HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade Linux Installation white paper

Installation Boot Media
The Linux installation boot kernel for the BL860c server blade on the Linux distribution installation
media, can be booted using an external USB DVD drive, a remote iLO 2 virtual media, or a
network connection using either a Pre-Boot Execution Environment (PXE) network connection
or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.
NOTE: For BladeSystem c-Class enclosures containing an Ethernet Pass-Thru Interconnect
Module (Part Number 406740-B21), there is a known connectivity issue when running Linux
using the tg3 ethernet drivers earlier than version 3.71b. This newer tg3 driver is not distributed
with RHEL4U4 or SLES10. Resolution of this issue requires updating to the 3.71b version of the
tg3 ethernet driver.
This RPM file is installed as an update on the server once Linux is installed as described in
“Updating the tg3 Driver” (page 15). For more information regarding the
tg3-3.71b-1.src.rpm RPM, see “Appendix A: Instructions for Installing a New tg3 Driver
for Ethernet Pass-Thru Interconnect Module Users” (page 21).
Verify that an installation boot kernel, initrd disk image, and the tg3 Ethernet driver source
RPM have been made available using one of the three following methods:
Using an External USB DVD Device
Use of an external USB DVD to boot the install boot kernel requires that the device be connected
to the USB port on the serial, USB, and video (SUV) cable with the SUV cable attached to the
BL860c Server Blade, as previously described. The USB DVD device, with distribution media in
it, becomes visible to boot and install from once the BL860c Server Blade is reset.
HP recommends that the only USB DVD device used is the certified HP MultiBay 9.5mm
DVD+/-RW Drive (part number PA851A), which requires the USB External MultiBay Cradle
(part number PA509A).
Using iLO 2 Virtual Media
Virtual media (vMedia) provides the BL860c server blade with virtual devices that mimic physical
hardware devices, such as a virtual DVD drive hosted on another system, that connects through
the network to the server blade as if they were physically connected. The physical vMedia device
can be a DVD drive or an ISO image file stored on a local disk drive of another system on the
network. Once connected, vMedia devices can then be used to boot the OS distribution installation
media using the iLO 2 MP to install Linux on the BL860c server blade or read other CD/DVD
media. A vMedia device must be hosted from a system running a Java enabled Web browser
available to the BL860c server blade over an ethernet network to the iLO 2 MP interface.
Using a PXE Network Connection
The BL860c server blades support the PXE protocol for booting over a network connection. This
requires at least a DHCP/ Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) boot server on the same segment
of the network as the BL860c server blade. You must configure the PXE/DHCP/TFTP server to
provide the elilo.efi and elilo-ia64.conf files for PXE boot. Additionally, configure the
TFTP server to provide the vmlinuz Linux kernel and initrd images. For details regarding
PXE configuration, see “Configuring the PXE Environment” (page 17).
Installation Media
Three types of Linux installation media are supported on the BL860c server blade:
• CD/DVD media (either an external USB CD/DVD or iLO 2 vMedia),
• a local hard disk partition,
• or a network repository.
Select one of the following types of Linux installation media for use in installing the OS:
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