topic Re: Is Ignite lan boot posible for rp5450 in Operating System - HP-UX

Is Ignite lan boot posible for rp5450

Myron Overton — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:51:27 GMT

Hi all,
More experiments gone wrong...

I wish to lan boot ignite a rp5450 while using
linux as the bootp server.

(I only have access to one hpux box, rp5450.
Trying to learn without buying another box or
bugging a customer.)

I have found plenty of evidence in the forums
that this is possible with newer machines that
use dhcp.

The rp5450 uses bootp.
I used wireshark to analyze the boot process
and found that the firmware did not acknowledge
tftp block 65535 and the boot process stopped.
(a normal tftp of the file works fine when
booted from disk. The block numbers wrap for
large files.)
The LIF image is read several times
during the boot process. Always starting with
block 1 and proceeding to the desired section
of the LIF file. So, I think it stops while
reading the WINSTALLFS portion of the LIF file.

With a smaller LIF file (less that 32meg)
I was able to install debian linux.

My question is: Do I have a firmware bug?
Or, is the rp5450 not able to lan boot ignite.
I would like some confirmation before
attempting to re-flash the firmware.

Thanks all,
Myron

Re: Is Ignite lan boot posible for rp5450

Armin Kunaschik — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:26:26 GMT

rp-series server are only able boot over lan0 (onboard).
But I never saw anybody using Linux to ignite a HP-UX host. To me this looks like an interoperability issue.

I ignited several L-class servers (now sold as rp-something) in the past. I never saw a firmware that was NOT able to sucessfully lanboot over lan0. But I was always using Ignite on a HP-UX host. I never tried with Linux.

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to do...
After the kernel is loaded and the ignite ui is started you need a (network) software depot to continue your installation. As far I know there is no swagentd on linux. So even if your boot succeeds, the only thing you can do is install golden images or restore server backups (or start a recovery shell). This means you're stuck with a running install kernel and no reasonable choices to continue.

My advice: Get another cheap PA-RISC hardware on ebay! Any 11.11 capable hardware will do.

My 2 cents,
Armin

Re: Is Ignite lan boot posible for rp5450

Steven E. Protter — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:44:26 GMT

Shalom,

Yes, I used to run an rp5450 shop and did Ignite boots.

As I recall for 11.11 however, you could only boot a system off its built in LAN card, not an add in card.

So to handle Ignite boots, I borrowed (long term) an old cisco switch and set up an Ignite network between my rp5450 servers.

You should have these systems up to the latest firmware regardless of its impact on this problem.

SEP

Re: Is Ignite lan boot posible for rp5450

Myron Overton — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:43:27 GMT

Thanks,
You have confirmed for me that it is possible to lan boot an rp5450. I hope to get another box soon and continue the learning.

Re: Is Ignite lan boot posible for rp5450

Scot Bean — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 23:59:45 GMT

A new version of the Ignite Admin Guide was recently released. There is a new section called
"Linux DHCP PXE Next Server Boot Helper for HP-UX Installation" that you may find helpful. Link to it here:

http://docs.hp.com/en/5992-5309/ch06s04.html