Recent changes to Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Lissa Valletta

Lissa Valletta — Wed, 10 Sep 2014 15:45:57 -0000

--- v20
+++ v21
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
     chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=dud:<full path="" of="" driver="" disk="">

 ~~~~
+
   * Put the driver update disk in the directory <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch> (e.g. /install/driverdisk/sles11.1/x86_64). During the running of the 'genimage', 'geninitrd' or 'nodeset' command, xCAT will look for driver update disks in the directory <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch> . 

 ### Inject the Drivers From the Driver Update Disk into the initrd
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@
     chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=rpm:<full path="" of="" driver="" disk1="">,rpm:<full path="" of="" driver="" disk2="">

 ~~~~
+
   * **osupdatename** \- comma separated 'osdistroupdate' objects. Each 'osdistroupdate' object specifies a Linux distro update. 

 When geninitrd is run, 'kernel-*.rpm' will be searched in the osdistroupdate.dirpath to get all the rpm packages and then those rpms will be searched for drivers. Example:

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by

Tue, 12 Aug 2014 21:43:55 -0000

--- v19
+++ v20
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-[[img src=Official-xcat-doc.png]] 
+![](http://sourceforge.net/p/xcat/wiki/XCAT_Documentation/attachment/Official-xcat-doc.png)

 [TOC]

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Lissa Valletta

Lissa Valletta — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 16:47:23 -0000

--- v18
+++ v19
@@ -29,25 +29,29 @@
 ### Inject the Drivers From the Driver Update Disk into the initrd

   * If specifying the driver disk location in the osimage, the osimage object must be used to run the 'genimage' and 'nodeset': 
-    
+
+~~~~      
     [Stateless/Diskless]
-      genimage <osimagename>
+      genimage <osimagename>
     [Statefull/Diskfull]
-      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename>
+      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename>
      OR:
-      geninitrd <osimagename>
-      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> --noupdateinitrd
-    
+      geninitrd <osimagename>
+      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> --noupdateinitrd
+~~~~      

 Note: 'geninitrd' + 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' is useful when you need to run nodeset frequently for a diskful node. 'geninitrd' only needs be run once to rebuild the initrd and 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' will not touch the initrd and kernel in /tftpboot/xcat/osimage/<osimage name>/. 

-  * If putting the driver disk in <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch>: 
-    
+~~~~  
+
+If putting the driver disk in <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch>: 
+
+     
     [Stateless/Diskless]
       Running 'genimage' in anyway will load the driver disk
     [Statefull/Diskfull]
-      Running 'nodeset <nodenrage> in anyway will load the driver disk
-    
+      Running 'nodeset <nodenrage> in anyway will load the driver disk
+~~~~     

 ## Driver RPM Package

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Lissa Valletta

Lissa Valletta — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 16:40:54 -0000

--- v17
+++ v18
@@ -19,10 +19,11 @@
   * Specify the location of the driver disk in the osimage object (This is ONLY supported in 2.8 and later)

 The value for the 'driverupdatesrc' attribute is a comma separated driver disk list. The tag 'dud' must be specified before the full path of 'driver update disk' to specify the type of the file: 
+  
+~~~~  
+    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=dud:<full path="" of="" driver="" disk="">

-    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=dud:<full path of driver disk>
-    
-
+~~~~
   * Put the driver update disk in the directory <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch> (e.g. /install/driverdisk/sles11.1/x86_64). During the running of the 'genimage', 'geninitrd' or 'nodeset' command, xCAT will look for driver update disks in the directory <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch> . 

 ### Inject the Drivers From the Driver Update Disk into the initrd

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Lissa Valletta

Lissa Valletta — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 16:38:49 -0000

--- v16
+++ v17
@@ -63,39 +63,43 @@
   * **netdrivers** \- comma separated driver names that need to be injected into the initrd. The postfix '.ko' can be ignored.

 The 'netdrivers' attribute must be set to specify the new driver list. If you want to load all the drivers from the driver rpms, use the keyword **allupdate**. Another keyword for the netdrivers attribute is **updateonly**, which means only the drivers located in the original initrd will be added to the newly built initrd from the driver rpms. This is useful to reduce the size of the new built initrd when the distro is updated, since there are many more drivers in the new kernel rpm than in the original initrd. Examples: 
-    
-    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=megaraid_sas.ko,igb.ko
-    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=allupdate
-    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=updateonly,igb.ko,new.ko
-    
+ 
+~~~~   
+    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=megaraid_sas.ko,igb.ko
+    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=allupdate
+    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=updateonly,igb.ko,new.ko
+~~~~   

   * **driverupdatesrc** \- comma separated driver rpm packages (full path should be specified) 

 A tag named 'rpm' can be specified before the full path of the rpm to specify the file type. The tag is optional since the default format is 'rpm' if no tag is specified. Example: 
+ 
+~~~~   
+    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=rpm:<full path="" of="" driver="" disk1="">,rpm:<full path="" of="" driver="" disk2="">

-    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=rpm:<full path of driver disk1>,rpm:<full path of driver disk2>
-    
-
+~~~~
   * **osupdatename** \- comma separated 'osdistroupdate' objects. Each 'osdistroupdate' object specifies a Linux distro update. 

 When geninitrd is run, 'kernel-*.rpm' will be searched in the osdistroupdate.dirpath to get all the rpm packages and then those rpms will be searched for drivers. Example: 
-    
+
+~~~~    
     mkdef -t osdistroupdate update1 dirpath=/install/rhels6.4/x86_64/
-    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> osupdatename=update1
-    
+    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> osupdatename=update1
+~~~~    

 If 'osupdatename' is specified, the kernel shipped with the 'osupdatename' will be used to load the newly built initrd, then only the drivers matching the new kernel will be kept in the newly built initrd. If trying to use the 'osupdatename', the 'allupdate' or 'updateonly' should be added in the 'netdrivers' attribute, or all the necessary driver names for the new kernel need to be added in the 'netdrivers' attribute. Otherwise the new drivers for the new kernel will be missed in newly built initrd. 

 ### Inject the Drivers From the Driver RPM into the initrd
-    
+
+~~~~    
     [Stateless/Diskless]
-      genimage <osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
+      genimage <osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
     [Statefull/Diskfull]
-      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
+      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
      OR:
-      geninitrd <osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
-      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> --noupdateinitrd
-    
+      geninitrd <osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
+      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> --noupdateinitrd
+~~~~    

 Note: 'geninitrd' + 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' is useful when you need to run nodeset frequently for diskful nodes. 'geninitrd' only needs to be run once to rebuild the initrd and 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' will not touch the initrd and kernel in /tftpboot/xcat/osimage/<osimage name>/.

Discussion for Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk page

Bruce — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 15:40:40 -0000

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 15:40:39 -0000

--- v15
+++ v16
@@ -103,6 +103,6 @@

 ## Note

-  * If the drivers from the driver disk or driver rpm are not installed to the installed or booted system, it's necessary to add the rpm packages for the drivers to the .pkglist or .otherpkglist to install them to the system. 
-  * If there's driver rpm needs to be loaded, the osimage object must be used to perform the 'nodeset' and 'genimage' 
-  * The Driver disk and Driver rpm can be loaded in one 'nodeset' or 'genimage' invoke. 
+  * If the drivers from the driver disk or driver rpm are not already part of the installed or booted system, it's necessary to add the rpm packages for the drivers to the .pkglist or .otherpkglist of the osimage object to install them in the system. 
+  * If a driver rpm needs to be loaded, the osimage object must be used for the 'nodeset' and 'genimage' command, instead of the older style profile approach. 
+  * Both a Driver disk and a Driver rpm can be loaded in one 'nodeset' or 'genimage' invocation.

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 15:40:38 -0000

--- v14
+++ v15
@@ -86,20 +86,20 @@

 If 'osupdatename' is specified, the kernel shipped with the 'osupdatename' will be used to load the newly built initrd, then only the drivers matching the new kernel will be kept in the newly built initrd. If trying to use the 'osupdatename', the 'allupdate' or 'updateonly' should be added in the 'netdrivers' attribute, or all the necessary driver names for the new kernel need to be added in the 'netdrivers' attribute. Otherwise the new drivers for the new kernel will be missed in newly built initrd. 

-### Inject the drivers from driver rpm to the initrd
+### Inject the Drivers From the Driver RPM into the initrd

-    [Diskless]
+    [Stateless/Diskless]
       genimage <osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
-    [Diskfull]
+    [Statefull/Diskfull]
+      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
+     OR:
       geninitrd <osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]
       nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> --noupdateinitrd
-     OR:
-      nodeset <noderange> osimage=<osimagename> [--ignorekernelchk]

-'geninitrd' + 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' is useful when you need to run nodeset frequently for diskful node. 'geninitrd' only needs be run once to rebuild the initrd and 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' will not touch the initrd and kernel in the /tftpboot/xcat/osimage/<osimage name>/. 
+Note: 'geninitrd' + 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' is useful when you need to run nodeset frequently for diskful nodes. 'geninitrd' only needs to be run once to rebuild the initrd and 'nodeset --noupdateinitrd' will not touch the initrd and kernel in /tftpboot/xcat/osimage/<osimage name>/. 

-The option '--ignorekernelchk' is used to skip the kernel version checking when injecting drivers from osimage.driverupdatesrc. To use this flag, you should make sure the drivers in driver rpms are usable for target kernel. 
+The option '--ignorekernelchk' is used to skip the kernel version checking when injecting drivers from osimage.driverupdatesrc. To use this flag, you should make sure the drivers in the driver rpms are usable for the target kernel. 

 ## Note

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 15:40:38 -0000

--- v13
+++ v14
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@

   * Put the driver update disk in the directory <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch> (e.g. /install/driverdisk/sles11.1/x86_64). During the running of the 'genimage', 'geninitrd' or 'nodeset' command, xCAT will look for driver update disks in the directory <installroot>/driverdisk/<os>/<arch> . 

-### Inject the drivers to the initrd
+### Inject the Drivers From the Driver Update Disk into the initrd

   * If specifying the driver disk location in the osimage, the osimage object must be used to run the 'genimage' and 'nodeset':

Using_Linux_Driver_Update_Disk modified by Bruce

Bruce — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 15:40:38 -0000

--- v12
+++ v13
@@ -50,19 +50,19 @@

 ## Driver RPM Package

-Note: only supported in 2.8 and later. 
+Note: this option is only supported in xCAT 2.8 and later. 

-'Driver RPM Package' is the rpm package which including the drivers, firmware for the specific devices. The 'Driver RPM' can be the rpm package which shipped by the Vendor of device for the new device or the kernel rpm from the Linux distro update. 
+The 'Driver RPM Package' is the rpm package which includes the drivers and firmware for the specific devices. The Driver RPM is the rpm package which is shipped by the Vendor of the device for a new device or a new kernel version. 

 ### Set the Driver Name and Location of Driver RPM Packages

 The Driver RPM packages must be specified in the osimage object. 

-Three attributes of osimage object can be used to specify the Driver RPM location and Driver names. If you want to load new drivers to initrd, 'netdrivers' attribute must be set. And one or both of the 'driverupdatesrc' and 'osupdatename' must be set. If both of 'driverupdatesrc' and 'osupdatename' are set, the drivers in the 'driverupdatesrc' have higher priority. 
+Three attributes of osimage object can be used to specify the Driver RPM location and Driver names. If you want to load new drivers in the initrd, the 'netdrivers' attribute must be set. And one or both of the 'driverupdatesrc' and 'osupdatename' attributes must be set. If both of 'driverupdatesrc' and 'osupdatename' are set, the drivers in the 'driverupdatesrc' have higher priority. 

-  * 'netdrivers' - comma separated driver names that need to be injected to the initrd. The postfix '.ko' can be ignored. 
+  * **netdrivers** \- comma separated driver names that need to be injected into the initrd. The postfix '.ko' can be ignored. 

-The **netdrivers** attribute must be set to specify the new driver list. If you want to load all the drivers from the driver rpms, using the keyword **allupdate**. Another keyword for netdrivers attribute is **updateonly**, it means only the drivers which located in the original initrd will be added to new built initrd from driver rpms. This is useful to reduce the size of new built initrd when distro update is specified since the drivers in new kernel rpm is much more than the number in original initrd. 
+The 'netdrivers' attribute must be set to specify the new driver list. If you want to load all the drivers from the driver rpms, use the keyword **allupdate**. Another keyword for the netdrivers attribute is **updateonly**, which means only the drivers located in the original initrd will be added to the newly built initrd from the driver rpms. This is useful to reduce the size of the new built initrd when the distro is updated, since there are many more drivers in the new kernel rpm than in the original initrd. Examples: 

     chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=megaraid_sas.ko,igb.ko
     chdef -t osimage <osimagename> netdrivers=allupdate
@@ -71,20 +71,20 @@

   * **driverupdatesrc** \- comma separated driver rpm packages (full path should be specified) 

-A tag named 'rpm' can be specified before the full path of rpm to specify the file type. For 'Driver RPM' the tag is optional since the default format is 'rpm' if no tag is specified. 
+A tag named 'rpm' can be specified before the full path of the rpm to specify the file type. The tag is optional since the default format is 'rpm' if no tag is specified. Example: 

-    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=rpm:<full path of driver disk>,rpm:<full path of driver disk>,<full path of driver disk>
+    chdef -t osimage <osimagename> driverupdatesrc=rpm:<full path of driver disk1>,rpm:<full path of driver disk2>

-  * **osupdatename** \- comma separated 'osdistroupdate' object. Each 'osdistroupdate' object specifies a Linux distro update. 
+  * **osupdatename** \- comma separated 'osdistroupdate' objects. Each 'osdistroupdate' object specifies a Linux distro update. 

-When run geninitrd, 'kernel-*.rpm' will be searched from osdistroupdate.dirpath to get all the rpm packages and then search the drivers from the rpm packages. 
+When geninitrd is run, 'kernel-*.rpm' will be searched in the osdistroupdate.dirpath to get all the rpm packages and then those rpms will be searched for drivers. Example: 

     mkdef -t osdistroupdate update1 dirpath=/install/rhels6.4/x86_64/
     chdef -t osimage <osimagename> osupdatename=update1

-If 'osupdatename' is specified, the kernel which shipped with the 'osupdatename' will be used to load the new built initrd, then only the drivers which matching the new kernel will be kept in the new built initrd. If trying to use the 'osupdatename', the 'allupdate' or 'updateonly' should be added in 'netdrivers' attribute, or all the necessary driver names for the new kernel need be added in 'netdrivers' attribute, otherwise the drivers for the new kernel will be missed in new built initrd. 
+If 'osupdatename' is specified, the kernel shipped with the 'osupdatename' will be used to load the newly built initrd, then only the drivers matching the new kernel will be kept in the newly built initrd. If trying to use the 'osupdatename', the 'allupdate' or 'updateonly' should be added in the 'netdrivers' attribute, or all the necessary driver names for the new kernel need to be added in the 'netdrivers' attribute. Otherwise the new drivers for the new kernel will be missed in newly built initrd. 

 ### Inject the drivers from driver rpm to the initrd