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1.0 Introduction

Compaq ProLiant servers provide an excellent platform for Linux. These machines are engineered from the ground up to provide performance, reliability, and scalability using industry-standard components. This guide provides additional details for the installation of Linux on Compaq ProLiant servers.

Compaq recognizes that there are many distributions of Linux available today and this guide is geared toward the three distributions officially supported by Compaq: Caldera, Red Hat, and SuSE.

1.1 Installaton Overview

Following are the general steps you will perform to install a Linux distribution on your server:

  1. Run SmartStart to perform a system erase using the System Erase Utility.
  2. Insert the operating system CD-ROM when prompted.
  3. Select the type of installation.
  4. Partition the hard drive.
  5. Select the installation packages.
  6. Set up the network.
  7. Install LILO/GRUB.
  8. Verify the installation.

1.2 Compaq Hardware

Compaq supports both Intel and Alpha based platforms for Linux. The current list of supported Intel based servers is shown below. If your Compaq server is not listed here, you will still be able to benefit from the information contained in this guide. For more details on tested and certified Compaq servers, visit: http://www.compaq.com/linux.

Compaq Servers

The following table represents the Compaq ProLiant servers this guide primarily targets. All servers listed below are base models and do not include any additional options. Base model descriptions can be found at http://www.compaq.com/products/servers/linux or http://www.compaq.com/products/servers/linux/cert-arc.html for older system support and distributions.

If the Compaq server is not listed within this document, please check our archive records located at http://www.compaq.com/products/servers/linux/archive-howto.html

Before beginning installation refer to Table 1 for Compaq ProLiant server specifications and any additional installation notes.

Table 1. Compaq ProLiant Server Specifications
ProLiant Server
NIC
RBSU
Supports SCU
Disk Controller
Video Controller
DL320 NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL Yes2 No Integrated Ultra ATA/100 or Integrated Single Channel Wide Ultra2 SCSI ATI Rage XL
DL360 NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL No Yes3 Integrated Smart Controller ATI Rage IIC1
DL380 NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL No Yes3 Integrated Smart Controller ATI Rage IIC1
DL580 NC 3134 Fast Ethernet NIC 64 PCI Dual Port 10/100 No Yes3 Integrated Smart Controller Integrated 1280 x 1024, 256 color on local PCI bus
ML330 NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL Yes2 No Integrated Single Channel Wide Ultra2 SCSI ATI Rage XL
ML330e NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL Yes2 No Integrated Dual Channel Ultra ATA 100 ATI Rage XL
ML350 NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL Yes2 No Integrated Dual Channel Wide Ultra3 SCSI ATI Rage XL
ML350 1GHz NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL Yes2 No Integrated Dual Channel Wide Ultra3 SCSI ATI Rage XL
ML370 NC 3163 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL No Yes3 Integrated Dual Channel Wide Ultra3 SCSI ATI Rage IIC1
ML530 NC 3123 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL No Yes3 Integrated Dual Channel Wide Ultra2 SCSI or Smart Array 5302/32 ATI Rage IIC1
ML570 NC 3123 Fast Ethernet PCI 10/100 WOL No Yes3 Integrated Dual Channel Wide Ultra2 SCSI ATI Rage IIC1
8000/ML750 NC3131 FE 64 PCI Dual Port 10/100 No Yes3 Smart Array 4250 ES Integrated 1024 x 768, 256 color on PCI local bus
8500/DL760 NC3131 FE 64 PCI Dual Port 10/100 No Yes3 Integrated Smart Array Controller Integrated 1280 x 1024, 256 colors PCI video controller

1. Many Linux distributions may have some ghosting problems with XFree86 on the integrated ATI Rage IIC video controller. The problem can be severe depending on the video mode chosen. Red Hat distributions do not have this issue. If you see this condition (machines with the Rage IIC and more than 4MB of video RAM are more likely to see this problem), eliminate it by creating a new Linux kernel with the ATI Mach64 console driver disabled and then booting from this new kernel.

2. For systems using ROM Based Setup, when installing Red Hat 7.1 it is recommended that you use Automatic Partitioning, rather than manual partitioning using Disk Druid or FDISK. You can delete the F10 partition from the hard drive during the disk partitioning phase of installation. See the section "Notes on /boot."

3. During installation it is recommended that you do not remove the F10 system partition from the hard drive. Having this partition available can save time if you need to access Compaq Utilities. You should install LILO to an active partition rather than the MBR. See the section "Notes on /boot" and Appendix D.

Compaq Storage Controllers

The Wide Ultra2 SCSI or Wide Ultra2 SCSI-3 Controller series are based on Symbios Logic (LSI Logic) chips, while the Wide-Ultra3 SCSI controllers are based on Adaptec technology. The Linux 2.4.x kernel and 2.2.x kernel support these controllers and include driver support for the Compaq Smart Array Controller family, the Compaq 64-Bit/66 MHz Fibre Channel Host Adapter, and the Compaq Smart Array 5300. Compaq storage drivers are also available on our Open Source web page http://www.opensource.compaq.com

Network Interface Controllers (NICs)

Current models of Compaq servers ship with one or more Compaq NC 31xx NICs that are based on the Intel 8255x chipset. The first driver available for these chipsets was the eepro100 driver provided by SCYLD; however, the current and preferred driver for use with the Compaq NC31xx controllers is the Compaq certified Intel e100 driver which is available for download from the Compaq website at the following address: http://www.compaq.com/support/files/server/us/locate/2882.html. Compaq Gigabit Network controllers currently use the e1000 from Intel available at http://support.intel.com/support/network/adapter/1000/index.htm Older model Compaq servers with NetFlex-3 NICs are based on the Texas Instruments ThunderLAN (or TLAN) chipset, which uses the TLAN driver. Compaq network drivers are also available on our Open Source web page http://www.opensource.compaq.com

Memory


Installing with more than 1 GB of memory
The Red Hat 7.1 kernel (2.4.x) is now configured for 2 GB of virtual memory for the kernel and 2 GB virtual memory for individual processes. Rebuilding the kernel with one of the CONFIG_{1,2,3} GB options will give either more or less virtual memory to the kernel, allowing process virtual memory to be adjusted as well.

On a 2.2.x kernel, the Linux installation will fail if more than 1 GB of memory is installed. If you wish to install with more than 1 GB, limit the amount the install process discovers by typing:

linux mem=960M

at the boot prompt. To use more than 1 GB of memory after installing Linux, a new kernel must be built with a specified upper limit of 2 GB (Red Hat 6.2). Memory above 2 GB requires extensive modification to the 2.2.x kernel source tree. The 2.4.2 Linux kernel and the 2.2.x Enterprise kernel from Red Hat both support more than 2GB of memory, but not during the install.

Note: This issue is not unique to Compaq servers. This issue applies to all servers with more than 1 GB of memory.

Using more than 16 MB of memory
On some older Compaq servers, the Linux installation procedure may only detect 16 MB of memory. The installation should be restarted, and the correct amount of memory specified at the boot prompt by typing linux mem=XM where X is the correct amount of memory on the system. If Linux detects only 16 MB of memory, the installation will proceed at a much slower pace than normal.

To avoid having to type this command each time you boot Linux, edit the /etc/lilo.conf file and add an "append" line:

append="mem=48M"

This change must be added very close to the "read-only" line. The /etc/lilo.conf section will look similar to the following:

image=/boot/vmlinuz-2.2.16

label=linux

root=/dev/sda2

append="mem=48M"

read-only

Save /etc/lilo.conf and then run /sbin/lilo to install a fresh copy of LILO.

You may find that the above memory command does not work for the 2.4.x Linux kernel. Two other methods exist for specifying the amount of memory available:

mem=320M@16M

or

mem=exactmap mem=0x9f000@0 mem=0x13f00000@0x100000

where 0x13f00000 = 319M.

To calculate an appropriate value for your amount of memory, take your amount of memory in megabytes, subtract 1 megabyte, multiply by 1024, then by 1024 again, then convert to hex. The following formula (where XM is your total memory specified in MB) shows this calculation:

(XM - 1M)*1024*1024, then convert the value to hex.

As an added feature, the Compaq System Partition, created during a SmartStart installation, will reserve an area of the boot disk to store configuration utilities simplifying server configuration and server diagnostics. The System Configuration Utility installs to this partition providing system configuration and server diagnostic tools. Although not required, Compaq recommends creating and maintaining this partition making future system configuration sessions easy. Having the Compaq System Partition in place on systems that support it can save about an hours worth of time if it is necessary to use those utilities.

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