Debian-390 / Hercules Problems

[David Clements]

Hi. I am working with the Hercules team, testing qeth connectivity both
layer2 and layer3 and experiencing a couple of problems.
My initial setup was to install debian using a ctc, and then try some

qeth >>tests. I tried a netinst install and several mirror sites, in
several countries, >>and every mirror site fails. I looked at
/var/log/syslog as it tried the >>mirrors and tried the wget command used
by the installer, on my host >>system and could find stable, unstable, etc.
on each mirror.

I then tried to install using a full cd1 and had a successful install.
After a successful install I tried to work with the qeth device, and

found >>lsqeth and znetconf are missing, I tried to update s390-tools with
apt-get >>and it says s390-tools is at the latest release. I pulled
s390-tools-1.17.0 >>from the IBM Developerwork website installed the zconf
part of the >>package and continued with my testing.

I have just noticed in the /var/log/installer/status file a comment that

the >>s390-tools-udeb package included in the install only contains
binaries for >>dasdfmt and fdasd. I have searched for znetconf in all
releases and can >>find no trace in any debian package.

Any ideas?
Dave Clements.

I have used ctc under Hercules and qeth in a virtual machine under z/VM,
but I have never used qeth under Hercules. The standard Debian package for
Hercules, 3.07, does not support an Open Systems Adapter Express in QDIO
mode, so that's the end of that.
I've never tried to use znetconf. For that matter, I've never tried to use
lsqeth either. But it does seem to be included in the standard s390-tools
# whereis lsqeth
lsqeth: /sbin/lsqeth /usr/share/man/man8/lsqeth.8.gz
By the way, I'd be interested to hear your opinion of my "Debian Under

Hercules"

web page at http://users.wowway.com/~zlinuxman/hercules.htm

.


I'm using hercules 4.0, this version supports qeth layer2, I have debian
wheezy running with qeth and I'm currently testing layer3 qeth.

What version of debian-390 are you using, the current stable that I have
installed, only contains a minimal s390-tools package and I have yet to
find a full debian s390-tools package.

[Stephen Powell]

Post by David Clements

...
The standard Debian package for
Hercules, 3.07, does not support an Open Systems Adapter Express in QDIO
mode, so that's the end of that.
I've never tried to use znetconf. For that matter, I've never tried to use
lsqeth either. But it does seem to be included in the standard s390-tools
# whereis lsqeth
lsqeth: /sbin/lsqeth /usr/share/man/man8/lsqeth.8.gz
By the way, I'd be interested to hear your opinion of my "Debian Under
Hercules"
web page at http://users.wowway.com/~zlinuxman/hercules.htm .

I'm using hercules 4.0, this version supports qeth layer2, I have debian
wheezy running with qeth and I'm currently testing layer3 qeth.
What version of debian-390 are you using, the current stable that I have
installed, only contains a minimal s390-tools package and I have yet to
find a full debian s390-tools package.

The system quoted above is a jessie system (testing).

Debian, especially Debian stable, tends to be a "trailing edge"
distribution. Many Debian packages are substantially behind the latest
upstream release, hercules itself being a good example (3.07 vs 4.0).
GNU parted is another example. It is way behind.

s390-tools is no exception. The release used in jessie, 1.17.1,
is way behind the latest upstream release, which at the time of this
writing is apparently 1.24.1.

Perhaps the tools you are looking for don't exist in 1.17.1.
Debian wheezy (stable) uses 1.16.0, even older. Make sure that the
documentation you're looking at (Device Drivers, Features, and
Commands?) was written for release 1.16.0 or 1.17.1, depending on
which Debian "release" you are running.

If you're looking for a bleeding edge distribution, look elsewhere.

I speak here as an experienced Debian user, not as any kind of
official spokesman for Debian.
--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
`. `'`
`-

[David Clements]

Post by David Clements

Post by David Clements

...
The standard Debian package for
Hercules, 3.07, does not support an Open Systems Adapter Express in QDIO
mode, so that's the end of that.
I've never tried to use znetconf. For that matter, I've never tried to

use

Post by David Clements

lsqeth either. But it does seem to be included in the standard

s390-tools

Post by David Clements

# whereis lsqeth
lsqeth: /sbin/lsqeth /usr/share/man/man8/lsqeth.8.gz
By the way, I'd be interested to hear your opinion of my "Debian Under
Hercules"
web page at http://users.wowway.com/~zlinuxman/hercules.htm .

I'm using hercules 4.0, this version supports qeth layer2, I have debian
wheezy running with qeth and I'm currently testing layer3 qeth.
What version of debian-390 are you using, the current stable that I have
installed, only contains a minimal s390-tools package and I have yet to
find a full debian s390-tools package.

The system quoted above is a jessie system (testing).
Debian, especially Debian stable, tends to be a "trailing edge"
distribution. Many Debian packages are substantially behind the latest
upstream release, hercules itself being a good example (3.07 vs 4.0).
GNU parted is another example. It is way behind.
s390-tools is no exception. The release used in jessie, 1.17.1,
is way behind the latest upstream release, which at the time of this
writing is apparently 1.24.1.
Perhaps the tools you are looking for don't exist in 1.17.1.
Debian wheezy (stable) uses 1.16.0, even older. Make sure that the
documentation you're looking at (Device Drivers, Features, and
Commands?) was written for release 1.16.0 or 1.17.1, depending on
which Debian "release" you are running.
If you're looking for a bleeding edge distribution, look elsewhere.
I speak here as an experienced Debian user, not as any kind of
official spokesman for Debian.
--
.''`. Stephen Powell
`. `'`
`-

I'm in the process of installing Jessie, I'll see how I get on with that
system. As far as the znetconf, lsqeth tools are concerned they were in
S390-tools package at 1.10.0, so they should have been correct in Wheezy.
I'll stay with debian, it is all I need in a distro.

Dave Clements.

[David Clements]

Post by David Clements

Post by David Clements

...
The standard Debian package for
Hercules, 3.07, does not support an Open Systems Adapter Express in

QDIO

Post by David Clements

mode, so that's the end of that.
I've never tried to use znetconf. For that matter, I've never tried

to use

Post by David Clements

lsqeth either. But it does seem to be included in the standard

s390-tools

Post by David Clements

# whereis lsqeth
lsqeth: /sbin/lsqeth /usr/share/man/man8/lsqeth.8.gz
By the way, I'd be interested to hear your opinion of my "Debian Under
Hercules"
web page at http://users.wowway.com/~zlinuxman/hercules.htm .

I'm using hercules 4.0, this version supports qeth layer2, I have debian
wheezy running with qeth and I'm currently testing layer3 qeth.
What version of debian-390 are you using, the current stable that I have
installed, only contains a minimal s390-tools package and I have yet to
find a full debian s390-tools package.

The system quoted above is a jessie system (testing).
Debian, especially Debian stable, tends to be a "trailing edge"
distribution. Many Debian packages are substantially behind the latest
upstream release, hercules itself being a good example (3.07 vs 4.0).
GNU parted is another example. It is way behind.
s390-tools is no exception. The release used in jessie, 1.17.1,
is way behind the latest upstream release, which at the time of this
writing is apparently 1.24.1.
Perhaps the tools you are looking for don't exist in 1.17.1.
Debian wheezy (stable) uses 1.16.0, even older. Make sure that the
documentation you're looking at (Device Drivers, Features, and
Commands?) was written for release 1.16.0 or 1.17.1, depending on
which Debian "release" you are running.
If you're looking for a bleeding edge distribution, look elsewhere.
I speak here as an experienced Debian user, not as any kind of
official spokesman for Debian.
--
.''`. Stephen Powell
`. `'`
`-

I'm in the process of installing Jessie, I'll see how I get on with that
system. As far as the znetconf, lsqeth tools are concerned they were in
S390-tools package at 1.10.0, so they should have been correct in Wheezy.
I'll stay with debian, it is all I need in a distro.
Dave Clements.

My jessie installed finished and znetconf is missing. This is very weird
because lsqeth, lsdasd, lscss, etc. are all part of the zconf sub-package
and they are installed.
I have wasted enough time on this, and as I now understand what is going on
with the s390-tools package, not why, I will continue to pull the package
from DeveloperWorks, and get on with my qeth testing.

[Stephen Powell]

Post by David Clements
My jessie installed finished and znetconf is missing. This is very weird
because lsqeth, lsdasd, lscss, etc. are all part of the zconf sub-package
and they are installed.
I have wasted enough time on this, and as I now understand what is going on
with the s390-tools package, not why, I will continue to pull the package
from DeveloperWorks, and get on with my qeth testing.

I downloaded the Debian source package for s390-tools 1.17.1.
The source code (it's a shell script) for znetconf is present in the source
package, but for some reason it does not get built into the binary version
of the package. I was able to get it to run from the source package
(using "./znetconf -c") when my current directory was debian/build/build/zconf
(starting from the top directory of the source package). But in order to
get it to run, I had to make some changes. Both znetconf and lsznet.raw have
hard-coded references to a directory called /lib/s390-tools, which does not
exist on a stock Debian system. This may be causing a build failure.
But if so, it is a silent build failure. dpkg-buildpackage produces no errors.
I got it to run by changing the directory to ".", for testing purposes.
This is no good for the general case, of course, but I did it just to see if
I could get it to run, and I was able to get it to run that way.
"./znetconf -c" finds and lists my CTCA.

I think this is a question for the package maintainer. Philipp, are you
listening?
--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
`. `'`
`-

[Philipp Kern]

Post by Stephen Powell
I downloaded the Debian source package for s390-tools 1.17.1.
The source code (it's a shell script) for znetconf is present in the source
package, but for some reason it does not get built into the binary version
of the package. I was able to get it to run from the source package
(using "./znetconf -c") when my current directory was debian/build/build/zconf
(starting from the top directory of the source package). But in order to
get it to run, I had to make some changes. Both znetconf and lsznet.raw have
hard-coded references to a directory called /lib/s390-tools, which does not
exist on a stock Debian system. This may be causing a build failure.
But if so, it is a silent build failure. dpkg-buildpackage produces no errors.
I got it to run by changing the directory to ".", for testing purposes.
This is no good for the general case, of course, but I did it just to see if
I could get it to run, and I was able to get it to run that way.
"./znetconf -c" finds and lists my CTCA.
I think this is a question for the package maintainer. Philipp, are you
listening?

Is znetconf solely doing runtime configuration or does it also try to persist
it?

Kind regards
Philipp Kern

[Stephen Powell]

Post by Philipp Kern
Is znetconf solely doing runtime configuration or does it also try to persist
it?
From what I can tell, it appears to be doing runtime configuration only.

--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
`. `'`
`-

[Philipp Kern]

Post by David Clements
My jessie installed finished and znetconf is missing. This is very weird
because lsqeth, lsdasd, lscss, etc. are all part of the zconf sub-package
and they are installed.
I have wasted enough time on this, and as I now understand what is going on
with the s390-tools package, not why, I will continue to pull the package
from DeveloperWorks, and get on with my qeth testing.

Well, we are living in a world where IBM does not take our patches. More
utilities add to the maintenance burden, especially if it's essentially
duplicated functionality to /etc/sysconfig/hardware.

More construtively: znetconf seems to hardcode the path to lsznet.raw,
which hardcodes the path to znetcontrolunits. We could ship the latter
two in /lib/s390-tools, I guess, so that's ok.

I'd encourage you to file a bug against s390-tools in Debian so that it's
not forgotten.

Kind regards and thanks
Philipp Kern