Deployment Guide

suseinst

The suseinst.sh sample script is used to perform an unattended installation of a supported SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating

system. The variables and paths must be specified before the operating system can be installed.

CAUTION: It is recommended that you consult your SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating system documentation and

unattended deployment documentation to develop a thorough understanding of the unattended installation process

before attempting to perform a full scripted deployment.

NOTE: While installing Linux, ensure that you install grub in the boot partition. Otherwise, you cannot boot to the utility

partition by pressing the

<F10> key during reboot.

Utilities used by suseinst

grub — Used with the kernel image and initial ramdisk files, along with the unattended answer file to install the operating system in

BIOS mode.

grub2 — Used with the kernel image and initial ramdisk files, along with the unattended answer file to install the operating system in

UEFI mode.

Variables used

• DT_OS_DISK — Sets the disk on which to deploy the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating system.

• DT_OS_SRC — Sets the location from where to copy the kernel image and initial ramdisk files.

• DT_OS_PART — Sets the valid partition to install the grub files.

• DT_OS_IMG_PATH — Sets the network share where the operating system files are located.

• DT_SUSE_AUTOINST — Sets the network share from where the autoinst.xml file can be accessed.

External dependencies of suseinst.sh

The DT_PLATFORM variable is set during deployment by tkenvset.sh using platform discovery.

The suseinst.sh script uses the unattended answer file in conjunction with the grub utility and kernel image and initial ramdisk files to

install the operating system files.

autoinst.xml or autoinst_uefi.xml for SUSE Linux Enterprise server

The autoinst.xml and autoinst_uefi.xml file is the default name of the answer file that you use to automate an unattended SUSE

Linux Enterprise Server installation in BIOS and UEFI modes respectively. A sample copy of the autoinst.xml/autoinst_uefi.xml file

is provided as part of DTK download in the /opt/dell/toolkit/template/configs directory. The autoinst.xml/autoinst_uefi.xml file

contains the headings and parameters that instruct the installation utility to perform various configuration tasks. Before a full

deployment can be run, edit all appropriate headings and parameters, as necessary.

NOTE: After installing SUSE Linux Enterprise, change the login password by editing the user node of the root user in

autoinst.xml/autoinst_uefi.xml. You can also encrypt the password file by changing false to true in <encrypted

config:type="boolean">false</encrypted>.

NOTE: See your operating system documentation for instructions on modifying the options in the autoinst.xml/

autoinst_uefi.xml file to customize the scripted installation of your operating system.

When you have completed all necessary modifications of the autoinst.xml/ autoinst_uefi.xml file, save the completed file in

the /opt/dell/toolkit/systems/<target system> directory.

After you have successfully edited your deployment scripts, you are ready to create the deployment media and run the deployment.

For instructions on creating the deployment media and running a full deployment, see Deployment Using Dell Provided Embedded

Linux .

NOTE: During an unattended SUSE Linux Enterprise Server installation, if the installer lists out missing packages, delete

the listed packages from autoinst.xml/autoinst_uefi.xml.