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Installation report for Debian on S/390



Hi Anthony,

attached you find a report on a successful installation of Debian on
S/390 I carried out today.

The report also gives some S/390-specific installation instructions.

Jochen
======================================================================

	       Installation report for Debian on S/390

		    Jochen Röhrig (jr@debian.org)

			      2001/10/04

======================================================================


Environment      : VM Guest
                   256MB RAM
                   1 dedicated 3390-3 DASD
                   Fast Ethernet Network Adapter

Installation type: Initial IPL from VM Reader
                   Installation over Network


Steps carried out during the installation:
------------------------------------------

1) Get the files for initial IPL from VM reader

   (Remark: "IPL" means "Initial Program Load" and corresponds to what is
            called "booting" on other systems.)

   - Log into an already installed Linux system (e.g a PC running Linux).

   - Get the files

       parmfile   (kernel parameters for initial IPL)
       root.bin   (ramdisk)
       s390/linux (kernel for IPL from VM-reader, get s390-tape/linux
                   for IPL from tape) 

     from

       wget http://source.rfc822.org/pub/debian/dists/testing/main/disks-s390/current/

     or any other Debian mirror (assuming to /tmp/).


2) Get the IBM-OCO-Modules and put them on the ramdisk

   (Remark: Since there is no source code publicly available for these
            modules they cannot go into the Debian main-section and
            therefore are not on the ramdisk.
            However, they are only needed if you use a Token Ring or
            an Ethernet network device for installation. They are
            *not* needed if you use a CTC or an IUCV connection for
            installation.
            Note that you have to install Debian for S/390 via network -
            there is currently no other possible installation method.)

   - Get the files

       lcs-2.4.7-s390-1.tar.gz
       qdio-2.4.7-s390-1.tar.gz
       qeth-2.4.7-s390-timer.tar.gz 

     from

       http://oss.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/linux390/download_obj.html

     and extract them (assuming to /tmp/).

   - Uncompress the ramdisk ("gunzip -S .bin /tmp/root.bin", where root.bin
     is the file retrieved in step 1)) and do a loopback mount
     (assuming on /mnt/ramdisk/).  

   - Copy the OCO-Modules to the ramdisk:

       cp /tmp/lcs-2.4.7-s390-1.o /mnt/ramdisk/lib/modules/2.4.7/kernel/drivers/s390/net/lcs.o
       cp /tmp/qeth-2.4.7-s390-1.o /mnt/ramdisk/lib/modules/2.4.7/kernel/drivers/s390/net/qeth.o
       cp /tmp/qdio-2.4.7-s390-1.o /mnt/ramdisk/lib/modules/2.4.7/kernel/drivers/s390/qdio.o

   - Unmount the ramdisk and recompress it ("gzip -S .bin -9 /tmp/root")


3) Prepare the VM reader for initial IPL

   - Log into the VM guest and get the three files ("parmfile" and
     "linux" as retrieved in step 1) and "root.bin" as modified in
     step 2, or as retrieved in step 1 if you don't use a Token Ring or
     Ethernet device for installation) via ftp:

       ftp <your linux host>
       ftp> locsite fix 80
       ftp> get parmfile d390.parm
       ftp> get root.bin d390.initrd
       ftp> get linux d390.image

   - create a file d390.exec on your VM guest for initial IPL with the
     following contents:

       /* */
       'close rdr'
       'purge rdr all'
       'spool punch * rdr'
       'punch d390 image A (NOH'
       'punch d390 parm A (NOH'
       'punch d390 initrd A (NOH'
       'ch rdr all keep nohold'
       'i 00c'


4) Initial IPL and network setup

   - From the VM console do an initial IPL by typing

       d390 <ENTER>

     After booting successfully you will see an ash-prompt ("#").

   - Configure your network device (e.g. an a qdio based Ethernet card):

       # echo 'search <your DNS search domain' >> /etc/resolv.conf
       # echo 'nameserver <your nameserver>' >> /etc/resolv.conf
      
       # depmod -a
       # modprobe qeth
       # hostname <your hostname>
       # ifconfig eth0 <your IP address> netmask <your netmask> broadcast <your broadcast address>
       # route add default gw <your default gateway>


5) Initial setup

   - Telnet into your system as root (the root password is empty at
     this point).
   - Launch dbootstrap and follow the instructions.
   - Exit dbootstrap via the "Restart Installation System" option.
   - Unmount /target/proc and /target.
   - Reboot the newly installed from the DASD on which it was installed.


6) Preparing for telneting into the newly installed system

   - After reboot set the root password at the VM console (using
     "passwd").
   - Create a new user at the VM console (e.g. using "adduser").


7) Running base-config

   - Telnet into the newly installed machine as the newly created
     user. 
   - Su to root.
   - Run base-config and answer the questions appropriately.
     (in addition to the default packages I installed tasks
     web-server, german and devel)

     After successful termination of base-config the installation of
     your Debian S/390 system is finished.

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