Methods for operating-system deployment to X-Architecture compute nodes

Before you deploy an operating-system image to an X-Architecture compute node, choose the right deployment method for the operating system your compute nodes.

Before you begin

Determine which of the following methods you will use to install an operating system on the X-Architecture compute node:

ServerGuide deployment
For information about using ServerGuide for Microsoft Windows, see the Installing Microsoft Windows using IBM® ServerGuide quick start guide PDF in Installing operating systems.
ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit deployment
For information about using the ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit, see the Installing Linux using IBM ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit quick start guide PDF in Installing operating systems.
Operating system vendor deployment
If you want to deploy VMware ESXi, RHEL, or RHEL Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM), you can use the Deploy compute node images task to import the operating system to the management node and then deploy it to multiple X-Architecture compute nodes. For more information, see Using the Deploy compute node images task to deploy operating systems.

About this task

In addition to the preceding deployment methods, you can find installation instructions for some operating systems and compute nodes on the IBM website. For instructions related to the installation procedure for a specific operating system running on a specific compute node, complete the following steps.

Note: The specific instructions for the operating systems also contain information about installing those operating systems on a virtual machine.

Procedure

  1. Go to www.ibm.com.
  2. In the search field, type the machine type for the compute node, followed by operating system installation instructions. For example, to find the operating system installation instructions for the IBM Flex System x240 Compute Node Types 7863, 8737, and 8738, type the following:
    8737 operating system installation instructions
    Alternatively, you can type the name of the operating system, as in the following example:
    RHEL5.7 x86_64 Install Instructions

What to do next

The IBM Flex System Manager requires that you discover and inventory an operating system after it is deployed to a compute node, unless you use the Deploy compute node images task (in which case the discovery and inventory occurs automatically).