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Manually Performing a Network Boot of an RS/6000 SP-Attached S70, S7A, or S80

Question & Answer


Question

Manually Performing a Network Boot of an RS/6000 SP-Attached S70, S7A, or S80

Answer

This document describes the procedure for performing a network boot via manual node conditioning on an RS/6000 SP-attached S70, S7A, or S80. Manual node conditioning is a procedure that may be used when the automatic procedures to network boot a node in Perspectives or the command nodecond has failed. Manual node conditioning allows more effective monitoring and troubleshooting during the network boot.

The procedure detailed in this document applies to AIX 5L and PSSP versions 3.4 and 3.5.


Booting an RS/6000 SP Attached S70, S7A, or S80 via manual node conditioning

  1. Configure the System Data Repository (SDR) for the appropriate bootp_response using one of the following procedures.

    Procedure from the command line

    1. From the command line on the control workstation, enter:
      spbootins -r <bootp_response> -l 
      <node_number,node_number,...> -s yes
      
    2. Choose one of the the following for <bootp_response>: install, migrate, maintenance, or diag (for diagnostic).

      NOTE: <node_number> is the number(s) of the node(s) separated by commas.

    If the preceding steps are not used, select one of the following procedures according to the appropriate Parallel System Support Programs (PSSP) level.

    Procedure using SMIT

    1. From SMIT on the control workstation enter smitty server_dialog. The following screen will display.
              ---------------------------------------------------
                      Boot/Install Server Information
              Type or select values in entry fields.
            Press Enter AFTER making all desired changes.
            Start Frame                                     []      #
            Start Slot                                      []      #
            Node Count                                      []      #
            OR
            Node List                                       []
            Response from Server to bootp Request                   +
            Volume Group Name                               []
            Run setup_server?                               yes     +
              ---------------------------------------------------
      
    2. In the preceding screen, fill in the following.

      For Node_List, enter the number(s) of the node(s) separated by commas.
      For Response from Server to bootp Request, enter either install, migrate, maintenance, or diag.
      At the Run setup_server prompt, enter yes.

    NOTE: For the following steps 2-5, you may use either Perspectives or the command line. Examples for both Perspectives and the commmand line are included.

  2. Power off the node.
    • Command line
      If the node is still running, enter the following in the command line:
              shutdown -F
              spmon -p off node<#>
      
      <#> is the number of the node.

    • Perspectives
      From Perspectives on the control workstation:
      1. On the SP Perspectives Launch Pad, choose Hardware Perspective.
      2. Highlight the node you are working with.
      3. Press the Action Menu on the top menu bar and select the Power
        Off, Reset, Shutdown, or Fence Nodes
        option.
      4. In the Power Off options, choose Power Off.
      5. In the Shutdown options, choose Shutdown.
      6. In the Fence options, choose Fence with autojoin.
      7. Press Apply.

  3. Open the SP LED panels
    • Command line
      From the command line on the control workstation, enter:
              spled &
      
    • Perspectives
      From Perspectives on the control workstation:
      1. On the SP Perspectives Launch Pad, choose Hardware Perspective.
      2. Click in the Nodes pane.
      3. Press the Action Menu on the top menu bar and select the LCD and LED Display option.

  4. Power on the node.
    • Command line
      From the command line on the control workstation, enter:
              spmon -p on node<#>
      
    • Perspectives
      From Perspectives on the control workstation:
      1. On the SP Perspectives Launch Pad, choose Hardware Perspective.
      2. Highlight the node you are working with.
      3. Press the Action Menu on the top menu bar and select the Power On or Cluster Power On Nodes option.
      4. In the Power On options, choose Power On.
      5. Press Apply.

  5. Open an slterm/tty connection to the node.
    • Command line
      From the command line on the control workstation, enter:
              slterm -w <frame#>  <node_slot#>
      

      <frame#> is the number of the frame and <nodeslot#> is the number of the slot the node is in within the frame.

    • Perspectives
      From Perspective on the control workstation:
      1. On the SP Perspectives Launch Pad, choose Hardware Perspective.
      2. Highlight the node you are working with.
      3. Press the Action Menu on the top menu bar and select the Open TTY option.

  6. As the node is coming up, Exxx-type LEDs will display. On the console, the screen shown below will appear. When you see the word scsi, there will be a pause. At this pause, press the 1 (the number one) key once.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000
    RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000
    RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000 RS/6000
         memory      keyboard     network      scsi      
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  7. The following menu will display. Select option 3, Remote Inital Program Load Setup.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  
    System Management Services *** on S80 this is Utilities ***
                                                                                  
     1.  Privilege Access Password                                                
     2.  Display Error Log                                                        
     3.  Remote Initial Program Load Setup                                        
     4.  SCSI Utilities                                                           
     5.  Console Select                                                           
     6.  MultiBoot                                                                
     7.  Select Language                                                          
     8.  OK Prompt *** Only on S80 ***
                                                         .------.                
                                                         |X=Exit|               
                                                         `------'                
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  8. For the S70 or S7A, at the following menu, select option 2, Ping Remote System, so a ping test can be administered to check the network connection between the node and the control workstation.

    NOTE: For the S80, see step 9.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Network Parameters
     1. Set Address 
     2. Ping Remote System
     3. Configure Adapters
                                                        .------,
                                                        |X=Exit|
                                                        `------'
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  9. For the S80, at the following menu, select option 3, Ping, so a ping test can be administered to check the network connection between the node and the control workstation.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Network Parameters
    1.  IP Parameters
    2.  Adapter Parameters
    3.  Ping
                                                         .------.
                                                         |X=Exit|
                                                         `------'
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  10. Now select the adapter that will be used to netboot the node. This will be the Intergrated Ethernet card, so choose option 1.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Interface
    1 .  ethernet      Integrated  
    2 .  ethernet      Slot 3     
                                                          .------.
                                                          |X=Exit|
                                                          `------'
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  11. The following menu sets the IP address of the node and the control workstation or boot/install server that will be used to netboot the node. First, choose option 1, Client IP Address.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ping IP Address
    1.  Client IP Address                   [000.000.000.000]
    2.  Server IP Address                   [000.000.000.000]
    3.  Gateway IP Address                  [000.000.000.000]
    4.  Subnet Mask                         [255.255.255.000]
    .---------.                                            .------.
    |E=Execute|                                            |X=Exit|
    `---------'                                            `------'
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  12. Enter the client's (in this case, the node) IP Address. Use leading zeros.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ping IP Address
    1.  Client IP Address                   [000.000.000.000]
    2.  Server IP Address                   [000.000.000.000]
    3.  Gateway IP Address                  [000.000.000.000]
    4.  Subnet Mask                         [255.255.255.000]
    .---------.                                             .------.
    |E=Execute|                                             |X=Exit|
    `---------'                                             `------'
    X to Abort or Enter Client IP Address: 010.001.000.001
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  13. Now select option 2. Enter the server's (in this case, the control workstation or boot/install server) IP address. Use leading zeros here.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ping IP Address
    1.  Client IP Address                   [010.001.000.001]
    2.  Server IP Address                   [000.000.000.000]
    3.  Gateway IP Address                  [000.000.000.000]
    4.  Subnet Mask                         [255.255.255.000]
    .---------.                                             .------.
    |E=Execute|                                             |X=Exit|
    `---------'                                             `------'
    X to Abort or Enter Server IP Address: 010.001.000.254
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  14. Press E to execute the ping test.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ping IP Address
    1.  Client IP Address                   [010.001.000.001]
    2.  Server IP Address                   [010.001.000.254]
    3.  Gateway IP Address                  [000.000.000.000]
    4.  Subnet Mask                         [255.255.255.000]
    .---------.                                              .------.
    |E=Execute|                                              |X=Exit|
    `---------'                                              `------'
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  15. The message shown below should display. This will bring you back to the Ping IP Address menu. Press X two times to return to the System Management Services menu.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  .----------------.
                                  | Ping  Success. |
                                  `----------------'
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  16. At the System Management Services menu, choose option 6, Multiboot.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    System Management Services
     1.  Privilege Access Password
     2.  Display Error Log
     3.  Remote Initial Program Load Setup
     4.  SCSI Utilities
     5.  Console Select
     6.  MultiBoot
     7.  Select Language
                                                         .------.
                                                         |X=Exit|
                                                         `------'
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  17. From the Multiboot menu, choose option 3, Select Install Device.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    RS/6000 Firmware
    Version WIL98170
    (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 1997  All rights reserved.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Multiboot
    1  Select Software
    2  Software Default
    3  Select Install Device
    4  Select Boot Devices
    5  OK Prompt
    6  Multiboot Startup 
                                                          .------.
                                                          |X=Exit|
                                                          `------'
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  18. At the following menu, choose option 3, Ethernet ( Intergrated ).
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Install Operating System 
    Device   Device
    Number   Name
    1        SCSI 4512 MB Harddisk id=0 ( Integrated )
    2        Ethernet  ( slot=3 )
    3        Ethernet  ( Integrated )
    4                 None
                                                           .------.
                                                           |X=Exit|
                                                           `------'
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
  19. The following information should display:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    RS/6000 Firmware
    Version WIL98170
    (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 1997  All rights reserved.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    BOOTP S = 1 
    FILE: /tftpboot/f1n1.aix.dfw.ibm.com
    Load Addr=0x4000 Max Size=0xbfc000 
    FINAL Packet Count = 8788 
    `--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Welcome to AIX.
                           boot image timestamp: 16:06 07/20
                     The current time and date: 20:58:28 07/26/2000
                    number of processors: 2    size of memory: 256Mb
    boot device: /pci@fef00000/ethernet@10:000.000.000.000,,000.000.000.000,000.000.
    000.000,00,00
    closing stdin and stdout...
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    

    The value for Packet Count should increase until FINAL Packet Count displays. Then, the Welcome to AIX screen will appear. Shortly, the node will continue with the mode selected in the bootp_response in the SDR. If you do not begin receiving the requested output from the bootp_response, contact customer support.

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Historical Number

isg1pTechnote0604

Document Information

Modified date:
17 June 2018

UID

isg3T1000355