Add rhel_on_bf2.md

Signed-off-by: Balazs Nemeth <[email protected]>

rhel_on_bf2.md

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+# Installing RHEL on Bluefield-2
+Welcome to this guide on installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) on the NVIDIA Bluefield-2 Data Processing Unit (DPU). The Bluefield-2 combines the capabilities of a Network Interface Card (NIC) with a general-purpose CPU, making it a versatile platform for running various applications. This article will guide you through the process of setting up RHEL on the Bluefield-2 using the rshim interface and a PXE server on the host machine. Note that it requires to run specific steps at the right time. The automated version of this article is available as the pxeboot script at https://github.com/bn222/bluefield-2-tools/blob/main/pxeboot.
+
+# Overview of the Setup
+
+When it comes to installing RHEL on the Bluefield-2, a PXE server can be set up either on the network or on the host machine itself. The advantage of choosing the latter option is that you won't need to configure your network in any specific way. This self-contained approach simplifies the setup process, making it more accessible and user-friendly. The diagram below shows the setup.
+
+![Figure](figure.png)
+
+Ingredients of the setup:
+
+- RHEL installation on x86 host with rshim package
+- RHEL iso (download this through your Red Hat subscription)
+- Custom GRUB configuration
+- Custom kickstart configuration
+- TFTP server
+- DHCP server
+- HTTP server
+
+# Step by step walk-through
+
+The remainder of this article focuses on setting up all these components and booting the Bluefield-2 into rhel. Start by ensuring that the Bluefield-2 is detected on the x86 host by issuing the following command:
+
+```bash
+lspci | grep -i blue
+```
+
+Next, download the RHEL iso from your RH subscription. Note that you need the AARCH version of the RHEL iso since the BlueField-2 uses the ARM architecture. Mount the iso:
+
+
+```bash
+mount -t iso9660 -o loop ISO_NAME ISO_PATH
+```
+
+Create a tftp boot directory an copy the necessary files:
+
+```bash
+mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/
+mkdir /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
+cp $ISO_PATH/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
+cp $ISO_PATH/images/pxeboot/initrd.img /var/lib/tftpboot/pxelinux
+```
+
+Create a custom GRUB configuration:
+
+```bash
+set timeout=5
+
+menuentry 'Install' --class red --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {{
+    linux pxelinux/vmlinuz showopts inst.repo=http://172.131.100.1/mnt inst.ks=http://172.131.100.1/kickstart.ks \
+        console=tty0 console=tty1 console=ttyS0,115200 console=ttyS1,115200 \
+        ip=dhcp console=ttyAMA1 console=hvc0 console=ttyAMA0 earlycon=pl011,0x01000000
+    initrd pxelinux/initrd.img 
+}}
+
+menuentry 'Reboot' --class red --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {{
+    reboot
+}}
+```
+
+Prepare the files for HTTP:
+
+```bash
+cp $ISO_PATH/images/pxeboot/rootfs.img /www
+```
+
+Create a kickstart file at `/www/kickstart.ks`
+
+```bash
+# System language
+lang en_US.UTF-8
+
+# Use text mode install
+text
+
+# Keyboard layouts
+keyboard us
+
+# Use network installation
+url --url="REPO_URL"
+
+# Accept the license
+eula --agreed
+
+# System timezone
+timezone --utc Asia/Jerusalem
+
+# Root password
+rootpw bluefield
+
+# Disable firewall
+firewall --disabled
+
+# System authorization information
+auth --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512
+
+# Do not configure the X Window System
+skipx
+
+# Disable the Setup Agent on first boot
+firstboot --disabled
+
+# Network information
+network --bootproto=dhcp --hostname=bluefield-soc.mlx --device=eth0 --activate
+
+# Bootloader/partition configuration
+ignoredisk --only-use=mmcblk0
+clearpart --all --initlabel --drives=mmcblk0
+autopart --type=plain
+bootloader --append="crashkernel=auto console=ttyAMA1 console=hvc0 console=ttyAMA0 earlycon=pl011,0x01000000 earlycon=pl011,0x01800000" --location=mbr --boot-drive=mmcblk0
+
+# Reboot after installation
+reboot
+
+%packages --ignoremissing
+@base
+@core
+@Development Tools
+python3-devel
+atk
+cairo
+tcl
+tk
+nfs-utils
+chrony
+vim
+ethtool
+git
+grubby
+xterm
+NetworkManager-config-server
+%end
+
+%post --interpreter /bin/bash
+systemctl set-default multi-user.target
+systemctl disable initial-setup-graphical.service
+
+# Necessary for accessing virtual console via rshim
+systemctl enable serial-getty@hvc0
+systemctl start serial-getty@hvc0
+
+systemctl enable [email protected]
+systemctl start [email protected]
+
+systemctl enable [email protected]
+systemctl start [email protected]
+
+systemctl disable firewalld
+
+dnf update
+
+systemctl stop chronyd.service
+chronyd -q 'server clock.redhat.com iburst'
+hwclock --systohc --localtime
+
+%end
+```
+
+Next, reboot the BF, wait 5 seconds, add an IP on the tmfifo interface and connect to the console through minicom to interrupt the boot process. 
+
+
+```bash
+echo SW_RESET 1 > /dev/rshim0/misc
+sleep 5
+ip a a 172.131.100.1/24 dev tmfifo_net0
+minicom --color on --baudrate 115200 --device /dev/rshim0/console
+```
+
+Once interrupted, start the tftp server and the http server:
+
+
+```bash
+/usr/sbin/in.tftpd -s -L /var/lib/tftpboot
+cd /www; python -m http.server 
+```
+
+On the console, select the option to boot from the interface that has a mac address that starts with 001ACAFFFF. RHEL should boot and the installation should proceed automatically. The BlueField-2 will reboot into the the fresh RHEL environement after the installation completes.