136 lines
4.9 KiB
ReStructuredText
136 lines
4.9 KiB
ReStructuredText
Brief description of DriverDisc version 3
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==========================================
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For a new major release we decided to introduce a new version of DriverDisc
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feature to ensure the smoothest vendor and user experience possible. We had
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many reasons for it:
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- the old DD didn't support multiple architectures
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- the old DD wasn't particulary easy to create
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- the old DD had two copys of modules, one for anaconda and one for
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instalation
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- the modules in old DD weren't checked for kernel version
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We also changed the feature internal code to enable some functionality that
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was missing from the old version. More about it below.
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Devices which can contain DDs
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-----------------------------
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The best place to save your DriverDisc to is USB flash device. We also support
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IDE and SATA block devices with or without partitions, DriverDisc
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image stored on block device, initrd overlay (see documentation below) and for
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special cases even network retrieval of DriverDisc image.
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What can be updated using DDs?
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------------------------------
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All drivers for block devices, which weren't used for retrieving DriverDiscs,
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the same applies also for network drivers eg. you cannot upgrade network
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driver for device, which was used prior the DriverDisc extraction.
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RPMs for installation. If the DriverDisc repo contains newer package, than the
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official repository, the newer package will get used.
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We also plan to support anaconda's updates.img placement on the DriverDisc to
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update stage2 behaviour of anaconda.
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Selecting DD manually
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---------------------
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Use the 'inst.dd' kernel command line option to trigger DD mode.
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If no argument is specified, the UI will prompt for the location of the driver
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rpm. Otherwise, the rpm will be fetched from the specified location.
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Please consult the appropriate Installer Guide for further information.
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Automatic DriverDisc detection
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------------------------------
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Anaconda automatically looks for driverdiscs during startup.
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The DriverDisc has to be on partition or filesystem which has been labeled
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with 'OEMDRV' label.
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Because disks can take some time to appear, an additional delay of 5 seconds
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has been added. This can be overridden by boot argument
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`inst.wait_for_disks=<value>` to let dracut wait up to <value> additional
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seconds (0 turns the feature off, causing dracut to only wait up to 500ms).
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Alternatively, if the `OEMDRV` device is known to be present but too slow to be
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autodetected, the user can boot with an argument like `inst.dd=hd:LABEL=OEMDRV`
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to indicate that dracut should expect an `OEMDRV` device and not start the
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installer until it appears.
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DDv3 structure
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--------------
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The new DriverDisc format uses simple layout which can be created on top of
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any anaconda's supported filesystem (vfat, squashfs, ext2 and ext3).
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::
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/
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|rhdd3 - DD marker, contains the DD's description string
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/rpms
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| /i386 - contains RPMs for this arch and acts as package repo
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| /i586
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| /x86_64
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| /ppc
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| /... - any other architecture the DD provides drivers for
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There is a special requirement for the RPMs used to update drivers. Anaconda
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picks up only RPMs which provide "kernel-modules = <running kernel version>".
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Initrd overlay driverdisc image
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-------------------------------
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We have designed another possible way of providing updates in network boot
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environments. It is possible to update all modules this way, so if special
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storage module (which gets used early) needs to be updated, this is the
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preffered way.
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This kind of driverdisc image is applied over the standard initrd and so has
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to respect some rules.
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- All updated modules belong to /lib/modules/<kernel version>/.. according to
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their usual location
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- All new modules belong to /lib/modules/<kernel version>/updates
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- All new firmware files belong to /lib/firmware
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- The rpm repo with updated packages belongs to /tmp/DD-initrd/
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- The (empty) trigger file /.rundepmod must be present
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Firmware and module update
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--------------------------
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The firmware files together with all .ko, .ko.bz2, .ko.gz, .ko.xz and .ko.zst
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files from the RPMs are exploded to special module location, which has
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preference over built-in Anaconda modules.
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Anaconda doesn't use built-in modules (except some storage modules needed for
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the DD to function properly) during the DriverDisc mode, so even in case when
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you are updating some modules with second (or later) DriverDisc, the updated
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modules will be loaded. There is one exception though, if your module depends
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on a module which is only present in built-in module directory, that built-in
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module gets also loaded.
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Package installation
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--------------------
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It is also possible to include arbitrary packages on the DriverDisc media and
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mark them for installation. You just have to include the package name in the
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package repo for correct architecture and mark it as mandatory.
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Summary
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-------
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This new DriverDisc format should simplify the DD creation and usage a lot. We
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will gladly hear any comments as this is partially still work in progress.
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