Introduction
This document contains supplemental information for Automated Uptime™ Layer for Linux®-based ftServer® Systems, Release 8.0.2.0. It was published on March 21, 2012.
For general release information, see the Release Notes: Automated Uptime Layer for Linux-based ftServer Systems (R005L) or the complete set of documentation for Automated Uptime Layer for Linux-Based ftServer Systems, Release 8.0.1.0.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release Information
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux™, Release 6.2 is now supported for use with the Stratus Automated Uptime Layer for Linux-based ftServer Systems, Release 8.0.2.0 CD, which contains the Automated Uptime Layer software distribution.
MINIMUM KERNEL: kernel-2.6.32-220.4.2.el6
ftServer System Information
The ftServer systems running with this release must use firmware revisions for CPU BIOS and Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) which meet or exceed the following requirements:
MINIMUM BIOS: 5.0:17
MINUMUM BMC FW: 3.17
Operating System Installation Change
The Stratus Automated Uptime Layer for Linux-based ftServer Systems: Installation and Configuration (R013L) manual outlines the operating system install process in two chapters of the manual: one describing installation on internal disk; the second describing installation on external disks. In each chapter, there is a section title beginning "Installing the Operating System...", which summarizes a list of panels asking configuration questions during the installation. These relate to: Keyboard choice, Root Password, Create User, Date and Time settings, and Kdump configuration.
RHEL 6.2 adds a new panel following the Kdump configuration:
"Changing the Kdump settings requires rebooting the system to reallocate memory accordingly. Would you like to continue with the change and reboot the system after firstboot is complete?"
Answer "No" to this question. The system will be rebooted at a later point in the installation process, accepting the default values shown for Kdump configuration.
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Note: The /var/crash file system must be configured as an ext3 type of file system. This restriction stems from interaction of Automated Uptime Layer changes to the Kdump mechanism with the /var/crash file system. |
The Uptime Assurance defaults used during a standard installation select the ext3 fstype for /var/crash. However, sites using a modified installation kickstart file should ensure that --fstype ext3 is specified for /var/crash.
CPU BIOS Settings
The Stratus ftServer Systems: Technical Reference Guide (R550) provides technical information for ftServer 2600, 4500, 6300, and 6310 systems. In the chapter titled "ftServer BIOS Setup Tool", the section on "ftServer Setup Menus >> Advanced Menu" describes an option:
Intel(R) I/OAT
that enables or disables I/O Acceleration Technology. This option is disabled by default.
The I/O Acceleration Technology must always be disabled when running the Automated Uptime Layer. This BIOS option is not fully supported by the ftServer fault tolerant hardware, or by the Automated Uptime Layer software.
Grub Kernel Options
Stratus Automated Uptime Layer software running with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system does not support use of the Linux Active State Power Management (ASPM) facility. The /boot/grub/grub.conf file disables these facilities by adding the following boot option to the kernel commands in that file:
pcie_aspm=off
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 introduced a problem in booting from internal disks, which use an MD RAID1 array for the root file system. If one array member disk is unavailable during the bootload, the root MD array does not get started and the bootload attempt fails. This problem is avoided by adding the following boot option to the kernel commands in /boot/grub/grub.conf:
rd_NO_MDADMCONF
The notsc boot option, which was required in earlier ftSSS software but now is no longer needed, is removed during an ftSSS upgrade.
Stratus-provided scripts add these boot options whenever ftSSS software is installed or upgraded, when a new kernel RPM is installed, and each time the system is booted.
When editing the grub.conf file manually, please ensure the notsc boot option does not appear. Please ensure that the pcie_aspm=off and rd_NO_MDADMCONF options do appear in each kernel command.