[pve-devel] [PATCH] Improvement for pve-installation

friedrich.ramberger f.ramberger at proxmox.com
Wed Sep 28 22:45:34 CEST 2016 

From: fritz <f.ramberger at proxmox.com>

Signed-off-by: fritz <f.ramberger at proxmox.com>
---
 local-zfs.adoc        |   1 +
 pve-installation.adoc | 125 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------------
 2 files changed, 67 insertions(+), 59 deletions(-)

diff --git a/local-zfs.adoc b/local-zfs.adoc
index 9b682b9..421340f 100644
--- a/local-zfs.adoc
+++ b/local-zfs.adoc
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+[[zfs_on_linux]]
 ZFS on Linux
 ------------
 include::attributes.txt[]
diff --git a/pve-installation.adoc b/pve-installation.adoc
index e389d11..83992ea 100644
--- a/pve-installation.adoc
+++ b/pve-installation.adoc
@@ -1,38 +1,36 @@
-Installing Proxmox VE
----------------------
+Installing {pve}
+----------------
 include::attributes.txt[]
 
-{pve} ships as a set of Debian packages, so you can simply install it
-on top of a normal Debian installation, or download the installation
-CD-ROM and use that to install {pve} on your hardware.
-
-Installing on top of an existing Debian installation looks easy, but
-it presumes that you have correctly installed the base system, and you
-know how you want to configure and use the local storage. Network
-configuration is also completely up to you.
-
-In general, this is not trivial, especially when you use LVM or
-ZFS. This is why we provide an installation CD-ROM for {pve}. That
-installer just ask you a few questions, then partitions the local
-disk(s), installs all required packages and configures the system
+{pve} is based on Debian and comes with an installation CD-ROM which includes a complete Debian ("jessie" for {pve} 4.x)
+system as well as all necessary {pve} packages. The
+installer just asks you a few questions, partitions the local
+disk(s), installs all required packages, and configures the system
 including a basic network setup. You can get a fully functional system
-within a few minutes, including the following:
+within a few minutes. This is the preferred and recommended installation method.
+
+Alternatively, {pve} can be installed on top of an existing Debian system. This option
+is only recommended for advanced users since detail knowledge about {pve} is necessary.
 
-* Complete operating system (Debian Linux, 64-bit)
-* Partition the hard drive with ext4 (alternative ext3 or xfs) or ZFS
-* {pve} Kernel with LXC and KVM support
-* Complete toolset
-* Web based management interface
 
 
 Using the {pve} Installation CD-ROM
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-This is the preferred and recommended installation method.
+Includes the following:
+
+* Complete operating system (Debian Linux, 64-bit)
+* Partitioning the hard drive with ext4, ext3, xfs or ZFS
+* {pve} Kernel with LXC and KVM support
+* Complete toolset
+* Web based management interface
 
 NOTE: By default, the complete server is used and all existing data is
 removed.
 
+Installation Steps
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
 Please insert the installation CD-ROM, then boot from that
 drive. Immediately afterwards you can choose the following menu
 options:
@@ -43,47 +41,62 @@ Start normal installation.
 
 Install Proxmox VE (Debug mode)::
 
-Start installation in debug mode. It opens a shell console at several
-installation steps, so that you can debug things if something goes
-wrong. Please press `CTRL-D` to exit those debug consoles and continue
+Start installation in debug mode. A shell console at several
+installation steps opens up, so that you can debug anything that went wrong.
+Please press `CTRL-D` to exit those debug consoles and continue
 installation. This option is mostly for developers and not meant for
 general use.
 
 Rescue Boot::
 
 This option allows you to boot an existing installation. It searches
-all attached hard disks, and if it finds an existing installation,
+all attached hard disks and, if it finds an existing installation,
 boots directly into that disk using the existing Linux kernel. This
 can be useful if there are problems with the boot block (grub), or the
 BIOS is unable to read the boot block from the disk.
 
 Test Memory::
 
-Runs `memtest86+`. This is useful to check if your memory if
+Runs 'memtest86+'. This is useful to check if your memory is
 functional and error free.
 
 You normally select *Install Proxmox VE* to start the installation.
-After that you get prompted to select the target hard disk(s). The
+Then you are prompted to select the target hard disk(s). The
 `Options` button lets you select the target file system, which
-defaults to `ext4`. The installer uses LVM if you select `ext3`,
-`ext4` or `xfs` as file system, and offers additional option to
-restrict LVM space (see <<advanced_lvm_options,below>>)
-
-If you have more than one disk, you can also use ZFS as file system.
-ZFS supports several software RAID levels, so this is specially useful
-if you do not have a hardware RAID controller. The `Options` button
-lets you select the ZFS RAID level, and you can choose disks there.
+defaults to `ext4`. The installer uses LVM if you select 'ext3',
+'ext4' or 'xfs' as file system, and offers to
+restrict LVM spaceas additional option (see <<advanced_lvm_options,below>>).
+
+NOTE: Usually you continue by clicking at the respective button of the GUI, but you also
+can continue by pressing ALT+Character (where 'Character' is the 
+letter which appears underlined in the respective button when pressing just ALT).
+
+You can also select 'zfs (RAIDx)' which installs <<zfs_on_linux,ZFS as filesystem>> where 'x' 
+is one of the RAID levels 0,1,10,Z-1,Z-2,Z-3. If you have only one disk 
+(or rather only one disk should be used for the system) only RAID0
+is possible. If you have more than one disk you can choose the disks which should 
+be used for the system. When using ZFS it is not recommended to use a 
+HW RAID controller in parallel.
+
+NOTE: ZFS uses a lot of memory, so it is best to add an additional 8-16GB RAM
+if you want to use ZFS.
 
-The next pages just asks for basic configuration options like time
+The next pages just ask for basic configuration options like time
 zone and keyboard layout. You also need to specify your email address
-and select a superuser password.
+and superuser (root) password (must have at least 5 characters).
 
 The last step is the network configuration. Please note that you can
 use either IPv4 or IPv6 here, but not both. If you want to configure a
-dual stack node, you can easily do that after installation.
+dual stack node, you can easily do so after installation. The Hostname defaults
+to pve.proxmox.com and should be (but does not need to be) changed to your individual one.
+If a DHCP server is detected the received data (IP address, netmask, Gateway and DNS) 
+are predefined as default but can be overwritten. 
+
+NOTE: Even when the defaults received by the DHCP server are used in the
+finally configured system these values will be defined as static.
 
 If you press `Next` now, installation starts to format disks, and
-copies packages to the target. Please wait until that is finished,
+copies packages to the target. Please wait until this is finished,
 then reboot the server.
 
 Further configuration is done via the Proxmox web interface. Just
@@ -93,7 +106,7 @@ and higher, and Google Chrome.
 
 
 [[advanced_lvm_options]]
-Advanced LVM Configuration Options
+Advanced LVM configuration options
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 The installer creates a Volume Group (VG) called `pve`, and additional
@@ -116,11 +129,6 @@ installed RAM, with 4GB minimum and `hdsize/8` as maximum.
 The `root` volume size. The `root` volume stores the whole operation
 system.
 
-`maxvz`::
-
-Define the size of the `data` volume, which is mounted at
-`/var/lib/vz`.
-
 `minfree`::
 
 To define the amount of free space left in LVM volume group `pve`.
@@ -130,18 +138,10 @@ NOTE: LVM requires free space in the VG for snapshot creation (not
 required for lvmthin snapshots).
 
 
-ZFS Performance Tips
-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-
-ZFS uses a lot of memory, so it is best to add additional 8-16GB RAM
-if you want to use ZFS.
-
-ZFS also provides the feature to use a fast SSD drive as write cache. The
-write cache is called the ZFS Intent Log (ZIL). You can add that after
-installation using the following command:
-
- zpool add <pool-name> log </dev/path_to_fast_ssd>
+`maxvz`::
 
+Define the size of the `data` volume, which is mounted at
+'/var/lib/vz'.
 
 ifdef::wiki[]
 
@@ -152,19 +152,26 @@ endif::wiki[]
 
 ifndef::wiki[]
 
+
 Install {pve} on Debian
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 {pve} ships as a set of Debian packages, so you can simply install it
-on top of a normal Debian installation.  After configuring the
+on top of a normal Debian installation. After configuring the
 repositories, you need to run:
 
-[source,bash]
 ----
 apt-get update
 apt-get install proxmox-ve
 ----
 
+This looks easy, presuming that you have correctly installed
+the base system, and you know how you want to configure and use the
+local storage. Network configuration is also completely up to you.
+
+In general however, this is not trivial, especially when LVM or
+ZFS has to be used.
+
 You can find a detailed step by step howto on the {pve}
 http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Install_Proxmox_VE_on_Debian_Jessie[wiki].
 
-- 
2.7.4

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