S390x/Installation
1. Known Issues
1. Installation on 2 or more DASDs (either ECKD and FBA) on z/VM is not supported in the installer script (setup-alpine
) at the moment. If you want to install/extend on more than 1 DASD, see "Extending LVM volume". However, installation on 2 or more virtio (SCSI) disks on KVM is supported just like other architectures.
2. The boot media
For KVM, both ISO image and netboot media (kernel and initramfs) are supported.
For z/VM, netboot media is supported.
For LPAR, netboot media is supported. See "LPAR" for more information.
Boot media are found at:
Kernel parameters (and parmfile)
The Alpine s390x boot media requires following kernel parameters to work: (Details at : https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/filesystems/nfs/nfsroot.txt
)
ip=dhcp
: use DHCP for network configuration.
ip=client-ip:server-ip:gw-ip:netmask:hostname:device:autoconf:dns1:dns2
: use static IP configuration, each field is separated by a colon :
client-ip
ip address of the guest VM where we are going to run the installerserver-ip
not used, leave blank or fill withnone
gw-ip
the gateway ip addressnetmask
the netmaskhostname
not used, leave blank or fill withnone
device
the network interface of the guest VM, default iseth0
if left blankautoconf
not used, leave blank or fill withnone
oroff
dns1
address of the DNS serverdns2
address of the 2nd DNS server
alpine_repo=
: the location of the Alpine repository from which packages are downloaded.
- For stable release, use
http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/main
- For rolling release, use
http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main
modloop=
: the remote location of the image containing kernel's modules, required for LVM and raid setup.
- The remote location of the
modloop
image is the same as the kernel and initramfs (see below).
ssh_key=
: the remote location of your SSH public key which is used to allow SSH connection into the installer. It will be downloaded and copied into /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
in the installer.
z/VM only
dasd=
: the addresses of the DASD devices, either ECKD or FBA DASDs. Each device is separated with a comma.
s390x_net=
: the network interface type and its subchannels. At the moment, only QETH layer 2 is supported, thus the name qeth_l2
is used (see below).
3. Pre-installation
KVM
Create a virtual disk:
$ qemu-img create alpine_disk.qcow2 5G
Using iso image
Download latest iso image from : http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/releases/s390x
Start qemu:
$ qemu-system-s390x -M s390-ccw-virtio \ -m 1024 -smp 2 -nographic -enable-kvm \ -net nic -net tap,ifname=tap0,script=no \ -hda alpine_disk.qcow2 \ -boot d -cdrom alpine-standard-3.10.0-s390x.iso
Using netboot media
Download the latest kernel and initramfs.
Start qemu: (modify ip=
alpine_repo=
ssh_key=
for your needs)
$ qemu-system-s390x -M s390-ccw-virtio \ -m 1024 -smp 2 -nographic -enable-kvm \ -net nic -net tap,ifname=tap0,script=no \ -hda alpine_disk.qcow2 \ -kernel vmlinuz-vanilla \ -initrd initramfs-vanilla \ -append "ip=192.168.1.2::192.168.1.1:255.255.255.0::::8.8.8.8:1.1.1.1 alpine_repo=http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/main modloop=http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/releases/s390x/netboot/modloop-vanilla ssh_key=https://your-website.com/your-ssh-key.pub"
ssh_key
might not be required.z/VM
To ease out the process of downloading the images, punch the readers, ipl, etc., ZNETBOOT is used.
Create the parm file
On your workstation/laptop, create a file named alpine.znetboot
in your home directory with contents below (modify dasd=
s390x_net=
ip=
alpine_repo=
ssh_key=
for your needs)
ZNETBOOT_KERNEL=http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/releases/s390x/netboot/vmlinuz-vanilla ZNETBOOT_INITRD=http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/releases/s390x/netboot/initramfs-vanilla ZNETBOOT_PROGRESS=1M alpine_repo=http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/main modloop=http://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.10/releases/s390x/netboot/modloop-vanilla dasd=0.0.04c0,0.0.05d1 s390x_net=qeth_l2,0.0.0560,0.0.0561,0.0.0562 ip=192.168.1.2::192.168.1.1:255.255.255.0::::8.8.8.8:1.1.1.1 ssh_key=https://your-website.com/your-ssh-key.pub
Upload to z/VM system via 3270 client
![](/images/thumb/e/e3/X3270-1.png/300px-X3270-1.png)
On your workstation/laptop, download 2 files znetboot.exec
, and curl.rexx
to your home directory.
Open 3270 client and log in the z/VM system with your z/VM username and password.
Upload 3 files alpine.znetboot
, znetboot.exec
, curl.rexx
to the z/VM environment using the 3270 client (this tutorial uses x3270). On the top left corner, click "File", then "File Transfer". (Figure 1.)
Do following steps : (Figure 2.)
![](/images/thumb/a/af/X3270-2.png/300px-X3270-2.png)
- On "Local File Name" box, enter alpine.znetboot (the file in your laptop/workstation, at ~/alpine.znetboot)
- On "Host File Name" box, enter alpine znetboot (the file will be in z/VM console)
.
and the space
characters in the file names.- Choose Send to host
- Choose Host is VM/CMS
- Choose either Fixed or Variable for Record Format
- Enter a number for LRECL and BLKSIZE, respectively
- Click Transfer File box
Repeat the same steps with znetboot.exec
and curl.rexx
files.
(Optional) Check the configuration files
On 3270 client, enter following commands to check if the configuration files are correctly transferred:
xedit alpine znetboot
xedit znetboot exec
xedit curl rex
or filel
and put xedit
on CMD column to edit respective file.
Start ZNETBOOT
On 3270 client, type below command and wait till Figure 3.:
![](/images/thumb/9/9b/X3270-3.png/300px-X3270-3.png)
znetboot alpine
4. Installation
If you install on z/VM, steps in this part does not involve the interaction with the 3270 client anymore. Everything is done in the terminal with SSH client.
If you install on KVM, you can either SSH into the installer (below) or directly use the console starting qemu.
Either installing in KVM or z/VM environments, from your workstation/laptop, you will be able to run:
$ ssh root@192.168.1.2 (change ip address to what you specified earlier)
Remaining steps are similar to installing Alpine on other architectures (x86, arm, ppc, etc.), either on KVM (using virtio/SCSI disks) or on z/VM with FBA DASDs. Installing on ECKD DASDs requires an additional step, as described below.
Example
Below is the detailed walkthrough of installing Alpine on a single ECKD DASD using LVM and extend that LVM to the second ECKD DASD.
After SSH-ing into the Alpine installer, run:
# setup-alpine
Select keyboard layout [none]:
- press Enter for none
Enter system hostname (short form, e.g. 'foo') [localhost]:
- enter your hostname
Available interfaces are: eth0. Enter '?' for help on bridges, bonding and vlans. Which one do you want to initialize? (or '?' or 'done') [eth0]:
- type 'eth0' or press Enter
Ip address for eth0? (or 'dhcp', 'none', '?') [192.168.1.2]
- enter ip address or 'dhcp'
Netmask? [255.255.255.0]
- enter netmask
Gateway? (or 'none') [192.168.1.1]
- enter gateway's ip address
Do you want to do any manual network configuration? [no]
- enter 'no' or press Enter
DNS domain name? (e.g 'bar.com') []
- enter domain name or press Enter for none
DNS nameserver(s)? [8.8.8.8 ]
- enter DNS nameserver
Changing password for root
- enter root password
Which timezone are you in? ('?' for list) [UTC]
- enter timezone or '?' for list of timezones
HTTP/FTP proxy URL? (e.g. 'http://proxy:8080', or 'none') [none]
- enter proxy or press Enter for none
Enter mirror number (1-27) or URL to add (or r/f/e/done) [f]:
- enter a number or 'r' or 'f' or 'e' or 'done' as described
Which SSH server? ('openssh', 'dropbear' or 'none') [openssh]
- enter SSH server or press Enter for openssh
Which NTP client to run? ('busybox', 'openntpd', 'chrony' or 'none') [chrony]
- enter 'busybox' or press Enter for chrony
(next step is the additional step for ECKD DASDs on z/VM)
Available ECKD DASD(s) are: 0.0.04c0 (3390/0c 3990/e9 IBM) 0.0.05d1 (3390/0c 3990/e9 IBM) Which ECKD DASD(s) would you like to be formatted using dasdfmt? (enter '?' for help) [all]
- enter 'all' or '0.0.04c0 0.0.05d1' (separated by a space) to format all/both DASDs
- enter '0.0.04c0' or '0.0.05d1' to format respective DASD
- enter '?' for help
WARNING: Erase ECKD DASD 0.0.04c0? [y/N]:
- enter 'y' to format
Available disks are: dasda (2.5 GB IBM 0.0.04c0) Which disk(s) would you like to use? (or '?' for help or 'none') [dasda]
- enter 'dasda' or press Enter
The following disk is selected: dasda (2.5 GB IBM 0.0.04c0) How would you like to use it? ('sys', 'data', 'lvm' or '?' for help) [?]
- enter 'lvm'
The following disk is selected (with LVM): dasda (2.5 GB IBM 0.0.04c0) How would you like to use it? ('sys', 'data' or '?' for help) [?]
- enter 'sys' to install Alpine on disk
WARNING: The following disk(s) will be erased: dasda (2.5 GB IBM 0.0.04c0) WARNING: Erase the above disk(s) and continue? [y/N]:
- enter 'y'
Installation is complete. Please reboot.
- the installation is finished
At this point, don't poweroff the installer right away. Go to "Copying SSH keys to new Alpine system" (below) to have SSH access to your new Alpine system.
Copying SSH keys to new Alpine system
By default, Alpine disables root login with a password via SSH. SSH keys are used instead.
After the installer's done running (Installation is complete. Please reboot.
), there are 2 ways to copy your SSH key into the new Alpine system:
- Option 1: mount the installed disk and copy the SSH keys while still at the installer's terminal
- Option 2: poweroff the installer, start the new Alpine system and directly add the SSH keys
- if you install on KVM, boot the new Alpine system on qemu, and copy the SSH keys
- if you install on z/VM, use the 3270 client to ipl the new Alpine system and copy the SSH keys
Option 1
If you use 'lvm' + 'sys' installation (like in above example), do:
# mount /dev/vg0/lv_root /mnt
# cp -ar /root/.ssh /mnt/root
If you use 'sys' (without LVM) installation, do:
# mount /dev/dasda3 /mnt
(change dasda to dasdb or dasdc, etc. for whichever DASD you chose)
# cp -ar /root/.ssh /mnt/root
Then run # poweroff
.
Go to "Login to new Alpine system"
Option 2
Run # poweroff
.
If you use KVM, start qemu with new Alpine system (removing -kernel
, -initrd
, -append
options)
If you use z/VM, open the 3270 client, login with your z/VM username and password. You may need to run ipl cms
. Then run ipl 04c0
(or whichever DASD device you chose as root disk in earlier steps).
Wait for new Alpine system go up, then login as root user while in the qemu console (on KVM) or 3270 client (on z/VM). Then run:
# mkdir /root/.ssh
# wget https://your-website.com/your-ssh-key.pub -O /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
# chmod 700 /root/.ssh
# chmod 600 /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
Go to "Login to new Alpine system"
Login to new Alpine system
On your workstation/laptop, use SSH client to login new Alpine system:
$ ssh root@192.168.1.2
(or whichever ip address you used)
Extending LVM volume
After logging in to your new Alpine system, run:
# apk add -q util-linux e2fsprogs-extra # lsblk NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT dasda 94:0 0 2.3G 0 disk ├─dasda1 94:1 0 100M 0 part /boot └─dasda2 94:2 0 2.2G 0 part ├─vg0-lv_swap 254:0 0 588M 0 lvm [SWAP] └─vg0-lv_root 254:1 0 1.6G 0 lvm / dasdb 94:4 0 2.3G 0 disk # dasdfmt -b 4096 -d cdl -yp /dev/dasdb # fdasd -a /dev/dasdb # pvcreate /dev/dasdb1 # vgextend vg0 /dev/dasdb1 # lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/vg0/lv_root # resize2fs /dev/vg0/lv_root # lsblk NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT dasda 94:0 0 2.3G 0 disk ├─dasda1 94:1 0 100M 0 part /boot └─dasda2 94:2 0 2.2G 0 part ├─vg0-lv_swap 254:0 0 588M 0 lvm [SWAP] └─vg0-lv_root 254:1 0 3.9G 0 lvm / dasdb 94:4 0 2.3G 0 disk └─dasdb1 94:5 0 2.3G 0 part └─vg0-lv_root 254:1 0 3.9G 0 lvm /
5. Tips
If you want to disable swap partition, after finishing NTP client step, quit the installer by pressing Ctrl + C
. Then run following command to complete remaining steps:
# setup-disk -s 0