1 Planning the Installation

Installing the Linux operating system (OS) on an HP Integrity server involves preparing the hardware for the OS installation, installing the OS, and updating the system with the latest OS patches. This chapter helps you plan the installation based on the server model, the OS edition, the source of the OS media, and your network environment. Subsequent chapters guide you through the installation process.

Overview

The HP Integrity server family, based on the Intel Itanium processor, supports Linux on a full range of server models. This range includes entry-level servers, such as the 2-processor rx1620; mid-range servers, such as the rx7640 and rx8640; and the high-end 128-processor Superdome.

Some servers, such as the HP Superdome, rx8640, and rx7640 servers, are based on the HP Super-Scalable Processor chipset (sx1000 or sx2000). They are composed of basic building blocks known as cells. These cell-based servers can be set up as a single system or divided into multiple partitions, where each partition is assigned memory, processors, and I/O resources for its exclusive use. Each partition can execute its own OS image.

Support Information

To prepare for the installation of the HP Insight Foundation Suite for Integrity with Linux, verify that the server satisfies the software and hardware requirements described in this section.

Supported Linux OS Distributions

The Linux OS distributions supported by the HP Insight Foundation Suite for Integrity with Linux are as follows:

•Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)—RHEL4U4 and later updates—RHEL5 and later updates•SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)—SLES10 and later service packs—SLES11

Supported Hardware

HP provides support for Linux on HP Integrity servers using only the latest HP Support Pack version that is provided with the HP Insight Foundation Suite for Integrity with Linux. This is the latest HP Support Pack for a given Linux distributor without exception. HP supports the minimum OS distributions as listed in Table 1-1including later updates and service packs unless otherwise specified in “Support Exceptions” (page 12). Each HP Support Pack version contains only the currently supported OS distributions and includes any problem resolutions that have been implemented to improve the product.

HP recommends that you frequently update your copy of the HP Insight Foundation Suite for Integrity with Linux to ensure that your servers are being managed with the most current support tools and that you have the supported version of HP Support Pack. You can obtain the latest version of the product as described in “Obtaining the Latest HP Insight Foundation Suite for Integrity with Linux” (page 17).

HP recommends that you review Appendix D (page 59) to ensure that the adapters in your server are supported by the HP Insight Foundation Suite for Integrity with Linux. In addition, HP recommends that you keep the server up-to-date as described in “Updating the Server” (page 31).

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