Users Guide
reconfigured and recompiled in such a way that none of the precompiled Server Administrator device drivers support the recompiled kernel, then Server
Administrator may need to use its DKS feature to support the running kernel.
If you see the following message during Server Administrator Device Drivers startup, then Server Administrator attempted to use its DKS feature, but was
unable to use the feature because certain prerequisites were not met:
Building <driver> using DKS... [FAILED]
where <driver> is dcdbas or dell_rbu
To use DKS, you should identify which kernel you have running, then check the DKS prerequisites.
Determining the Running Kernel
1. Log in as root.
2. Type the following command at a console and press <Enter>:
uname -r
The system displays a message identifying the running kernel. If it is not one of those listed in the managed system software readme file, then the managed
system software may need to use DKS to support it.
Dynamic Kernel Support Prerequisites
FormanagedsystemsoftwaretouseDKS,thefollowingdependenciesmustbemetbeforestartingServerAdministrator.
l The running kernel must have loadable module support enabled.
l The source for building kernel modules for the running kernel must be available from /lib/modules/`uname –r`/build. On systems running Red Hat
Enterprise Linux (version 3) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (version 9 and 10), the kernel-source RPM provides the necessary kernel source.
OnsystemsrunningRedHatEnterpriseLinux(version4),thekernel*-devel RPMs provide the necessary kernel source for building kernel modules.
l The GNU make utility must be installed. The make RPM provides this utility.
l The GNU C compiler (gcc) must be installed. The gcc RPM provides this compiler.
l The GNU linker (ld) must be installed. The binutils RPM provides this linker.
When these prerequisites have been met, DKS will automatically build a device driver when needed during Server Administrator startup.
Using Dynamic Kernel Support After Server Administrator Installation
To enable Server Administrator to support a kernel that is not supported by a precompiled device driver and is loaded after Server Administrator has been
installed, perform the following steps:
1. Ensure that the DKS prerequisites are met on the system to be managed.
2. Boot the new kernel on the system.
Server Administrator builds a device driver for the kernel running on the system the first time that Server Administrator starts after the kernel is loaded. By
default, Server Administrator starts during system startup.
Copying a Dynamically Built Device Driver to Systems Running the Same Kernel
When Server Administrator dynamically builds a device driver for the running kernel, it installs the device driver into
the /lib/modules/<kernel>/kernel/drivers/firmware directory, where <kernel> is the kernel name (returned by typing uname -r). If you have a system
running the same kernel for which a device driver was built, you can copy the newly built device driver to the /var/omsa/dks/<kernel> directory on the
other system for use by Server Administrator. This action allows Server Administrator to use DKS on multiple systems without having to install the kernel
source on every system.
An example is the following scenario: System A is running a kernel that is not supported by one of the Server Administrator precompiled device drivers. System
B is running the same kernel. Perform the following steps to build a device driver on system A and copy the device driver to system B for use by Server
Administrator:
1. Ensure that the DKS prerequisites are met on system A.
2. Start Server Administrator on system A.
NOTE: Server Administrator logs messages to the /var/log/messages log file.
NOTE: Unsupported kernels arekernelsthatarenotsupportedbyaprecompileddevicedriver.Ifyouarerunningasupportedkernel,see"Installing and
Upgrading Managed System Software."