How to Install Linux With SIA Using Local or Remote Media

Before You Begin

• If your server ships with an integrated RAID controller (LSI-based) and you want to include your boot drive as part of a RAID configuration, you will need to configure a RAID volume on it using the controller’s setup utility (accessible by pressing Ctrl-C when prompted during server boot) before you install the operating system. Consult your platform installation guide for instructions on how to do this.

• If you have a Sun StorageTek RAID disk controller (Adaptec-based), you must configure an array volume through the Adaptec RAID Configuration Utility (accessible by pressing Ctrl-A when prompted during server boot) before it can be accessed by SIA. This must be done whether you intend to use RAID or not. Consult your platform installation guide for instructions on how to do this.

• The instructions below assume local CD/DVD drive access. Be sure to modify the instructions accordingly if you are using a local USB flash drive prepared with SIA software, or if you are running SIA from a remote console (or KVMS) with CD-ROM redirection.

1. You should have already started SIA and prepared it for tasks as described in Starting SIA and Preparing for Deployment or Recovery Tasks. At the Task Selection dialog, select Operating System Installation, and then click Next.

   This dialog will only appear if your server supports more tasks than OS installation. The dialog lists only task options supported for your server. For example, your list may include operating system installation, server BIOS/SP firmware upgrade, or other tasks.

   
   
2. As the Operating System installation process begins, you see the Install Media Information dialog.
   

   At this dialog, you need to specify the location of your OS installation media. Choose one of the following:

   • CD/DVD—This option allows you to install the OS source from:

     - a local CD/DVD, or

     - a redirected CD/DVD or ISO CD-ROM image

   • Network (Linux)—This option allows you to install the OS source from a network share.

     ---

     Note - SIA might not recognize the Linux installation media if you chose to use a CD/DVD ROM device other than the one you previously used to boot the SIA program. Therefore, it might be necessary to insert the Linux OS media into the same device that you used to boot the SIA program.

     ---

3. If you are installing from a local CD/DVD, do the following:
   1. In the Install Media Information dialog, click CD/DVD, then select the server’s CD/DVD drive from the CD Location drop-down list.
   2. Eject the SIA CD/DVD from this drive then insert the first CD of the operating system distribution into the drive.
   3. In the Install Media Information dialog, click Next to continue.

      The Identifying Distribution dialog appears.

   4. Proceed to Step 6.
4. If you are installing from a redirected CD/DVD or ISO CD-ROM image using the server’s LOM (Lights Out Manager remote console feature, do the following:
   1. In the SIA Install Media Information dialog, click CD/DVD.
   2. Select the virtual CD-ROM from the CD Location drop-down list.
   3. In the server’s LOM (Lights Out Manager) Remote Console, redirect the operating system installation media (CD-ROM or CD-ROM Image) using one of the following methods.

      • If you booted SIA from a CD/DVD drive, eject the SIA CD from this drive and insert the first disk of the operating system into the drive. In the service processor LOM Remote Console, select the CD-ROM option from the appropriate menu (see graphic below for an integrated LOM example).

      • If you booted SIA from an ISO CD-ROM image, unmount the SIA ISO CD-ROM image from the service processor LOM Remote Console by deselecting CD-ROM Image from the appropriate menu (see graphic below for an integrated LOM example), then select CD-ROM Image and specify the location of the ISO OS CD-ROM image.

        

        Figure Legend 1 From an ILOM Remote Console, use the Devices menu to mount and unmount devices such as a CD or ISO CD image.

   4. In the SIA Install Media Information dialog, click Next to continue.

      The Identifying Distribution dialog appears.

   5. Proceed to Step 6.
5. If you are installing from a Network share, do the following in the Install Media Information page:
   1. Click Network.
   2. In the address bar, specify the nfs, ftp, or http accessible network address to the Linux ISO image media. See table below for examples and restrictions.

      For OSes requiring multiple images (CD1, CD2, etc.), multiple address fields are available.

      ---

      Note - The URL address can not contain spaces.

      ---

      
      

      OS Source Transfer Method What to Type Content extracted from an ISO image to a directory HTTP Path to directory containing the extracted OS install files. Example: http://hostname_or_IPaddress/extractedISOdirectory FTP Path to directory containing the extracted OS install files. Example: ftp://hostname_or_IPaddress/extractedISOdirectory NFS Path to directory containing the extracted OS install files. Example: nfs://hostname_or_IPaddress/extractedISOdirectory Single ISO image file in a directory NFS Path to directory containing the OS install ISO image file. Example: http://hostname_or_IPaddress/ISOimagedirectory Note - The directory can not contain more than one ISO image file.

      Where hostname_or_IPaddress is either the hostname or the IP address of the server containing the ISO image, extractedISOdirectory is the directory containing the extracted Linux OS installation ISO image files, and ISOimagedirectory the directory containing the Linux OS installation ISO image file. For Linux, only the path to the directory containing the ISO image source should be used; individual files (including .iso) cannot be part of the URL path.

   3. Click Next.
6. In the Identifying Distribution dialog, review the information presented in the dialog then click Next to start the OS installer.
   
7. If you are installing RHEL, you will see the Pre–installation Environment setup page (shown below). Select a boot disk on which SIA will create the Red Hat pre–installation environment partition and click Next.
   

   After setting up the pre-installation environment, the SIA Installing Additional Software dialog appears.

8. In the Installing Additional Software dialog, SIA installs additional platform-specific drivers, as needed. Review the information presented.
   
9. Remove the SIA media and click the Reboot button.

   The server reboots and continues with the installation of the operating system. If remote update was selected, SIA retrieves the latest files from the web. Otherwise it uses the files on the OS distribution media. Follow the on-screen instructions and perform reboot(s) as prompted.

Next Steps

After completing the OS installation, do the following:

• Install and configure additional drivers and utilities for your server not installed by SIA. This provides you the supported feature set for installed server components (for example, additional drivers may include ACPI, video, network and mass storage).

• Install Sun-specific optional software available on your server’s Tools and Drivers (also known as Resource) CD/DVD as described in your server OS installation and Product Notes documentation.

• Download and install the latest Linux operating system updates and fixes from the Linux operating system vendor’s web site.