HP XC System Software Installation Guide Version 3.0

to a multicast from the designated image server. Multicast imaging provides very little resource drain on the
image server as compared to other file transfer technologies, and therefore, allows systems of all sizes to
be installed relatively quickly.
Multicast imaging uses the udpcast open source package, and the flamethrower functionality of SystemImager.
A series of udp-sender daemons are run on the image server, and each client node runs a series of
udp-receiver daemons during the imaging operation. The udp-sender daemons are managed by the startsys
command. The startsys command starts these daemons when the --image_only or --image_and_boot
options are entered on the command line and then shuts these daemons down after the imaging operation
is complete. Therefore, you must use startsys when performing a full installation through the imaging
operation.
Follow this procedure to start the system and propagate the golden image to all nodes; the command line
options depend on the number of nodes in your system:
1. Make sure the XC.lic license key file is located in the following directory:
# ls /opt/hptc/etc/license
Caution
You cannot continue if the license key file is not present in this directory. See “Task 6: Have the License
Key File Ready” (page 24) and “Put the License Key File in the Correct Location (Required)” (page 46)
for more information about obtaining and positioning the license key file if you have not already done
so.
2. Use the startsys command to turn on power to all nodes, image the nodes, and boot the nodes. As
shown in Table 4-7, the command line options depend upon the size of your system.
Table 4-7 The startsys Command Line Options
Use on Systems with More
Than 300 Nodes?
Use on Systems with Fewer
Than 300 Nodes?
startsys Command Line Options
NoYes--image_and_boot images and then reboots all nodes so they complete
their per-node configuration phase, thus completing the installation on the
nodes. This option applies only for nodes that have previously been set up
to network boot.
YesNo--image_only completes the imaging phase and then halts the nodes
before their per-node configuration phase. For large-scale systems, booting
while imaging is not recommended.
Enter one of the following commands depending upon the size of your system:
• On systems with fewer than 300 nodes, enter the following command to image and boot all nodes:
# startsys --image_and_boot
• On systems with more than 300 nodes, enter the following command to image all nodes. Then,
proceed to step 3 to boot the nodes after they are imaged:
# startsys --image_only
Command output on a small system looks similar to the following:
Enabled nodes: n[14-16]
Removing the execution node: n16
Boot hierarchy of specified nodes is: n14 n15
Nodes requiring a power off -> n[14-15]
Powering off -> n[14-15]
Nodes that will image -> n[14-15]
Powering on for image -> n[14-15]
Nodes set up for flamethrow -> n[14-15]
Current statistics:
Currently processing -> n[14-15]
Current statistics:
Currently processing -> n[14-15]
Current statistics:
Currently processing -> n[14-15]
Task 9: Run the startsys Utility To Start the System and Propagate the Golden Image 61