RDP support for G7 Blades

[shocko]

Got a little but further. I have successfully run the job but by PXE booting the kernel/initrd.img files. So, it seems like loading via GRUB is the issue. The .iso/dvd/pxe all load via syslinux.

[Jase4772]

Does this mean recreating the RDP job to ditch the GRUB install and somehow use the initrd.img file? My linux is not that good so it's tricky to fathom out how to adjust the build process.

[shocko]

Yes, that would be one workaround but it's a little crude. You would basically create a new LinuxPE environment that automatically deploys the OS but it's not really the way to go as you'll loose the nice parts of RDP i.e.. Creating a .cfg file for each job that customizes the computer name etc. Do you have a HP support contract?

[shocko]

I suppose you could try and use  a newer version of GRUB but you shouldn't have to as this should have been tested by HP in the lab before it was released with RDP. You have to install the newer version of grub (not GRUB 2!)  and capture an image of the  bard disk with the GRUB loader written to it and modify the job to lay down this image. I'd log a call to support if you have a support contract.

[shocko]

I found this article

• http://h18002.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/rdp/knowledgebase/20000051.html

But it really doesn't address the issue that for some reason when the kernel and initial ramdisk image are loaded from GNU Grub version 0.97, the kernel cannot find the network cards even though it has drivers for them. When loaded via isolinux or pxelinux, it works fine. If you have a HP support contract I'd log a call with them for this. This config is is supported so it should have been tested in the lab prior to release.

[Jase4772]

I've bounced your reponse to a 3rd party we use to see if they can speak to HP. They are a partner so fingers crossed. Just tried another GRUB.img file located in a different folder as it was a bigger size but nothing!

[shocko]

Check what version of GRUB it is. The version should be displayed if you edit the  boot options using the 'e' option when the GRUB menu is displayed.

[Jase4772]

The GRUB file I tried didn't work at all. The normal one in the HP folder is 0.97. Still waiting to see if this HP Partner can shed any light but no joy as yet.

I can't be the only person in the world wanting to deploy Red Hat onto a G7 Blade :(

[shocko]

Well as we've shown, it doesn't seem to be a hardware issue as I a running an E1000 (the most emulated nic out there) in vm and same issue. I mentioned it to a hp engineer (off the record)  today . He works with Insight Deployment support and he said he'd test the out of the box jobs in  his vm lab and see if he sees the same behavior.

[Jase4772]

I'm crossing my fingers for a quick and positive reply from him :-)

Cheers
Jase