Running the Installation Program

After following the steps outlined in Chapter 1 for booting an LPAR or VM system, telnet or ssh to the configured Linux install system on the S/390. Logging on via ssh is the preferred method.

When logged into the machine, running loader will start the installation program.

When loader starts, there will be several text mode screens for selecting the installation method. Refer to the Section called Installing from Hard Drive (DASD) in Chapter 3 and the Section called Installing over a Network in Chapter 3 for information on these screens.

NoteNote
 

While the text mode installation program is run by default for most installations, NFS installations will run the graphical installation program by default if you have logged into the VM from an X11 terminal.

If your DNS or hostnames are not set correctly, or the VM is not allowed to open applications on your display, the installation program will fail. You can prevent this by setting a correct DISPLAY variable (execute the command export DISPLAY=workstationname:0.0 at the VM prompt) and allowing the VM to connect (using the command xhost +vmname on your local workstation).

If you have a slow connection or prefer a text installation, unset the DISPLAY variable by executing the command unset DISPLAY at the VM prompt.

If the graphical installation via NFS does not automatically begin for you, be sure to check what the DISPLAY=variable is set to. To begin the graphical installation program once you have logged into the VM, you must issue the command export DISPLAY=workstationname:0.0, where workstationname is the name of your workstation. You must also make sure the workstation you are working on will allow the display of remote windows by setting xhost +VMname.

Additionally, it you set a DISPLAY variable on your local workstation before connecting to the VM (which is always the case when you connect using an xterm inside of an X Window System session), you do not need to do a xhost +VMname. The ssh application will do all the work for you.