Hi, Update !
I was able to fix the problem that I was facing with the scripts by disabling the firewall. But, I still have a problem with the command- nodeset <nodename> image Unless this error is fixed, I don't think partimage will work. Am I right here? Thanks, Sunil On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 3:13 PM, Sunil Venkatesh <suni...@umbc.edu> wrote: > Josh, > > I have reached a point where I am able to boot the ppc using the statelite > images created using genimage. But, I was wondering how significant the > following command is. > > nodeset <nodename> image > > I got the same error that Prem had mentioned. > > > power01: Error: Unable to identify plugin for this command, check relevant > tables: nodetype.os > Error: Some nodes failed to set up image resources, aborting > > I tried changing the 'os' field to 'image' under nodetype, that doesn't > seem to help. I get the same error even after the change. 'arch' in my case > is set to 'ppc64'. > > > Also, I think partimage plugin needs to be changed to support the ppc > architecture, from what you had mentioned in the other thread. > > I am not sure what the command 'nodeset <nodename> image' does, but, I am > able to boot the statelite images by making changes to the yaboot > configuration files. The ppc blade currently uses LVM, that needs to be > replaced with ext2/ext3 from what I read from the other thread, am I right? > Also, just out of curiosity I left the statelite image to boot with my > current setting. I can see the xcat script throwing an error- > > /opt/xcat/xcatdsklspost: line 229: /xcatpost/getpostscript.awk: No such > file or directory > /tmp/mypostscript: line 16: updateflag.awk: command not found > > both getpostscript.awk & updateflag.awk are not found in the rootimg > created by genimage. Is there any place I could find these scripts? > > Also, please correct me if there is anything wrong with the procedure I am > following. > > > Thanks in advance. > > Regards, > Sunil > > On 6/13/11 4:13 PM, Josh Thompson wrote: > >> 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 >>>>>> 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 runs on the management node (an intel >>>>>>> blade in our case) to capture a stateless image from a compute node >>>>>>> (a power 7 blade) and stores these images under " /install " of the >>>>>>> management node. Please correct me if I am wrong here. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Regards, >>>>>>> Sunil >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 6/1/11 9:58 AM, Josh Thompson wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- >>>>>>>> Hash: SHA1 >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Tuesday May 31, 2011, Sunil Venkatesh wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Hi, >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> I used the steps that were mentioned under >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> https://cwiki.apache.org/**confluence/display/VCL/Adding+** >>>>>>>>> support+for+p<https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/VCL/Adding+support+for+p> >>>>>>>>> ar ti mag e+and+partimage- ng+to+xCAT+2.x+%28unofficial%**29 >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> to enable partimage support for xcat. I wasn't sure if I need to >>>>>>>>> change references to x86& x86_64 (as directories) to reflect >>>>>>>>> the >>>>>>>>> ppc architecture, as the web page says "The architecture for the >>>>>>>>> node must always be set to x86 for this..". I have with me the >>>>>>>>> vmlinuz (kernel image) and initrd for the capture process. The 2 >>>>>>>>> nodeset commands >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> By this, do you mean you have vmlinuz and initrd for your power >>>>>>>> blades, not the ones linked to off of the page you listed above? If >>>>>>>> you do, that's a good start. However, you'll also need rootimg.gz. >>>>>>>> rootimg.gz is the root filesystem for the stateless image. It also >>>>>>>> contains the partimage and partimageng binaries. Assuming partimage >>>>>>>> or partimageng can actually capture partitions from power systems, >>>>>>>> you'll need to compile at least one of them to run on power. For >>>>>>>> the rootimg.gz image I provided, I compiled them statically so that >>>>>>>> I didn't have to worry about including any library dependencies in >>>>>>>> rootimg.gz. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> It would be a good idea to research how to use xcat's genimage >>>>>>>> command to generate stateless images to learn how to do this. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> If there's any part of the above that you don't fully understand, >>>>>>>> please ask me to clarify it. Until you have a stateless image that >>>>>>>> you can deploy to your power blades, there's no point in trying to >>>>>>>> debug any VCL specific items. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Josh >>>>>>>> - -- >>>>>>>> - ------------------------------**- >>>>>>>> Josh Thompson >>>>>>>> VCL Developer >>>>>>>> North Carolina State University >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> my GPG/PGP key can be found at pgp.mit.edu >>>>>>>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- >>>>>>>> Version: GnuPG v2.0.17 (GNU/Linux) >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> iEYEARECAAYFAk3mRYsACgkQV/**LQcNdtPQNnVgCbB9ZFJn0+C45RC/** >>>>>>>> g75RqGZY/j >>>>>>>> PZYAniP2Eam7nxgiDWUnp5sKPYPO4O**Ma >>>>>>>> =exBV >>>>>>>> -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>
