Out of Memory error when installing OS from Ignite

[Ruth Howard]

Hi
I am trying to install HP-UX 11iv3 onto a BL860c blade from an ignite server. The client [blade] has 11GB of RAM - however, during the install I get the following error:

* Run_SD_Configure_Scripts: Begin
* Running command ("/opt/swm.iux/bin/swm job list -a job_id *,save_code=JobSaveAndReboot,status=SAVED").
* Resuming job "000001" using the following command
("/opt/swm.iux/bin/swm job continue 000001").
======= 05/30/08 15:11:57 UTC Continuing Software Install (user=root)
(jobid=000001)
* Reading Target System's Installed Product Database (IPD)
* Target IPD: ngmhp120
* Configuring Software
ERROR: Out of memory.
ERROR: Errors occurred while installing software via "swm" job: "000001". For details, see the messages above, or run "swm job log -xverbosity=1 000001" to see any errors or warnings for that job. Continuing...
* Running swconfig command ("/usr/sbin/swconfig -xautoselect_dependencies=false -f
/tmp/ign_configure/config_selection_file") to configure software that was not installed by SWM.
* Run_SD_Configure_Scripts: Error


Please can someone tell me what this means and how to resolve it? I have had the same problem with 2 separate blades (same model & spec), installing the same OS from the same ignite server. And if I ask some stupid questions later in this thread please bear with me as I'm pretty new to all this!

Thanks
Ruth

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom Ruth,

11 GB is a strange amount of RAM for a blade.

So perhaps you have a bad RAM chip.

I suspect a hardware problem or perhaps an issue with the media being delivered from the Ignite server.

Has this particular server been used before to do an OS install?

Check hardware and then software integrity.

Clearly if its all working right you have enough memory to installh HP-UX.

SEP

[Ruth Howard]

Shalom back!

Thanks for such a quick reply!

This is the output i get from dmesg

Memory Class Setup

Class Physmem Lockmem Swapmem
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
System : 11659 MB 11659 MB 11659 MB
Kernel : 11659 MB 11659 MB 11659 MB
User : 10824 MB 9595 MB 9633 MB

which is where i got the 11GB from (was my interpretation wrong?).

We've used the same ignite server to do lots of OS installs before, including 11i v3, i believe. I'll ask my colleagues re hardware and software integrity and get back to you.

Thanks for your help
Ruth

[Don Morris_1]

Memory Classes on v3 don't include some memory reserved for the system (Classes are allocatable memory after this point, and the memory in question is never really allocatable).

So your actual physical memory is probably that amount / .95 or so. (machinfo tells you the real amount, pstat has the physical_memory field in the pst_static structure, etc.) Classes just simply aren't the whole system is the short thing.

[Ruth Howard]

Thanks. In that case, my blade has
Memory: 12257 MB (11.97 GB)
which should be plenty!
Ruth

[Torsten.]

Ruth,

I would first compare the working and non-working blades:

MP:CM> sysrev

MP FW : T.02.17
BMC FW : 05.20
EFI FW : ROM A 06.20, ROM B 06.20
System FW : ROM A 03.01, ROM B 03.01, Boot ROM A
PDH FW : 50.07
UCIO FW : 03.0b
PRS FW : 00.08 UpSeqRev: 02, DownSeqRev: 05
PIC FW : 00.05


What 11.31 release are you using?

This blade was not listed for the initial feb. 2007 release, but it is starting with sept. 2007:

http://docs.hp.com/en/5992-4043/ch02s03.html

Anyway, I would prefer the march 2008 release.

[Ruth Howard]

Thanks for the tip.

I got this output from the two blades which have the Out Of Memory problem:
# /usr/lbin/sysrev
BMC 5.20 BMC
SYS_FW 03.01 System Firmware
MP T.02.17 Management Processor

and this from two blades which had no issues on install:
# /usr/lbin/sysrev
BMC 5.03 BMC
SYS_FW 01.01 System Firmware
MP T.01.22 Management Processor

The version numbers in the output are different (obviously) so I guess it could be that.

All of the blades are this model:
ia64 hp server BL860c
and all have HP-UX 11.31 installed from the March 2008 release.

The ones which worked may not have been installed from the ignite server though, so it may be something to do with that. I'll check this with the rest of my team as we all do installations so someone else may have had success from the ignite box with 11iv3.

Is it likely to be on the ignite side though? The OS has installed but the software configuration script is what's producing the Out Of Memory error, which implies to me that the ignite bit was OK. (I am new to this though so i could be completely wrong).

I have a couple of things to check out so if i find anything i'll add another update.

Ruth

[Torsten.]

# /usr/lbin/sysrev

is new to me - anyway, if you run the command from the iLO/MP it will give more information.

[Ruth Howard]

It's pretty much all new to me! I do get different output between a working blade and the one with the error.

working one - Current firmware revisions

MP FW : T.01.22
BMC FW : 05.03
EFI FW : ROM A 05.67, ROM B 05.67
System FW : ROM A 01.01, ROM B 01.01, Boot ROM A
PDH FW : 50.05
UCIO FW : 03.0b
PRS FW : 00.08 UpSeqRev: 02, DownSeqRev: 05
PIC FW : 00.05

problem one - Current firmware revisions

MP FW : T.02.17
BMC FW : 05.20
EFI FW : ROM A 06.20, ROM B 06.20
System FW : ROM A 03.01, ROM B 03.01, Boot ROM A
PDH FW : 50.07
UCIO FW : 03.0b
PRS FW : 00.08 UpSeqRev: 02, DownSeqRev: 05
PIC FW : 00.05

[kiana]

I would like to know how to set the swapmem_on=1? which file can i do it? or what's the command to do it?

Thanks.

[VK2COT]

Hello,

a) /usr/lbin/sysrev is part of:

Patch Name: PHCO_36569
Patch Description: 11.31 Firmware/software compatibility check
Creation Date: 07/05/25
Post Date: 07/07/18
Hardware Platforms - OS Releases: 11.31

b) swapmem_on was taken out of HP-UX 11.31.
It is enabled automatically and cannot be
changed.

Cheers,

VK2COT

[Torsten.]

Thanks, Dusan!

[Ruth Howard]

OK for anyone who comes across this in future, I raised a call with HP to investigate. this is what they told me:

The error doesn't refer to system memory; it is most likely related to one of the products being configured - e.g. an incorrect kernel parameter setting can cause a process to produce this error. Also, the code running when this error is returned is SDUX from ignite. Although this code causes a failure, the swconfig is then run by the local OS after the installation has completed; the OS version of SDUX does not throw the error, so swconfig completes OK in the end.

In a nutshell - it's not a problem in this case because the OS has run swconfig after the ignite installation has completed.

[Ruth Howard]

closing thread - see previous entry for details. Thanks all for your comments.