HP XC System Software Installation Guide Version 3.1

Table 2-5 Information Required for the Kickstart Installation Session
Description and User ActionItem
During the installation process, a numbered list of disks discovered on the head node is
displayed, and you are prompted to select a disk on which to install the software:
Select the disk for the installation:
The following criteria apply to the disk you select:
• The disk must be 36 GB or larger.
• The disk must not be connected to a SAN device.
Disk for the installation
If more than two disks are found on the head node, you are prompted to configure software
RAID-1 (mirroring), as follows:
Two or more system disks have been detected.
Do you want to use software RAID-1 to mirror two disks? (y/n):
If you answer y (yes), you are prompted to select two disks to mirror.
Select two disks to mirror with software RAID-1:
Select software RAID-1 disk 1:
Select software RAID-1 disk 2:
The following criteria apply to installing and using mirroring on the head node:
• The head node must have a minimum of two disks.
• The disks must be the same size.
The /boot partition on HP Integrity hardware models cannot be configured with software
RAID-1.
HP recommends that you do not configure software RAID on hardware models configured
with smart arrays.
Software RAID
The /hptc_cluster file system is the global, or clusterwide, file system on an HP XC
system. This file system is shared and mounted by all nodes and contains configuration
and log file information that is required for all nodes in the system. This file system is
intended for XC management use; do not use it for user accounts or job launching.
You have the option to create a disk partition for the /hptc_cluster file system
somewhere other than the installation disk (also known as the system disk) on the head
node. For example, you may want to create a partition for this file system on an HP SFS
server for failover capability or on another separate disk on the head node.
The prompt is similar to the following:
Do you want to create the XC global file system (/hptc_cluster)
as a partition on the system disk? (y/n)
If you answer yes , the /hptc_cluster is created on the installation disk. Be aware that
placing this file system on the installation disk does not provide any type of failover
capability.
If you answer no to this prompt, you must manually create and mount the /hptc_cluster
file system somewhere else. “Create the /hptc_cluster File System ” (page 61) provides
instructions at the appropriate point in the process.
Where to create a partition for
the /hptc_cluster file system
If an existing disk partition table that can be reused is detected on the head node installation
disk, you are prompted to reuse the existing partitions or apply the HP XC default disk
partition table. Choosing the default disk partition table overwrites any data on the
installation disk.
Software RAID-1 automatically creates disk partitions, so if you elect to configure software
RAID-1 on the system disk, you are not prompted to re-use existing partitions.
The prompt is similar to the following:
Would you like to reuse the existing partition table
or do you want to use the XC default partition table?
Enter "r" to reuse or "d" to use the XC default:
The default partition table is listed in Table 2-3 (page 35).
If the existing disk partition table cannot be reused, you have the option to exit the
installation process to repartition the system disk manually. Otherwise, you can continue
the installation process and apply the default partition table.
Reuse existing disk partitions or
use default partition table
36 Installing Software on the Head Node