Installing the PowerVM NovaLink software by using the PowerVM NovaLink Installer 2.0

The PowerVM® NovaLink Installer 2.0 creates and installs Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) and PowerVM NovaLink partitions on IBM Power Systems server. Also, the PowerVM NovaLink installer installs the Ubuntu or RHEL operating system, and the PowerVM NovaLink software.

Before you begin

The PowerVM NovaLink installer version 2.0 uses the HMC for the installation process.

To install PowerVM NovaLink on your managed system, consider the following prerequisites:

IBM PowerVC version 2.0.0, or later must be installed on the logical partition.
IBM PowerVC must be used to run the command-line interface for the PowerVM NovaLink Installer.
The VIOS must be at a version 3.1.3, or later and the HMC must be at a version 9.2.950.0, or later.
The operating system of the managed system must be Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.2, or later.
A minimum of 100 GB disk space.
A single HMC must not be used for the installing more than one PowerVM NovaLink instance at the same time.
The central electronics process (CEC) or frame must be connected to a single HMC during the installation process.

About this task

To install PowerVM NovaLink, complete the following steps:

Note: Step 1 and Step 2 are a one-time process. To install PowerVM NovaLink on each managed system, you must go to Step 3 to Step 8.

To install PowerVM NovaLink Installer on IBM PowerVC, complete the following steps:
1. Use the novalinkautoinstaller.repo file that is available at the /etc/yum.repos.d/novalinkautoinstaller.repo repository. A sample novalinkautoinstaller.repo file follows:
  Note: You must change the baseurl variable to either a public repository or a local repository.
```
[root@os4p112 ~]# cat /etc/yum.repos.d/novalinkautoinstaller.repo
[novalinkautoinstaller]
name=novalinkAutoInstaller yum repository
baseurl=http://public.dhe.ibm.com/systems/virtualization/Novalink/rhel/82/novalink_2.0.0.0 
gpgcheck = 0
```
2. At the command line, run the following command:
```
yum install novalinkAutoInstaller
```
Download the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) ISO image on the HMC.
Reset the server firmware settings and power on the managed system.
Connect the CEC or frame to the HMC. You must ensure that the CEC or the frame must be in an Operating state.
Log in to IBM PowerVC and run the following command to generate the NovaLinkInstallerTemplate.xls file.
Note: You must specify the value for the installation_mode as normal.
```
novalinkAutoInstaller -i <hmc_ip> -u <hmc_username> -r <installation_mode> -m <host_name> -n <number_of_vios> --generate  
 
```
Enter the required details in the columns that are highlighted in yellow color in the NovaLinkInstallerTemplate.xls excel file for the RHEL partition.
On the VIOS tab of the excel sheet, enter the following details:
- ISO path of the VIOS image in the HMC. For example, /dump/vios3.1.2.0/dvdimage.v1.iso.
- IP address details of the VIOS partition and the port VLAN ID.
- Select the adapters that are marked as Required. You must select one network adapter and one storage adapter for each VIOS.
On the NovaLink tab of the excel sheet, enter the following details:
- IP address details of the PowerVM NovaLink partition and the bootP server.
- Use the same Port VLAN ID that you entered in the VIOS tab.
- Hostname of the PowerVM NovaLink partition.
To install the VIOS and the PowerVM NovaLink software in the partition, at the remote terminal session (such as PuTTY), run the following command:
Note: You must specify the value for the installation mode as normal.
```
novalinkAutoInstaller –i <hmc_ip> -u <hmc_username> -r <installation_mode> --install --accept-license
```
The PowerVM NovaLink software is installed successfully in the partition. After the installation completes, a message is displayed and PowerVM NovaLink software is configured successfully. Press Enter or press Return to go to the login prompt.