Differences

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--- hardware:tala [2016/04/06 22:13] – created dgalloway
+++ hardware:tala [2020/01/30 15:56] (current) – djgalloway
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-====== WIP tala{001..016} ======
+====== tala{001..016} (RETIRED) ======
+This hardware was retired on 30JAN2020.
 ===== Summary ======
 The tala are 16 individual 32-bit ARM (armhf/armhfp) nodes in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calxeda|Calxeda]] Highbank 2U chassis.
@@ Line 8: / Line 10: @@
 ''cxmanage'' is the Calxeda Server Management Utility.  It interacts with the BMC-equivalent of a management controller and allows admins to control aspects of all nodes at once.
-For now, here's the output of its ''--help'':<codedoc toggle>
+For now, here's the output of its ''%%--help%%'':<codedoc toggle>
 $ cxmanage --help
 usage: cxmanage [-h] [-V] [-u USER] [-p PASSWORD] [-U USER] [-P PASSWORD] [-a]
@@ Line 149: / Line 151: @@
 </codedoc>
+The tool's oddly particular about the syntax/order.  Here's what I've found works.
+<code>
+cxmanage -u inktank -p PASSWORD info tala###.ipmi.sepia.ceph.com
+</code>
 ===== PXE Booting =====
 ==== Ubuntu ====
+Ubuntu for armhf is not imported in Cobbler.  The kernel and initrd were manually uploaded to the cobbler host.
 I didn't have much luck directly booting trusty or xenial kernel images but was able to PXE and install Precise then ''do-release-upgrade''.
@@ Line 483: / Line 491: @@
   - Set the tala's profile in Cobbler to ''Debian-8.4.0-armhf-x86_64''
   - Set the tala to netboot in Cobbler
-<code>
+  - Boot the tala node and interrupt boot by pressing <s>
-# Boot the tala node and interrupt boot by pressing <s>
+  - At the Highbank prompt: ''dhcp; pxe get; pxe boot''
-dhcp
-pxe get
-pxe boot
-</code>
 === Debian Install Notes ===
-As of this writing, the kernel included in the [[http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/armhf/iso-cd/debian-testing-armhf-netinst.iso|latest daily build]] of Jessie would PXE boot.
+As of this writing, the kernel included in the latest (2016-04-06) [[http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/daily-builds/daily/arch-latest/armhf/iso-cd/|daily build]] of Jessie would PXE boot.
 The iso was added to ''roles/cobbler_profile/defaults/main.yml'' in [[services:ceph-cm-ansible]] and imported that way.
@@ Line 497: / Line 501: @@
   * I gave up on trying to automate/kickstart the install so no kickstart is set for the profile.
-I also had to change each tala's bootargs at the U-Boot prompt
+To boot Debian, the system's bootargs in U-Boot need to be edited each time the system is rebooted.  The default is: ''console=ttyAMA0 root=LABEL=rootfs nosplash'' but the ''root='' causes the system to drop to an initramfs prompt.  Removing the argument or setting to ''root=/dev/sda2'' both work.
 <code>
-Highbank #setenv bootargs console=ttyAMA0 root=/dev/sda2 nosplash
+Highbank #setenv bootargs console=ttyAMA0
 Highbank #saveenv
 </code>
+The Debian installer was trying to reach package mirrors using IPv6 and failing since IPv6 isn't routable in Sepia at the moment.  ''ipv6.disable=1'' was added to the kernel options in Cobbler to combat this.