Installed SLES8 System Does Not Start Correctly on S/390

Support knowledgebase (jreuter_s390_incomplete_inst)
Applies to

SuSE Linux S/390: sles8

Symptom:

The installed system does not boot completely after installation: some services are missing and the login prompt does not appear on the 3270 terminal. The last messages on the 3270 terminal are some kernel messages, input on the terminal does not have any effect. However, SSH login is possible. Executing the command runlevel outputs unknown.

Cause:

The installation has not finished yet. Unlike SLES7, where all package installation and initial configuration is done before booting the installed system for the first time, YaST2 performs these steps (described in the installation manual, chapter 12, page 71: "System Configuration") on the first boot. This happens automatically on all architectures that have a graphical display or a non-block mode text mode terminal. However, since the S/390 or zSeries does not have either and Linux cannot use the 3270 terminal fully, some user interaction is necessary.

Solution:

The procedure depends on the installation selected:

X11 Installation

Make sure the X11 server is running on the same system used to install the system when IPLing the installed system. A window with YaST2 will open and finish the installation.

VNC Installation

A message on the 3270 terminal will ask you to connect with a VNC client to the Linux system. The message is probably hidden between kernel messages and is easily missed or the terminal clears the screen before you can read it. In that case, connect the VNC viewer to the Linux system if nothing seems to happen for more than five minutes.

SSH Installation

Same effect as with the VNC installation: the message to connect to the Linux system with SSH can be missed easily. Perform the following steps when the system seems to have stopped:


Keywords: S390, ZSERIES, INSTALLATION, VNC, X11, SSH, REMOTE, DISPLAY, CONSOLE, TEXT, MODE

Categories: S/390

SDB-jreuter_s390_incomplete_inst, Copyright SuSE Linux AG, Nürnberg, Germany - Version: 23. Jul 2003
SuSE Linux AG - Last generated: 28. Jul 2003 by jreuter (sdb_gen 1.40.0)