Installing an operating system or hypervisor in a partition

Boot options for Linux partitions

For partitions with a type of Linux, you can choose one of several different options, including booting from a storage device, network server, and Hardware Management Console (HMC) removable media. The following list provides a summary of boot options for Linux® partitions; for more detail about boot options, see step 9 in Creating a new partition, or use the online help for the New Partition task or the Partition Details task.

None

Select this option if you want to start a partition without a hypervisor or operating system. Although the partition can be started, it is not in a usable state.

Storage device (SAN)

Select this option when the hypervisor or operating system executables reside on an internal or external storage device. This option is available only when at least one storage group is attached to the partition. When you specify this option, you need to select a boot volume in an attached storage group; you can select a boot volume in any attached FCP, FICON, or NVMe storage group. If you plan to boot the operating system or hypervisor from a volume in an NVMe storage group, check the product documentation for the operating system or hypervisor to make sure that it supports booting from NVMe storage.

Note: Starting with DPM R4.0, you can select options to validate the operating system image that you boot from a volume in a storage group. For more information, see Validating boot images of operating systems.

Network server (PXE)

Select this option when you want to use a preboot execution environment (PXE) on a network server. This option is available only if a network interface card (NIC) for either an OSA port or HiperSockets switch is defined for the partition. (Depending on the DPM version that is installed on the system, a HiperSockets switch is configured for a partition either through the Configure Partition Links task for a HiperSockets partition link, or through the Network section of the New Partition or Partition Details task.)

FTP server

Select this option if you want to use FTP to boot an image that is located on a different system. To specify this option, you need to provide the host name, user name, and password associated with the FTP server, as well as an .INS file, which maps image components (for example, kernel, ramdisk, parameter file) to the appropriate storage addresses in main memory.

FTPS server

Select this option if you want to use the FTP Secure (FTPS) protocol to boot an image that is located on a different system. FTPS uses the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol to secure data. With this option, you need to supply a host name, user ID, password, and .INS file, as described for the FTP server boot option.

SFTP server

Select this option if you want to use the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to boot an image that is located on a different system. SFTP uses the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to secure data. With this option, you need to supply a host name, user ID, password, and .INS file, as described for the FTP server boot option.

Hardware Management Console removable media

Select this option if you want to use an INS file from a media drive that is connected to the HMC. The media drive must be available when you are creating the partition definition and when the partition is started. Possible drive selections are CD/DVD drive or USB flash memory drive, depending on what media drives are installed in the HMC.

ISO image

Select this option when you want to upload an ISO file that is located on your workstation file system. This option is available only when you are connecting to the HMC through a remote browser. An ISO file is a collection of files and metadata for installing software.

Boot options for z/VM partitions

For partitions with a type of z/VM, you can choose one of several boot options that are described in step 4 of the following procedure, which provides an overview of the DPM-specific portion of a traditional, first-level z/VM® installation process. For complete instructions, use the Installation Guide for the version of z/VM that you are installing. The z/VM library is available in IBM® Documentation at https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/zvm

1. Prepare to access the installation files. Note that, depending on the system, a DVD drive might not be available on the HMC. In this case, you can use an alternate HMC media drive instead of a DVD drive, or use an electronic deliverable.
   • If you are using the Hardware Management Console removable media boot option, load the z/VM product DVD in the HMC DVD drive. Note that, when you select this option, installation can take up to several hours to complete.
   • If you are using any of the FTP boot options, upload the contents of each DVD or electronic deliverable to a new directory on the FTP server. After the contents of the z/VM product deliverable have been uploaded, upload the contents of the installation recommended service upgrade (RSU) deliverable to the same directory, overwriting any duplicate files. (For details about directory path names and required space, see the z/VM Installation Guide.)
   • If you are using the ISO image boot option, complete the following steps.
     1. Upload the contents of each DVD or electronic deliverable to a new directory on your hard drive.
     2. After the contents of the z/VM product deliverable have been uploaded, upload the contents of the installation recommended service upgrade (RSU) deliverable to the same directory, overwriting any duplicate files. (For details about directory path names and required space, see the z/VM Installation Guide.)
     3. Using the tool of your choice, create an ISO image file of the directory.
2. On the main HMC page, expand the Systems Management node to view managed systems, and select the DPM-enabled system on which the partition resides. On the Partitions tab for the selected system, find the table entry for the z/VM partition, and select it.
3. Open an integrated 3270 console for the partition in which you are installing z/VM. You can open the Integrated 3270 Console task through the cascading task menu next to the partition name, or through the Recovery category in the task area.
4. Open the Partition Details task and navigate to the Boot section.
   1. Specify one of the following boot options, and select the INS file for the version of z/VM that you are installing; for example, 710VM.ins

      Hardware Management Console removable media

      Select this option if you want to use an INS file from a media drive that is connected to the HMC. The media drive must be available when you are creating the partition definition and when the partition is started. Possible drive selections are CD/DVD drive or USB flash memory drive, depending on what media drives are installed in the HMC.

      When you select this option:

      1. If more than one type of media drive is available on the HMC, select the radio button for the media drive on which the INS file resides. Otherwise, skip to the next step.
      2. Either enter the fully qualified name (relative to the mount point) of an INS file, or complete the following steps.
         1. Select Browse to start a search on the target media drive to retrieve a list of INS files. Any INS files found are displayed in a separate window.
         2. Select only one INS file and click OK to close the Browse Removable Media window.

      FTP server

      Select this option if you want to use FTP to boot an image that is located on a different system. Provide the following information:

      Host name

      Enter either the fully qualified domain name of the FTP server, or its IP address.

      User name

      Enter the user name on the target FTP server.

      Password

      Enter the password associated with the user name on the target FTP server.

      INS file

      Either click Browse to retrieve a list of INS files from the target FTP server and select one file, or enter the fully qualified name (relative to FTP root) of an INS file.

      Depending on the size of the FTP site, browsing might require more time than manually entering the full path and name of the INS file. Also note that the browsing function returns INS files found in the user's home directory or its subdirectories. Because you cannot select a starting directory, or navigate to a directory above the user's home directory, manually entering the full path and name of the INS file might be more expedient.

      If you click Browse, a separate window displays the user's home directory and its subdirectories. Select one INS file, and click OK to close the Browse FTP Server window.

      FTPS server

      Select this option if you want to use the FTP Secure (FTPS) protocol to boot an image that is located on a different system. FTPS uses the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol to secure data. With this option, you need to supply a host name, user ID, password, and .INS file, as described for the FTP server boot option.

      SFTP server

      Select this option if you want to use the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to boot an image that is located on a different system. SFTP uses the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to secure data. With this option, you need to supply a host name, user ID, password, and .INS file, as described for the FTP server boot option.

      ISO image

      Select this option when you want to upload an ISO file that is located on your workstation file system. This option is available only when you are connecting to the HMC through a remote browser.

      When you select this option:

      1. Select Browse to find the ISO image file on your workstation file system. You cannot select an ISO image from an HMC media drive. As soon as you select an ISO image file, DPM starts to upload the file, and displays a progress indicator for the upload operation.
      2. After the upload operation completes, click Browse to search the ISO image file for the INS file that you want to use. Any INS files found are displayed in a separate window. Select only one INS file and click OK to close the Browse ISO Image window.

   2. Select OK to save the boot option in the partition definition, and close the Partition Details window.
5. Using one of the following methods, open the Start task to start the partition.
   1. From the entry for the selected partition on the Partitions tab, select the double-arrow icon in the Name field to display the cascading task menu, and select Start.
   2. Expand the Daily category in the task area, and select Start.

   A new window opens to display the progress of the start operation. In addition to displaying a progress indicator, this window also contains a Details column with messages that are updated as the start process continues. These messages indicate the progress of configuring partition resources and initializing the z/VM RAMDISK. If the start process is successful, the z/VM system loads with the MAINT user ID logged on.

6. Through the Integrated 3270 Console window, run the DVDPRIME command with the dasdtype and source that you are using to install.

   dasdtype

   Specify either 3390 or FBA.

   source

   Specify the source value that corresponds to the boot option that you specified.

   • For the Hardware Management Console removable media boot option, specify dvd as the source.
   • For the FTP boot options, specify server as the source.
   • For the ISO image boot option, specify dvd as the source.

7. Complete the installation by following the instructions in the z/VM Installation Guide for a non-Single System Image (SSI) traditional installation.

Boot option for Secure Service Container partitions

DPM automatically sets the boot option for Secure Service Container partitions to Secure Service Container. This boot option cannot be changed unless you first change the partition type.

For more information about creating and using Secure Service Container partitions, see the appropriate edition of Secure Service Container User's Guide, which is available on IBM Documentation. Go to https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/systems-hardware, select IBM Z or IBM LinuxONE, then select your configuration, and click Library Overview on the navigation bar.