NPACI Rocks Cluster Distribution: Users Guide: 
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| Prev | Chapter 7. Frequently Asked Questions | Next |
7.1.1. While trying to bring up a compute node, I boot it from the Rocks CD, and when I plug a monitor into the compute node, I see the error message 'Error opening kickstart file /tmp/ks.cfg. No such file or directory'. What went wrong?
A compute node kickstart requires the following services to be running on the frontend:
dhcpd
httpd
mysqld
autofs
To check if httpd and mysqld are running:
# ps auwx | grep httpd # ps auwx | grep mysqld |
If either one is not running, restart them with:
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/httpd restart |
and/or
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/mysqld restart |
The autofs service is called 'automount'. To check if it is running:
# ps auwx | grep automount |
If it isn't, restart it:
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/autofs restart |
Finally, to test if the Rocks installation infrastructure is working:
# cd /home/install # ./kickstart.cgi --client="compute-0-0" |
This should return a kickstart file.
And to see if there are any errors associated with kickstart.cgi:
# ./kickstart.cgi --client="compute-0-0" > /dev/null |
7.1.2. When I try to install a compute node, the error message on the compute node says, "Can't mount /tmp. Please press OK to restart". What should I do?
Most likely, this situation arises due to the size of the disk drive on the compute node. The installation procedure for Rocks formats the disk on the compute node if Rocks has never been installed on the compute node before.
The fix requires changing the way Rocks partitions disk drives. See Partitioning for details.
7.1.3. My compute nodes don't have a CD drive and my network cards don't PXE boot, but my compute nodes do have a floppy drive. How can I install the compute nodes?
You will create a boot floppy that emulates the PXE protocol. This is accomplished by going to the web site:
Then click on the version number under the Latest Development Release (as of this writing, this is version 5.3.7).
Select your device driver in item 1. Keep the default setting in item 2 (Floppy bootable ROM Image). Then click "Get ROM" in item 4.
We suggest using dd to copy the downloaded floppy image to the floppy media. For example:
# dd if=eb-5.2.4-pcnet32.zdsk of=/dev/fd0 |
Then run insert-ethers on your frontend and boot your compute node with the floppy.
7.1.4. When I install Rocks, it asks for a third CD. I insert the CD and the install program rejects it. What should I do?
Most likely, this situation arises due to the video chip on your frontend. RedHat 7.3 ships with XFree86 version 4.0 and not all video chips are supported with version 4.0. So, RedHat's installation program tries to install a compatibility package from version 3 of XFree86. This package is on the 3rd Rocks CD.
If you see the install program trying to install the package XFree86-compat-modules-3.3.6-42, then you have hit the issue described above.
Unfortunately, we have not engineered a multi-CD solution. A work-around for this problem is to edit the ks.cfg file you downloaded when you filled out the Rocks Cluster Configuration web form. Here's the procedure:
Edit ks.cfg
change the line:
XFree86-libs |
to:
XFree86-libs -XFree86-compat-modules |
Copy ks.cfg back on to your floppy.
Reinstall your frontend.
After your frontend comes up, install the XFree86-compat-modules package by hand, by executing:
rpm -Uvh http://www.rocksclusters.org/install/rocks-dist/7.3/en/os/i386/RedHat/RPMS/XFree86-compat-modules-3.3.6-42.i386.rpm |