This chapter describes the planning that you need to do to get started and provides instructions for installing SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6.
Your SGI Altix system or Silicon Graphics Prism system comes with a base Linux distribution (SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3) and the SGI ProPack 3 SP6 software preinstalled. This chapter describes how to install the software from the CD if it should ever become necessary to reinstall it.
For security reasons, Linux requires a root password for login. The default password for your preinstalled software is sgisgi. After you have logged in, change this root password to a string of your own choice.
The SGI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 software works only with the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3. Earlier versions of these distributions, or any other distributions, are not compatible with SGI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 software.
Before you install or configure your system, please read Chapter 1, “Release Features” so that you understand the features of SGI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 software and how to configure them. You might also want to familiarize yourself with some or all of the documentation listed in “Related Publications”.
This chapter covers the following topics:
“Installing SGI Linux Software Over the Network - Recommended for Expert Users”
“Installing the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 Base OS from Physical Media”
“ Upgrading from Previous SGI ProPack Releases to SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6”
“ Installing SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 from Physical Media”
This section provides disk and file information you need to have about the software that has been shipped to you. It covers the following topics:
SGI ships systems from the factory with the partition layout shown in Table 2-1.
Table 2-1. devfs Disk Partitions
Device | Mount Point | Size |
|---|---|---|
/dev/xscsi/pci01.03.0-1/target1/lun0/part1 | /boot/efi | 500 MB |
/dev/xscsi/pci01.03.0-1/target1/lun0/part2 | swap | 10 GB |
/dev/xscsi/pci01.03.0-1/target1/lun0/part3 | / | remainder |
For more information on device naming, see “ Persistent PCI-X Bus Numbering” in Chapter 3 and “XSCSI Subsystem” in Chapter 3.
Linux Kernel Crash Dump (LKCD) creates files in /var/log/dump directory. To save crash dumps to a different location, change the DUMPDIR value in /etc/sysconfig/dump file.
The /var/log directory size will grow as Performance Co-Pilot and Comprehensive System Accounting (CSA) log to their own directories in /var/log. These files do not usually exceed 100 MB.
For default LKCD configuration details, see the lkcd_config (1) man page.
 | Note: If there is an lkcd dump, LKCD could easily exceed multiple gigabytes in the /var/log/dump directory. This is why the default root filesystem is larger. For this reason, some customers may wish to make a separate /var/log/dump filesystem or change the configuration of lkcd. |
Unless you have the most current PROM, the kernel may fail to boot during the installation procedure. The prom RPM is on ProPack 3 SP6 CD4 in SGI/RPMS directory. For information on obtaining the latest PROM, see “Obtaining the Latest SGI Altix System Firmware”.
Disks that are shipped with SGI Altix systems may be pre-partitioned with GPT labels. GPT partition tables, often created by operating system installers or the parted partitioning tool, store labels in two locations. A GPT labeled disk contains primary partition information at the beginning of the disk and backup information at the end of the disk. Old PROM versions can unlabel disks and also some operating system install/update utilities can unlabel disks.
When using XVM, you must be sure a backup GPT label does not exist. A script (xvmfixlabel) is available on Supportfolio that scans every disk in the system and removes GPT label information from those disks with SGI labels. To access the script perform the following steps:
Point your browser at http://support.sgi.com and login to Supportfolio.
Select Downloads
Enter the keyword xvmfixlabel
Dedicated time is not required to run the script. You must be logged in as root when executing the script. The script requires that the C compiler is installed on your system. Execute the script, as follows:
csh ./xvmfixlabel |
You can install the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 Base OS and SGI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 over the network. Because of the large number of CD swaps required when installing from physical CD media, SGI recommends installing over the network. You will need DHCP, TFTP, and NFS servers for this task. They can be on the same system or on different systems. If you do not have the appropriate permissions or access to perform a network installation, see “Installing the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 Base OS from Physical Media” and “ Installing SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 from Physical Media”.
In the following steps, you will copy data off of CDs, that is, the exact CD number for each CD. The CDs must be copied, in order, all into one directory tree.
Perform the following steps to set up the NFS server to install SGI ProPack 3 SP6 over the network:
To set up the NFS server for network booting, you need to create separate sgiadvlinux-3 and propack-3SP6 directories, as follows:
mkdir -p /some_path/install/sgiadvlinux-3 mkdir -p /some_path/install/propack-3SP6
Copy the first four SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 ISO images into the /some_path/install/sgiadvlinux-3 directory. You can hard link the images if they are in the same filesystem.
The sgiadvlinux directory must not contain any other images, they will confuse the installer. These are copied as raw ISO images, the NFS installer can look inside an ISO to get the files it needs.
Copy the contents of the first four SGI ProPack 3 SP6 CDs to the /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 directory. To do this, perform step 4 if you are using physical CDs or perform step 5 if you are using ISO images. Then, proceed to step 6.
If you are using physical CD media, perform the following:
Insert the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 CD1 into the system's CD-ROM drive, and perform the following:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
Insert the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 CD2 into the system's CD-ROM drive, and perform the following:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
Insert the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 CD3 into the system's CD-ROM drive, and perform the following:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
Insert the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 CD4 into the system's CD-ROM drive, and perform the following:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
If you are using ISO images, perform the following:
Change directory, as follows:
cd /directory/containing/iso/files
For ProPack 3 Service Pack 6 CD1, perform the following:
mount -o ro,loop propack-3SP6-cd1-open.iso /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
For ProPack 3 Service Pack 6 CD2, perform the following:
mount -o ro,loop propack-3SP6-cd2-open.iso /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
For ProPack 3 Service Pack 6 CD3, perform the following:
mount -o ro,loop propack-3SP6-cd3-open.iso /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
For ProPack 3 Service Pack 6 CD4, perform the following:
mount -o ro,loop propack-3SP6-cd4-prop.iso /mnt/cdrom /bin/cp -a /mnt/cdrom/. /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 umount /mnt/cdrom
Add entries to export the directories via NFS to the target hosts in the /etc/exports file. Then run command exportfs -a to implement the changes (see the exports(5) and exportfs(8) man pages for more information.)
Make sure that /some_path/install/sgiadvlinux-3 and /some_path/install/propack-3SP6 are exported over NFS.
Perform the following steps to set up the TFTP server to install SGI ProPack 3 SP6 over the network:
Decide where the tftp server is going to fetch its images from. For Linux, this is specified in /etc/xinetd.d/tftp under server_args, option -s. For example,
server = /usr/sbin/in.tftpd server_args = -s /some_path/tftpboot disable = no
Create the sgiadvlinux-3 directory for tftp.
There are no ProPack 3 SP6 files on the tftp server.
mkdir -p /some_path/tftpboot/sgiadvlinux-3
On the NFS server, mount /some_path/install/sgiadvlinux-3/sgiadvlinux-3-cd1-inst.iso over loopback. Within sgiadvlinux-3-cd1-inst.iso, mount images/boot.img over a second loopback. Copy the contents of boot.img (contains directory efi) to the tftpboot directory on the tftp server, as follows:
mkdir /mnt/tmp1 mkdir /mnt/tmp2 mount -o ro,loop \ /some_path/install/sgiadvlinux-3/sgiadvlinux-3-cd1-inst.iso \ /mnt/tmp1 mount -o ro,loop /mnt/tmp1/images/boot.img /mnt/tmp2 /bin/cp -a /mnt/tmp2/efi /some_path/tftpboot/sgiadvlinux-3 umount /mnt/tmp2 /mnt/tmp1
Edit /some_path/tftpboot/sgiadvlinux-3/efi/boot/elilo.conf and add this line to the "install" entry, as follows:
append="console=ttyS0 askmethod"
console=ttyS0 may not be appropriate for Silicon Graphics Prism Visualization systems. With this release, two new elilo installer options are available: graphics and graphics-rescue. The default install option uses the the L1 serial console. On a Silicon Graphics Prism Visualization System, if you choose the graphics option at the elilo prompt, it will install using the graphics head.
Perform the following steps to set up the DHCP server to install SGI ProPack 3 SP6 over the network: (The syntax for this will vary depending on which DHCP server you are using.)
Find the MAC from the output of command ifconfig eth0 on the system you want to install (labeled HWaddr). This can also be found from the EFI boot messages or in the efi boot menu next to the network boot option.
An example ifconfig eth0 output is, as follows:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 08:00:69:13:F0:B4
An example EFI message is, as follows:
Initializing supported network interfaces tg0: ASIC|Revision|MAC Address : 5701|B5|08:00:69:13:f0:b4 tg0: Link Negotiation|Advertisement : On|<H10 F10 H100 F100 H1000 F1000> tg0: Link|Speed|Duplex|Rx/Tx FlowCtrl: Up|1000|Full|Off/Off
Example EFI boot menu option is, as follows:
[Pci(4|0)/Mac(08006913F0B4)/NicName(tg0) ]
The sample dhcpd.conf entry has a field called fixed-address. This field can be an IP address (as in this example) but it can also be a hostname as shown in the second example below. Create client entry in /etc/dhcpd.conf for the system you want to install using the MAC address from Step 1. Include a fixed-address entry with the ipaddress of the client. Include a next-server entry with the tftp server hostname. And include a filename entry with the path to the boot file on the tftp server (Note: Do not include the /some_patch/tftpboot prefix from the tftp configuration file,that is automatically added by the tftp server.
An example dhcpd.conf entry for a subnet containing the client with MAC address in the example above:
subnet 192.12.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 { } # Begin group options group { option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0; option broadcast-address 192.12.1.255; option routers 192.12.1.1; option domain-name "your.co.com"; option domain-name-servers 192.12.1.10, 192.12.1.11; # Device information host eva00 { hardware Ethernet 08:00:69:13:F0:B4; fixed-address 192.12.1.25; next-server tftphost.your.co.com; filename "/sgiadvlinux-3/efi/boot/bootia64.efi"; } }To reduce the maintenance effort for network boots you can use a hostname, as follows;
host eva00 { ... fixed-address eva00.your.co.com;Restart dhcpd server to pick up the new configuration. (Use /etc/init.d/dhcpd restart in sgiadvlinux).
To install the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 over the network, perform the following:
Boot the Altix system to be installed, select network boot.
EFI issues DHCP requests, the DHCP server responds with the IP address and the next server and filename.
Note: Like all DHCP software, the DHCP server must be on the same network as the Altix system or you must have a DHCP relay on the same network as the Altix sysem to forward the requests to the final DHCP server. When it asks for the installation source, select NFS.
Enter the IP address, netmask, gateway, DNS servers of the Altix system. Selecting DHCP may or may not work, there are timing problems with EFI DHCP and the spanning tree algorithm on some Cisco routers.
Enter the IP address of the NFS server and the path to the merged install directory, for example, /some_path/install/sgiadvlinux-3 (on a test machine, it looks as follows: /big/linux_distributions/sgi/install/sgiadvlinux-3 )
Everything else is the same as a normal install, except it is completely hands off. No need to swap the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 CDs.
To install SGI ProPack 3 SP6 over the network, perform the following:
Reboot the system after installing SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3.
Log into the system and mount the Propack 3 SP6 directory on the NFS server as /mnt/source, as follows:
mkdir -p /mnt/source mount nfs.server:/some_path/install/propack-3SP6 /mnt/source
Run the installer, as follows:
/mnt/source/INSTALL
Note: Do not change directory to /mnt/source. You must run the installer as /mnt/source/INSTALL and the command must be issued from a directory outside of /mnt/source.
In a few minutes, your system will be ready.
This section provides steps for installing the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 CD1, CD2, CD3, and CD4 set.
| Note: Installation of the SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 Base OS using physical CD media may require up to 15 CD swaps due to RPM depedencies. |
For console setup options and instructions, see the section titled “Monitoring Your Server” in the SGI Altix 3000 User Guide, the section titled “Operating Your System” in the SGI Altix 350 System User's Guide, or chapter 1, “Getting Started with the Silicon Graphics Prism” in the Silicon Graphics Prism Visualization System User's Guide.
When a Silicon Graphics Prism Visualization System comes up after the installation of SGI ProPack 3 SP6, you cannot login from the console. You need to boot the system with a serial console connected and then perform start operations in that console.
Insert SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 CD1 into the system's CD-ROM drive and restart the system.
While the system is powering up, check the device mapping table. It should look similar to the following:
Device mapping table fs0 : Pci(2|1)/Ata(Primary, Master)/CDROM(Entry1)This is the CD-ROM fs1 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun1)/HD(Part1,Sig00000000) fs2 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun2)/HD(Part1,Sigg1) blk0 : Pci(2|1)/Ata(Primary, Master) blk1 : Pci(2|1)/Ata(Primary, Master)/CDROM(Entry1) blk2 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun1) blk3 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun1)/HD(Part1,Sig00000000) blk4 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun1)/HD(Part2,Sig00000000) blk5 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun1)/HD(Part3,Sig00000000) blk6 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun1)/HD(Part4,Sig00000000) blk7 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun2) blk8 : Pci(1|1)/Scsi(Pun0/Lun2)/HD(Part1,Sigg10)
At the Shell> prompt, type the CD-ROM device name, as follows:
Shell> fs0: Type this to change to the CD-ROM device fs0:\>
Type cd efi\boot to the boot image directory, as follows:
fs0:\> cd efi\boot fs0:\efi\boot>
Note: Two new elilo installer options are available: graphics and graphics-rescue. The default install option uses the the L1 serial console. On a Silicon Graphics Prism Visualization System, if you choose the graphics option at the elilo prompt, it will install using the graphics head. Boot the kernel by typing elilo and pressing Enter. When the ELILO boot: prompt appears, press Enter again.
fs0:\efi\boot> elilo ELILO boot:
Press ENTER to boot the Linux kernel.
Note: If the kernel fails to boot here with a message about the PROM being too old, see “Obtaining the Latest SGI Altix System Firmware”. The CD will then boot and start the first "CD Found" screen. Skip the media test and start the installation. You may follow the screen instruction to check your CDs. To begin the installation process insert CD1 into the CDROM drive and press Continue.
Select the language you would prefer to use for the installation and as the system default. To continue, select OK.
Note: SGI recommends that English be used during installation. Other languages may not display properly on non-UTF-8 capable terminals. The next screen is the SGI ProPack information screen. To continue, select OK.
You will now see a window titled Installation type. Currently, Custom is the only choice. To continue, select OK.
In the partition screen, select the Autopartition option and press Enter on your keyboard. When warning messages appear, select IGNORE.
When asked which partitioning scheme to use, select the Remove all partitions on this system option. If you have two or more SCSI disks installed in your SGI Altix 3000 system, the installer asks you which drives you wish to use for installation. From the factory, SGI Altix 3000 systems come with the entire operating system installed on one system disk. If you would like the entire operating system installed on one disk, be sure that only one of the disks is selected for installation. Both devices are selected by default. To continue, select OK.
When the warning message appears about losing all data on the devices, select Yes to confirm the partition layout.
The next screen allows you to modify the partition layout as needed for your requirements. If you change the partition layout, ensure that the /boot/efi filesystem partition type remains set to vfat, the swap partition is set to swap, and all other file system types are set to xfs. To complete the partition layout, select OK.
If you use Bootp or DHCP to configure your network interfaces, select OK. If you use static IP addresses, fill in the required information and then to continue, select OK.
Note: If you plan to have an Ethernet board in bus 1 slot 2 of the IX-brick, directly to the right of the IO9, see “Persistent Naming of Ethernet Devices” in Chapter 3. (This does not affect most users.) If you chose to use a static IP address on the previous screen, you are prompted for Gateway and DNS for the system, fill in the required information and then to continue, select OK.
The next screen asks for the hostname of the system. If you had chosen the DHCP (in step 13), you may select the system hostname automatically via DHCP.
On the next screen you will be asked if you wish to configure a firewall on this system. Select the appropriate option based on your system's need and to continue, select OK.
The next screen allows you to select additional languages to support on the system.
Note: If you select additional languages, you must select a default language. The default language will be used on your system once installation is complete. If you choose to install other languages, you can change your default language after installation. The next screen allows you to select which time zone this system is in. Select the appropriate information and to continue, select OK.
The next screen asks you for the root password for this system. Enter the password you would like to use for root access and to continue, select OK.
The Package Group Selection screen appears. All packages should be selected for installation. Select Everything (located at the bottom of the list). To continue, press the Tab key to highlight OK and press Enter.
The Installation to begin screen is informational. To continue, select OK.
The installation process will now begin. During the process, you will be prompted to insert other SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 CDs. Do this when instructed and to continue, select OK.
When the installation has finished, select OK. The system will reboot. You can remove the CD from the drive.
You are not done yet! Only the base environment has been installed. After the system restarts, proceed to “ Installing SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 from Physical Media”.
The license manager was upgraded in the SGI ProPack v2.3 release to FLEXlm 9.0. FLEXlm licenses from any release earlier than SGI ProPack v2.3 may not work on SGI ProPack 3 SP6. You may need replacement FLEXlm licenses for SGI applications in certain situations.
Applications running on SGI ProPack 3 SP6 (and the prior releases SGI ProPack v2.3 and v2.4) use a different license identifier on SGI Altix series systems than applications running on SGI ProPack releases prior to SGI ProPack v2.2.1.
If you have any licensed SGI applications running on your Altix system, please contact SGI to request a new license key or contact your local support center and request a new key at this location:
http://www.sgi.com/support/supportcenters.html
Otherwise, these applications may not allow access after you install SGI ProPack 3. New licenses generated for FLEXlm 9.0 will work on SGI ProPack releases running SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3. SGI strongly recommends that you replace the licenses for your SGI applications before installing SGI ProPack 3 to avoid any possible interruption in service. Third party applications are unaffected by this change.
Upgrades from prior SGI ProPack releases to the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 release are only supported from the SGI Propack 3 for Linux release. To upgrade a system currently running SGI ProPack 3, simply follow the steps in “ Installing SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 from Physical Media”.
To install SGI ProPack 3 SP6 on a system running SGI ProPack v2.3 or v2.4, you must do a fresh install. For information on how to manage a fresh install while retaining such things as modified configuration files, see the release notes.
| Note: The release notes, which contain the latest information about software and documentation in this release, are on the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 Documentation CD in the root directory, in a file named README.TXT. |
This section provides steps for installing the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 CD1 (Open/Free Source Software CD 1 of 3), S GI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 CD2 (Open/Free Source Software CD 2 of 3), SGI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 CD3 (Open/Free Source Software CD 3 of 3 and the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux SP6 ( CD4 (Proprietary Software).
For information on alternate installation methods, see “Alternate SGI ProPack Installation Methods”.
For console setup options and instructions, see the section titled “Monitoring Your Server” in the SGI Altix 3000 User Guide or chapter 1, “Installation and Operation” in the SGI Altix 350 System User's Guide, or “Connecting an L1 System Console” in chapter 1 of the Silicon Graphics Prism User's Guide.
Log in to the system as root.
Insert SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 CD1 into the system and enter the following command to mount the CD:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Enter /mnt/cdrom/INSTALL.
The SGI Welcome screen for SGI ProPack will appear. To continue, select OK.
The next screen lets you choose your installation type. If you want to install software from CD1, CD2, CD3, and CD4 select ALL, or if you only want to install software from CD1, CD2, and CD3 select Open Source Only.
The next screen lets you to customize the selection of software installed. Check the Customize software selection box if you want to do so.
The Package Group Selection screen appears if you have selected to customize software selection in previous screen. This screen allows you to select the type of package group you want to install. You select a package group by using the up and down arrow keys and pressing the space bar to select the one you want. When you select a package group, RPMs for that package group will be installed after you press the Tab key to highlight OK and press Enter. if you have selected Open Source Only in the installation type screen (item 5), you will only have three groups - "Base updates", "Kernel Development", and "Software Development", and they are all selected by default. If you have selected ALL in the installation type screen (item 5), you will have three more groups - "SGI Proprietary", "SGI Licensed" and "SGI Cluster Infrastructure". The last two are not selected by default. If you will be using SGI licensed software, such as XVM, be sure to select SGI Licensed. Otherwise, leave it unselected. To continue, select OK.
The Installation to Begin screen appears. It tells you that a log of the installation will be placed in /tmp/sgi-install.log. Press Enter. (OK is highlighted by default).
The installation begins. You will see the Package Installation screen, which tells you which packages are being installed and logs the time it takes to install them.
Note: If you started the SGI ProPack installation from the system console, you may see a message stating "INIT: version number reloading" as the packages are being installed.This message is normal and is not an error. During the installation process, you will be asked to insert SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 CD2, CD3, and CD4. Insert each disk when prompted and press Enter.
After the installation is complete, the Complete screen appears. Press Enter. You are returned to the root prompt.
After the software installation is complete, reboot your system to begin using the newly installed SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 software environment. You can reboot by typing reboot and pressing Enter. You can then remove the CD from the drive.
In addition to using CD media and direct physical access to the CD drive an Altix system, there are alternate methods you can use to install SGI ProPack, including:
Install from ISO Images on Local Disk
Install from Remote CDs
Note: SGI Advanced Linux Environment 3 or SGI ProPack 3 must already be installed on a system to use this installation method. Note: ISO images for SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 are available for download from Supportfolio for customers with support contracts. You will need the ISO images for SGI ProPack CD1, CD2, CD3, and CD4. In the examples below, the ISO images have been downloaded to a directory called /tmp/propack_iso/.
If you have CDs, but want to ISO images, you can use the CD media to create ISO images, as follows:
Insert the CD into the system and mount it with the following command:
mount -t iso9660 -o ro /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Then enter the following command to create the ISO image:
dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/tmp/propack_iso/propack_cd1.iso
You may see I/O errors at the end of the copy, but these can be safely ignored.
SGI ProPack can be installed by copying the ISO images to the local drive on the system. This installation method allows you to install SGI ProPack without physical access to the system and without having to swap CD media. It also shields the installation from any network hiccups.
After copying the ISO images to your system, login to the system as root and execute the following commands to mount the first ISO image to a new directory:
mkdir -p /mnt/source
mount -o loop /tmp/propack_iso/propack-3SP6-cd1-open.iso /mnt/source
Next, execute the following command to kick off the installation process:
/mnt/source/INSTALL
Follow steps 4-12 in the section entitled “ Installing SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 from Physical Media”. When the installation asks for CD2, open another shell window and execute the following commands to unmount SGI ProPack CD1 and then mount CD2:
umount /mnt/source
mount -o loop /tmp/propack_iso/propack-3SP6-cd2-open.iso /mnt/source
Repeat the unmount and mount process again in the second shell window when asked for SGI ProPack CD3 and CD4.
Note: The "not mounted" error messages from the umount command can be safely ignored. After the installation is complete, you are returned to the root prompt. Review the elilo.conf file (/boot/efi/efi/sgi/elilo.conf) to confirm that the new kernel is listed as the default kernel to boot. Unmount the last ISO image and reboot by typing reboot and pressing Enter.
SGI ProPack can also be installed using CDs exported from another client machine. The following steps assume a machine to which you have easy physical access such as a desktop PC running Linux and running Linux and a remote Altix machine. In the steps below, these machines are referred to as desktop_pc and altix_server, respectively.
| Note: NFS differences on the client and server machines as well as network hiccups might prevent this method from working. |
Insert the SGI ProPack CD1 media into the cd drive on desktop_pc and mount the CD:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Export /mnt/cdrom on the desktop_pc to the Altix machine by adding an entry in the /etc/exports file:
/mnt/cdrom altix_server(*,sync)
After adding the entry to /etc/exports, use the following commands to stop and then start the NFS daemon:
/sbin/server nfs stop
/sbin/server nfs start
See the exports(5) manpage for more information on exporting NFS filesystems.
Use the telnet command to connect into altix_server and mount the remote CD exported from desktop_pc to a local directory like /mnt/source with the following command:
mount -o ro desktop_pc:/mnt/cdrom /mnt/source
From the same telnet window, start the ProPack installation:
/mnt/source/INSTALL
Note: The installation copies quite a bit of data over to /tmp on the local machine, so this could take several minutes depending on the speed of your network. When the installer asks for SGI ProPack CD2, CD3 and CD4, open another shell to altix_server and unmount /mnt/source, swap the CDs in desktop_pc and then mount desktop_pc:/mnt/cdrom again to /mnt/source.
After the installation is complete, you are returned to the root prompt. Review the elilo.conf file (/boot/efi/efi/sgi/elilo.conf) to confirm that the new kernel is listed as the default kernel to boot. Unmount the last ISO image and reboot by typing reboot and pressing Enter.
This section provides steps for installing the System Controller Software 1.10 (for IRIX and SGI ProPack for Linux). This software is licensed for SGI Origin and Onyx 3000 series systems based on MIPS processors and for SGI Altix 350 systems and the SGI Altix 3000 family of servers and superclusters.
| Note: The System Controller Software 1.10 CD is not shipped by default. You can download the System Controller Software 1.10 package (or higher) from http://support.sgi.com/ or order it on CD-ROM (P/N 812-1138-007). Contact you SGI account representative if you need assistance obtaining the software package. |
Log in to the PC workstation or laptop computer where the System Controller Software 1.x" package resides, as root, using the root password you used in the previous installation process.
Insert the System Controller Software 1.10 CD into the system and enter the following command to mount the CD:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
Change directories to /mnt/cdrom/RPMS/ia64 and enter the following command:
./install
The installation begins. You will see which packages are being installed. After the installation is complete, you are returned to the root prompt.
After the software installation is complete, remove the System Controller Software 1.10 CD.
There are three levels of firmware to consider on your SGI Altix system, as follows:
L2 controller software (only configurations of SGI Altix systems with routers have L2 controllers)
L1 controllers on routers, IX-bricks, PX-bricks, C-bricks, and so on.
The system PROM (each node has a system PROM and each C-brick has two nodes).
L1 and L2 System Controller firmware provides support for managing and monitoring the power, cooling, and testing functions for a brick and system compute rack.
You can always download the latest L1/L2 system controller software and PROM firmware via Supportfolio at http://support.sgi.com/linux/
You can also find system controller software by using the search term “system controller” at: http://support.sgi.com/search_request/downloads/index.
PROM is released as patches and the latest firmware can also be found at: http://support.sgi.com/browse_request/linux_patches_by_os
| Note: Newer PROM firmware is often incompatible with previous versions of the PROM firmware. If you decide to manually flash PROMs, you must upgrade the PROM on all nodes at once or some nodes may hang during boot. For more information on this topic, please see the SGI ProPack 3 for Linux release notes. |
To update or "flash" the system PROM, you first need to download the prom RPM from Supportfolio as described above.
| Note: The PROM image on your hard drive is automatically updated when you upgrade your system to the latest SGI ProPack for Linux release. The installation of the snprom RPM (step 1) happens automatically as part of the ProPack installation. Flashing it (steps 2-4) must be performed. |
Once you have the latest PROM RPM, flash the PROM, as follows:
Install the update PROM image with the following command:
# rpm -Uvh RPM_NAME...
Reboot the system and enter the EFI shell. Access /boot/efi (typically fs0) from the EFI Shell> prompt:
Shell> fs0:
Issue the ls command and locate the PROM image binary:
fs0:\> ls
snprom.bin
Verify the PROM version with the following command:
fs0:\> flash -V snprom.bin SGI PROM Flashing Utility Version of prom image in file 3.32Verify that the current PROM on the system is older with the following command:
fs0:\> flash -R Running PROM version: 3.25Flash all the nodes with the latest PROM image:
fs0:\> flash -a snprom.bin
Caution: Always allow the flash process to complete before attempting any other system activities. Flashing the PROMs may take several minutes (depending on system size). Interrupting a flash process can result in disabled processors and nodes.
Instructions for updating (flashing) the L1/L2 system controller firmware are also included in the SGI Altix 3000 User's Guide and the SGI L1 and L2 Controller Software User's Guide.
When you are ready to upgrade your SGI ProPack software, follow the instructions outlined in the section titled “ Installing SGI ProPack 3 for Linux Service Pack 6 from Physical Media”, using the newer SGI ProPack CD set.
To reinstall all of the software on your system, follow the entire set of installation instructions listed previously, using the latest SGI ProPack CD set.
Information about recovering a damaged root filesystem has been moved to Chapter 2, “System Operation” in the Linux Configuration and Operations Guide.