Installation guide

Chapter 16. Steps to Get You Started
16.1. Pre-Inst allat ion
The installation process assumes a basic familiarity with the IBM eServer System z platforms. For
additional information on these platforms, refer to the IBM Redbooks available online at:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/
This manual assumes you are familiar with the related Redbooks and can set up logical partitions
(LPARs) and virtual machines (VMs) on an IBM eServer System z system.
Note
For the most current IBM resources, visit http://www.ibm.com/eserver/zseries/.
Before you install Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you must perform the following steps:
1. Allocate sufficient Disk Storage Space using DASDs ⁠ or SCSI ⁠ partitions to provide
suitable disk space (for example, 2 GB is sufficient for server installations, while 5 GB is
minimally required to install all packages).
Important — unformatted DASDs on System z
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 cannot use unformatted DASDs when installing with
kickstart and the cmdline user interface. Refer to the clearpart documentation in
Section 31.4, “ Kickstart Options” for a method to ensure that DASD s are formatted
during installation.
2. Acquire a minimum of 512 MB RAM (1 GB is strongly recommended) to designate for the Linux
virtual machine.
3. Determine if you need swap space and if so how much. While it is possible (and
recommended) to assign enough memory to z/VM and let z/VM do the necessary swapping,
there may be cases where the amount of required RAM is not predictable. Such instances
should be examined on a case-by-case basis.
4. Decide on the environment under which to run the operating system (on an LPAR or as a
guest operating system on one or more virtual machines).
5. Finally, it is important to review sections 3.3 through 3.8, and Chapters 5 and 6 of the IBM
Linux for System z Redbook, as it explains the different configurations and install scenarios
available on the zSeries platform as well as how to setup an initial LPAR or Linux virtual
machine (z/VM).
16.2. Addit ional Hardware Preparat ion for Syst em z
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⁠Chapt er 1 6 . St eps t o G et You St art ed
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