Completing the installation of SLES 8 on the IXA

This topic discusses the steps necessary to complete the SUSE Linux® Enterprise Server installation.

To complete the install of a SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8 server:
  1. The xSeries server boots from the SLES 8 disc 1 in the xSeries optical drive.

    Important: As soon as you see the SUSE LINUX ENTERPRISE SERVER GUI start on the Linux server’s console, press the Alt key.

    If you do not press the Alt key on the initial screen, you will not be prompted for the Driver Update diskette. At this point you need to abort the installation and reboot you server. You can do this by pressing the Abort Installation button and selecting the Exit/Reboot option in the following prompt. When the server boots up again, make sure you press the Alt key on the initial install screen.

  2. The following message is displayed: Please get your Driver Update Floppy ready. Press Enter.
  3. Insert the driver diskette when prompted. Press Enter.
  4. The YaST installation wizard starts and the License agreement is displayed. Click Accept if you agree to the terms and continue with the installation.
  5. The YaST installation wizard will display the phases of install on the right part of the screen. Specific settings are required for the Installation Settings phase. Settings in all other phases can be answered as you prefer.

    Important: If you did not press Alt as described in step 1, you will see a message indicating that no hard drives were found. You must click on Abort Installation and then select Exit/Reboot. Your server will reboot and will start the installation over again. Make sure you press Alt as described in step 1.

  6. During the Installation Settings phase, the categories listed below require the indicated settings. For any other categories, you can select the settings you prefer. To modify the settings in these categories, either click on the category heading or click on Change... and select the category from the list.
    a. Partitioning - The default settings are OK. If you are an experienced user, you can modify the partition setup.
    Important: If you choose to modify the partition setup, you must not modify the FAT partition on /dev/sdb1. Otherwise the server will not boot.
    b. Software - You must verify that the correct kernel is being installed. Linux on iSeries integrated xSeries solutions only supports 32-bit kernels. You must also verify that the gettext package is being installed. To check this, do the following:
    i. Click on Software.
    ii. On the Software Selection screen, select Default System and click on the Detailed selections button.
    iii. Click on the Filter drop down list and select Package Groups. This will show the RPM packages for the install.
    iv. Under System select Kernel.
    v. In the list of kernels in the upper-right panel, if k_deflt (32 bit uni-processor kernel) is checked, the install has determined that this is a uni-processor system. In this case, you do not need to make any changes. If k_smp (64-bit multi-processor kernel) is checked, you must uncheck it and check k_psmp (32-bit multi-processor kernel).
    vi. Under Development select Tools.
    vii. In the list of tools in the upper-right panel, check gettext.
    viii. Click Accept.
    c. Booting - This must be set to Grub (MBR on /dev/sda) which is the default.
  7. After you have finished customizing the settings click Accept then Yes, install when the warning message appears. The install will prompt you for United Linux 1.0 CDs and will reboot when it is done copying data to start the Configuration phase of the install.
  8. Continue on with the rest of the configuration phases of install.
  9. When the configuration phases are complete, you will be prompted to sign on to the sever. You must follow the instructions described in section titled Completing the post-installation tasks.
  10. Once the post-installation instructions are complete, you can apply SLES updates to your server.

    Important: After applying SLES updates, you must run ixsupdt before you reboot your server. Details for ixsupdt are listed in the section titled Maintaining the Linux integration code.