RedSocsCluster - O2S Wiki

Hostnames

Used:

redsocs-cluster1.csail.mit.edu (128.30.66.201)
redsocs-cluster2.csail.mit.edu (128.30.66.203)

Available:

redsocs-cluster3.csail.mit.edu (128.30.66.205)
redsocs-cluster4.csail.mit.edu (128.30.66.207)

Installing Debian

First, burn a copy of the AMD64 netinst ISO. Boot from this CD to start the installation.

There's nothing special to do in the installation. Here are a few notes that may be helpful:

Use the debian.lcs.mit.edu mirror
Be sure to set the hostname correctly (redsocs-cluster<n>)
Choose one of the Broadcom network cards as the default network interface (they should be named eth2 and eth3)
Add a redsocs user (fullname: "Redsocs")

The only tricky part of the process is the first reboot after installation. When you get to the GRUB menu, type e to edit the boot command. In the kernel line, replace sdb with sda and quiet with noresume. Press enter to accept the change, then b to boot.

Once the system has booted, you need to make these boot options permanent. In the file, /boot/grub/menu.lst, replace the line

# kopt=root=/dev/sdb1 ro quiet

with

# kopt=root=/dev/sda1 ro noresume

then run update-grub.

To give the machine a static IP address, modify the file /etc/network/interfaces, adding or replacing the entry for eth2 with something like the following:

# The primary network interface
allow-hotplug eth2
iface eth2 inet static
        address 128.30.66.XXX
        netmask 255.255.252.0
        gateway 128.30.67.255

Updating the BIOS

To get the Dell service tag, run the following as root:

# dmidecode | grep 'Serial Number'

You should see some lines like

Serial Number: 9W3MHD1

The service tag is 9W3MHD1.

Download the BIOS update from Dell Support. Be sure to use the "Non-Packaged" EXE file. Then, follow these instructions: Flashing a Dell Bios with Linux. Note that the GRUB initrd line must contain the full path to the boot image, e.g.

initrd /boot/PE1950-020001C.img