Provides instructions for installing SLES 15 SP1 base OS on the SMW (Dell R815, R640, and R630), configuring the SMW, and reconnecting cables, etc.
This procedure assumes the following:
- The BIOS and iDRAC settings have just been changed on the SMW and it is restarting the boot process.
- All SMW internal disks that are not to receive the operating system are physically ejected from SMW internal disk drive bays. For a standard SMW configuration, the following drive bays should be populated during the SLES SP1 base install:
- Dell R815: Slots 0-1 only
- Dell R640: Slots 0-4 only
- Dell R630: Slots 0-3 only
- All connections to the boot RAID are unplugged so that no disk devices from the boot RAID will inadvertently lose existing data or receive the operating system.
This procedure describes the base operating system installation process. It provides detailed instructions for installing SLES 15 SP1 on the SMW (Dell R815, R640, and R630 models); configuring the SMW; and performing final steps: reconnect cables, reinsert drives, and reboot the SMW. To install the base operating system, use the SLE base ISO DVD for the correct architecture ( Cray-slebase-15-SP1-202007070711.iso), which contains SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP1 (SLES 15 SP1).
–––––– SLES 15 SP1 SOFTWARE PACKAGE INSTALLATION ––––––
- Select one of the Cray SMW Initial Install options.
Within 10 to 15 seconds after this
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server boot menu displays, use the arrow key to scroll down and select one of the install options, then press
Enter.
Boot from Hard Disk
Cray SMW Initial Install without software RAID
Cray SMW Initial Install with software RAID1 And Small Disks
Cray SMW Initial Install with software RAID1
Installation
Upgrade
More ...
Select the option that is best for the SMW model:
- For Dell R815
- Select Cray SMW Initial Install with software RAID1 And Small Disks if the disk size is 250 GB or less; otherwise select Cray SMW Initial Install with software RAID1. Either one is a mirrored boot disk option that creates a software RAID1 mirror on the first two drives. These two options are best for a Dell R815 because the R815 should use two disk drives to become the software RAID1 mirror.
- For Dell R640 or R630
- Select Cray SMW Initial Install without software RAID, a non-mirrored boot disk option, for servers with a single disk or virtual disk. This option is best for a Dell R640/R630 because the R640/R630 should have the internal RAID controller configured to present four disk drives as a virtual disk.
Attention: If the selection is not made in time, the system will boot from the default selection, which is Boot from Hard Disk. If that happens, shut down the SMW, then start the power-up sequence again.
Note: The upper left corner of the installation screen has a date/time stamp for when the bootable SLES 15 SP1 DVD was created.
As the base installation progresses, the following phases appear on the screen:
Starting ... Loading Linux kernel
Initializing
Preparing System for Automated Installation
Initializing the Installation Environment
System Probing
Installation Settings
- Review installation settings while the installation pauses on the Installation Settings screen.
- Confirm the language for the SMW.
English (US) is the primary language by default. To change the primary language:
- Select the Keyboard Layout heading in the Installation Settings screen.
The Keyboard Layout window opens.
- Select a language (or multiple languages) from the drop-down menu, then select Accept at the bottom of the window.
- Begin automated install.
- On the Installation Settings screen, select Install.
The Confirm Installation pop-up window appears.
- Select Install.
The installation of software packages runs for about 20–55 minutes.
- In the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server boot menu, select the Boot from Hard Disk option so that the SMW will reboot from the hard disk.
The installation process continues with system configuration.
–––––––––––––––––– SYSTEM CONFIGURATION ––––––––––––––––––
- Log in to SMW as root.
The following default account names and passwords are used throughout the initial software installation process. Cray recommends changing these default passwords during the installation and configuration process at appropriate times before the SMW or network CLE nodes are connected to networks that are external to the XC system.
Table 1. Default System Passwords| Account Name | Password |
|---|
root | initial0 |
crayadm | crayadm |
mysql | None; a password must be created |
root (iDRAC) | initial0 |
- Start the windowing system.
To perform some of the steps that follow, a terminal window is necessary. To get a terminal window after logging in as root, click Applications in the upper-left of the screen. In the resulting menu box, click the 3x3 grid icon Show Applications. Click the Utilities icon group. Double click the Xterm icon.
- Change default passwords on the SMW by executing the following commands.
The SMW contains its own /etc/passwd file that is separate from the password file for the rest of the CLE system.
smw# passwd root
smw# passwd crayadm
smw# passwd mysql
- Configure LAN on the SMW.
Set network configuration for eth0 and the host name for the SMW.
- Execute this command:
The Network Settings screen appears with the Overview tab highlighted.
- Select the eth0 line on the Overview tab, then select Edit.
The Network Card Setup screen appears with the Address tab highlighted.
- Select Statically Assigned IP address on the Address tab and enter values for IP address, subnet mask, and host name (including the domain name). Then select Next.
- Select the Hostname/DNS tab on the Network Settings screen.
- For the Hostname and Domain Name area, enter host name and domain name.
- For the Name Servers and Domain Search List, enter Name Server 1, Name Server 2, Name Server 3, and Domain Search.
- Select the Routing tab on the Network Settings screen, then enter the Default IPv4 Gateway (for the network connected to eth0) and set Device to eth0 using the dropdown menu.
- Click OK after all of the Network Settings have been prepared.
–––––––––––––––––– FINAL STEPS ––––––––––––––––––
- Reconnect boot RAID disk cables.
Remove the protective covers from the Fibre Channel or SAS cable connectors, clean the ends of the cable connectors, and reconnect the data cables that connect the SMW to the boot RAID.
- Reinsert SMW non-boot internal drives.
Reinsert all of the SMW internal disk drives that were removed earlier.
Tip: It is not necessary to turn off the power for the SMW before inserting these drives—the operating system can be in a booted state.
- Eject the base operating system DVD.
If the base SLE operating system DVD is still in the DVD drive, eject it.
smw# eject
- Reboot the SMW.
Reboot the SMW to allow the SMW to discover the drives properly.
If the SMW was configured with RAID1, then it may still be synchronizing the data between the two disks in the RAID1 mirror. This resync can take about 30 minutes when SLES 15 SP1 is freshly installed. If the SMW is rebooted at this point in the process, the resync will be interrupted. However, that is not a problem because as soon as the SMW is up again, the resync process will continue.
- (R815 SMW only) Check the status of RAID1 resync activities on a Dell R815 SMW.
Note that several RAID resyncs may occur. In this example, the resync of md127 is estimated to finish in 24.3 minutes.
smw# cat /proc/mdstat
Personalities : [raid1]
md125 : active raid1 sdc2[1] sda2[0]
33559424 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
bitmap: 0/1 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk
md126 : active raid1 sda1[0] sdc1[1]
4200384 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
bitmap: 0/1 pages [0KB], 65536KB chunk
md127 : active raid1 sda3[0] sdc3[1]
206437248 blocks super 1.0 [2/2] [UU]
[======>..............] resync = 33.7% (69700352/206437248) finish=24.3min speed=93748K/sec
bitmap: 2/2 pages [8KB], 65536KB chunk
unused devices: <none>
- For a stand-alone SMW or the first SMW in an SMW HA system, the next step in the process is Configure Boot RAID Devices.
- (SMW HA only) For the second SMW in an SMW HA system, there is no need to configure the boot RAID because it is shared with the first SMW and has already been configured. The next step in the process is Make a Snapshot Manually.