ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit Version 1.2.01 Readme

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|                                                                |
|  IBM(R) ServerGuide(TM) Scripting Toolkit, Version 1.2.01      |
|                                                                |
|  Part number 39R5838                                           |
|                                                                |
|  (C) Copyright International Business Machines Corporation     |
|      2003-2005. All rights reserved.                           |
|                                                                |
|  US Government Users Restricted Rights  Use, duplication       |
|  or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with    | 
|  IBM Corp.                                                     |
|                                                                |
|  Notes:                                                        |
|                                                                |
o  Before using this information and the product it supports,    |
|     read the general information under "NOTICES AND TRADEMARKS"|
|     in this document.                                          |
|                                                                |
o  Check the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit Web site for the      |
|     latest version of this readme. See "SUPPORT WEB SITES" for |
|     more information.                                          |
|                                                                |
|  Updated 9 August 2005                                         |
|                                                                |                                
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Table of Contents

Overview

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The ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit is a collection of system-configuration tools and installation scripts that you can use to deploy operating systems to your IBM eServer or xSeries(R) server in a repeatable, predictable manner.

Translated versions of the licensing information and license agreement for ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit are available from the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit Web site. See section 9.0, "Support Web sites," for more information.

Change History

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This section contains information about the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit change history.

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.2.01

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.2.01 includes the following changes:

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.2

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.2 includes the following changes:

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.1.01

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.1.01 included the following changes:

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.1

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.1 included the following changes:

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.0.02

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.0.02 included the following changes:

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.0.01

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.0.01 included the following changes:

ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.0

This was the first release of ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit.

Installation

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Instructions for unpacking the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit files are provided in the "IBM ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit User's Reference." This guide is in Portable Document Format (PDF) and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.

The source tree directory structure changed with the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.1, so you cannot install over an earlier version. Many environment variables in the usrvars.bat and netvars.bat files also changed, so you cannot use existing scripts.

Note: Use of diskette images from ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit 1.0.x is no longer supported.

Complete the following steps to upgrade to the current version of the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit from version 1.1 or higher:

  1. From the installed Scripting Toolkit, delete the …\sgdeploy\sgtk directory and all of its contents.
  2. Unpack the new ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit Package for the Web file to the same location as the previous installation. During the unpacking process, accept updates to the following files:
    • …\sgdeploy\apps\appsdir.txt
    • …\sgdeploy\apps\diragent\diragdir.txt
    • …\sgdeploy\drvs\drvsdir.txt
    • …\sgdeploy\os\osdir.txt
    • …\sgdeploy\updates\updsdir.txt

When the package is unpacked, all of the distributed ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit files are updated. Note that all custom files and directories created under all of the other ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit directories are preserved.

Supported hardware and operating systems

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You can use the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit to deploy operating systems to the following IBM eServer and xSeries servers:

Notes:

Supported Hardware and Operating Systems

You can use the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit to deploy the following operating systems to supported servers:

The following tables list the hardware and operating system compatibility of supported servers.

Server ServeRAID (SCSI) ServeRAID (SATA) ServeRAID (SAS) ServeRAID (E-SATA) ServeRAID (E-SCSI) LSI SCSI RAID LSI IDEal RAID Fibre Channel
xSeries 205 Yes No No No No No No No
xSeries 206 Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
xSeries 225 Yes No No No No Yes No Yes
xSeries 226 Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
xSeries 235 Yes No No No No Yes No Yes
xSeries 236 Yes No No No No No No Yes
xSeries 255 Yes No No No No No No Yes
xSeries 260 Yes No Yes No No No No No
xSeries 305 Yes No No No No No No No
xSeries 306 Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
xSeries 335 Yes No No No No Yes No Yes
xSeries 336 Yes Yes No No No Yes No Yes
xSeries 345 Yes No No No No Yes No Yes
xSeries 346 Yes No No No Yes No No Yes
xSeries 365 Yes No No No No Yes No Yes
xSeries 366 Yes No Yes No No No No Yes
xSeries 445 Yes No No No No Yes No Yes
xSeries 455 No No No No No No No No
xSeries 460 Yes No Yes No No No No Yes
HS20 8832 No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
HS20 8843 No No No No No Yes No Yes
LS20 8850 No No No No No Yes No Yes
HS40 8839 No No No No No No Yes Yes
eSeries 325 Yes No No No No No No Yes
eSeries 326 Yes Yes No No No No No Yes

Server Windows 2000 Windows Server 2003 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 2.1 Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3
xSeries 205 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 206 Yes Yes No Yes
xSeries 225 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 226 Yes Yes No Yes
xSeries 235 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 236 Yes Yes No Yes
xSeries 255 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 260 Yes Yes No No
xSeries 305 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 306 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 335 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 336 Yes Yes No Yes
xSeries 345 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 346 Yes Yes No Yes
xSeries 365 Yes Yes No No
xSeries 366 Yes Yes No No
xSeries 445 Yes Yes Yes Yes
xSeries 455 No No No No
xSeries 460 No Yes3 No No
HS20 8832 Yes Yes Yes Yes
HS20 8843 Yes Yes No Yes
LS20 8850 No Yes1 No Yes
HS40 8839 Yes Yes Yes No
eSeries 325 No Yes2 Yes Yes
eSeries 326 No Yes2 Yes Yes

Notes:

Supported Deployment Scenarios

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The ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit supports the following deployment scenarios:

DOS-startable CD or DOS-startable diskette and data CD

You can use a DOS-startable diskette with a data CD to deploy Microsoft Windows to all supported servers that have both a diskette drive and a CD drive. This includes all supported servers except the following:

You can use a DOS-startable CD to deploy Microsoft Windows tall supported servers that have a CD drive.

DOS-startable diskette and network share

You can use a DOS-startable diskette with a network share to deploy Microsoft Windows or Red Hat Linux to all supported servers that have a diskette drive and access to a network share.

Remote Supervisor Adapter II or BladeCenter Management Module and network share

You can use a virtual diskette to deploy Microsoft Windows to all supported servers that contain a Remote Supervisor Adapter II, or a BladeCenter Management Module. This includes all supported servers except the following:

Note: The xSeries 445, machine type 8870 is supported only when a Remote Supervisor Adapter II-EXA is installed.

Altiris Deployment Solution

You can use the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit with the Altiris Deployment Solution to deploy Microsoft Windows or Red Hat Linux to all supported servers. The following versions of Altiris Deployment Solution have been tested and are supported with this version of the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit:

Note: Altiris Deployment Solution for Windows, version 6.0 does not support deployment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3.

Microsoft Automated Deployment Services (ADS)

You can use the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit to configure supported RAID adapters and controllers.

Note:In some cases, performing a memory-intensive DOS-based task such as updating the server BIOS code or IBM ServeRAID firmware code requires more conventional memory (RAM) than is available after loading the Microsoft ADS virtual boot diskette and the IBM ServerGuide Scripted Toolkit with network connectivity. The following list shows a representative sampling of server BIOS code updates using the ServerGuide Scripted Toolkit with ADS that have been tested:

Model

Name

Old BIOS

New BIOS

Status

8480

x205

1.45

1.47

Pass

8482

x206

1.19

1.20

Pass

8647

x225

1.37

1.40

Fail

8670

x345

1.15

1.16

Pass

8671

x235

1.12

1.13

Pass

8673

x305

1.62

1.62

Fail

Note:

Updating ServeRAID firmware using ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit with ADS was verified on an xSeries 225, machine type 8647 with a ServeRAID 4H RAID controller.

Solving ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit Problems

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This section contains information about solving problems that might occur as you use ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit.

Error reporting

Each DOS batch file (sample scripts) performs a task, calls other ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit utilities to perform a task, or calls other batch files to perform a task. The ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit performs limited error-checking using the return codes from the utilities that are called. Persistent-state information is used to communicate errors, which are otherwise cleared, that are returned from other batch files.

Note:
No log files are created by the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit to report errors.

When an error is encountered, the batch file currently in-process stops and displays an error message. If more than one batch file is in-process, each file will report an error message. You must correct the problem; then, restart the deployment scenario.

Attention: When you restart a deployment scenario after an error is encountered, the process always starts from the beginning. It does not resume from the last task correctly performed.

Source system hangs during Linux deployment

When you are deploying Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, Version 2.1 from a source system running Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS), the source system might appear to hang. To solve this problem, disable the IIS HTTP Keep-Alive feature.

Loadlin fails to start Linux installation

Loadlin might fail to start the Linux installation if the parameter file contains more than 256 characters. By default, the maximum command-line length that can be passed to the kernel is 256 characters. See the Loadlin documentation for information about changing the Linux kernel command-line length.

Problems with CD-based scenarios

When you create a CD for a deployment scenario, be sure to enable all DOS 8.3 character file names in the ISO image. Otherwise, file names that contain characters such as the tilde (~), dollar sign ($), and number sign (#) might be renamed and cause the CD-based deployment scenario to fail.

Known BIOS problems

This section contains information about known BIOS problems involving the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit.

eServer xSeries 305 Type 8673, BIOS version 1.68A, build ID PLET68A

If the BIOS update loops continuously and does not get past the update portion of its processing, edit the lcreflash.bat BIOS file.

eServer 326 Type 8848, BIOS version 1.16, build ID M2JT16A

If the BIOS update loops continuously and does not get past the update portion of its processing, edit the lcreflash.bat BIOS file.

BladeCenter HS40 Type 8839, BIOS

Attempting to upgrade the BladeCenter HS40 BIOS using the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit integrated with the Altiris Deployment Solution Linux Edition version 5.6 SP1 will fail.

To ensure a successful upgrade, you must edit the LCREFLSH.BAT BIOS file distributed with the BIOS update files:

xSeries 365 Type 8861,8862, BIOS version 1.08, build ID RDJT28a

When you deploy CMOS settings from a binary file, the "restore boot order" function does not work correctly.

Currently, there is no work around for this problem.

Device drivers will not load for 3Com Ethernet adapter

The 3Com Ethernet device driver available from the 3Com Website is combined with the Dynamic Access software on a single diskette. The ServerGuide Toolkit is unable to load the device driver from this combined image.

The 3Com Ethernet device driver that is available from the IBM Support Website is packaged separately from the Dynamic Access software. If the device driver fails to load, download the device driver that is packaged by itself, without the Dynamic Access software. If you are unable to download the device driver by itself, delete the DASetup.exe file from the root of the combined driver diskette prior to scanning the driver with DScan.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3 may hang during USB module insertion in xSeries 225, machine type 8649

Installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS 3 may hang during USB module insertion in the xSeries 225, machine type 8649. To prevent this problem, make the following change to the LOADLIN parameter file generation section of the INSTOS.BAT file in the sgdeploy\sgtk\examples\linux directory:

Before change:

echo /dev/ram rw initrd=%IRD_PATH%\%IRD_FILE% >> %RAMDSK%\ LOADLIN.PAR

After change:

echo /dev/ram rw initrd=%IRD_PATH%\%IRD_FILE% nousb >> %RAMDSK%\ LOADLIN.PAR

Errors running jobs under Altiris Deployment Solution Server Linux Edition

You may encounter errors during the power management task when running some jobs under the Altiris Deployment Solutions Server Linux Edition. If error code 2 is returned in the server logs during the power management step and the following text is displayed on the client console:

"WARNING: We need to boot to production mode but a production partition does not exist."

It may be necessary to cancel all tasks, delete the affected computer from the web console and then force a rescan of the affected computer.

Please refer to the Altiris Knowledge Base Article # AKB5837.

Additional Files, Utilities, And Information

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This section contains information that is not documented in the "IBM ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit User's Reference."

Limitations

The following limitations are applicable to this version of the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit:

Support Web Sites

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The following Web pages provide resources for understanding, using, and troubleshooting IBM deployment and systems-management software:

Notices And Trademarks

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INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you. This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice.

The following terms are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both:

BladeCenter

eServer

IBM ServerGuide

ServerProven

ServeRAID

xSeries

Adaptec and HostRAID are trademarks of Adaptec, Incorporated, in the United States, other countries, or both.

Intel, Intel Inside (logos), MMX and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the united states, other countries, or both.

Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Red Hat, the Red Hat "Shadow Man" logo, and all Red Hat-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc., in the United States and other countries.

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.