Installing Operating Systems


The unattended operating system installation function helps you install the Microsoft Windows and RedHat Linux operating systems. UCS-SCU has integrated device drivers including RAID drivers to seamlessly install operating systems on supported RAID logical arrays without additional load driver steps or devices such as the USB.

UCS-SCU supports operating system installation only on virtual disks. Installation on physical disks is not supported. All UCS-SCU supported operating systems are organized into three groups: Windows, Linux and RHEL


Note While installing the operating system on C220 and C240 servers, after you provide the operating system CD, the system prompts you to reboot to continue with the installation. At this time, you must change the boot order for the server, and set the appropriate HDD or VD as the first boot device.



Note Before you begin the operating system installation, be sure that you have disabled the Watchdog Timer. If this feature is enabled and the value is set for a time duration that is less than the time needed to install the OS, the operating system installation process is interrupted. This Watchdog Timer feature automatically reboots or powers off the server after the specified time duration.


You can use the following two options to install the operating system:

Quick Install—Use the Quick Install option to install the operating system with the default settings.

Custom Install—Use the Custom Install option to modify the default settings prior to installing the operating system.

Quick Install

The Quick Install option allows you to quickly install the operating system with the default parameters. You can view the OS Install page with the default parameters depending on the target operating system. The Quick Install method does not require any user input and is a one-click operating system installation method.

To perform the quick installation of the OS, follow these steps:


Step 1 To enter the unattended operating system installation function area, click OS Install in the left navigation pane.

The OS Install page appears.

Step 2 Click any one of the operating system radio buttons.

Step 3 From the Operating System drop-down list, select the version of the operating system.

Step 4 (For Windows) From the Edition drop-down list, select the edition of the operating system.

The Default Settings area and the Quick Install and Custom Install buttons appear.

Table 6-1 shows the default parameters that are displayed in the Default Settings area for the Windows OS.

Table 6-1 Default Parameters (for Windows)

Parameter
Default Value

Time Zone

Central American Standard Time

Name

admin

Organization

Organization

Computer Name

Computer

Network

DHCP

Work Group Name

WORKGROUP

Drivers

All drivers will be installed from the SCU boot media

Firewall

Disabled

RDP

Disabled

Disk Details

Disk Name

LSI

Disk Size

Minimum 40 GB

Partition Details

Drive Letter

C

File System

NTFS

Size (MB)

Depends on logical disks


Table 6-2 shows the default parameters that are displayed in the Default Settings area for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS.

Table 6-2 Default Parameters (for Red Hat Enterprise Linux)  

Parameter
Default Value

Time Zone

America/New_York

Name

root

Default Password

password

Network

DHCP

Drivers

All drivers will be installed from the SCU boot media

Disk Details

Disk Name

LSI

Disk Size

Depends on logical disks

Partition Details

Drive Letter

 

File System

ext3

Size (MB)

Depends on logical disks

Drive Letter

 

File System

linux-swap

Size (MB)

2048


Table 6-3 shows the default parameters that are displayed in the Default Settings area for the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) OS.

Table 6-3 Default Parameters (for SLES)

Parameter
Default Value

Time Zone

America/New_York

Name

root

Default Password

password

Network

DHCP

Drivers

All drivers will be installed from the SCU boot media

Disk Details

Disk Name

LSI0-Logical Vol-2

Disk Size

Depends on logical disks

Partition Details

Drive Letter

/

File System

ext3

Size (MB)

Depends on logical disks

Drive Letter

swap

File System

linux-swap

Size (MB)

Minimum 2048


Step 5 Click Quick Install to complete the installation.

A progress bar is displayed that indicates the tasks being performed and the percentage of completion.


Note Be sure that logical disks are created before you install the operating system. If logical disks are not available, the following occurs:

The disk details are not displayed under Default Settings area

The Quick Install and Custom Install buttons are not displayed

The following warning message is displayed:

OS Installation cannot be done as no logical disks found in the system. Please use RAID 
Configuration to create logical disks.


Custom Install

The Custom Install option allows you to customize the default settings.


Note If no parameters are modified, the custom installation performs with the default parameters. Table 6-1 and Table 6-2 displays the default parameters for the Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems and downloads the drivers from the SCU boot media.


This section covers the custom installation procedures for the following operating systems:

Windows Server 2008 R2 Operating System Installation

Linux Server Series Operating System Installation

SUSE Linux Server Operating System Installation

Windows Server 2008 R2 Operating System Installation

For unattended Windows Server operating system installation, follow these steps:


Step 1 To enter the unattended operating system installation function area, click OS Install in the left navigation pane. The OS Install page appears.

Step 2 Click the Windows radio button and choose an operating system from the Operating System drop-down list.

The Edition drop-down list appears.

Step 3 From the Edition drop-down list, choose an edition.

The Default Settings area and the Quick Install and Custom Install buttons appear.


Note The Windows Server 2008 R2 option in the drop-down list is the same for both Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. Depending on the installation CD used (Win2k8 R2 or Win2k8R2 SP1), the corresponding Windows OS version gets installed.


Step 4 Click Custom Install.

A progress bar displays indicating the tasks being performed and the percentage of completion. A new OS Install page appears with the following list of collapsible windows:

Personalization—To set the personalization settings, go to Personalization.

Installation Partitions—To set the installation partition settings, go to Installation Partitions.

Network Settings—To set the network settings, go to Network Settings.

Installation Drivers—To set the driver settings, go to Installation Drivers.

Step 5 Click Install.

A progress bar is displayed that indicates the tasks being performed and the percentage of completion. An OS Install dialog box appears which prompts you to remove the UCS-SCU media and insert the required operating system CD.

Step 6 Insert the operating system CD and click Ok.

The system reboots and installation of the operating system begins.


Personalization

To configure the personalization settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Personalization to open the corresponding window.

Step 2 In the Personalization window, do the following:

a. From the Time Zone drop-down list, choose a time zone.

b. In the Name field, enter a name for the administrator. The maximum limit is 20 characters.

c. In the Organization field, enter a name of the organization of the administrator. The maximum limit is 15 characters.

d. Select one of the License Information radio buttons and enter the 25 character product key if license needs to be activated.

e. In the Computer Name field, enter the name of the server. The maximum limit is 15 characters.

f. In the Description field, enter the description of the server. The maximum limit is 25 characters


Installation Partitions

To configure the installation partition settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Installation Partitions to open the corresponding window.

Step 2 In the Installation Partitions window, do the following:

a. From the Select Disk drop-down list, choose a disk to create a logical partition.

b. Click a disk name to view the corresponding partition details.

The disk entry expands and displays the partition name, drive letter, file system, and the space used in MB.

c. To edit a partition, do the following:

Choose a partition to edit and click Edit.

The Edit Partition dialog box is displayed.

In the Edit Partition dialog box, do the following:

From the Drive Letter drop-down list, choose a drive.

In the Size text field, enter the partition size.


Note The size cannot be more than the available disk space.


From the File system drop-down list, choose a file system.

Click OK to save your changes.

d. To create a new partition, do the following:

Choose a free space and click New.

A Create Partition dialog box is displayed.

In the Create Partition dialog box, do the following:

From the Driver Letter drop-down list, choose a drive.

In the Size field, edit the disk size.


Note The size cannot be more than the available disk space.


From the File System drop-down list, choose a file system.

Click Ok.

e. To remove a partition, do the following:

Choose the partition to delete and click Delete.

The OS Install dialog box is displayed.

Click Yes to delete the partition.


Note In the Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the Root and Swap partitions are necessary. If you do not specify their sizes during the partition process, the UCS-SCU generates an alert message and suggests an alternate partition solution. Accept it if you are not familiar with Linux partitions.



Network Settings

The Network Settings allows you to enter the network configuration settings for the onboard network adapters that are detected by the operating system during installation. These settings do not affect the network settings for the CIMC. We recommend that you set different IP addresses for the operating system and CIMC. The network interface column lists each network adapter detected by the UCS-SCU. Your operating system may have a different name for the interface after you install the operating system.

To configure the network settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Network Settings to open the corresponding window.

The Network Settings window displays the link status of available network interfaces and the corresponding IP address, subnet mask, gateway, DNS, link status, vendor, type, and MAC address.

Step 2 In the Network Settings window, do the following:

a. In the Work Group or Network Domain area, choose one of the following options:

Select No network or No domain radio button when a network or domain does not need to be added. Enter a workgroup name in the Work Group Name field. The maximum limit is 20 characters.

Select the Join this Domain radio button and do the following:

In the Domain Name text field, enter the name of the domain. The maximum limit is 20 characters.

In the Domain Username, enter the user name of the domain. The maximum limit is 20 characters.

In the Domain password, enter the password of the domain.The maximum limit is 20 characters.

b. Select or deselect the Enable Remote Access (RDP) radio button for remote access settings.

c. Select or deselect the Disable Firewall radio button for firewall settings.

d. In the DNS Suffix/Domain field, specify the DNS suffix of the domain.The maximum limit is 25 characters.

e. In DNS Suffix Search Order 1 field, enter a DNS suffix search order. The maximum limit is 25 characters.

f. In the DNS Suffix Search Order 2 field, enter another DNS suffix search order. The maximum limit is 25 characters.

g. In the Proxy Address field, enter the IP address or name of the proxy server. The maximum limit is 30 characters.

h. In the Port field, enter the port number of the proxy server. The maximum limit is 5 characters.

i. Edit the Network Settings by doing the following:

Select a network interface and click Edit.

The Network Settings dialog box displays.

Select IP Address from DHCP server or Static IP Address. If you select Static IP Address, do the following:

In the IP Address field, enter the IPv4 address.

In the Subnet Mask field, enter the subnet IPv4 address.

In the Gateway field, enter the gateway IPv4 address.

In the DNS field, enter the DNS IPv4 address.

Click OK.


Installation Drivers

UCS-SCU displays all available drivers downloaded from the driver source. Deselect the drivers that you do not want to install. If you want to install an operating system on a RAID volume, select the driver for the appropriate RAID controller.

To configure the installation driver settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Installation Drivers to open the corresponding window.

Step 2 Select the drivers that you want to install from the Choose Drivers to Install table.

If drivers are not available in the Choose Drivers to Install table, download the drivers using the Installation Drivers toolbar. To download the drivers, choose one of the following options:

Downloading from Cisco.com

Downloading from SCU Boot media

Downloading from Network Share

Downloading from USB


Downloading from Cisco.com

To download the most recent drivers from the Cisco support website, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click From Cisco.com in the toolbar.


Note Ensure that the server is only connected to one network during the download.


If your network is not configured or if user credentials are not entered, the Network Configuration dialog box is displayed. If your network is configured or if user credentials are entered, the Select Device Packages dialog box is displayed. If you need to configure your network, go to Step 2. If you do not need to configure your network, go to Step 3.

Step 2 In the Network Configuration dialog box, do the following:

a. Enter the IP addresses to configure the network. For more information about configuring network, go to the "Configuring a Network" section

b. In the User Name field, enter the cisco.com username. The maximum limit is 45 characters.

c. In the Password field, enter the cisco.com password. The maximum limit is 45 characters.

Step 3 In the Select Device Packages dialog box, select the required driver package and click OK.

A progress message is displayed and the list of drivers are populated in the Choose Drivers to Install table.


Downloading from SCU Boot media

To directly use the driver packages that are stored in the Tools and Drivers CD, follow this step:


Step 1 Click From SCU Boot media in the toolbar.

A progress message is displayed and the list of drivers are populated in the Choose Drivers to Install table.


Note UCS-SCU selects this option as default.



Downloading from Network Share

To download a driver package stored on a network share folder, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click From Network Share in the toolbar.

If your network is not configured or if user credentials are not entered, the Network Configuration dialog box is displayed. If your network is configured or if user credentials are entered, the Network Location dialog box is displayed. If you need to configure your network, go to Step 2. If you do not need to configure your network, go to Step 3.

Step 2 In the Network Configuration dialog box, enter the IP addresses to configure the network. For more information about configuring the network, go to the "Configuring a Network" section

Step 3 In the Network Location dialog box that is displayed, do the following:

a. In the User Name field, enter the login name to the network location.

b. In the Password field, enter the password to the network location.

c. In the Network Location field, enter the path name of the zip folder which contains the drivers.

d. Click Connect.

A file dialog box is displayed that lists the zip folders containing drivers.

e. Select a zip file.

f. Click Open.

The selected zip file appears as a package name in the Network Location dialog box.

g. Click Ok.

A progress message is displayed and the list of drivers are populated in the Choose Drivers to Install table.


Downloading from USB

To download the drivers that are stored in your USB key or USB hard drive, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click From USB in the toolbar.

A file dialog box is displayed that lists the USB folders.

Step 2 Navigate to the zip file that contains the drivers.

Step 3 Click Ok.

A progress message is displayed and the list of drivers are populated in the Choose Drivers to Install table.


Linux Server Series Operating System Installation

For unattended Linux operating system installation, follow these steps:


Step 1 Enter the unattended operating system installation function area by clicking OS Install in the left navigation pane.

The OS Install page appears.

Step 2 Click the RHEL radio button and choose an operating system from the Operating System drop-down list.

The Default Settings area and the Quick Install and Custom Install buttons appear.

Step 3 Click Custom Install.

A progress bar is displayed that indicates the tasks being performed and the percentage of completion. A new OS Install page appears with the following list of collapsible windows:

Basic Configuration—To set the personalization settings, go to Basic Configuration.

Installation Partitions— To set the installation partition settings, go to Installation Partitions.

Package Selection—To set the package selection settings, go to Package Selection.

Network Settings—To set the network settings, go to Network Settings.

Installation Drivers—To set the driver settings, go to Installation Drivers.

Step 4 Click Install.

A progress bar is displayed that indicates the tasks being performed and the percentage of completion. An OS Install dialog box appears.

Step 5 Click Ok.

Step 6 Remove the UCS-SCU media and insert the required operating system CD.


Basic Configuration

To configure the basic configuration settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Basic Configuration to open the corresponding window.

Step 2 In the Basic Configuration window, do the following:

a. In the Root Password field, enter the root password.

b. In the Confirm Root Password field, reenter the root password.

c. From the Default Language drop-down list, choose a default language.

d. From the Keyboard drop-down list, choose the type of keyboard layout.

e. From the Time Zone drop-down list, choose the time zone.

f. In the Additional Languages list, select all languages that apply.


Package Selection

To configure the package selection settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Package Selection to open the corresponding window.

Step 2 Select all check boxes that apply.


Network Settings

To configure the network settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Network Settings to open the corresponding window.

The Network Settings window displays the link status of available network interfaces and the corresponding IP address, subnet mask, gateway, DNS, link status, vendor, type and MAC address.

Step 2 To edit the Network Settings, do the following:

a. Select a network interface and click Edit.

The Network Settings dialog box is displayed.

b. In the Network Settings dialog box, do the following:

Select IP Address from DHCP server or Static IP Address. If you select Static IP Address, do the following:

In the IP Address field, enter the IPv4 address.

In the Subnet Mask field, enter the subnet IPv4 address.

In the Gateway field, enter the gateway IPv4 address.

In the DNS field, enter the DNS IPv4 address.

Click OK.


SUSE Linux Server Operating System Installation

To perform an unattended SLES operating system installation, follow these steps:


Step 1 To enter the unattended operating system installation function area, click OS Install in the left navigation pane.

The OS Install page appears.

Step 2 Click the SLES radio button and choose an operating system from the Operating System drop-down list.

The Default Settings area and the Quick Install and Custom Install buttons appear.

Step 3 Click Custom Install.

A progress bar is displayed that indicates the tasks being performed and the percentage of completion. A new OS Install page appears with the following list of collapsible windows:

Basic Configuration—To set the personalization settings, go to Basic Configuration.

Installation Partitions—To set the installation partition settings, go to Installation Partitions.

Package Selection—To set the package selection settings, go to Package Selection.

Network Settings—To set the network settings, go to Network Settings.

Installation Drivers—To set the driver settings, go to Installation Drivers.

Step 4 Click Install.

A progress bar is displayed that indicates the tasks being performed and the percentage of completion. An OS Install dialog box appears.

Step 5 Click Ok.

Step 6 Remove the UCS-SCU media and insert the required operating system CD.


Basic Configuration

To configure the basic configuration settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Basic Configuration to open the corresponding window.

Step 2 In the Basic Configuration window, do the following:

In the Root Password field, enter the root password.

In the Confirm Root Password, reenter the root password.

From the Default Language drop-down list, choose a default language.

From the Keyboard drop-down list, choose the type of keyboard layout.

From the Time Zone drop-down list, choose the time zone.


Package Selection

To configure the package selection settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Package Selection to open the corresponding window.

Step 2 Select all check boxes that apply.


Network Settings

To configure the network settings, follow these steps:


Step 1 Click Network Settings to open the corresponding window.

The Network Settings window displays the link status of available network interfaces and the corresponding IP address, subnet mask, gateway, DNS, link status, vendor, type, and MAC address.

Step 2 To edit the Network Settings, do the following:

a. Select a network interface and click Edit.

The Network Settings dialog box displays.

b. In the Network Settings dialog box, do the following:

Select IP Address from DHCP server or Static IP Address. If you select Static IP Address, do the following:

In the IP Address field, enter the IPv4 address

In the Subnet Mask field, enter the subnet IPv4 address.

In the Gateway field, enter the gateway IPv4 address.

In the DNS field, enter the DNS IPv4 address.

Click OK.