Can SmartStart be used for Windows 2008R2 Boot From San on a BL460c G7?

[Kent Wicker]

Hello,

I am new to HP's but have several other Windows boot from SAN servers so I am not new to the process.

I am using SmartStart 8.70, the latest, to install a Windows 2008R2 server as boot from SAN.  SmartStart sees my LUN, goes through the install process of copying drivers and windows files and then reboots.

Server then boots up to WinPE environment which SmartStart configured.

A command prompt pops up and loads wpeinit, then attempts to load c:\hpssbem.exe but gets a file not found error.

There is no c:\ drive.  There is a d:\ which is the smart start CD and there is an X:\ drive which is the winpe environment.  Diskpart shows no fixed disks which leads me to believe there are no Emulux drivers loaded.  It does boot from the SAN because that is where the WinPE was installed.

Should I be able to do this with SmartStart or am I missing something?

[JTLoser]

I am having the same issue.  Did you ever get an answer?

[zargarmuneer]

I am facing the same issue !

[Kent Wicker]

That was 6 months ago so I don't remember exactly, but I believe what I did was put the driver on a USB.  I just booted from the Windows DVD and told it to look at the USB for additional disk drivers.  Afterwards I ran the Windows PSP to ensure all drivers are up to date and installed the Insight agents.

Since I had 5 Windows servers to build, I syspreped the first one and used my SAN software to clone the LUN 4 more times and then attached one to each server.

[Mohannad_Hamid]

Yes it can, i have just tested this, below are the steps to achieve this (I have included detailed instructions for other people to benefit as well):

Pre-requisite:

BIOS Setup correctly (if you need instruction on this let me know)

Before you start you need the following: 

1. create an ISO image with the FCoE SAN Driver

2. Download the latest copy of SmartStart CD. (I have tested this with both 8.7B & 8.7)

3. Server 2008R2 ISO

Once you have the above proceed below:

1.  Connect to the blade using iLo Integrated Console

2.  From the top Menu Select Virtual Drives the Image File   CD-ROM/DVD

3.  Browse your local machine for the SmartStart CD ISO

4.  Once the ISO mounted reboot your system and hit F11 after it go through the POST menu.

6.  a menu will appear select 1) One time Boot to CD-ROM, by clicking number 1 in the keyboard

7.  Smart Start CD will now load choost Smart Start CD XXXX X64 w Fibre

8.  SmartStart sees your LUN, goes through the install process of copying drivers etc then look for windows CD

9.  Now From the top Menu Select Virtual Drives the Image File   CD-ROM/DVD then browse your local pc to find server 2008 iso and select that.

10. Smart Start then will continue windows installation then reboot

11. Server then boots up to WinPE environment which SmartStart configured. A command prompt pops up and loads wpeinit, then attempts to load c:\hpssbem.exe but gets a file not found error.

12. From the top Menu Select Virtual Drives the Image File   CD-ROM/DVD this time browse to the ISO that contain the FCoE driver and mount it.

13. now on the command prompt type the following D: then enter that will load the D Drive

14. now type drvload xxxx.inf where xxxx is the driver name then enter, the result should be driver loaded successfully

15. now type C: then enter, and shebang the SAN drive where windows installed will come up. you can enter DIR to view the content.

16. Finally now you can execute the command  c:\hpssbem.exe, and that will continue the installation.

Enjoy,

Mohannad Hamid

Systems Engineer

Enjoy, any question post back

[WW476701]

Step 12 states to browse to the ISO that contains the FCoE driver but the file is and EXE file. The name of the .INF for step 14 is oemsetup.inf which might be correct, just not expected. Should we be looking for the FCoE driver in a different place?

Joe Cochran

[Mohannad_Hamid]

drvload command work with inf file, i assume you have the exe driver in that case you need to unpack the exe file, usually when you install the driver exe in a system it unpack it to a temporary location, you can run sysinternal process monitor then try to install the driver exe in another system find out where the data get extracted then copy that data into your iso cd. please bear in mind that i didnt recommend mapping a folder and recommended using ISO because of drive letter assignment. we want to map minimum item as we dont want C drive allocated to anything but windows installation. hope this answer your question.

Regards,

Mohannad Hamid

[Mohannad_Hamid]

If you look under pre-requsite i have asked to create an ISO with the FCoE driver, If the driver iz zipped it need to be unzipped then burnt into a CD. if its an exe content need to be extracted.

[WW476701]

I am sorry, I stated .EXE and the file is a .ZIP. We have attempted a new BFS installation and got past the first reboot via adding the BFS driver again. The installation continued through the decompression and building the Windows 2008 environment and did another reboot and failed find the LUN or is missing a driver AGAIN. The error AGAIN is File: CLFS.SYS file failed to load or is corrupt; Status: 0xc00000e9.

[Mohannad_Hamid]

Can you please confirm how many virtual drive mapping that you have. i have specifically asked to use 3 ISO images, 1 for SMart Start another for Operating System Installation CD and the third one for Driver, map one at the time, as you will never need them all at once. reason being the more mapping you have, you will start loosing drive letter assignment.

second thing can you please state if the error message was a bluescreen of death or a command line error where you have access to execute further commands.