Preparing Red Hat Enterprise Linux for server upgrade

If your Red Hat Enterprise Linux® installation is hosted by IBM® i, complete these steps to upgrade and prepare your Red Hat Enterprise Linux for the upgrade.

1. Ensure that your IBM i is running version 5 release 3 or later.
2. Upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 3 before migrating to the target server. To upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 3, perform the following steps:
   1. Obtain a copy of the RHEL4.5 or later installation CD.
   2. Vary off the Linux server by completing the following steps:
      1. Type WRKCFGSTS *NWS, and then press Enter.
      2. Type 2 next to the NWSD that you want to shut down, and then press Enter.
   3. Place the first CD into the CD-ROM drive of the IBM i logical partition that is sharing its resources.
   4. Change the NWSD of the Linux server to point to the installation stream file of the CD by completing the following steps. Write down the information that you currently have for your NWSD.
      1. Enter CHGNWSD
      2. Specify the following information:

         NWSD (servername)
         IPLSRC (*STMF)
         IPLSTMF ('/QOPT/Red_Hat/ppc/iseries/boot.img')
         IPLPARM (*NONE)

   5. Open a virtual console session to your Linux server.
   6. Vary on your NWSD. Complete the following steps to vary on your NWSD:
      1. Type WRKCFGSTS *NWS, and then press Enter.
      2. Type 1 next to the NWSD that you want to start, and then press Enter.
   7. Follow the distribution documentation to complete the steps in the console.
3. After you have upgraded to Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 3, vary off your NWSD by completing the following steps:
   1. Type WRKCFGSTS *NWS, and then press Enter.
   2. Type 2 next to the NWSD that you want to shut down, and then press Enter.
4. Change the NWSD of the Linux server to point to the NWSSTG. Enter in the information that you previously wrote down before you changed the NWSD. Enter CHGNWSD to change the NWSD.
5. Vary on your NWSD. Complete the following steps to vary on your NWSD:
   1. Type WRKCFGSTS *NWS, and then press Enter.
   2. Type 1 next to the NWSD that you want to start, and then press Enter.
6. Locate a Linux distribution kernel that is compatible with an IBM System i® model.
   Note: Even though you are upgrading from an IBM System i model, you need to install a POWER™ Linux kernel to ensure the compatibility with an IBM System i model.
7. Obtain access to an installation kernel through either of the following methods:
   • Linux installation CDs
   • Network-based installation source
8. Mount the CD by entering the following command:

   mount /dev/iseries/vcda /mnt/cdrom

   Note: Enter the appropriate name for your virtual device in the previous command.
9. Download the latest Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 3 POWER Linux kernel to the partition's virtual disk of the partition.

   APOWER Linux kernel is required to ensure the compatibility with the IBM System i. If you have upgraded the Linux server to RHEL4.5 or later, you are still running the iSeries® kernel and must obtain thePOWER Linux kernel. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 3, this kernel might be on the second installation CD under the /Red_Hat/RPMS directory. The following example shows how to download this kernel. Enter the first command, and then the second command to retrieve the name of your Linux kernel. Enter the last command to copy the kernel.

   cd /media/
   find . -name "kernel*ppc64*"
   cp cdrom/Red_Hat/RPMS/(name of your POWER Linux kernel) /root/

10. Shut down your Linux logical partition.
11. Save the entire server using option 21 of the GO SAVE command. For more information, see the GO SAVE topic. Complete the following steps:
    1. Vary off the network server...*ALL
    2. Unmount file systems..........Y
    Note: Create two copies of the backup media.
12. Using Linux back up tools, save any critical data contained within the virtual disk.