Setup

This server is configured with 2 hard drives, on for the system, and one for shared folders.

---

Hardware Setup

This depends on your hardware. I selected the fastest drive for the OS, and another one for shared access. It prevents the system from being affected by network access while working on it..

1. Install 18GB Compaq hard drive in its caddy and put it in slot 1.
2. Install 18GB IBM hard drive in slot 2.
3. The disks will be mounted as follow:
   - Slot 1 is the root drive (mounted as /)
   - Slot 2 is the shared drive (mounted as /shared)
4. Close the Octane case (Front panel).
5. Connect SCSI external CDROM, set the termination switch to ON and set the drive ID to ID 4.
6. Connect keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, ethernet and power cable.

 

 

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Prepare hard disks

1. Switch on the CDROM drive and then the workstation.
2. Press the 'Esc' key to enter the System Maintenance menu.
3. Click Enter System Monitor or press '5'.
4. Type hinv to get the controler ID and SCSI ID of the CDROM drive. (Controler 1 ID 4 in my case)
5. We need to boot the program fx from a partition on the CDROM. Type the command (on one line) boot -f dksc(controlerID,CDROM ID,8)sash64 dksc(controlerID,CDROM ID,7)stand/fx.64 --x
   Note: the command is different for different hardware platform. This one is for the 64bits ARCS PROM systems, like the Octane.

Command Monitor. Type "exit" or click on "done" to return to the menu.
>>boot -f dksc(1,4,8)sash64 dksc(1,4,7)stand/fx.64 --x

Command Monitor with boot command
6. Type Enter 3 times to select the drive in slot 1. fx will check the drive, display its type and show a menu.

...
SGI Version 6.5 ARCS BE64 Oct 6, 2004
fx: "devicename" = (dksc)
fx: ctrl# = (0)
fx: drive# = (1)
...opening dksc(0,1,0)
...drive selftest...OK
Scsi drive type == COMPAQ AB01831AC4   3A05

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[exi]t       [d]ebug/    [l]abel/        [a]uto
[b]adblock/  [exe]rcise  [r]epartition/
fx>

Command Monitor with fx loaded on controller 0, disk 1
7. Type r to repartition. fx will display a list of partition on the drive and a menu. Type ro to set the drive as the root drive. Type Enter to accept the partition type (xfs). A warning message tells you that you are about to wipe out your harddrive. Press y to continue.
   fx will create the partitions on the drive. (volume header, swap and data partitions)

...
capacity is 35566000 blocks

----- please choose one (? for help, .. to quit this menu)-----
[ro]otdrive       [o]ptiondrive    [e]xpert
[u]srrootdrive    [re]size
fx/repartition> ro

fx/repartition/rootdrive: type of data partition = (xfs)
Warning: you will need to re-install all software....
... user data. Continue? y

----- partitions-----
part  type      blocks           Megabytes (base + size)
  0: xfs    266240 + 35299760    130 + 17236
  1: raw      4096 + 262144        2 + 128
  8: volhdr      0 + 4096          0 + 2
 10: volume      0 + 35566000      0 + 17366

...
fx/repartition>

Command Monitor after fx setup the drive as root drive

Before going further, I will extend the size of the swap partition to 1024MB. This is optional.
Type re to start resizing the partitions. Type Enter to confirm you want to resize the swap partition, Enter again to validate MB as the unit to enter the new partition size, and 1024 for the partition size.
Confirm the new layout with y.

1. Type .. to go up one menu level, l to enter the label menu and sy to write the new label.
2. Type .. to select another disk.
3. Type Enter, Enter, 2 to select the drive in slot 2. fx will check the drive, display its type and show the fx menu.
4. Type r to repartition, o to select optiondrive for drive 2. Accept the partition type (xfs), confirm with y and quit fx
   fx will create the partitions on the drive. (volume header and data partitions)

The disks are now ready for the install program.

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Install OS (Irix 6.5.26)

• IRIX 6.5.26 Installation Tools and Overlays 1 of 3, November 2004
• IRIX 6.5 Foundation 1, June 1998
• IRIX 6.5 Foundation 2, June 1998
• IRIX 6.5 Applications, June 1998
• IRIX 6.5.26 Overlays 2 of 3, November 2004
• IRIX 6.5.26 Overlays 3 of 3, November 2004
• IRIX 6.5 Applications, November 2004
• IRIX 6.5 Complimentary Applications, November 2004 

1. Put the 'IRIX 6.5.26 Installation Tools and Overlays 1 of 3, November 2004' CD in the drive.
2. From the System Maintenance menu, click Install Software or press '2'.


Copy installation tools

3. Select Local CD-ROM. The system will copy the installation tools.
   Note: If the system does not recognize a file system on the disk, it will ask you if you want to create one. Answer yes and select 4096 for the block size if your disk is bigger than 4GB, or 512 else.
4. A message will display asking if you want to run a script. Type 2 to ignore it. It does not need to be run.
5. You are now into the Inst program, ready the start the installation itself. Type 1 to select the source and /CDROM/dist to enter the path. Inst will read the content of the CD and go to a prompt.
6. Eject the CD and insert 'IRIX 6.5 Foundation 1' and press Enter. The CD content will be read.
7. Repeat step 6 with the CDs 'IRIX 6.5 Foundation 2', 'IRIX 6.5 Applications - June 1998' and the other CDs listed above. Type 2 when finished to return to the main Inst menu.
8. You are now ready to start the installation. Type keep *, install standard , install prereqs.
   Note: If you get a message saying 'No matches for "prereqs"', just ignore it.


Login window after restart

9. Type conflicts to check that  there is no package conflicts. If you have some, just select the a choice. (For example, type conflicts 1a 2a 3a 4a). Once you have no more conflicts, you are ready.
10. Type go. During the installation, you will be asked to insert specific CD in the drive. Just eject the CD and insert the requested one. The system will automatically read the CD.
11. When the installation finishes, it returns to the inst prompt. Type quit to exit the inst program and to start the rqsall procedure. When this is done (it takes a while), you are asked if you want to restart the system. Type y to reboot.
    Note: After you insert the CD 'IRIX 6.5 Complimentary Applications, November 2004', you can type quit, enter, y, enter and leave the installation. When coming back a bit later, the system will be rebooted, ready to use.

Inst 4.1 Main Menu

 1. from [source ...] Specify location of software to be installed
 2. open [source ...] Specify additional software locations
....
13. admin ...         Go to the Administrative Commands Menu
14. quit

Inst>1
Install software from: /CDROM/dist
...
1 /CDROM/dist
2 done (distribution information read, return to inst prompt)

...

Inst> keep *
Inst> install standard
Inst> install prereqs
No matches for "prereqs"

...

go

...

Inst> quit
Requickstarting ELF files (see rqsall(1)) .. 100% Done.
Automatically reconfiguring the operating system.
Ready to restart the system. Restart? {(y)es, (n)o, (sh)ell, (h)elp}: y

Inst menu

IRIX 6.5.26 is now installed and the system ready for use.

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Initial OS setup

1. When the system has restarted, select Root at the login window. This creates the profile for the root user.
2. When the login screen reappears, login as root. From the toolchest, select Desktop -> Customize -> Windows and select Click to type for the keyboard focus. (Unless you want to keep the other setting, where the focus is on the window where the mouse is).
3. In a Unix shell, still logged in as root, type the following command:
   

   Zeus 1# chkconfig ns_fasttrack off
   Zeus 2# chkconfig webface off
   Zeus 3# chkconfig esp off
   Zeus 4# chkconfig webface_apache off
   Zeus 5# chkconfig sesdaemon off

   This deactivates services that most users don't need.
4. In the Unix shell, enter
   jot /etc/init.d/network Press CTRL-F and enter MSGT. Change the line MSGTIME = 10 to MSGTIME = 0. Close jot and save the file.
   jot /etc/init.d/mail Press CTRL-F and enter newal. Add a & at the end of the line. Close jot and save the file. This prevent sendmail from stalling for 60 seconds on bootup if the system email domain name is not configured.
   jot /etc/init.d/filesystems Press CTRL-F and enter p 5. Change sleep 5 to sleep 0. Close jot and save the file.
5. Type jot /etc/hosts to edit the hosts file and add your hosts details.

# This entry must be present or the system will not work.
127.0.0.1 localhost
...
10.0.0.99 P1210.home P1210
10.0.0.100 Zeus.home Zeus
10.0.0.110 Athena.home Athena
...
10.0.0.1 RouterADSL.home RouterADSL

part of the hosts file
6. Update environment variables by editing the /etc/cshrc and /etc/profile files. This will set the variables for all users. (I usually set global PATH and MANPATH variables this way for all users)

...

if ($USER == "root") then
setenv PATH ${PATH}:/usr/freeware/bin
else
setenv PATH $PATH/usr/gnu/bin:/usr/freeware/bin:
endif
setenv MANPATH /usr/share/catman:/usr/share/man:/usr/catman:/usr/man:/usr/freeware/catman

the end of the /etc/cshrc file

...

if [$LOGNAME = root] then
PATH=$PATH:/usr/freeware/bin
else
PATH=$PATH/usr/gnu/bin:/usr/freeware/bin:
fi
MANPATH=/usr/share/catman:/usr/share/man:/usr/catman:/usr/man:/usr/freeware/catman
export PATH MANPATH
trap 2 3

the end of the /etc/profile file
7. If you want to change the default shell for a user, edit the file /etc/passwd . The last field of each line is the shell for that user.
   Each line has the following format:
   [login]:[password(encrypted)]:[user id]:[group id]:[real name]:[home directory]:[shell]

fhug:abcdefghij:3002:20:Francois:/usr/people/fhug:/bin/tcsh

1 line of /etc/passw file, with the shell set to tcsh ↑


System Manager with Disk Manager

8. From the toolchest, select System -> System Manager, go to Hardware and Devices and open Disk Manager.
   Select disk ID2 (Disk(0,2)). You can initialise it if you want (it will erase all data on it), and mount it on a mount point.
   My second hard drive is used for network storage, and shared ressources, so I mounted it on /shared
9. Reboot the system by typing reboot at the prompt in a Unix shell.
10. When the system has restarted, select EZsetup at the login window. Follow the wizard to setup user accounts, networking...
11. Type reboot to restart the system with the new settings.

The system is now installed and configured.

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Configure network

This will setup DNS, domain name and default route

1. Login as root
2. Edit the file /etc/resolv.conf and put the domain name and IP address(es) of your DNS server(s)
3. Edit the /etc/config/static-route.options and add at the end:
     $ROUTE $QUIET add -net default your_router_ip_address

domain your_domain_name
nameserver dns_server_ip_address

Setup DNS and domain name

Note: You can type chkconfig routed off  to disable the RIP routing daemon. You will need static routes then.

---

Install utilities

Open SSH

Open SSH replaces telnet, rlogin and ftp with secure replacement, namely tools like ssh, sftp, scp.
I strongly recommend installing Open SSH to secure any system, and disabling the replaced daemons.

1. Login as root.
2. Install openSSH from the freeware with software manager, as discribed in installing cups for example.
3. Edit /etc/passwd file and add the following line at the end:
   sshd:*:4202:101:Open SSH user:/var/empty:/bin/false
   This add a user 'sshd', with a home directory at '/var/empty' and a shell set to '/bin/false'.

sshd:*:4202:101:Open SSH user:/var/empty:/bin/false

4. Edit /etc/group file and add the following line at the end:
   sshd:*:101:sshd
   This add a group 'sshd', with an id of 101, and puts the user 'sshd' into it.

sshd:*:101:sshd

5. Type chkconfig fw_sshd on on a console to make SSH starts automatically at startup.

Zeus 1# chkconfig fw_sshd on

6. Reboot or type /usr/freeware/sbin/sshd & as root to start SSHD.

Note: If you want to disable telnet and/or ftp, edit the '/etc/inetd.conf' file as root and put a # in front of the telnet and/or ftp lines.
Type killall -HUP inetd to make inetd reload the config file. You can also type killall telnetd and/or killall ftpd to make sure the telnet and ftp daemons are not running anymore.

CD recording tools

1. Download the cdrtools (fw_cdrtools-2.00.3-sgipl1.tardist) from freeware.sgi.com web site in a folder, and extract the file. ( tar -xvf fw_cdrtools-2.00.3-sgipl1.tardist par exemple).
2. Run Software manager as root and select the folder where the files were extracted as the source. Go to custom install and select the common and cdrtools from the list.
3. Click start to install and close software manager after.

Cdrecord is installed in /usr/freeware/bin, and you can now burn cds, if you have a CD burner.
I have a Yamaha CRW2100S SCSI drive, which is 16x10x40x speed. I never had any problem with it, and can boot from it. I can burn at 16x on the Octane, but make sure your system can support the speed (especially the SCSI bus, as it is close to the SCSI2 full bandwidth).

To burn a CD:

1. Login as root and put the files you want to burn in a folder (toburn for example).
2. Go to the directory containing the folder toburn and type:
3. mkisofs -R -o disc.raw toburn
   cdrecord -v dev=1,4,0 speed=16 disc.raw
   Note: If you have already an disc image, like an ISO file, just type
   cdrecord -v dev=1,4,0 speed=16 file.iso

ZEUS 1# /usr/freeware/bin/cdrecord -v dev=1,4,0 driveropts=help -checkdrive
Cdrecord 2.00.3 (mips-sgi-irix6.5) Copyright (C) 1995-2002 Jörg Schilling
TOC Type: 1 = CD-ROM
scsidev: '1,4,0'
scsibus: 1 target: 4 lun:
Using libscg version 'schily-0.7'
Driveropts: 'help'
atapi: 0
Device type : Removable CD-ROM
Version : 2
Response Format: 2
Capabilities : SYNC
Vendor_info : 'YAMAHA
Identifikation : 'CRW2100S '
Revision : '1.0M'
Device seems to be: Generic mmc CD-RW.
Driver options:
None supported for this drive.

dev in the cdrecord line is the ID of the cdrom: Controller ID, SCSI ID, LUN ID, and speed is the writing speed.

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