H3C UniServer R4900 G5 User guide

H3C Servers
Operating System Installation Guide
New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd.
http://www.h3c.com
Document version: 6W106-20210414

Copyright © 2018-2021, New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd. and its licensors
All rights reserved
No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written
consent of New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd.
Trademarks
Except for the trademarks of New H3C Technologies Co., Ltd., any trademarks that may be mentioned in this
document are the property of their respective owners.
Notice
The information in this document is subject to change without notice. All contents in this document, including
statements, information, and recommendations, are believed to be accurate, but they are presented without
warranty of any kind, express or implied. H3C shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions
contained herein.

Preface
This preface includes the following topics about the documentation:
•
Audience.
•
Conventions.
•
Documentation feedback.
Audience
This documentation is intended for:
•
Network planners.
•
Field technical support and servicing engineers.
•
Server administrators working with the Server.
Conventions
The following information describes the conventions used in the documentation.
Command conventions
Convention
Description
Boldface
Bold
text represents commands and keywords that you enter literally as shown.
Italic Italic text represents arguments that you replace with actual values.
[ ] Square brackets enclose syntax choices (keywords or arguments) that are optional.
{ x | y | ... }
Braces enclose a set of required syntax choices separated by vertical bars, from which
you select one.
[ x | y | ... ]
Square brackets enclose a set of optional syntax choices separated by vertical bars,
from which you select one or none.
{ x | y | ... } *
Asterisk marked braces enclose a set of required syntax choices separated by vertical
bars, from which you select a minimum of one.
[ x | y | ... ] *
Asterisk marked square brackets enclose optional syntax choices separated by vertical
bars, from which you select one choice, multiple choices, or none.
&<1-n> The argument or keyword and argument combination before the ampersand (&) sign
can be entered 1 to n times.
# A line that starts with a pound (#) sign is comments.
GUI conventions
Convention
Description
Boldface Window names, button names, field names, and menu items are in Boldface. For
example, the
New User
window opens; click
OK
.
> Multi-level menus are separated by angle brackets. For example, File > Create >
Folder.

Symbols
Convention
Description
WARNING! An alert that calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed
can result in personal injury.
CAUTION:
An alert that calls attention to important information that if not understood or followed
can result in data loss, data corruption, or damage to hardware or software.
IMPORTANT:
An alert that calls attention to essential information.
NOTE:
An alert that contains additional or supplementary information.
TIP:
An alert that provides helpful information.
Network topology icons
Convention
Description
Represents a generic network device, such as a router, switch, or firewall.
Represents a routing-capable device, such as a router or Layer 3 switch.
Represents a generic switch, such as a Layer 2 or Layer 3 switch, or a router that
supports Layer 2 forwarding and other Layer 2 features.
Represents an access controller, a unified wired-WLAN module, or the access
controller engine on a unified wired-WLAN switch.
Represents an access point.
Represents a wireless terminator unit.
Represents a wireless terminator.
Represents a mesh access point.
Represents omnidirectional signals.
Represents directional signals.
Represents a security product, such as a firewall, UTM, multiservice security
gateway, or load balancing device.
Represents a security module, such as a firewall, load balancing, NetStream, SSL
VPN, IPS, or ACG module.
Examples provided in this document
Examples in this document might use devices that differ from your device in hardware model,
configuration, or software version. It is normal that the port numbers, sample output, screenshots,
and other information in the examples differ from what you have on your device.
T
T
T
T

Documentation feedback
You can e-mail your comments about product documentation to inf[email protected].
We appreciate your comments.

i
Contents
Overview ·······································································································1
OS installation methods·····································································································································1
Applicable products············································································································································1
Installation workflow·······················································································1
Verifying OS compatibility··············································································1
Installing an OS through the BIOS·································································1
Preparing for installation ····································································································································1
Preparing an OS image······························································································································1
Obtaining a storage controller driver··········································································································1
Logging in to the server······························································································································1
Connecting the OS image··························································································································3
Configuring RAID·······································································································································7
Setting the BIOS boot mode ······················································································································7
Selecting the boot media····························································································································8
Installing the OS·················································································································································9
Installing a Windows OS··························································································································10
Installing a Red Hat/CentOS 6.x OS········································································································17
Installing a Red Hat 7.x, Red Hat 8.x, CentOS 7.x, or CentOS 8.x OS ···················································28
Installing an SUSE OS·····························································································································36
Installing a VMware ESXi OS···················································································································47
Installing a Citrix OS·································································································································56
Installing a Ubuntu OS·····························································································································66
Installing an Oracle Linux 8.2 OS·············································································································75
Installing a CAS OS ·································································································································80
Installing an OS and drivers through FIST·····················································1
Preparing for installation ····································································································································1
Setting up the FIST environment ···············································································································1
Preparing an OS image······························································································································1
Preparing a REPO file································································································································1
Signing in to FIST·······································································································································2
Installing the OS·················································································································································2
Add servers to FIST···································································································································2
Upload an OS image··································································································································3
Upload a REPO file····································································································································5
Add a server template································································································································6
Apply a server template for OS installation······························································································11
Installing an OS and drivers through iFIST ····················································1
Preparing for installation ····································································································································1
Supported operating systems ····················································································································1
Preparing an OS image······························································································································1
Preparing a REPO file································································································································1
Signing in to iFIST······································································································································1
Mounting an OS image and REPO file·······································································································1
Installing the OS·················································································································································2
Restrictions and guidelines························································································································2
Procedure···················································································································································3
Installing drivers on H3C servers···································································1
Installing a Windows driver ································································································································1
Installing a Linux driver ······································································································································4
Installing a storage controller driver by using a .deb file (for Ubuntu OSs)················································4
Installing a storage controller driver by using an .rpm file (for RedHat OSs)·············································5

ii
Installing an FC HBA driver by using a .tar.gz file (for RedHat OSs)·························································6
Installing a GPU driver by using a .run file (for RedHat OSs)····································································8
Installing an FC HBA driver (for VMware OSs)································································································13
Updating firmware············································································································································15
Updating storage controller firmware·······································································································15
Troubleshooting·····························································································1
The /dev/root directory not found during Linux OS installation ··········································································1
SUSE11SP4 installation failure··························································································································1
No boot options can be found····························································································································2
Failure to enter SUSE OS in Legacy mode········································································································3
An error occurred during SLES12 OS installation······························································································3
Failure to install an OS by using PXE················································································································3
Failure to install a VMware OS when only mLOM adapters are installed··························································4
HBA-H460-M1 storage controller drive can be installed successfully only after two installation operations ·····4
SUSE12SP2 OS installation takes a long time and the webpage is stuck after installation ······························5
Storage controller HBA-H460-M1 FW1.04 can be installed successfully on an RHEL OS but the system
prompts installation failure ·································································································································6
Bluescreen or kernel error occurred when BIOS NUMA is enabled and IMC0 and IMC1 for CPU 1 or CPU 2 are
disabled······························································································································································6
An error occurred on an NVMe drive and the drive went offline after a managed hot plug ·······························7
A blue screen occurred when the network adapter-10GE-2P-520F-B2-1 driver was being installed················8
Some NVMe drives might fail to be identified when multiple NVMe drives are installed after OS installation···9
Failed to install CASE0306 on an NVMe SSD drive··························································································9
The system cannot be restored after the server is powered down unexpectedly··············································9
Bluescreen occurred if chipset drivers are installed before GPU-M60-1 and GPU-M60-1-X display card drivers
are installed on the Windows system···············································································································10
Bluescreen occurred during the installation of the IB-MCX354A-FCBT-56/40Gb-2P network adapter driver on
Windows Server 2012 R2 ································································································································10
OS installation takes a long time when the OS image is mounted through an HDM shared network interface12
CAS E0306 OS installation failure···················································································································12
Blue screen or other errors occurred when the chipset driver is updated on an R5300 server installed with the
Windows Server 2016 OS································································································································12
Acronyms ······································································································1

1
Overview
The information in this document might differ from your product if it contains custom configuration
options or features.
Figures in this document are for illustration only and might differ from your product.
OS installation methods
The operating system (OS) installation methods vary by application scenario, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1 OS installation methods
Application
scenario OS installation method Feature
OS installation on a
single server
Installing an OS through
the BIOS Most common OS installation method. You can monitor each installation phase and customize the settings.
Installing an OS and
drivers through iFIST Simplifies OS installation and saves time.
Bulk OS installation
on multiple servers Installing an OS and drivers through FIST Installs OSs in bulk in a large-sized network.
Applicable products
This document is applicable to the following products:
•
H3C UniServer R4900 G5
•
H3C UniServer R4700 G5
•
H3C UniServer R4950 G5
•
H3C UniServer R6900 G5
•
H3C UniServer R5500 G5
•
H3C UniServer B5700 G3
•
H3C UniServer B5800 G3
•
H3C UniServer B7800 G3
•
H3C UniServer E3200 G3
•
H3C UniServer R2700 G3
•
H3C UniServer R2900 G3
•
H3C UniServer R4100 G3
•
H3C UniServer R4300 G3
•
H3C UniServer R4400 G3
•
H3C UniServer R4700 G3
•
H3C UniServer R4900 G3
•
H3C UniServer R4950 G3
•
H3C UniServer R5300 G3
•
H3C UniServer R6700 G3

2
•
H3C UniServer R6900 G3
•
H3C UniServer R8900 G3

1
Installation workflow
Figure 1 Installation workflow
Start
OS installation methods
RAID detected?
Install storage
controller driver
OS installation
completed
Install device driver
End
No Yes
Prepare OS image
Configure RAID Prepare OS image
and REPO file
Set up FIST
environment
OS and driver
installation completed
BIOS FIST iFIST
Prepare OS image
and REPO file
Access iFIST
OS and driver
installation completed
(Optional) Configure
RAID in iFIST OS
installation wizard
Identify OS
compatibility
Create a server
template
Apply a server
template

1
Verifying OS compatibility
Verify that the target OS is compatible with the server and its components, such as storage
controllers and Ethernet adapters before OS installation. For more information, visit
http://www.h3c.com/cn/Service/Document_Software/Document_Center/Server/.

1
Installing an OS through the BIOS
This section introduces OS installation in the BIOS Setup Utility through an optical disk drive,
bootable USB disk, and virtual media.
Information on the BIOS setup utility is for illustration only and might differ from your products.
Preparing for installation
Preparing an OS image
Before installing an OS, obtain the OS image from the official website of the OS.
Obtaining a storage controller driver
To install an OS on a logical drive, you must also install the storage controller drivers. By default, an
OS contains drivers for storage controllers of some models and the contained drivers vary by OS
version.
As a best practice, install drivers separately or install the OS through FIST or iFIST.
To obtain storage controller drivers, access the official website of H3C at
https://www.h3c.com/en/Support/Resource_Center/Software_Download/Servers/.
Logging in to the server
You can log in to the server locally or through a remote console.
Logging in to the server locally
You can connect a keyboard, monitor, and mouse to the server and then power on the server to
manage it locally.
Launching a remote console through HDM
1. Obtain the management IP address and user account information of HDM.
For a rack server, the HDM shared network port obtains IP addresses through DHCP and the
HDM dedicated network port uses IP address 192.168.1.2/24. For a blade server, you can log
in to OM to view the management IP address.
By default, the username and password are admin and Password@_. Both the username and
password are case-sensitive.
2. Make sure the PC meet the requirements in Table 2.
Table 2 Browser and resolution requirements
Item Description
Browsers Google Chrome 48.0 (or higher)
Mozilla Firefox 50.0 (or higher)
Internet Explorer 11 (or higher)
Resolution Minimum: 1366*768
Recommended: 1600*900 (or higher)
3. Connect the server to the network.

2
For a rack server, connect the network cable to the HDM shared network port or HDM
dedicated network port.
For a blade server, connect the network cable to the management port of OM.
Make sure the PC can reach the server.
4. Open a browser and access the HDM Web interface.
5. In the navigation pane, select Remote Control > Remote Console.
Figure 2 Entering remote console page
6. Launch a KVM or H5 KVM remote console as needed.
Launching a remote console through OM (only for blade servers)
1. Obtain the management IP address and user account information of OM.
The management port of OM obtains IP addresses through DHCP.
By default, the username and password are admin and Password@_. Both the username and
password are case-sensitive.
2. Make sure the PC meet the requirements in Table 3.
Table 3 Browser and resolution requirements
Item Description
Browsers Google Chrome 58.0 (or higher)
Resolution 1600*900 (or higher)
3. Connect the PC to the management (MGMT) port on a minimum of one OM module, as shown
in Figure 3.

3
Figure 3 Connecting the PC to both the active and standby OM modules
4. Configure IP settings on the PC for the PC to reach the OM modules.
5. Open the browser, enter the management IP address of OM in the format of
https://OM_ip_address in the address bar, and then press Enter.
6. On the sign-in page, enter the username and password, and then click Login.
7. In the navigation pane, click Blade Servers, select the target server, and then click Remote
Consoles.
8. On the Remote Consoles tab, click KVM or H5 KVM, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 Launching a remote console
Connecting the OS image
Before installing an OS, connect the boot media that contain the OS image to the server.
•
For local login, you can use an optical disk drive, bootable USB disk, or PXE server as the boot
media.
•
For remote console login, you can use an optical disk drive, bootable USB disk, PXE server, or
virtual media (virtual disk, CD/DVD, or drive/USB) as the boot media. To install an OS on
multiple servers in bulk, use a PXE server as the boot media.
Use Table 4 to determine the OS image preparation method based on the boot media.
Table 4 Preparing an OS image
Boot media Preparing for installation
Optical disk drive Insert the optical disk drive that contains the OS image into the optical drive.
Bootable USB drive Insert the bootable USB disk that contains the OS image into the USB port.
LAN
Enclosure
PC

4
Boot media Preparing for installation
PXE
1. Set up the PXE environment, including a TFTP server and a DHCP
server.
2. Connect an Ethernet port on each server where the OS is to be installed
to the PXE environment. For more information about how to set up the
PXE environment, see the PXE environment setup guide.
3. Upload the OS image to the TFTP server.
4. Enable PXE (enabled by default) on the servers where the OS is to be
installed. For more information, see "Enabling PXE."
Virtual media Mount the OS image through HDM. For more information, see "Mounting an
OS image through a remote console."
Enabling PXE
PXE is enabled by default and cannot be disabled if the BIOS boot mode is Legacy. This section
describes how to enable PXE in UEFI boot mode. For more information about BIOS boot modes, see
"Setting the BIOS boot mode."
To enable PXE:
1. Enter the BIOS Setup Utility.
2. Click the Advanced tab, select Network Stack Configuration, and then press Enter.
3. Set Network Stack, IPv4 PXE Support, and IPv6 PXE Support to Enabled (Enabled by
default).
Figure 5 Enabling PXE
4. Access the Advanced > Network PXE Control screen. Then, enable PXE on each port
(Enabled by default).

5
Figure 6 Enabling PXE on network ports
5. Press F4 to save the configuration and reboot the server.
6. Click the Save & Exit tab, and then select the boot option for PXE in the Boot Override area.
For UEFI boot mode, select the port connecting to the PXE server. In this example, port 1
connects to the PXE server.
Figure 7 PXE boot options in UEFI boot mode
For Legacy boot mode, select the only option. All ports on the network adapter share the
same PXE boot option.

6
Figure 8 PXE boot options in Legacy boot mode
Mounting an OS image through a remote console
IMPORTANT:
T
o avoid OS installation failure caused by connection errors in a WAN, mount an OS image in the
same LAN as the server.
This section mounts a virtual CD/DVD.
To mount an OS image through a remote console:
1. Log in to the server from the HDM console.
2. Select Media > Virtual Media Wizard from the navigation bar.
Figure 9 Virtual Media
3. Click the CD/DVD tab, and then click Browse in the CD/DVD Media: I area. In the dialog box
that opens, select a CD/DVD file, and then click Open.

7
Figure 10 Selecting a CD/DVD file
4. Click Connect to complete mounting the CD/DVD image file.
5. Display the mounted image. Enter the BIOS Setup Utility, and then click the Save &Exit tab. If
you can find the mounted image file in the Boot Override area, the file has been mounted
successfully.
Figure 11 Displaying the mounted image
Configuring RAID
Installing the OS on a logical disk improves server's read/write performance and provides fault
tolerance through data verification, which improves system stability.
For more information about RAID configuration, see H3C Servers Storage Controllers User Guide.
Setting the BIOS boot mode
The server supports two BIOS boot modes: Legacy and UEFI. By default, the boot mode is UEFI.
Support for the BIOS boot modes varies by operating system. For more information, see the
operating system compatibility matrixes for the server.

8
IMPORTANT:
•
To install the OS on an NVMe SSD, you must set the BIOS boot mode to UEFI.
•
In Legacy mode, DCPMMs cannot be used for operating system installation.
•
To use the Legacy mode, configure the first boot drive, and install the OS on the drive
. For more
information, see configuring boot options in H3C Servers Storage Controllers User Guide.
To set the BIOS boot mode:
1. In the BIOS Setup Utility, click the Boottab, select Boot mode select, and then press Enter.
Figure 12 Setting the BIOS boot mode
2. Select the Legacy or UEFI mode, and then press Enter.
Figure 13 Selecting a BIOS boot mode
3. Press F4 to save the configuration and reboot the server.
Selecting the boot media
1. Start the server, and press F7 at the prompt, as shown in Figure 14.

9
Figure 14 Starting the server
2. Select the boot media that contains the OS image. This section selects AMI Virtual CDROM0
as an example, because a virtual CD/DVD is mounted from the remote console.
Figure 15 Selecting the boot media
Installing the OS
The OS installation wizard might vary by OS type and OS version. This document introduces the
installation procedures for some common Windows Server, RedHat, CentOS, SUSE, VMware, and
Ubuntu OSs. For more information about another OS, access the official website for the OS.