3.2 Preparing the OES Linux Files for Installation

This section covers preparation for the following two methods for installing OES Linux:

Both methods require that you download the ISO image files for each CD used in the installation.

If you have multiple computers that have similar hardware and a similar environment, you can perform a single installation on one server and then create a profile from that server to automate the installation for subsequent servers. For procedures, see Installing and Configuring Multiple Servers Using AutoYaST.

3.2.1 Preparing for a Network Installation

This section contains the following information:

Requirements

For a network installation, you need the following:

  • A SLES server to act as the YaST Network Installation server

  • A computer to become the new OES Linux server

Both servers need to be connected to the network and able to communicate with each other.

If you have DHCP on your network, this works well to begin the initial network installation. Part way through the installation, you are prompted to configure your OES Linux server with a static IP address. The static IP address is required for the configuring OES network services on your server.

If you don't have DHCP on your network, you need to do a manual installation and configure your OES Linux server with a static IP address, subnet mask, a default gateway, and a name server. You will not have to redo this network configuration later in the installation because it will already be set up. The instructions for this come later in the installation procedure. (See Installing OES Linux as a New Installation.)

Procedure

To prepare for a network install, configure the YaST Network Installation server:

  1. Download the netInstall.sh script file.

    You can download this file from TID 2972902 “Script File to Install OES via Network.

  2. Download or copy the ISO image files to a directory of your choice.

  3. Run the following command to execute the shell script:

    ./netInstall.sh

    When prompted, provide the following:

    • The location (directory) where you want the root of the network installation directory to be created. If the directory does not exist, you are prompted to create it.

    • The location (directory) of the ISO image files that you downloaded.

    The script creates the file structure, copies the contents of the ISO files to the network installation directory, and creates the links and files in the network installation directory necessary for a network installation.

    You might see the following error when you run the script:

    Bad Interpreter No such file or folder
    

    This means that the system could not find the bash interpreter to execute the script. The interpreter is called at the beginning of the script.

    For possible causes and actions to take, see the following:

    Possible Cause

    Action

    The netInstall.sh file might have been copied from a Windows workstation to the SUSE Linux server. This might cause problems for the system in executing the script because the file appears to be correct but the internal structure of the file is not what Linux is expecting.

    To resolve this issue, run the dos2unix command with the file as the parameter. This corrects the internal document structure.

    For example,

    dos2unix netInstall.sh

    Bash has been disallowed to execute in the directory where the netInstall.sh file has been copied to.

    Change the location of the netInstall.sh file.

    or

    Allow bash to execute files in the directory where the netInstall.sh file resides.

  4. Configure your Linux server to be a YaST installation server and select the location for the root of the network installation.

    The three protocol options to choose from for configuring the YaST installation server are NFS, FTP, and HTTP. For the protocol configuration procedures, see the following:

    FTP and HTTP do not allow you to serve the files without possible modifications to .conf files. NFS is the simplest protocol to configure and is recommended.

  5. Create a CD using the oessp2linux01.iso image file and label it as Open Enterprise Server SP2 CD 1.

    For information on creating this CD, see Preparing for a CD Installation.

    This CD will be the network installation boot CD.

With these steps completed, you are ready to perform a network installation. See Installing OES Linux as a New Installation

NFS Protocol Configuration

An NFS share can be shared easily from most any location on your file system. If you choose to use this protocol:

  1. At your network installation server, launch YaST.

  2. Select Network Services, then click NFS Server.

    You might be prompted to install the NFS server.

  3. On the NFS Server configuration screen, select Start NFS Server, then click Next.

  4. In the Directories section, add the directory where you have created the install root (source directory).

  5. Accept the defaults in the pop-up window.

    If you are experienced with NFS configurations, you can customize the configuration.

  6. Click Finish.

FTP Protocol Configuration

Depending on the FTP server you use, the configuration might be different. These instructions use pure ftpd and can be installed using YaST.

If you have created your install root (source directory) within your ftp root, you can forego the following procedure and simply start pure ftpd.

The default configuration of pure ftpd runs in chroot jail, so symlinks cannot be followed. In order to allow ftp access to the install root created outside of the ftp root, you must mount the install root directory inside of the ftp root.

If you have not created your install root within your ftp root and you choose to use this protocol:

  1. Create a directory inside of your ftp root.

  2. Run the following command:

    mount --bind /path_to_install_root /path_to_directory_in_ftp_root

    For example,

    mount --bind /tmp/OES /srv/ftp/OES

  3. (Optional) If you want to make this install root permanent, add this command to the /etc/fstab file.

  4. Start pure ftpd.

HTTP Protocol Configuration

These instructions use Apache2 as provided by SLES 9.

If you choose to use this protocol:

  1. Modify the default-server.conf file of your HTTP server to allow it to follow symlinks and create directory indexes.

    The default-server.conf file is located in the /etc/apache2 directory. In the Directory tag of the default-server.conf file, remove None if it is there, add FollowSymLinks and Indexes to the Options directive, then save the changes.

    As an alternative to this step, you could do the following:

    Copy inst_server.conf to /etc/apache2/conf.d/inst_server.conf, comment the <IfDefine> lines, and edit the @ALIAS@ and @SERVERDIR@ variables to suit your needs.

    For example, replace @ALIAS@ with /netinstall/ and @SERVERDIR@ with /srv/netinstall/OESSP2/

    NOTE:There are several way you might configure your network, these are only basic examples that can work for you.

  2. (Conditional) If the install root is outside of the http root, create a symbolic link to the install root with the following command:

    ln -s /path_to_install_root /path_to_link

    For example,

    ln -s /tmp/OES /srv/www/htdocs/OES

  3. Restart Apache.

3.2.2 Preparing for a CD Installation

To do a CD installation, you must first download and burn a CD for each ISO image file that you need.

  1. Insert a blank, writable CD into your CD burner.

  2. Select the option to create a CD from an image file.

  3. Select ISO as the file type.

  4. Select the first image file (see Table 3-1) from the location you downloaded it to.

  5. Complete the CD creation process.

  6. Repeat this process for each of the ISO image files.

The following table shows the ISO image filename and how each CD should be labelled:

Table 3-1 OES Linux ISO Images and CD Labels

ISO Image File

CD Label

Download Required

oessp2linux01.iso

Open Enterprise Server SP2 CD1

Yes

oessp2linux02.iso

Open Enterprise Server SP2 CD2

Yes

oessp2linux03.iso

Open Enterprise Server SP2 CD3

Yes

oessp2linux04.iso

Open Enterprise Server SP2 CD4

Yes

oessp2linux05.iso

Open Enterprise Server SP2 CD5

Optional

oessp2linux06.iso

Suse Core Version 9 CD1

Yes

oessp2linux07.iso

Suse Core Version 9 CD2

Yes

oessp2linux08.iso

Suse Core Version 9 CD3

Yes

oessp2linux09.iso

Suse Core Version 9 CD4

Optional

oessp2linux10.iso

Suse Core Version 9 CD5

Optional

Your CDs are now ready to be used for an installation. See Installing OES Linux as a New Installation.