Chapter 3

Installing Oracle Linux

This chapter provides information about installing Oracle Linux 5 for x86 (64-bit) and the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux.

Note - It is highly recommended that you use the Oracle Hardware Installation Assistant to install the Oracle Linux operating system on your server. The installation assistant provides and installs the device driver(s), if required, for you. For more information about using Oracle Hardware Installation Assistant to install an operating system, see Chapter 1, Assisted OS Installation With Oracle Hardware Installation Assistant.

This chapter includes the following topics:

Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux
Installing Oracle Linux 5 Using Local or Remote Media
Installing Oracle Linux 5 Using a PXE Network Environment
Post Oracle Linux Installation Tasks
Installing Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux Using Local or Remote Console

Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux

The Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux is a recommended kernel that can be installed on top of Oracle Linux 5 Update 5 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Update 5. This new kernel is based on the 2.6.32 Linux Kernel and includes optimizations developed by Oracle to ensure stability and optimal performance. All patches added to the 2.6.32 mainline kernel are open source.

Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux has demonstrated its stability reliability, and performance improvements in demanding environments. and it is the kernel used in Oracle’s Exadata and Exalogic systems. Furthermore, the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux is now used in all benchmarks on Linux that Oracle participates in, as well as in Oracle’s Validated Configurations program.

Because the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux installs directly on top of Oracle Linux 5 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, there is no need to upgrade to a new major release of the Linux operating system to gain the benefits and features of this new kernel. And after you have installed this new kernel, you still have the option of easily switching back to the Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernel and, then, switching back and forth between the two kernels.

Oracle highly recommends deploying the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux in your Linux environment, especially if you are running Oracle software. Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux is optional, however, and Oracle Linux continues to include a Red Hat compatible kernel, which is compiled directly from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) source code, for customers who require strict RHEL compatibility. Oracle also recommends this new kernel for customers running third-party software and third-party hardware.

For more information about benefits and features of the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux, go to:

http://www.oracle.com/us/technologies/linux/ubreakable-enterprise-kernel-linux-173350.html

Installing Oracle Linux 5 Using Local or Remote Media

The following procedure describes how to boot the Oracle Linux operating system installation from local or remote media. The procedure assumes that you are booting the Oracle Linux installation media from one of the following sources:

Oracle Linux 5.5 (or subsequent release) CD or DVD set (internal or external CD/DVD)
Oracle Linux 5.5 (or subsequent release) ISO DVD image (network repository)

Note - If you are booting the installation media from a PXE environment, refer to Installing Oracle Linux 5 Using a PXE Network Environment for instructions.

Before You Begin

Prior to performing the installation, the following requirements must be met:

All applicable installation prerequisites for installing an operating system should have been met. For further information about these prerequisites, see Chapter 2, Getting Started .
An installation method (for example: console, boot media, and install target) should have been chosen and established prior to performing the installation. For more information about these setup requirements, see Appendix A, Supported Installation Methods.

After completing this procedure, you should review and perform the required post installation tasks described later in this chapter. For more details, see Post Oracle Linux Installation Tasks. You can also install the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux on top of your Oracle Linux 5.5 and later distribution. For more information, see Installing Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux Using Local or Remote Console.

Install Oracle Linux 5 Using Local or Remote Media

Ensure that the installation media is available to boot.
- For Distribution CD/DVD. Insert the Oracle Linux 5 Distribution media boot disc (CD labeled number 1 or the single DVD) into the local or remote USB CD/DVD-ROM drive.
- For ISO 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 (Devices menu --> CD-ROM Image).
- For additional information about how to set up the installation media, see Installation Boot Media .
Reset the power on the server.
For example:
- From the ILOM web interface, select the Remote Control --> Remote Power Control tab, then select Reset from the Select Action list box.
- From the local server, 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.
- From the ILOM CLI on the server SP, type: reset /SYS
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.
In the BIOS screen, press F8 to specify a temporary boot device for the Oracle Linux installation.
The Please Select Boot Device menu appears.
In the Boot Device menu, select either the external or virtual CD/DVD device as the first boot device, then press Enter.
The device strings listed on Boot Device menu are in the format of: device type, slot indicator, and product ID string.
After a few seconds, the splash screen for the Oracle Linux 5 installation appears. The bottom half of the splash screen lists instructions, function keys, and the boot prompt.
In the Oracle Linux splash screen, press Enter to continue the normal user interactive installation.
Alternately, for text mode, enter the following command:
boot: linux text
In the Language screen, select the appropriate language, then click Next.
The Keyboard Type screen appears.
In the Keyboard Type screen, select the appropriate keyboard configuration, then click Next.
The Installation Method screen appears.
In the Installation Method screen, select the appropriate installation method (Local CDROM or NFS Image), then click OK.
The CD Found screen appears.
In the CD Found screen, click Skip.
The Oracle Linux 5 screen appears.
In the Oracle Linux 5 screen, click Next.
The Installation Number dialog appears.
In the Installation Number dialog, enter the “Installation number” or click Skip entering installation number, then click OK.
The Disk Partition Setup screen appears.
In the Disk Partition Setup screen, do the following:
1. Select the option for Remove Linux partition on selected drives and create default layout or manually partition the disk using the Create custom layout option of Disk Druid, then click Next.
2. Partition the disk as appropriate by referring to the instructions presented on the Oracle Linux disk partitioning screen.
  Note - If Oracle Solaris OS or Oracle VM is preinstalled on the disk, you can choose to partition the disk to remove the preinstalled OS; or, you can choose to keep the preinstalled OS and partition the disk to support dual-boot operating systems.
Continue the basic Oracle Linux installation setup by following the on-screen instructions.
Note - For more information on installing the Oracle Linux, see the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5: Installation Guide at: http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise
After completing the basic Oracle Linux installation setup, perform the following post installation tasks:
1. Perform the post installation tasks as described in Post Oracle Linux Installation Tasks.
2. (Optional) Install the Oracle Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux on top of the Oracle Linux 5 Update 5 operating system.
  For installation instructions, see Installing Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux Using Local or Remote Console.

Installing Oracle Linux 5 Using a PXE Network Environment

This section describes how to boot the Oracle Linux 5 from a PXE network environment. It assumes that you are booting the installation media from one of the following sources:

Oracle Linux 5.5 CD or DVD set (internal or external CD/DVD)
Oracle Linux 5.5 ISO DVD image or KickStart image (network repository)

Note - KickStart is an automated installation tool. It enables a system administrator to create a single image containing the settings for some or all installation and configuration parameters that are normally provided during a typical Oracle Linux installation. Typically, a KickStart image is placed on a single network server and read by multiple systems for installation.

Before You Begin

The following requirements must be met prior to performing the Oracle Linux PXE installation:

If you are using a KickStart image to perform the installation, you must:
- Create a KickStart file.
- Create the boot media with the KickStart file or make the KickStart file available on the network.
To use PXE to boot the installation media over the network, you must:
- Configure the network (NFS, FTP, HTTP) server to export the installation tree.
- Configure the files on the TFTP server necessary for PXE booting.
- Configure the server’s MAC network port address to boot from the PXE configuration.
- Configure the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP).
Follow the PXE network installation instructions in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4: System Administration Guide at:

http://www.redhat.com/docs

Install Oracle Linux 5 Using PXE Network Boot

Ensure that the PXE network environment is properly set up and the Oracle Linux installation media is available for PXE boot.
Reset the power on the server.
For example:
- From the ILOM web interface, select the Remote Control --> Remote Power Control tab, then select Reset from the Select Action list box.
- From the local server, press the Power button (approximately1 second) on the front panel of the server to power off the server, then press the Power button again to power on the server.
- From the ILOM CLI on the server SP, type: reset /SYS
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.
In the BIOS screen, press F8 to specify a temporary boot device.
The Please Select Boot Device menu appears listing the available boot device.
In the Boot Device menu, select the network port that is configured to communicate with your PXE network install server.
The network bootloader loads and a boot prompt appears. After a few seconds the installation kernel will begin to load.
To complete the installation, refer to Step 5 of Install Oracle Linux 5 Using Local or Remote Media.

Post Oracle Linux Installation Tasks

After completing the Oracle Linux installation, you should review the following post installation tasks and, if necessary, perform the tasks that are applicable to your system.

Configure Support for TPM
Register Oracle Linux and Activate Automatic Updates

Configure Support for TPM

If you intend to use the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) feature set that is provided in Oracle Linux, you must configure your server to support this feature. For instructions, see the service manual for the server:

Sun Fire X4470 Server Service Manual (821-0703)

Note - TPM enables you to administer the TPM security hardware in your server. For additional information about implementing this feature, refer to the TPM documentation available for Oracle Linux.

Register Oracle Linux and Activate Automatic Updates

After installing Oracle Linux, you should register your system and activate your subscription with Oracle to receive automatic updates to the software. For more details, see Oracle Linux Support at:

http://www.oracle.com/support/purchase.html

Installing Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux Using Local or Remote Console

Before You Begin

Before installing the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux, you must have Oracle Linux 5, Update 5 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5, Update 5 installed on your server.

Install Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux Using Local or Remote Console

Ensure that your system is running Oracle Linux 5, Update 5 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, Update 5 before installing the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux.
To download the Oracle Linux 5 Yum repository file to your system, enter the following commands:
1. # cd /etc/yum.repos.d
2. # wget http://public-yum.oracle.com/public-yum-el5.repo
Open the /etc/yum.repos.d/etc/public-yum-el5.repo file in an editor.

Edit both the [el5_u5_base] and [ol5_u5_base] stanzas and change enable=0 to enable=1 as follows:

[el5_u5_base]
name=Enterprise Linux $releasever U5 - $basearch - base
baseurl=http://publicyum.
oracle.com/repo/EnterpriseLinux/EL5/5/base/$basearch/
gpgkey=http://public-yum.oracle.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle-el5
gpgcheck=1
enable=1
 
[ol5_u5_base]
name=Oracle Linux $releasever - U5 - x86_64 - base
baseurl=http://publicyum.
oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL5/5/base/x86_64/
gpgkey=http://public-yum.oracle.com/RPM-GPG-KEY-oracle-el5
gpgcheck=1
enable=1

To update your system kernel, do one of the following
- To update your system kernel to the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux, enter the following command:
  
  # yum install kernel
  
  Or
- To update your system kernel to the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux and upgrade all the recommended packages associated with it, enter the following command:
  
  # yum install oracle-linux
To run the newly installed Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux, reboot your system.
Note - For more information on the Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux, see the release notes at: http://oss.oracle.com/el5/docs.

Exit Print View
Sun Fire X4470 Server Installation Guide for Linux Operating Systems

Sun Fire X4470 Server Installation Guide for Linux Operating Systems

Installing Oracle Linux

Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux

Installing Oracle Linux 5 Using Local or Remote Media

Before You Begin

Install Oracle Linux 5 Using Local or Remote Media

Installing Oracle Linux 5 Using a PXE Network Environment

Before You Begin

Install Oracle Linux 5 Using PXE Network Boot

Post Oracle Linux Installation Tasks

Configure Support for TPM

Register Oracle Linux and Activate Automatic Updates

Installing Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux Using Local or Remote Console

Before You Begin

Install Oracle Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel for Linux Using Local or Remote Console