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Linux on OpenPower

An Installation Guide

Harish Chauhan (hchauhan@in.ibm.com), Linux Architect, IBM　

Harish has been with IBM since 1998 and has 14 years of experience. During his last eight years with IBM, he has spent five years at the India Research Lab and one year at the IBM T.J.Watson Research Center. Harish has been leading the Linux Center of Competency in Bangalore, India for the past year and a half. You can contact him at hchauhan@in.ibm.com.

Summary: Support for Linux™ now spans across all IBM brands and IBM eServer™ OpenPower™ is no exception. Follow along as IBM Linux Architect Harish Chauhan guides you through the process of how to install and configure Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) / SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) on OpenPower.

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Date: 18 Aug 2005
Level: Intermediate

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Introduction

IBM has recently announced OpenPower in the market. It's specifically designed and optimized for running RHEL / SLES. This article provides step-by-step instructions on basic machine connectivity and installing Linux.

OpenPower machines come in two form factors and models :

Tower (Model: P720)
Rack mountable (Model: P710)

Figure 1. Models
OpenPOWER Models

Hardware, software, and setup

Use the following hardware and software for your setup:

OpenPower Model: P720
Hardware Management Console (HMC)
RHEL Advanced Server Version 3.0 with update 3, 4, or 5 / SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.x (SLES v9.x)

Figure 2. Setup diagram

Figure 3. Rear view of P720
Rear_view P720

Figure 4. Rear view of HMC
HMC Rear View

Linux on OpenPower (Model: P720] can be installed in two ways:

Full system install. All the resources are allocated to one instance of Linux.
Installation of Linux (RHEL/SLES) is straightforward. Insert the Boot CD (CD#1) in the CD-ROM and change the boot sequence to boot from the CD-ROM. At the boot: prompt, type linux text and follow the screens.
Linux on an LPAR (logical partition). A machine can have many LPARs and one of the LPARs runs Linux.
Linux installation on an LPAR requires an HMC. The basic connectivity is shown in Figure 2. Connect the management cable (normal Ethernet cable) between the HMC ports on each side. Follow these steps:
1. HMC acts as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server for OpenPower. The initial IP is assigned to the attached P720 using an Ethernet connection between the HMC ports. The IP assigned to the first LPAR is 192.168.255.254.
  For additional information on the HMC, see:
  - IBM OpenPower 720 Technical Overview and Introduction
  - Effective System Management Using the IBM Hardware Management Console for pSeries
  Note: Make sure HMC is up and configured before switching on the OpenPower machine; otherwise the HMC has problems detecting OpenPower P720.
  
  Figure 5. Server off
  
  Select the Server > Power On.
  
  Figure 6. Server on
2. Create an LPAR of your choice or use the existing LPAR with default_profile selected.
  Assumption: In this article, I assume that you have only one partition. The default partition name is its serial number, 10-02CAA.
  
  For more information on LPAR, see: Logical Partitions on the IBM PowerPC: A Guide to Working with LPAR on POWER5 for IBM.
3. In order to install Linux on the above partition, you need to set the default_profile to SMS (System Management Services) mode. By default, it's set to Normal.
  
  Figure 7. Profile properties
  
  Select default_profile > Properties > Settings > SMS.
  
  Figure 8. Default profile
4. Put the bootable CD (CD#1) in the CD-ROM on P720.
5. Now you are all set to activate the partition and install the Linux of your choice.
  
  Figure 9. Partition
  
  Select the partition > Activate. Next, select the default_profile and click Open a terminal window or console screen.
  
  After selecting OK, a terminal window opens and shows the following screen:
  
  Figure 10. Screen setup
  
  Set the CD-ROM as your first bootable device and the hard disk as your second.
  
  Follow the installation step in the RHEL or SLES documentation when you get the boot: prompt.
  
  After Linux is installed and running, see the status of your partition on HMC, as shown here:
  
  Figure 11. HCM

Resources

Read IBM OpenPower 720 Technical Overview and Introduction for more information on OpenPower 720.
Learn more about the Effective System Management Using the IBM Hardware Management Console for pSeries.
For more information on IBM eServer™ systems, visit the IBM eServer OpenPower main page.
Want more? The developerWorks eServer zone hosts hundreds of informative articles and introductory, intermediate, and advanced tutorials on IBM eServer systems.
Get involved in the developerWorks community by participating in developerWorks blogs.
The IBM developerWorks team hosts hundreds of technical briefings around the world which you can attend at no charge.

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