Preboot Execution Environment
You can perform installation, backup, and restore operations on the HMC over the network through the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE). This appendix describes the process of setting up the PXE and how to install, back up, and restore through it.
HMC network installation, backup, and restore setup
The integrated Ethernet adapter on the HMC can be selected as a startup device, capable of sending PXE requests. This allows a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server in the same network, capable of accepting PXE requests, to acknowledge and serve as an IP address to the HMC. Subsequently, the HMC can then contact the server to start in an environment that will allow it to backup and restore data on the HMC, and install or upgrade the code on the HMC over the network.
 
Attention: To perform a network install, backup, or restore operation on the HMC over the network, the HMC must be shut down and restarted. If you perform an install or restore operation, all data on the HMC hard drive will be lost.
Prerequisites
To perform a network boot of the HMC, be sure you have the following prerequisites:
•A system that has DHCP, NFS and TFTP server installed and running. Linux is suggested and is used in the example that in this appendix. To perform a backup and restore in secure mode, you must also have an SSH server running on the system.
•The system must be network-accessible by the HMC, and be able to communicate with DHCP and TFTP. By default, gateways block DHCP and TFTP access. To reduce such issues, be sure the system and the HMC are connected to the same switch, and that the switch permits DHCP and TFTP.
•The syslinux package must be installed on the system in order to have the pxelinux.0 boot loader file.
•The required HMC images. Download the files and put them in the locations specified in the instructions.
Server setup
The assumption in this example is that the DHCP/TFTP server resides on a private network and the address of the server is 192.168.1.1. Another assumption is that this server has the authority to give out addresses in the range of 192.168.1.101 to 192.168.1.200.
The following steps describe the setup required on the server to allow an HMC to contact and perform an install, backup, and restore operation over network. The server in these steps is installed with SUSE Linux.
1. Log in as root on the Linux system. Check the configuration file /etc/xinetd.d/tftp and look up the server_args. The default setting is usually /var/tftp.
2. Create the /var/tftp directory by running the mkdir -p /var/tftp command.
3. Edit the /etc/dhcpd.conf file by adding the following two lines if they are not already in the file:
allow bootp;
allow booting;
A sample dhcpd.conf file is shown in Example E-1 on page 589.
Example E-1 A dhcpd.conf file
allow bootp;
allow booting;
ddns-update-style none;
default-lease-time 14400;
max-lease-time 172800;
subnet 192.168.1.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.1.100 192.168.1.200;
option router 192.168.1.1;
option domain-name “somecompany.com:;
option domain-name-server 102.168.1.1;
filename “pxelinux.0”;
}
This file specifies the range of IP addresses to be served by the DHCP server. That is, one of the IP address in this range is assigned to the HMC when it broadcasts a request to obtain an IP address.
4. The bootloader to use is pxelinux.0, which is in the /var/tftp directory. This file is part of the syslinux package and normally resides in the /usr/lib/syslinux directory. Copy this file to the /var/tftp directory.
5. Create two directories:
/var/tftp/hmc
/var/tftp/pxelinux.cfg
6. Download the bzimage and initrd.gz files, then copy them to the /var/tftp/hmc directory. Obtain the files from the HMC support website or from the HMC Recovery media:
 – The bzImage file should be under the directory isolinux/ on the HMC Recovery media.
 – The initrd.gz file should be under the directory images/ on the HMC Recovery media.
7. Create a directory, for example, /home/hmc, and then do an NFS export of this directory. To use this directory to back up the HMC over the network, you must allow write access to it.
8. Download the disk1.img, disk2.img, and disk3.img files, then copy them to the /home/hmc directory. Obtain them from the HMC support website or from the HMC Recovery media:
 – The disk1.img file should be under the base/ directory on the HMC Recovery media.
 – The disk2.img file should be under the images/ directory on the HMC Recovery media.
 – The disk3.img file should be under the images/ directory on the HMC Recovery media.
9. Create a file named default in the /var/tftp/pxelinux.cfg/ directory, containing the following data:
default hmc
label hmc
kernel hmc/bzImage
append initrd=hmc/initrd.gz media=network server=192.168.1.1 dir=/home/hmc
mode=manual vga=0x317
This default configuration file indicates that the bzImage kernel file will be loaded from the /var/tftp/hmc directory. The parameter passed to the kernel informs the HMC of the following information:
 – To use the initrd.gz file in the /var/tftp/hmc directory as the RAM disk.
 – The server’s IP address is 192.168.1.1.
 – The /home/hmc directory on the server will have the necessary images.
The server is now ready to accept HMC requests.
Installing the HMC over network
After the server is set up, follow these steps to start the HMC using the network adapter as the startup device:
1. Power on the HMC, or if the HMC is currently running, shutdown and restart the HMC by using the hmcshutdown command or by exiting the console.
2. When the HMC starts, the following options are displayed:
Press F1 for Setup
Press F12 for Startup Device
If the F12 option is not displayed, press F1, and then specify the network interface as one of the startup devices in the BIOS Setup utility, as follows:
a. From BIOS Setup, find and select Startup or Start Options, and then Startup Sequence to view the list of startup devices.
b. Depending on the type of HMC, use the plus (+), minus (-), or arrow keys to make the network interface an entry in the startup list, after the hard disk.
When you finish, save the settings, and then exit the BIOS setup utility to restart the boot process. Continue with the next step.
3. Press the F12 key, and then select the network adapter. The specified network adapter then becomes the startup device for this instance of the boot, while the existing startup device list remains unchanged.
 
Note: If you did not press the F12 key in time to select the network adapter, as the startup device, the HMC restarts from the hard disk. If the HMC restarts, data preserved by the Save Upgrade Data task is restored when the HMC completes the boot process and displays the HMC login dialog. Log in and run the Save Upgrade Data task again before starting the upgrade.
4. If you press the F1 key, the BIOS setup menu is invoked. In this mode, you can select the Startup menu, and then follow instructions to permanently change your startup device. Do not permanently set the network adapter as a startup device before the hard disk.
5. The HMC now broadcasts a request to obtain an IP address, and is given one by the DHCP server.
6. Next, the HMC obtains the bzImage and initrd.gz files from the TFTP server, and then starts the boot process.
7. The Install/Backup/Restore Wizard panel opens.
8. Select Install, and then click Next to continue.
9. Select the network interface to install from network. In this example, where there is one server dedicated to provide the network install/backup/restore capability, select the default settings. Selecting Default tells the HMC to use the same network interface that originally contacted the server to load the bzImage and initrd.gz files. If the installation images reside on a different server, you can select another network adapter and configure it in order to obtain the installation images. Click Next to continue.
10. The summary panel is displayed. The Remote Directory value should be /home/hmc, and the remote host should show the IP address of the server, as specified in the default PXE configuration file. Click Finish to start the install process.
11. You will have the option to restore Management Console Data when the installation process completes. The HMC login dialog is displayed after the Management Console Data is restored.
Upgrading the HMC
Follow these steps to upgrade the HMC:
1. Save Upgrade Data to hard drive (see 5.3.8, “Save Upgrade Data” on page 323).
Wait for the task to complete. If the Save Upgrade Data task fails, contact you next level of support before proceeding.
2. Shut down and restart the HMC by using the hmcshutdown command or by exiting the console.
3. When the HMC starts, the following options are displayed:
Press F1 for Setup
Press F12 for Startup Device
If the F12 option is not displayed, press F1 and then specify the network interface as one of the startup devices in the BIOS Setup utility, as follows:
a. From BIOS Setup, find and select Startup or Start Options, and then Startup Sequence to view the list of startup devices.
b. Depending on the type of HMC, use the plus (+), minus (-), or arrow keys to make the network interface an entry in the startup list, after the hard disk.
When you finish, save the settings, and then exit the BIOS setup utility to restart the boot process. At this point, continue with the next step.
4. Press the F12 key, and then select the network adapter. The specified network adapter then becomes the startup device for this instance of the boot, while the existing startup device list remains unchanged.
 
Note: If you did not press the F12 key in time to select the network adapter, as the startup device, the HMC restarts from the hard disk. If the HMC restarts, data preserved by the Save Upgrade Data task is restored when the HMC completes the boot process and displays the HMC login dialog. Log in and run the Save Upgrade Data task again before starting the upgrade.
5. If you press the F1 key, the BIOS setup menu is invoked. In this mode, you can select the Startup menu, and then follow instructions to permanently change your startup device. Do not permanently set the network adapter as a startup device before the hard disk.
6. Next, the HMC obtains the bzImage and initrd.gz files from the TFTP server, and then starts the boot process.
7. The Install/Backup/Restore Wizard panel is then displayed.
8. Select Upgrade and then click Next to continue.
9. Select the network interface to use. In this example, where there is one server dedicated to provide the network install/backup/restore capability, select the Default settings. Selecting Default tells the HMC to use the same network interface that originally contacted the server to load the bzImage and initrd.gz files. If the install images reside on a different server, you can select another network adapter and configure it in order to obtain the install images. Click Next to continue.
10. The summary panel is displayed. The Remote Directory value should be /home/hmc, and the Remote host should show the IP address of the server, as specified in the default PXE configuration file. Click Finish to begin the upgrade process.
11. If upgrade data exists as previously preserved then the data is restored. After upgrade data is restored, the HMC login dialog is displayed.
Automating the process
To perform the network tasks without physically being at the HMC console, follow the steps described in this section.
 
Note: You will still have to be physically at the HMC console to initially set the network interface as the startup device.
Server setup
Add the following extra two parameters to the append tag in the default PXE configuration file:
append initrd=hmc/inited.gz media=network server=192.168.1.1 dir=/home/hmc mode=auto autocfg=/home/hmc/HMCInstall.cfg vga=0x317
•Set the mode parameter to auto to indicate that you want an unattended mode.
•Set the autocfg parameter to indicate the configuration file that will specify other information. The file must be named HMCInstall.cfg and must be in the same directory as specified in the dir parameter.
The HmcInstall.cfg file specifications are listed in Table E-1. Values are in Italic, and they are case-sensitive.
Table E-1 HMCInstall.cfg file specifications
Field name
Possible values
Description
optype
Install, Upgrade, Backup, Restore
Operation to perform.
media
network, media
Network access to the images.
interface
ethX (where X is 0, 1, 2, or 3)
Network interface used to access images.
protocol
dhcp, static
Obtain IP address dynamically or statically.
transtype
nfs, ssh
Non-secure or secure transfer.
host
IP address
IP address of server. Can be a hostname if DNS is specified. However, the full qualified host name should be specified.
xdir
Directory or File name
Directory or Full path of file to backup or restore from.
restore
yes or no
Optional. Specify no only if you are not restoring from a file that was backed up from the exact same machine.
mode
auto or normal
Indicates auto or normal mode.
ipaddr
IP address of the interface
Specify this only if protocol is static.
gateway
IP address of gateway
Specify this only if protocol is static.
dns
IP address of Dynamic Name Server
Specify this only if protocol is static.
userid
User Name
Specify this only if transtype is ssh. This user ID MUST exist on the server specified by the host value.
passwd
Password
Specify this only if transtype is ssh.
Preparing the HMC
After the server is set up, follow the steps in this section to prepare the HMC.
If the HMC is currently running, you must first shut down and restart it by using the hmcshutdown command or by exiting the console.
When the HMC starts, the following options are displayed:
Press F1 for Setup
Press F12 for Startup Device
Press F1 to go to Setup. Select Startup Sequence, and change the first startup device to be network. Save the settings and exit.
If you are not ready to start your network operation, you can reboot the HMC at this point using the hard disk as the startup device. To do this, you must override the current startup device (which is the network adapter you have just selected), by pressing F12 key when powering on the HMC, and select the hard disk as current startup device. This will start the HMC from hard disk. When you are ready to start the network operation, you can issue the command hmcshutdown -r -t now. This will restart the HMC and use the network adapter on the HMC to send out PXE requests.
After the HMC starts, it recognizes that an unattended operation is desired, based on the mode and autocfg parameters in the default PXE configuration file. Next it will obtain the HmcInstall.cfg file from the server and use it to proceed with the operation specified in the file. When the operation finishes, the booting process ends and the HMC login panel is displayed. You will have to change the startup device list and move the network interface to the position after the hard disk at a later time. Otherwise the HMC will always be installed new, when it is rebooted.
Setup on the server when there are multiple HMCs
In an environment with multiple HMCs, each running at a different code level or possessing a different configuration, the best approach sometimes is to have a unique configuration on the server for each HMC to send PXE requests. For example HMC A might choose to contact the server to do automatic backup to System X, while HMC B might choose to contact the same server with user intervention. In addition HMC B has multiple Ethernet adapter cards, requiring it to specify the network interface that is used with the xNIF (xNETWORK_INTERFACE) parameter. In this scenario, the server can be set up to specify the PXE configuration files by using the Media Access Control (MAC) address or IP address of each HMC. If you want to use the IP address as a file name, note that it is not the IP address of the HMC, but an IP address served by this server. This information can be obtained by looking up the DHCP lease file on the server.
For example, if HMC A is served IP address 192.168.1.21, then you must create a file, C0A80115, under the /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg directory. C0A80115 is the hexadecimal value of the IP address without the dot. If you want to use the MAC address instead, and the value is 00025557165A then you must create a file 00-02-55-57-16-5a under the /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg directory.
The contents of two PXE configuration files are shown in these examples:
•File C0A80115 (HMC A):
default hmc
label hmc
kernel hmc/bzImage
append initrd=hmc/initrd.gz media=network server=192.168.1.1 dir=/home/hmc/SQ6 mode=auto autocfg=/home/hmc/HmcInstall.cfg vga=0x317
•File C0A80126 (HMC B):
default hmx
label hmc
kernel hmc/bzImage
append initrd=hmc/initrd.gz media=network server=192.168.1.1 dir=/home/hmc/mydir mode=manual xNIF=eht1 vga=0x317
Using HMC Recovery DVDs to perform network installation
If no PXE, TFTP, or DHCP server is available, there is still an option to startup the HMC from recovery media and contact a remote server that has an NFS server running.
Server setup
For install/upgrade/backup using NFS, these are the steps:
1. Create a /home/hmc directory on the server. Export this directory. Write access is required if you want to use this directory for backup.
2. Download the disk1.img, disk2.img, and disk3.img files and copy them to the /home/hmc directory. For location of the files see step 9 in “Server setup” on page 588.
Installing the HMC
For installation follow these steps:
1. Insert the first volume of the Recovery DVD set into the HMC’s DVD-RAM drive.
2. Shut down and restart the HMC.
The HMC begins to read the DVD media and starts the boot process.
3. An Install/Backup/Restore wizard is displayed. Select Install and then click Next.
4. Select the network interface to use, and then click Next.
5. Select Static IP address, enter the required information for the HMC network interface, and then click Next.
6. Enter the IP address or the host name of the server, For host name, use the fully qualified host name. Next, enter the fully qualified file name for the file, on the remote server, to be used for the process. In this example, the file name is /home/hmc/<some file name>.tgz. Click Next.
7. A summary panel is displayed. Review this information, and then click Finish to start the installation process.
The HMC continues the boot process after the operation completes, prompts for Management Console Data to be restored, and then displays the HMC login dialog.
Upgrading the HMC
For upgrading, follow these steps:
1. Save the upgrade data to hard drive (see 5.3.8, “Save Upgrade Data” on page 323).
Wait for the task to complete. If the Save Upgrade Data task fails, contact you next level of support before proceeding.
2. Insert the first volume of the Recovery DVD set into the HMC’s DVD-RAM drive.
3. Shut down and restart the HMC.
The HMC begins to read the DVD media and starts the boot process.
4. An Install/Backup/Restore wizard is displayed. Select Upgrade and then click Next.
5. Select the network interface to upgrade from network, and then click Next.
6. Select Static IP address, enter the required information for the HMC network interface, and then click Next.
7. Enter the IP address or the host name of the server. For hostname, use the fully qualified hostname. Next, enter the fully qualified file name for the file, on the remote server, to be used for the process. In this example, the file name is /home/hmc/<some file name>.tgz. Click Next.
8. A summary panel is displayed. Review this information, and then click Finish to start the upgrade process.
The HMC continues the boot process after the operation completes, restores previously upgraded data, and then displays the HMC login dialog.
 
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