Users Guide

100 Installing Managed System Software on Supported Linux Operating Systems
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.
Server Administrator builds a device driver for the kernel running on system A during startup.
3 Ty p e uname -r on system A to determine the name of the running kernel.
4 Copy any dcdbas.* or dell_rbu.* files in the /lib/modules/ <kernel> / kernel/drivers/firmware directory
on system A to the /var/omsa/dks/ <kernel> directory on system B, where <kernel> is the kernel name
returned by typing
uname -r in step 3.
NOTE: The /lib/modules/<kernel>/kernel/drivers/firmware directory may contain one or more of the
following files: dcdbas.* or dell_rbu.*
NOTE: You might have to create the /var/omsa/dks/<kernel> directory on system B. For example, if the
kernel name is 1.2.3-4smp, you can create the directory by typing:
mkdir -p /var/omsa/dks/1.2.3-4smp
5
Start Server Administrator on system B.
Server Administrator detects that the device driver you copied to the
/var/omsa/dks/ <kernel> directory
supports the running kernel and uses that device driver.
NOTE: You can also use this procedure when upgrading Server Administrator if the new version of Server
Administrator does not support the running kernel with a precompiled device driver.
NOTE: When you have uninstalled Server Administrator from system B, the /var/omsa/dks/<kernel>/*. files
that you copied to system B are not removed. You must remove the files if they are no longer needed.