Install RHEL 4.6 on either blade 460 or 680 using DVD + KS on USB

[João Carlos V C Silva]

Hi,

I need to implement a method to install RHEL 4.6 on either a HP Blade 460 or 680.
I shall use the official RHEL 4.6 DVD and an USB drive as the source for the kickstart file and some other files for the post-installation phase.
What kind of command shall I use on the boot: prompt?
I tried linux text ks=hd:sda:/ks.cfg
but the ks.cfg was not used, as I got the normal installation dialogs.
Thanks for your help.

[Robert-Jan Goossens_1]

Hi João,

http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1018081

The last time I installed RH 4.6 on Blades, I used a dvd iso image and mounted it via the ILO2 console session.

Installation takes about 30 minutes.

Regrads,
Robert-Jan

[João Carlos V C Silva]

Hello again,

Let me clarify that I can install RHEL 4.6 either using the DVD media or via PXE boot.
However, this is not what I need.

What is required is to use SIMULTANEOUSLY the RHEL media as the bootable device and the source of the RPMs AND an USB key to provide the kickstart file and some other files used during the post-installation phase.

When I install our SW on an end-user, he/she has the official RHEL media and I provide the USB key with the ks.cfg and other required binaries.

Thanks once again for your attention.

[João Carlos V C Silva]

Hi,

I found the solution for my question.

This problem must be solved in two steps.

The first one is to identify the device associated with the USB key, which can have more than one partition and be formatted either as FAT/FAT32 or ext2.

To identify the device, boot the ILO with the RHEL 4.6. Do not insert the USB key yet. When the media check dialog is presented, press ALT+F4 to switch to a log console.

Then insert the USB key and see which device name was assigned (ex. sda). In case of more than one partition, each partition will have an assigned number, like sda1, sda2, ...

Now reboot once again and, upon the boot prompt, type:
linux text ks=hd:sda/ks.cfg

This command had the following assumptions:
- I want a text installation. Otherwise remove the text parameter.
- The kickstart file is named ks.cfg and stored in device sda.

For a kickstart named my_ks.cfg stored in the 2nd partition of the sda device, I shall use:
linux text ks=hd:sda2/my_ks.cfg

[João Carlos V C Silva]

Please see my previous post. It is the answer to this problem.