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
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Installation report for Debian on S/390
Jochen Röhrig (jr@debian.org)
2001/10/04
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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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