Preferred installation order - PSP/hpasm/hprsm/hpdiags/online update

[Eric Meiring]

Ok, 4th topic so far today. I'm full of questions. :)

I am configuring/installing SUSE Linux Ent 9 on an HP DL360 G3 server. I think I've been doing things in the correct order, after looking at HP documentation, but want a sanity check here.

I am installing / have installed:
~HP's Proliant Support Pack
~hpasm RPM
~hprsm RPM
~hpdiags RPM
~Updating kernel and source code from 2.6.5-7.97 (from the CDs) to 2.6.5-7.252 (from online updates).
~Applying other applicable online updates

What I'm wondering is, what is the preferred order of installation?

On this build, I have done online updates from YaST quite a few times. At one point I needed the .252 kernel, so I installed the kernel-source from the CDs, then updated the kernel from Online Update, and then installed the kernel-source for .252 from Online Update as well.

Additionally, I know you must install the hpasm prior to hprsm and hpdiags. But I have no idea when to install the PSP - before, or after all of this.

Is there a preferred order of installation of these things?

Thanks!

[Jun Yu]

Hi again, :")

HP provide pretty nice support pack(PSP) for those clients who wanna have a fully "enhanced" system.

Actually there is no "one rule" to deploy your SLES system. I can introduce my preferred order to do the same task.

1. SLES installation
2. SLES SP update
3. SLES YOU update(or download the necessary errata from the support portal)
4. check the SLES's kernel version and verify it by check hp's driver download portal. To confirm if it is necessary to apply hp's driver for storage controller(cciss/scsi) and NIC(Intel/bcm)
5.apply necessary agents/utility from PSP pack, it depends on your administration scope and plan.

After years of administration on hp servers, i now seldom apply all the PSP packages after loading the Linux OS.

Keep the server system as simple & clean as possible is the most important rule right?

JOe Yu

[Eric Meiring]

Hmm, by SLES SP update, is that the same thing as getting the latest kernel from the Online Update?

In my case, SLES 9 let me use my Novell account to access the Online Update, and from there I upgraded to the .252 kernel.

So I think that step covered it, unless I'm mistaken...

[Michael Garner_1 · Accepted solution]

Eric,
Our recommendation is that you run the PSP after initial installation and after any kernel update. The PSP is smart enough to determine that the kernel changed since the first installation and will re-install/rebuild those components that require updates when the kernel is updated. The PSP does require that the kernel source installed match the kernel source of the running kernel (ie you can't install the updated errata kernel and then run the PSP without rebooting and expect everything to work on reboot). This is because the drivers built from source (NIC drivers) and the drivers pre-compiled as binaries (such as cpq_cciss) are built and installed based on the running kernel. Since the PSP does not know the kernel that will be running after the next reboot, the current kernel is used.

Based on your list, I would recommend the following order of installation:

1) Install OS and reboot
2) Install PSP to ensure any bugs in the OS drivers are fixed and reboot
3) Update errata kernel if needed and any applicable online updates, then reboot
4) Re-install PSP (do not use the force option unless you want everything re-installed). The PSP will show "Re-Install Required" on those components, even if they are the same version that need to be updated because the kernel version has changed.
5) Apply any component or RPM updates (such as newer versions of hpasm, hprsm, and hpdiags) that may be available.

If you want to verify what components must be installed before a given component (ie hpasm before hpdiags), you can issue the following command:

./install740.sh --view

The output will tell you what components need to be installed before and what ones are dependent on this component being installed. You can walk the components in both directions to determine the final installation order.

Regards,
Michael Garner
HP Linux PSP Developer

[Eric Meiring]

I see - that strategy makes sense, thanks for all the information. This thread helps a ton!

-Eric

[Eric Meiring]

Lots of good info here already, so I think I have what I need. I am closing the thread.