3.1.2 Matrix Server Upgrade Guide

Appendix A: Install the RHEL4 Operating System and Kernel 58

2. Compile a New Kernel or Install a Binary Kernel

Matrix Server requires a supported Red Hat Linux kernel. See

“Supported Operating Systems” on page 5 for a list of the supported

RHEL4 kernels.

You will need to determine whether to compile a new kernel from source

or to install a binary kernel. Matrix Server includes patches that fix

problems with the RHEL4 kernel. (For a description of the patches, see

the section “PolyServe Kernel Patches” in the PolyServe Matrix Server

Release Notes.) If you want to install the patches, you will need to compile

the kernel. Otherwise, you can install the binary kernel.

If you will be using a binary kernel, install the kernel following the Red

Hat instructions. You can then skip the rest of this section; go to step “3.

HBA Drivers and Matrix Server” on page 62.

If you are compiling a new kernel, you will need to complete these steps:

• Install the kernel source.

• Install the Matrix Server Support RPM.

• Install the PolyServe kernel patches.

• Compile the kernel.

Install the Kernel Source

You will need to download the kernel .src RPM from the rhn.redhat.com

Web site. Then complete the following steps on each server. (The

examples show the 2.6.9-34.EL kernel.)

1. Install the kernel .src RPM:

# rpm -ihv kernel-2.6.9-34.EL.src.rpm

2. Extract the kernel sources and apply the Red Hat patches:

# rpmbuild -bp --target noarch /usr/src/redhat/SPECS/kernel-2.6.spec

3. Move the extracted kernel sources to the /usr/src directory. Be sure to

rename the destination directory with the correct version suffix (34.EL

in our example).

# mv /usr/src/redhat/BUILD/kernel-2.6.9/linux-2.6.9 /usr/src/linux-

2.6.9-34.EL