Hi. I'm doing a trial of SUSe Linux S/390 7.0 and z/VM 4.2 in an LPAR, and I seem to be in a constant "discovery" mode. I'm hoping someone can show me some better ways of doing what I'm doing. I'm basically a mainframe person, new to Linux.
Most of my issues are related to SUSe Config. Questions: MUST you use the diff and patch commands for even the simplest changes to rc.config? I want to add dasd dynamically, but have been unable to using: insmod dasd dasd=xxx-xxx on a running system - instead, I've booted the starter system and run insmod for a temporary disk. The /boot/parmfile doesn't appear to be used, ie, my changes aren't backed out at boot time by config, but they have no affect. Where's the "real" one? I want to add dasd permanently. I'm normally logged on to the systems via Extra for Windows. Using this, I cannot use PICO or VI to edit files, and must use a telnet session. Is there a way to set up the Linux console and Extra to allow me to use these editors? What editor would you recommend if you don't /can't have a telnet session active, for instance, when your network is not active. I've used sed to edit files from an Extra session. Is there something better? Does Redhat S/390 have the same issues as SUSe, ie, does it have a config program that checks dates and changes and restores any changes that you may have made outside of the patch program? Yast doesn't seem to address some of the configuration changes that I would like to make. When constructing a Linux firewall, is it preferable to have a single Linux system as entry to the other Linux systems, or run a firewall on each Linux system? If you select a single image as the firewall, and it is configed pointotpoint to the VM TCPIP, and the other Linux images are configed pointopoint to the Linux firewall, do the firewall and the other linux images need to be on unique subnets? (I think that's the terminology). I'm cloning Linux images. After much trial and error, I'm using the cloning methodology described in redbook SG24-6299, Linux on IBM eServer zSeries and S/390 :ISP/ASP Solutions. (Their method: copy the Linux files, and log onto the new image using the ramdisk starter system, and run a shell script to update the network configuration via a patch using a generic.diff file). This isn't pretty, but it works. I'm doing all of this because SUSeConfig gets in the way at boot time and removes any changes to rc.config, et al. I supposes that's ok for a clone, but what's the best way to implement simple changes to rc.config? I created a new filesystem that can be brought online to any single Linux image for this purpose. It contains a sample file that is the output of a diff command and a shell script to process that file with a patch command. The process is very cumbersome: shutdown the Linux image and re-ipl using the starter system (this is because I've been unable to dynamically add a disk via the "insmod dasd dasd=xxx" on a running system. Is there a better way?); from the starter system, add the desired disk addresses, mount them, copy the file you want to change, making the desired change; run against the 2 copies of the file, saving the output in a file, update.diff; run a shell script to run a patch using the update..diff file; re-boot the system. Like I said, this is very cumbersome, but it works. Any suggestions? Am I way out of line? Thanks for any help you may provide. (and, yes, you're right - I DO need to get some training, and hopefully, I will, but I had no lead time before our Linux trial dates) Thanks, Chris Senko
