Preparing a master Linux system

This topic describes how to prepare a Linux instance to serve as a master operating system. A master operating system is required for creating operating system templates.

Before you start:

Complete these steps outside z/VM Center to make a Linux instance into a master Linux system:

  1. Establish a terminal session with the Linux instance that you want to prepare as a master Linux. You must log in as a user with root authority.
  2. Install the personalization RPM, zVMPersonalization.s390version.rpm, on the Linux instance, where version is a string that identifies the version of the RPM. You can find the RPM on your z/VM manageability access point in the /opt/ibm/director/SwPkINst directory.
    1. Transfer the RPM to a directory of your choice on the Linux instance that you want to prepare as a master Linux, for example with FTP.
    2. Issue an rpm command to install the RPM.
    3. Change the access permissions of /etc/init.d/personalize to make it executable. For example, issue:
      chmod +x /etc/init.d/personalize
  3. Install the CPINT RPM. This RPM is shipped with SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 9.
    For Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, you can download the RPM from: http://linuxvm.org/Patches. For details refer to the z/VM Center extension description in the IBM Director information center at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver/v1r2/topic/diricinfo/vsd0_r_zvmctr_task.html.
    註: Be aware that installing the RPM on Red Hat Linux AS might affect any support contract you may have for the distribution.
  4. Change the access mode for all disks that you want to be shared to read-only. Be sure not to make any disks read-only that your Linux systems will need to write to. Change the access mode from both the Linux system and the z/VM virtual server where the Linux system is installed. For example, you can change the access mode like this:
    1. On z/VM, establish a session with user ID MAINT.
    2. For each disk that you want to be read-only, issue a command like this:
      dirmaint for userid mdisk devno rr
      where userid is the z/VM user ID of the guest virtual machine where the Linux is installed and devno is the virtual device number used to access the disk.
    3. On Linux, edit the /etc/fstab file. Ensure that the comma separated mount options in the 4th field of each line that represents a read-only file includes "ro". Example: To set a disk with device node /dev/dasdc1 read-only change
      /dev/dasdc1             /tools                  ext2    defaults        0 0
      to
      /dev/dasdc1             /tools                  ext2    defaults,ro     0 0

    Read-only disks are considered shared disks in the operating system templates that are based on the master Linux. z/VM Center provides a single physical copy of a shared disks for sharing by all Linux instances that are based on the same operating system template. Disk sharing can reduce your disk space requirements and is most effective if you carefully design your Linux file system, separating read-only data on separated disks from read-write data.

  5. Establish all ports and network connections that you want to have for the operating system templates (and, consequently, the Linux instances) that are derived from the master Linux system. You need to configure both, the z/VM guest virtual machine and Linux.
  6. If you want to manage the derived Linux instances with IBM Director, install the appropriate IBM Director Agent.
  7. 選擇性的: Ensure that /etc/inittab includes a statement of this form:
    ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -h now [message]
    where message is a message you want to be issued to users when a shutdown is initiated. If there is no such statement, Linux instances cannot be shut down gracefully but are stopped by force when deactivated from the IBM Director Console or directly from z/VM.

For more details, refer to the z/VM Center installation and conceptional information in the IBM Director information center at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver/v1r2/topic/diricinfo/vsd0_t_prepare.html and http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/eserver/v1r2/topic/diricinfo/vsd0_c_concepts.html

If the Linux instance was installed outside z/VM Center, you need to register it before you can use it to create an operating system template.

相關工作
Creating a new operating system template
相關參考
Create Operating System Template wizard
(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1999,2005. All Rights Reserved.