The IBM eServer BladeCenter JS20 - IBM Redbooks
The IBM eServer BladeCenter JS20 - IBM Redbooks
The IBM eServer BladeCenter JS20 - IBM Redbooks
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6.1 Installing Linux<br />
Both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server are<br />
supported operating systems for the <strong>BladeCenter</strong> <strong>JS20</strong>. This chapter explains<br />
how to set up and conduct a network-based installation of both distributions.<br />
Because the general process of doing this is similar for both operating systems,<br />
the focus of this chapter is on the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 and<br />
SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9.0.<br />
Tip: Prior to installing any operating system, we recommend that you upgrade<br />
all firmware to the latest level. See 5.4, “Firmware” on page 79, for instructions<br />
about how to complete this task.<br />
6.1.1 Configuring the sources<br />
Since we are doing a network installation, the first step is to configure a file space<br />
that contains the source files for the operating system installation. For all cited<br />
examples, we created the sources on a pSeries 690 that was connected to the<br />
same local area network (LAN) as the <strong>BladeCenter</strong>. Since there are special tools<br />
available within each distribution for this purpose, we configured each network<br />
install server with a similar distribution. For example, the server that installed<br />
RHEL 3 also ran RHEL 3.<br />
Tip: We recommend a 100 Mb or faster LAN that is local to both the machine<br />
that will host the files and the <strong>BladeCenter</strong>. We also recommend that the file<br />
spaces be shared via Network File System (NFS).<br />
Red Hat sources<br />
<strong>The</strong> Red Hat installer, Anaconda, makes it simple to set up a remote file share.<br />
Simply copy the ISOs for the source CDs into your NFS mount. To create an ISO<br />
of the first CD and place it in /mnt/exports/, enter:<br />
# dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/mnt/exports/RHEL-3.0-U2-disc1.iso bs=32M<br />
Repeat the previous step for all the CDs, changing the file name as appropriate.<br />
You may also increase the bs parameter as appropriate. This parameter controls<br />
block size. <strong>The</strong> larger the block size is, the more RAM is taken for the dd process,<br />
but the faster the process takes.<br />
Important: Ensure that the CD is not mounted before you begin the dd. Also<br />
ensure that the destination of the ISO has enough space to store all the data.<br />
Copying a full complement of RHEL 3 ISOs can take over 4 GB.<br />
102 <strong>The</strong> <strong>IBM</strong> Eserver <strong>BladeCenter</strong> <strong>JS20</strong>