Re: VCL xCAT2.x BladeCenter
hello, every thing went well. have one minor correction to make. since my eth0 is public and eth1 is private, any idea on how could i guarantee that external_sshd_config listens to eth0 and gets the public ip and sshd_config listens to eth1 and gets private ip. because of the above switch of the ip's in sshd_config files, even though my reservation finishes it remains locked out. i also intend to provision using vmware, using the same management node and hoping that any changes made to get the above bare-metal install working will not affect the other. regards, prem. On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 4:58 PM, Prem Kumar wrote: > Josh, > > got it to work!!! > > 'usepartimageng=0' set it to 1. > > never mind about the link to download partimage-ng, i was under the > impression, that i will have to install partimage-ng, then looked > around to realize it already exists in rootimg.gz. > > sincere thanks for patiently helping, now moving to next step! > > regards, > prem. > > > On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 3:50 PM, Prem Kumar wrote: >> hi Josh, >> >>> >>> I need to add this to the documentation and should have mentioned it >>> earlier. >>> partimage can only capture a few file system types. I don't remember the >>> exact list. I know it includes ext2/ext3 and ntfs. I also know that it >>> cannot capture ext4 and anything involving LVM. That is part of why I >>> included support for partimageng. If it doesn't natively know how to handle >>> the file system, it will fall back to using dd to capture it. Search for >>> 'usepartimageng=0' in the partimageng postscript and change it to =1 to >>> switch >>> to using partimageng. >>> >>> Is the file system to be captured either ext2 or ext3 and without having LVM >>> invovled? >> >> file system involved is ext3 and without 'lvm'. so i am good on that. >> >> i could not find partimage-ng for download, could you point me to a >> genuine source, sourceforege doesn't have it. >> >> following is the link to /tmp/partimageng.log >>> http://pastebin.com/YrbmsF99 >> >> also noticed following error from partimage log in /var/log >> >> >> "[Can't read bit map block 0 from image]" >> >> looking out for that errors tells me that it could be because of >> running partimage in 'gui' mode as opposed to batch, still looking for >> more reasons. >> >> meanwhile i will look for other errors and wait for link to partimage-ng. >> >> regards, >> prem. >> >
Re: [VCL 2.2.1] [Power7] Problem with image reservation
Sunil, From what I remember, I didn't have to do much to the rootimg.gz image to make it work. I created the files I supply before xCAT started using "statelite" instead of "stateless". I think statelite uses NFS to mount the image, and stateless uses an image file downloaded to the node and run out of RAM. Since generating a statelite image is pretty straightforward use of xCAT, you may want to ask on the xcat-user email list for help with it. Unless you can have the admins of the other dhcp server on your network exclude the MAC addresses of your blades, you'll need to create a separate private network to control your VCL stuff, either physically or with VLANs. If they can exclude the MACs, you can set up the dhcp server on your management node to only answer to requests from your blades. Josh On Monday June 13, 2011, Sunil Venkatesh wrote: > Josh, > > Again, Thank you for your valuable inputs. I have got to the point where > I can get the compute node to boot using the stateless images. I had to > manually configure the netboot since we already had a DHCP server which > is not the same as our Management node. Since our setup is not in an > isolated environment, I could not let xcat handle the dhcp & netboot > configuration (it messed up out network configuration when i let xcat > handle it,we had 2 dhcp servers running at that point). Are you aware of > any way to let xcat handle such scenarios? > > Although I am able to get the compute node to boot with the kernel image > & initrd, and NFS mount the rootimg that was generated using 'genimage', > I am getting the following error on the compute node's console - > > FATAL error: could not get the entries from litefile table... > > after going thru the init-scripts, I found out 'xCATCmd' binary is not > present in the rootimg. I am currently checking the xcat packages for > its availability. If you know the procedure to get it onto the compute > node, please let me know the same. > > Appreciate your support. > > Thanking you, > Sunil > > On 6/8/11 9:02 AM, Josh Thompson wrote: > > Sunil, > > > > I don't recall seeing any documentation on those parts. I had to poke > > around looking at parts of xCAT to see how it worked. It's been a few > > years since I did that; so, I don't remember much about the process. My > > recommendation would be to start looking at things in the rootimg.gz > > image. Looking at it now, I see that /opt/xcat/xcatdsklspost gets run > > when rootimg.gz boots. It looks like it downloads all of the > > postscripts from the management node and then run getpostscript.awk > > which issues a command to xcatd to get the primary postscript for that > > machine. I've forgotten how xcatd then builds the primary postscript. > > I do remember that in the partimageng.pm module, I had it add the > > partimageng postscript. > > > > So, you'll really have to start digging through how the xcat postscript > > system works. > > > > Josh > > > > On Tuesday June 07, 2011, Sunil Venkatesh wrote: > >> Josh, > >> > >> Is there any place I could find some details on > >> > >> "... /Once the compute node is booted with the stateless > >> image, it uses NFS to mount some things from the management node, and > >> then runs some xcat postscripts,/ " > >> > >> I have the stateless images ready with partimage compiled for PPC. For > >> the compute node (power 7) to boot using the stateless images, i need to > >> configure the yaboot instead of pxeboot (which is specific to x86). I > >> wanted to know where in the startup files the execution of partimage and > >> NFS mount is configured. Is it configured by the "genimage" command > >> itself? Considering the way in which the nodes are configured in the > >> network, it would not be a good idea to let xcat take care of > >> configuring the details like DHCPD for netboot. So, I need to make > >> changes to the configuration files manually, which is why this query > >> came up. > >> > >> Thanks in advance. > >> > >> Regards, > >> Sunil > >> > >> On 6/1/11 1:39 PM, Josh Thompson wrote: > >>> Sunil, > >>> > >>> The "stateless" image I refer to is what is actually booted on the > >>> compute node containing the image to be captured. It's called > >>> stateless because it is loaded completely in RAM and does not maintain > >>> any state when a reboot occurs. > >>> > >>> The partimage binary is part of this stateless image and actually runs > >>> on the compute node. It does not run on the management node. The > >>> management node does not have block level access to the disk on the > >>> compute node to be able to capture the image from the disk. > >>> > >>> I'll try to describe the process a little better. The management node > >>> issues a reboot command to the compute node. The compute node uses PXE > >>> to load and boot a kernel (vmlinuz), initial RAM disk (initrd.img), and > >>> a root filesystem (rootimg.gz) from the management node. All three of > >>> thes
Virtual Box update.
Okay, I just went to upgrade to VirtualBox 4.0 and quickly found out that vbox.pm will not work with 4.0+, after updating code to try to make it work I encountered a bug in the new media registry where multiaccess disks get read-locked and actually completely prevent multiaccess :( http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds_3_2 was the last version that works correctly..
Virtual Box update.
Okay, I just went to upgrade to VirtualBox 4.0 and quickly found out that vbox.pm will not work with 4.0+, after updating code to try to make it work I encountered a bug in the new media registry where multiaccess disks get read-locked and actually completely prevent multiaccess :( http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Download_Old_Builds_3_2 was the last version that works correctly..
Re: [VCL 2.2.1] [Power7] Problem with image reservation
Josh, Again, Thank you for your valuable inputs. I have got to the point where I can get the compute node to boot using the stateless images. I had to manually configure the netboot since we already had a DHCP server which is not the same as our Management node. Since our setup is not in an isolated environment, I could not let xcat handle the dhcp & netboot configuration (it messed up out network configuration when i let xcat handle it,we had 2 dhcp servers running at that point). Are you aware of any way to let xcat handle such scenarios? Although I am able to get the compute node to boot with the kernel image & initrd, and NFS mount the rootimg that was generated using 'genimage', I am getting the following error on the compute node's console - FATAL error: could not get the entries from litefile table... after going thru the init-scripts, I found out 'xCATCmd' binary is not present in the rootimg. I am currently checking the xcat packages for its availability. If you know the procedure to get it onto the compute node, please let me know the same. Appreciate your support. Thanking you, Sunil On 6/8/11 9:02 AM, Josh Thompson wrote: Sunil, I don't recall seeing any documentation on those parts. I had to poke around looking at parts of xCAT to see how it worked. It's been a few years since I did that; so, I don't remember much about the process. My recommendation would be to start looking at things in the rootimg.gz image. Looking at it now, I see that /opt/xcat/xcatdsklspost gets run when rootimg.gz boots. It looks like it downloads all of the postscripts from the management node and then run getpostscript.awk which issues a command to xcatd to get the primary postscript for that machine. I've forgotten how xcatd then builds the primary postscript. I do remember that in the partimageng.pm module, I had it add the partimageng postscript. So, you'll really have to start digging through how the xcat postscript system works. Josh On Tuesday June 07, 2011, Sunil Venkatesh wrote: Josh, Is there any place I could find some details on "... /Once the compute node is booted with the stateless image, it uses NFS to mount some things from the management node, and then runs some xcat postscripts,/ " I have the stateless images ready with partimage compiled for PPC. For the compute node (power 7) to boot using the stateless images, i need to configure the yaboot instead of pxeboot (which is specific to x86). I wanted to know where in the startup files the execution of partimage and NFS mount is configured. Is it configured by the "genimage" command itself? Considering the way in which the nodes are configured in the network, it would not be a good idea to let xcat take care of configuring the details like DHCPD for netboot. So, I need to make changes to the configuration files manually, which is why this query came up. Thanks in advance. Regards, Sunil On 6/1/11 1:39 PM, Josh Thompson wrote: Sunil, The "stateless" image I refer to is what is actually booted on the compute node containing the image to be captured. It's called stateless because it is loaded completely in RAM and does not maintain any state when a reboot occurs. The partimage binary is part of this stateless image and actually runs on the compute node. It does not run on the management node. The management node does not have block level access to the disk on the compute node to be able to capture the image from the disk. I'll try to describe the process a little better. The management node issues a reboot command to the compute node. The compute node uses PXE to load and boot a kernel (vmlinuz), initial RAM disk (initrd.img), and a root filesystem (rootimg.gz) from the management node. All three of these together make up the stateless image. Once the compute node is booted with the stateless image, it uses NFS to mount some things from the management node, and then runs some xcat postscripts, one of which is the partimageng postscript. This postscript determines what partitions are on the compute node and, depending on how the postscript is configured, uses partimage or partimageng to capture an image of the compute node disk that is then saved to the management node. When it is finished capturing the image, it notifies xcat on the management node and then reboots. xcat reconfigures itself to tell the compute node to boot off of disk at next boot. When the compute node comes up, it uses PXE to ask the management node how to boot. The management node tells it to boot off of disk. I hope that clarifies how the system works. If any of it is unclear, please ask for further clarification. Josh On Wednesday June 01, 2011, Sunil Venkatesh wrote: Josh, I had one more clarification. partimage binaries run in the management node to capture an (stateless) image from the compute node right? In that case, is there a need for these binaries to go into the rootimg.gz?? My assumption is, partimage r
