Setup guide

Install Linux for Flare
Prerequisites
■ Mouse, keyboard and graphics monitor are connected, and the graphics monitor is powered on.
■ If you are using a KVM switch, it is switched to the system on which you want to install Linux.
■ The DVD or CDROM drive is set as the primary boot device in the workstation BIOS. For information
on configuring your workstation BIOS, refer to the documentation for your hardware.
■ Get the installer. Major releases are distributed on a USB drive. Service packs or extensions are distributed
as a downloadable tar file.
■ If not installing Red Hat, Prepare the CentOS disc (page 64).
Procedure
1 Insert the installation disc and reboot the system. The system should boot to the Linux installation
disc. If not, check your BIOS settings to make sure the DVD / CDROM drive is set as the primary boot
device.
2 At the boot prompt in the installation menu, run ifffsbc linux ks=cdrom to launch the Linux
installation. You must use this exact command to start the Linux installation. If you use the default
options presented by the Linux installation prompt, the installation proceeds, but the Autodesk kickstart
file is not read by the installer, and some important packages required by Autodesk software are not
installed. The command launches the Linux installation. The system spends several minutes loading
drivers. The installer guides you through the rest of the process. If you experience problems with the
graphical Linux installer, reboot your computer and run the installer in low resolution VESA mode by
typing linux ks=cdrom xdriver=vesa. If you still experience problems, reboot again and start the
installer in text-only mode with linux ks=cdrom text.
3 If you are installing Red Hat Linux, enter your installation number when the Linux installer prompts
you to. The number should be included in the package you received from Red Hat, or in your account
profile on the Red Hat Web site. Do not skip entering the installation number at this point. If you do
not enter the installation number, the installation proceeds, but some important packages are not
installed by the Red Hat installer.
4 The installation process may ask you to initialize the system disk. Follow the prompts to initialize the
disk, if necessary. Autodesk recommends the following approach when partitioning your system disk:
remove all existing partitions, then manually create a /boot partition of at least 100MB, a Linux swap
partition of 2048MB, and use the rest of the drive for the root partition. Set the root partition to be a
primary partition.
5 The rest of the installation process is automated.
The default root password for a Linux installation on a node is password.
Prepare the CentOS disc
Before installing CentOS distro for non-Autodesk hardware, you must add the Autodesk kickstart file to the
DVD or first CD of your distribution so the Linux installer to install some packages. The custom Autodesk
DVD of Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Autodesk hardware already contains the Autodesk kickstart file.
To copy the kickstart file to the disc. Use the new disc as the DVD or first CD of the CentOS distribution
you plan to install on the node.
1 On a computer running Linux and with a CD or DVD burner, log in as root.
64 | Chapter 2 Install and configure a Flare workstation