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Chapter 3: Setup and Installation
3-7 Installing the Operating System
An operating system (OS) must be installed on each blade module. Blades with
Microsoft Windows OS and blades with Linux OS can both occupy and operate within
the same blade enclosure. Refer to the SuperMicro web site for a complete list of
supported operating systems.
There are several methods of installing an OS to the blade modules.
Installing with an External USB CD-ROM Drive
The most common method of installing the OS is with an external USB CD-ROM drive.
Take the following steps to install the OS to a blade module:
1. Connect an SUV cable (Serial port/USB port/Video port cable) to the KVM
connector on the front of the blade module. You will then need to attach a USB hub
to the USB port on this cable to provide multiple USB ports.
2. Connect the external CD-ROM drive, a USB keyboard and a mouse to the USB hub.
You will also need to connect a monitor to the video connector on the SUV cable.
Turn on the blade module.
3. Insert the CD containing the OS into the CD-ROM drive.
4. Follow the prompts to begin the installation.
Installing via PXE Boot
PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) is used to boot a computer over a network. To
install the OS via PXE, the following conditions must be met:
1. The PXE B
OOT option in BIOS must be enabled.
2. A PXE server has been configured (this can be another blade in the system).
3. The PXE server must be connected over a network to the blade to be booted.
4. The blade has only non-partitioned/unformatted hard drives installed and no
bootable devices attached to it.
Once these conditions are met, make sure the PXE server is running. Then turn on the
blade on which you wish to boot and/or install the OS. The BIOS in the blade will look at
all bootable devices and finding none will connect to the PXE server to begin the boot/
install.
WARNING: Installing the OS from an external CD-ROM drive may take several
hours to complete.