[CentOS-docs] cciss solution for CentOS 7

Mon Sep 28 22:50:25 UTC 2015
Dan Mossor <danofsatx at gmail.com>

I've recently come across a thread in the CentOS forums [0] regarding 
the solution to getting hardware requiring the cciss driver, such as HP 
ProLiant G5 systems, to install and boot with CentOS 7. The thread was a 
start in the right direction, but I believe I've determined a better 
workflow and feel that it would benefit the community to have this 
published either in the release notes or on the Wiki.

On a system containing an older HPSA (HP Smart Array) adapter, the 
following will allow CentOS and/or RHEL 7 to boot and install without 
requiring any special drivers.

When booting from the installation media, hit <tab> to edit the boot 
command. Add these two keys to the kernel options, and continue to boot 
and install the operating system as normal:

hpsa.hpsa_simple_mode=1 hpsa.hpsa_allow_any=1

On the first reboot after installation, hit <e> to edit the boot command 
when you are presented with the grub selection menu. Scroll down to the 
line containing the vmlinuz reference, and add those same two keys to 
the end of the line.

Once the system is booted, edit /etc/default/grub and add those two keys 
to the "GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=" line. It should look like this:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="rd.lvm.lv=centos_boot/swap \ 
rd.lvm.lv=centos_boot/root crashkernel=auto \
hpsa.hpsa_simple_mode=1 hpsa.hpsa_allow_any=1 \
rhgb quiet"

After the grub default is modified, run the following command, and 
proceed as you normally would. Your system will now operate through all 
kernel updates with the HPSA adapter.

grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg


[0] https://www.centos.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=47011
-- 
Dan Mossor, RHCSA
Systems Engineer
Fedora Server WG | Fedora KDE WG | Fedora QA Team
FAS: dmossor IRC: danofsatx
San Antonio, Texas, USA