Limitations and problems

The following known limitations and problems are applicable to IBM® ToolsCenter Bootable Media Creator.

BoMC version 9.50 and later releases only support the latest Customized Linux Kernel: Beginning with BoMC 9.50, the latest customized Linux kernel uses grub as the boot loader. For BoMC 9.50 and later releases, BoMC only supports customized Linux kernel with v1.41. There is no compatible support for the previous version. If users create media from a local repository and specify the option --toolzip or -t, BoMC reports the following warning message: The bootable environment is not the supported version. It may cause failure to create media. Are you sure you want to continue? (y or n)

BoMC does not support Mellanox firmware updates: BoMC does not support updating Mellanox firmware.
Only tftp server running on Linux OS is supported when creating PXE directory with BoMC.: If you are creating a PXE directory with BoMC, only a tftp server running on a supported version of Linux OS can be used.

BoMC does not support /dev/sda for the --unattended option: BoMC does not support the use of /dev/sda for the --unattended option for the usb protocol.

OpenSSL on ESXi4.1, ESXi5.0, and ESXi5.1 can only support TLS level 1.0

OpenSSL on ESXi4.1, ESXi5.0, and ESXi5.1 can only support TLS level 1.0. If you set the IMM TLS min level to 1.1 or 1.2, TC will fail to get and set the IMM configuration through the ESXi system.

BoMC does not check the arguments specified for the –vlan-id and –vlan-ip commands

BoMC only calls the –vlan-id and –vlan-ip commands to do the configuration. If there is any usage error causing the configuration to fail, BoMC will not check the arguments specified with these commands.

Greeting artwork does not show when booting a uEFI platform

When loading the bootable environment on a non-Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (uEFI) platform, the greeting artwork is displayed stating the following message: Starting IBM ToolsCenter Customized Media (version. When loading the bootable environment on a uEFI platform (for example: IBM BladeCenter® HS22, IBM System x®3650 M2, x3550 M2, and iDataPlex dx360 M2), only the message is displayed.

You must have access to the Internet to acquire updates and bootable environment

IBM ToolsCenter Bootable Media Creator can acquire updates and the bootable environment from IBM. Access to the Internet is required to acquire those files. You might need to disable the firewall to access the website. IBM ToolsCenter Bootable Media Creator uses port 443 for HTTPS and port 80 for HTTP.

For Serial over LAN (SOL) support, the serial console argument must be specified before the tty1 console argument

When you specify a serial console argument (ttyS0 or ttyS1) and the tty1 console argument using the --kernel-args option, you must specify the serial console first.

Example:

--kernel-args="vga=0x317 root=/dev/ram0 ramdisk_size=100000 media_boot=yes
console=ttyS1,19200 console=tty1"

You cannot assign multiple static IP addresses

You can assign a custom static IP address to only one NIC in a system. Options are provided to specify IP addresses sequentially beginning with the default value of 192.168.0.100, or sequentially beginning with a static IP address that you specify. See the kernel-args parameter for more information.

iDataPlex dx360 M2 (machine type 7321) system might fail to boot from ToolsCenter USB key

This problem can occur when a SATA drive is attached to the onboard storage controller and is configured as an IDE interface in Compatibility mode in the system BIOS. This is currently a limitation.

iDataPlex dx360 M2 (machine type 7321) system might fail to boot from ToolsCenter USB key the second time

When using the bootable USB key created by IBM ToolsCenter Bootable Media Creator to boot the iDataPlex dx360 M2 (machine type 7321), if you exit from the ToolsCenter program, reboot the system immediately, and attempt to boot from the same USB key again, the system might fail to boot from USB key. If this occurs, the following message is displayed: Boot Fail. Press Enter to Continue. Press Enter to return back to the boot device selection menu.

UXSP packages may not be available for newly-released servers

When you are using creating update media for newly-released IBM systems, the creation will fail if no UXSP package is available for these systems on the IBM website. In this case, select Acquire latest individual updates to acquire any available updates that have not yet been included in a UXSP.

Some functions may not work properly when loading a configuration generated by a different distribution of the Bootable Media Creator

Some functions of the Bootable Media Creator may not work properly when loading a configuration that was created using the Bootable Media Creator for Linux using Bootable Media Creator for Windows, or vice versa.

Listing all available update packages for tools from the IBM website can take more than 15 minutes

Additional update packages for tools may be required to perform the selected tasks such as updating, diagnostics and deployment on some IBM systems. If you specify acquiring packages for multiple machine types from the IBM website when creating bootable media, it can take more than 15 minutes to list all the available update packages. If you select more machine types and tools, it can take even longer to list the available packages.

IBM eServer xSeries 336, 346 and 236 systems fail to boot from USB key

This problem can occur when booting these systems from the created bootable USB key. If this occurs, the following error message is displayed: Could not find kernel image. To fix the problem, try defragmenting the USB key using the Windows defragment tool, then try booting from the key again.

If the symptoms persist, perform a full format of the USB key, then rebuild the image using the Bootable Media Creator.

CD-RW bootable media fails to deploy Windows operating systems

This problem can occur when deploying Windows operating systems from CD-RW bootable media. If this occurs, the following error message is displayed: There was an error copying files.

To avoid this problem, use CD-R or DVD-R(W) media.

Deployment media creation fails when the path to the working directory is long

When creating an IBM ServerGuide Setup and Installation CD using the Microsoft Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 (AIK 2.0) or the Microsoft OEM Pre-installation Kit 2.0, the path to the specified workingdir must be less than 76 characters.

No operating systems are selectable in ServerGuide

You cannot continue past the operating system selection screen in ServerGuide without selecting an operating system. This condition occurs when the ServerGuide bootable image was created for a different architecture than the one on the target system. You must use the arch parameter to specify the architecture to be supported when creating a ServerGuide image.

CD Media will not eject when using USB CD-ROM on System x3850 X5/x3950 X5 (machine types 7145, 7146)

This problem can occur when booting these systems from the created bootable CD media using a USB CD-ROM. The media might fail to eject automatically when exiting ToolsCenter, even when using the default configuration setting.

If the problem persists, power off the system, then power the system back on, and manually eject the media during the early portion of the boot process.

Linux platforms require libcurl v7.15 or later for image creation phase

To perform acquisition and connection tests in an IPv6 environment on supported Linux platforms, you must ensure that the libcurl file transfer utility is version 7.15 or later.

Mixed IP address standards not supported

Bootable Media Creator 9.63 supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addressing. However, for file transfers by FTP or TFTP, all of the addresses you use must be either IPv4 or IPv6. Mixing IPv4 and IPv6 addresses is not supported for this function.

Some systems do not recognize some USB keys

Some IBM systems do not recognize SanDisk SDCZ36 4 and 8 GB USB keys. If you experience difficulty using one of these keys, try a different type of USB key.

No hints for memtest when creating bootable media with both DSA and UXSPI for Serial Over LAN

When using bootable media that includes both DSA and UXSPI for a Serial Over LAN deployment, no hints for the user to input memtest are displayed on the Serial Over LAN console.

To avoid this problem, create separate images for DSA and UXSPI.

Using CTRL+C to halt execution of UXSPI in TUI mode halts further input

When running UXSPI in a bootable environment in Text User Interface (TUI) mode, using CTRL+C to stop execution prevents further input. The tool returns to the Home menu, but the screen is corrupted and further input will fail.

CD creation might fail when there are more than 15 SCSI controllers in the system

Creation of a CD might fail if more than 15 SCSI controllers are enabled on the burning system. This is caused by a limitation of the cdrecord utility used by Bootable Media Creator to burn the CD.

To avoid this problem, disable some of the SCSI storage devices to decrease the number of SCSI controllers recognized by the cdrecord utility.

64-bit Linux requires compat-libstdc++

To run 32-bit binaries and utilities, including Bootable Media Creator, 64-bit Linux operating systems require the compatibility library compat-libstdc++. You can use the following command to determine whether this library is installed:

rpm -qa | grep compat-libstdc++-296

Updating Preboot Dynamic System Analysis in a bootable environment requires >1GB of memory

Updating pDSA in a bootable environment using UXSPI might fail if the target system does not have more than 1GB of memory. To avoid this problem, the target system should have at least 2GB of memory.

PXE boot may fail if the network connection is slow

A slow or busy network connection can cause PXE boot to fail. If your PXE boot fails due to a slow network connection, retry the process.

IBM System x3755 with iBMC cannot boot from USB

IBM System x3755 with iBMC cannot boot from a BoMC-created USB image. To work around this issue, use a different method to deliver the BoMC boot image.