Description of problem: After you have loaded RHEL5.2 to an iSCSI target, you are unable to change the network card without causing a kernel panic. When the iSCSI installation is performed, RHEL 5.2 will associate the MAC address for the cards that are in the system with the installation. If you attempt to change the card, you will get a Kernel Panic, unless you change the MAC address to match to the original card. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): RHEL 5.2 How reproducible: STEPS TO REPRODUCE: 1. Install RHEL 5.2 to iSCSI target 2. After install, shutdown and swap NICS. We swapped an Intel bridgeport for another NIC of the same type/device ID 3. Attempt to boot system 4. When system goes to load kernel, connection is dropped, unable to mount root directory, and kernel panic happens 5. Shutdown system, reinsert original network card, system boots properly Actual results: RHEL is associating the MAC address of the card used during installation with the image. You cannot change the cards unless you reprogram the MAC with the ID of the original card used during install. Expected results: RHEL should be able to boot the installed image without it being NIC / MAC specific. Additional info: I'm unsure if this is an init scripts issue or an open-iscsi issue. I'm bugging initscripts. Please assign a correct owner.
'Unable to mount root directory' is before initscripts gets involved - that's during the initramfs.
(In reply to comment #0) > Description of problem: > > After you have loaded RHEL5.2 to an iSCSI target, you are unable to change the > network card without causing a kernel panic. When the iSCSI installation is > performed, RHEL 5.2 will associate the MAC address for the cards that are in > the system with the installation. If you attempt to change the card, you will > get a Kernel Panic, unless you change the MAC address to match to the original > card. > > Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): > > RHEL 5.2 > > How reproducible: > > > STEPS TO REPRODUCE: > 1. Install RHEL 5.2 to iSCSI target > 2. After install, shutdown and swap NICS. We swapped an Intel bridgeport > for another NIC of the same type/device ID > 3. Attempt to boot system > 4. When system goes to load kernel, connection is dropped, unable to > mount root directory, and kernel panic happens > 5. Shutdown system, reinsert original network card, system boots properly > > Actual results: > > RHEL is associating the MAC address of the card used during installation with > the image. You cannot change the cards unless you reprogram the MAC with the > ID of the original card used during install. > For ibft, does this have anything to do with dynamically using the network info in ibft? As you know we just do not support that. You guys are working on it. For non ibft boot and for what we support in 5.3 for ibft, if you add the new nic (if you are booted on iscsi I do not think you can take out the nic you are using and add a new one unless you are using dm-multipath or have everything you need in memory), then run mkinitrd with --netdev to use the new network device does this work? See handlenetdev in mkinitrd. It seems like we probably need the updated /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-$dev and with how you guys are doing it we have the old one, so running mkinitrd again would update it.
Can the bringup of iBFT interfaces be added to nash, if the specified hardcoded one fails? The init script in the initrd image has a hardcoded MAC with a hardcoded method of obtaining the IP address, from the installer's run of mkinitrd. The code for finding the NICs specified in the iBFT via iscsi_ibft's /sys/firmware/ibft could be borrowed from open-iscsi fw_params code..
Closing this BZ off as this functionality will not be made available in RHEL5 lifecycle, but should now be available as of RHEL6.1.