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DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

 
s91066
Occasional Advisor

DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

Hallo, I have some questions about the HDD partitioning of my brand new DL360p G8.

I will setup Red Hat Linux 6.3 and the automatic installation failed because it cannot find the /dev/cciss.

 

So, I configured my USB for manual installation and in the partitioning schema I saw the following:

 

HDD 1: sda EFI (!)

HDD 2: sdb (Free) 450 GB...

 

The questions are the following:

  • What is the EFI? Can I delete it? Is it part of the RAID?
  • Where is the cciss? Should I consider it as obsolete?

 

 

 

11 REPLIES 11
Jimmy Vance
HPE Pro

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

Are you using the embedded controller in the server? Red Hat should be using hpsa instead of cciss for the embedded Smart Array controller.

 

The EFI partition has nothing to do with the RAID information. Smart Array controllers store the RAID information in what is know as the RIS area of the disk which is not accessible by the OS. Not sure what created the EFI partition as I don't think Intelligent Provisioning creates it, but then I've never done an automated Red Hat setup using that tool.

 

 

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s91066
Occasional Advisor

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

The server has Smart Array controller, with a RAID-1 preconfigured from factory.

 

I have not used the "Provisioning".

I just booted the server via USB (F11, then option 3).

I have created a bootable USB from RHEL 6.4 DVD ISO file, following the instructions of a relevant KB article in Red Hat's portal.

 

I have not changed ANYTHING on the server's BIOS (or should I say EFI?).


From your answer I understand that I SHOULD NOT see that, right?

Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

Maybe you boot into EFI because of the ISO file?

 

According to the manual you a procedure for "normal" systems and another for UEFI based systems.

 

Did you something like

 

# dd if=/mnt/dvdiso/images/efidisk.img of=/dev/sdc

Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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s91066
Occasional Advisor

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

No, I did not used dd for the USB creation, I used that KB: https://access.redhat.com/site/solutions/469813

 

Since it seems that I have not express myself correctly, let's start again:

 

  • I power up the server.
  • I press F11 and then "Boot Once from USB" option.
  • I enter the Red Hat Installation application.
  • I enter all initial information (root's password, timezones, hostname etc)
  • I choose the Custom HDD Partitioning.
  • At this point, instead of my known /dev/cciss/c0d0, I see the following options:
  1. /dev/sda (EFI something) aprox, 7GB
  2. /dev/sdb (My RAID-1, 450GB Logical Disk).

So, the questions are:

  1. Why Red Hat finds the EFI? Is it normal?
  2. Can I hide it?
  3. Should I consider the /dev/cciss as an obsolete option?

 

Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

What is the mount point of the USB device?

Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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those who understand binary, and those who don't.

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s91066
Occasional Advisor

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

I don't have that information. Since in the USB I had added a ks=hd:/dev/sdb/customana.ks, and it failed, I suppose that the USB is the /dev/sdc...

 

Jimmy Vance
HPE Pro

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues


@s91066 wrote:

 

  • At this point, instead of my known /dev/cciss/c0d0, I see the following options:
  1. /dev/sda (EFI something) aprox, 7GB
  2. /dev/sdb (My RAID-1, 450GB Logical Disk).

RHEL 6.X on Gen8 systems loads hpsa instead of cciss. hpsa is a SCSI driver wheras cciss was a block device driver. Instead of /dev/cciss/cXdX you get /dev/sdX

This is a good technical white paper that explains hpsa and cciss. ‘hpsa’ – A SCSI-based Linux device driver for HP Smart Array Controllers

http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.BINARYPORTLET/public/kb/docDisplay/resource.process/?spf_p.tpst=kbDocDisplay_ws_BI&spf_p.rid_kbDocDisplay=docDisplayResURL&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&spf_p.rst_kbDocDisplay=wsrp-resourceState%3DdocId%253Demr_na-c02677069-2%257CdocLocale%253D&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken

 

 

 

/dev/sda is probably the USB device your booting from, at some point something labeled the key EFI

 

Gen8 ProLiant servers have BIOS based system ROMs, that are not UEFI capable

 

 

 

 

 

 

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s91066
Occasional Advisor

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues

This is a partial solution, at least. THANK you for the information about the /dev/sdX mystery. I need to update my installation scripts.

If I accept that the /dev/sda, then I need to ensure that the USB is not marked as /dev/sda from anaconda...
Jimmy Vance
HPE Pro

Re: DL360p G8 and partitioning issues


@s91066 wrote:
This is a partial solution, at least. THANK you for the information about the /dev/sdX mystery. I need to update my installation scripts.

If I accept that the /dev/sda, then I need to ensure that the USB is not marked as /dev/sda from anaconda.

anaconda will see the USB key as a /dev/sdX device, since you booted from it, probably will identify as sda..


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