Installation od Debian under z/VM530

[Alain Benveniste]

Hi,

I'm not allowed to install Debian from the Net. So I chose the hidden FTP method, only viewable when we choose the low option through Installer.
Now that I have my ISO file, I have no idea if this file has to be on a CMS mdisk, a SFS or a BFS ? If the installer iw waiting for a CMS iso file, how it resolves the concatened subdirectries it adds ?And there is no way to overlay what the wget does, because extra directories are added to what is entered in the screen installer. Looking too into the the /var/log/syslog we can see that the default for the defaultnet is 255.255.252.0 not 255.255.255.0.

I would like to know too what we can code into the parmfile. I didn't fnd any doc related to this ?

If anyone can bring some light ? That's would be fine :)

Thanks
Alain

[Stephen Powell]

I took the liberty of correcting your typos, including those in
the subject line.

Post by Alain Benveniste
I'm not allowed to install Debian from the Net.

I'm not sure what that means. Does that mean that you are not
allowed to use the http protocol, or does that mean that your
VM system has no access to the Internet at all?

Post by Alain Benveniste
So I chose the
hidden FTP method, only viewable when we choose the low option
through Installer.

I assume that you are referring to debconf/priority=low as an
option in PARMFILE DEBIAN. That implies that your VM system
*does* have access to the internet, or you couldn't use FTP.

Post by Alain Benveniste
Now that I have my ISO file, I have no idea
if this file has to be on a CMS mdisk, an SFS or a BFS?

When installing in a virtual machine under z/VM, you shouldn't
need an ISO file. But let's back up a minute. Most Debian
mirrors do support the FTP protocol, as well as the HTTP
protocol. But to the best of my knowledge, the security
server and the volatile server only support the HTTP protocol.
If you aren't allowed to use HTTP, you won't be able to
pick up security or volatile updates. That would not be
a good thing for security. If HTTP is truly forbidden, ask
your management to reconsider. Preventing security updates
harms everyone.

Perhaps the real rule is that all HTTP access must go through
an HTTP proxy. That is not a problem. The Debian installer
provides a way to specify a proxy. And if you don't specify
it during installation, you can manually configure apt after
installation to start using a proxy.

On the s390 platform, an ISO file is normally used to burn
a CD, which can be used to install Linux directly into an LPAR.
But you don't want to run Linux in an LPAR, you want to run
it in a virtual machine under z/VM. CDs, or the .iso images
from which they are created, are not normally needed or used
for installing in a virtual machine under z/VM.

Post by Alain Benveniste
If the
installer is waiting for a CMS iso file, how [does] it resolve the
concatenated subdirectries it adds? And there is no way to
overlay what the wget does, because extra directories are added
to what is entered in the screen installer.

I think you're confused. I know I am! I don't know what
you're talking about. You might want to read a post that I
made to another thread which gives some more detail about
the typical installation procedure in a virtual machine under
z/VM:

http://lists.debian.org/debian-s390/2010/09/msg00013.html

Post by Alain Benveniste
Looking too into the
/var/log/syslog we can see that the default for the defaultnet
is 255.255.252.0 not 255.255.255.0.

The installation of the s390 port of Debian GNU/Linux in a virtual
machine under z/VM requires that the virtual machine be configured
using static addressing. The use of DHCP is not allowed under
these circumstances. Thus, it is your responsibility to configure
the network correctly. If you aren't sure what to use for the
various configuration values, ask your network administrator
for assistance.

Post by Alain Benveniste
I would like to know too what we can code into the parmfile.
I didn't fnd any doc related to this ?
If anyone can bring some light ? That's would be fine :)

That is documented in the installation guide. (I am assuming
that you want to install Squeeze.)

http://d-i.alioth.debian.org/manual/en.s390/index.html

See section 5.2, boot parameters.
--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
`. `'`
`-

[Delphine Soyer]

Hello Stephen


Thanks to give me some light !

OK. I want to install a free Linux to learn by myself the basics to follow
the market...
I will never have a Linux from my employee. So I have to follow my idea
without any help from him.
So YES, I can¹t access the WEB in extranet point of view. I can¹t even use
HTTP in intranet for security reasons.
It explains my approach to ask if it is possible to use my VM first level as
a FTP server to install Debian.
An other way would be to use NFS to mount the ISO, as I wanted to install it
in a LPAR, but I don¹t know how to do that.


Regards
Alain from France

[Stephen Powell]

Post by Delphine Soyer
Thanks to give me some light !
OK. I want to install a free Linux to learn by myself the basics to follow
the market...
I will never have a Linux from my employee.

I assume you meant to say "employer" instead of "employee".

Post by Delphine Soyer
So I have to follow my idea
without any help from him.
So YES, I can¹t access the WEB in extranet point of view. I can¹t even use
HTTP in intranet for security reasons.

That does put you at a disadvantage.

Post by Delphine Soyer
It explains my approach to ask if it is possible to use my VM first level as
a FTP server to install Debian.

In theory, it seems like it should be possible. Your VM system's FTP
server should be able to serve up the files. The two main requirements
are (1) Getting the files onto the FTP server in the first place, which
could be tricky since you can't access the internet. (2) Making sure
that your FTP server supports anonymous FTP. By default, a VM FTP server
does not support anonymous FTP, but the Debian installer uses anonymous
FTP. I've never done anything like this; so you're on your own. What
worries me the most is the preservation of the Rock Ridge extensions.
You will probably need to use a BFS server to store the data. Files
on CMS minidisks or in SFS servers aren't going to cut it.

The installation manual does not provide much information
on this topic. Here's what it says.

-----

3.6.4. Setting up an installation server

If you don't have a connection to the Internet (either directly or via
a web proxy) you need to create a local installation server that can be
accessed from your S/390. This server keeps all the packages you want
to install and must make them available using NFS, HTTP or FTP.

The installation server needs to copy the exact directory structure from
any Debian GNU/Linux mirror, but only the s390 and architecture-independent
files are required. You can also copy the contents of all installation
CDs into such a directory tree.

-----

Basically, you would be setting up an internal Debian mirror, except that
there is no provision to sync up when the external mirrors change. And
of course there will be no security or volatile updates, nor any updates
of testing or sid, nor stable point release updates.

I am fortunate enough to be at an installation where connectivity to
the external internet is available to my VM system; so I never had to
deal with your situation. I'm afraid I have no experience in that
particular aspect of your installation problem. Good luck.

Please report back if you are successful, with details of what you
did and how you did it, and a list of pitfalls to avoid.
--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
`. `'`
`-