 or X4200/X4200 M2 server.
The server boots off of the CD and displays a boot: prompt.
2. Select one of the following installation methods at the boot prompt:
The installer starts, and prompts you for a driver disk with the following message:
The installer then prompts you to insert your driver disk into /dev/hda and press Ok.
3. Remove the RHEL distribution CD 1.
4. If necessary, insert the RHEL driver CD.
This is the CD you created earlier. See Creating a RHEL Driver CD.
The installer loads the updated mptbase and mptscsih drivers needed to access the hard drives. When the installer is finished loading the drivers, it prompts with:
6. Enter No and remove the RHEL driver CD from the system.
7. Refer to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation Guide to guide you through the remainder of the installation process.
This topic explains how to install the RHEL operating system on your server using the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM)’s 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).
To Install RHEL Using the ILOM Remote Console Application |
1. Locate your RHEL installation CD/DVD or the equivalent ISO images.
Note - The Remote Console application can redirect ISO images. |
2. Locate the appropriate LSISAS driver update ISO file from the Tools and Drivers CD.
Note - You do not need to perform this step for RHEL 4 Update 3 and later versions because the drivers are bundled with the release software. Continue to Step 3. |
The LSISAS driver update file pertains to SAS drivers and is distinguished by the manufacturing prefix LSI.
To locate the LSISAS driver update file, check these directories on the Tools and Drivers CD:
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 linux dd.
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.
The procedures in this section describe how to install RHEL on your Sun Fire X4100/X4100 M2 and X4200/X4200 M2 server using the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) network booting protocol. PXE is a powerful and convenient solution for installing an OS and for setting up multiple servers so their configuration is identical. This section contains the following:
The network interface card (NIC) in your server supports PXE. The system BIOS and network interface BIOS on your server automatically query the network for a DHCP server. If your network has a DHCP server and if it has been configured to support the PXE protocol and PXE image servers on the same network, then you can use the BIOS on your system to install a bootable RHEL image on your server. You must configure your network to support PXE installation. The Task Map in the next section shows the procedure for installing RHEL using PXE.
To take advantage of RHEL and PXE on your network, you need to perform the following tasks.
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. |
These procedures describe how to preconfigure a RHEL network 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 operating system.
Note - Some of the following procedures might not be necessary if you confirm that the server packages are already in place and are configured. |
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation involves the following procedures:
Preconfiguring your network for PXE installation requires the following items:
This section describes how to copy the PXE configuration files from the Tools and Drivers CD to the DHCP/PXE server.
1. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD into the DHCP/PXE server.
2. Create a temporary directory to copy the PXE support files in to. Enter the following command:
3. Enter the following commands to copy the files to the /tmp/ directory:
# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
# cp /mnt/cdrom/support/pxeboot/rhel3_32-pxefiles.tar.gz /tmp/
4. Uncompress and extract the contents of the tar file into the /tmp/ directory. Enter the following command:
# cd /tmp
# tar -zxvf rhel3_32-pxefiles.tar.gz
When you extract the file, a directory with all required files is created at: /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles/
Note - When installing RHEL 4-Update 3 32-bit on your system using PXE, you must edit the PXE kick-start config file to add the kernel parameter irqfixup to the append line. |
Complete the following steps on the server that is 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 the following command:
3. If the DHCP server package is not listed, insert the RHEL CD 1 and install the DHCP server. Enter the following commands:
Note - For RHEL 4, insert CD 5. |
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/dhcp-*.rpm
4. Remove the CD from the server after you enter the following command:
5. Set up your DHCP configuration file (for example, /etc/dhcpd.conf) so that only PXE Client requests receive PXE Client responses.
Add 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; 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 a copy the dhcpd.conf file from the sample DHCP configuration file in the /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles directory. |
6. In the DHCP configuration file, edit the server-identifier entry:
Where n.n.n.n is the PXE/DHCP server’s IP address.
7. 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.
8. Start the DHCP service. Enter the following command:
9. Configure the server to always start DHCP. Enter the following command:
To install Portmap, complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the portmap server package is already installed on the server. Enter the following command:
2. If portmap is not listed, insert the RHEL CD 2 and install the portmap service by entering the following commands:
# mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/portmap-*
3. Unmount the CD/DVD by entering the following command.
4. Remove the CD/DVD 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 the following command:
2. If the TFTP server package is not listed, insert the appropriate RHEL CD (use CD 1 for RHEL 3, or CD 4 for RHEL 4) and install the TFTP service by entering the following commands:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/tftp-server*
3. Unmount the CD/DVD by entering the following command.
4. Remove the CD/DVD from the server.
5. Edit and save the /etc/xinetd.d/tftp file.
6. Restart the inetd server. Enter the following command:
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 your system that is your DHCP server. Enter the following commands:
# cd /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles/neopxe-0.2.0
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. Enter the following commands:
# cp /tmp/rhel3_32-pxefiles/pxelinux.0 /home/pxeboot
4. Configure the PXE Linux image. Enter the following commands:
# 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/rhel3_32-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
prompt=Press [F8] for menu.. .
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 the following command:
Complete the following steps on your DHCP server.
1. Determine whether the NFS service package is already installed on the server. Enter the following command:
2. If the NFS service package is not listed, insert the RHEL CD 1 and install the NFS service using the following commands:
# rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/nfs-utils-*
3. Unmount the CD/DVD by entering the following command.
4. Remove the CD/DVD from the server.
5. Edit and save the /etc/exports file to add the following line to it:
/home/pxeboot *(no_root_squash,no_subtree_check,insecure)
6. Start the NFS service. Enter the following command:
7. Configure the server to always start the NFS service. Enter the following commands:
If you enabled firewall security when you installed RHEL software on 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 the following command:
2. Stop the iptables service. Enter the following command:
3. Stop the ipchains service from starting when you restart the server. Enter the following command:
4. Stop the iptables service from starting when you restart the server. Enter the following command:
Note - You might encounter error messages if the ipchains service is not installed on the server. You can safely ignore these messages. |
5. Reboot the PXE/DHCP server.
When you have completed all the previous configuration steps, continue 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 also acts as your PXE server. The PXE server provides the operating system files to your PXE client.
Note - If you are installing RHEL 4 U2 or a later version, you do not need to complete the steps that refer to installing the drivers. |
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 for instructions on preconfiguring your network to support PXE installations 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.
2. Copy the Sun support files from the CD to the /tmp directory on your DHCP/PXE server using the following commands:
Note - The compressed .tar file that is used in this step depends on which RHEL you are creating an install image for. The remainder of the instructions assumes that RHEL 3 is being used. Modify the example based on the substitutions shown in TABLE 4-3. |
# cp -a /mnt/cdrom/support/pxeboot/rhel3-pxefiles.tar.gz /tmp
# tar -zxvf rhel3-pxefiles.tar.gz
3. Set up the directory structure that holds the RHEL software. Enter the following command:
# mkdir -p /home/pxeboot/rhel3/
Note - You can use a different target directory than the /home/pxeboot/rhel3/ directory shown below. The examples in this procedure use this directory. |
4. For each RHEL Distribution CD, enter the following commands to copy the contents of the Distribution CD to the appropriate PXE target subdirectory:
# cp -r /mnt/cdrom/* /home/pxeboot/rhel3/
Note - Eject and insert RHEL CDs only when the CD/DVD drive is unmounted. |
5. Copy the kickstart file ks.cfg to your PXE server. Enter the following command:
# cp /tmp/rhel3-pxefiles/ks.cfg /home/pxeboot/rhel3/
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.
6. Copy the initial ramdisk from the PXE files uncompressed in Step 2 into the base of the PXE image. Enter the following command:
# cp /home/pxeboot/rhel3/images/initrd.img /home/pxeboot/rhel3/
This is an example path; you may find the initrd.img file is copied from the OS installation CD.
7. If necessary, copy the updated SCSI driver RPM files to the target directory. Enter the following command:
# cp /tmp/rhel3-pxefiles/mptlinux* /home/pxeboot/rhel3/
8. On your PXE server, edit and save the kickstart file: /home/pxeboot/rhel3/ks.cfg.
Edit the nfs line is as follows:
nfs --server n.n.n.n --dir /home/pxeboot/rhel3/
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.
9. Add the following entry to the file /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default:
append ksdevice=eth0 console=tty0 load_ramdisk=1
initrd=rhel3/initrd.img network
ks=nfs:n.n.n.n:/home/pxeboot/rhel3/ks.cfg
Where n.n.n.n is the IP address of your PXE server.
10. Save the modified version of the /home/pxeboot/pxelinux.cfg/default file.
11. Insert the RHEL Distribution CD1 into the CD/DVD drive of the DHCP/PXE server.
# cp /mnt/cdrom/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz /home/pxeboot/rhel3/
This procedure describes how to configure your 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 server.
Note - If you are installing RHEL 4 U2 or later version, you do not need to complete the steps that refer to updating the drivers. |
Before you configure your server to install RHEL from a PXE server, you need to have done 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 X4100/X4100 M2 or X4200/X4200 M2 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 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 X4100/X4100 M2 or X4200/X4200 M2 server.
5. To configure the Linux operating system for your server, refer to the manual that is shipped with your RHEL media kit.
6. Update the operating system files and driver files, if necessary.
See Updating the RHEL Operating System.
This procedure describes how to update the RHEL operating system.
Since software is constantly being updated, your distribution media might not contain the most up-to-date versions of the operating system.
The following procedures assume that you have already installed the RHEL software on your Sun Fire X4100/X4100M2 or X4200/X4200M2 server. This procedure explains how to update the RHEL installation with the latest OS.
To use the RHEL 5 update program, your server must be registered with the RedHat Network (RHN).
To Update the RHEL4 Software |
This procedure assumes 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.
To Update the RHEL5 Software |
Your system must have access to the internet and be registered with the RedHat Network.
1. To run the yum update program, enter:
The program checks that the machine is registered with RedHat Network. If so, yum downloads necessary updates from the RedHat Network repository.
2. Answer the questions and make your choices before the packages are downloaded and installed.
You should periodically update your system using yum.
For more information, refer to the man page. Enter:
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.
To Update the RHEL SCSI Drivers |
1. Insert the Tools and Drivers CD for your Sun Fire X4100/X4100M2 or X4200/X4200M2 server and mount it onto the directory /mnt.
2. Enter the following commands:
# cd /mnt/Linux/drivers # rpm -ivh mptlinux-2.06.77.00-1.rhel3.amd64.rpm
For RHEL 4.7, 32 bit and 64 bit:
# cd /mnt/Linux/drivers # rpm -ivh mptlinux-redhat4.0-3.13.04.00-2.i686.rpm
# cd /mnt/Linux/drivers # rpm -ivh mptlinux-4.00.41.00-1-rhel5.x86_64.rpm
3. Installation of the new drivers is now complete. Reboot the server for the changes to take effect.
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