Re: old OpenServers able to use Debian?
On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 10:10:15PM +0100, Frank Scheiner wrote:
> Hi Stuart,
>
> On 3/12/19 20:59, IT1 Stuart Blake Tener, USNR wrote:
> > It is instructive that I thought I had recalled knowing they were
> > Power5, absent any photos in that link for me to review, I think that is
> > what they are as they are quite aged. These servers are specifically
> > locked from being able to boot AIX on them and were sold specifically
> > for Linux (I know, I tried to boot AIX).
>
> Yeah then, with this firmware limitation we can be pretty sure that
> these are IBM eservers OpenPower 710/720.
>
> > Notwithstanding the assertion that P7xx = Power7, if hypothetically they
> > are Power5, then I have the following some several queries:
> >
> > 1. What is the latest/greatest Debian variant that is available for
> > Power5 that I can install?
>
> That should be Debian Sid/unstable for ppc64 from Debian Ports. The
> powerpc version might also work if you prefer a 32bit userland, though I
> didn't test this with Sid.
>
> > 2. What installation instructions still exist for Power5 systems to
> > install?
>
> I don't think that there are any specific installation instructions
> needed for these systems. Just download and burn the latest (test) ISO
> from [1] and use `ftp.ports.debian.org` (for "Debian archive mirror
> hostname") and `/debian-ports/` (for "Debian archive mirror directory")
> when configuring the package manager during installation.
>
> [1]:
> https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/ports/2019-01-27/debian-10.0-ppc64-NETINST-1.iso
>
> > 3. If I want to install the latest updates, I presume I'd have to build
> > from current source. Is there a script to build a repo targeted at
> > Power5 that I could use to then install updates from?
>
> No, there is no need for such, because POWER5 is above the baseline for
> ppc64, which should be POWER4. So all ppc64 binaries from Debian Ports
> adhering to this baseline should also work out of the box on POWER5 IIC.
Actually, the baseline for the kernel is Power5 since commit 471d7ff8b51
in February 2018, before 4.17, and the commit message indicates that Power4
was broken by a commit that took place during the 4.9-rc1 merge window.
Cheers,
Gabriel
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