Host module OS administration

Administrative tasks differ depending on which supported OS you are running on each of the SN30-H host modules.

1. Supported versions of the SN30-H operating systems

The SN30-H host module supports the following OS versions:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.5

  • Ubuntu Server 20.04.2 Long-Term Support (LTS)

2. General notes and warnings

Some third-party software and OS packages may prevent the SambaFlowTM software stack from functioning properly. In this case, SambaNova Support may require all non-certified third-party software or non-certified packages, including the package version, to be removed to get the DataScale® SN30-H host module to a satisfactory state and to continue working on any support issues.
DataScale SN30-H host modules are configured with a default login password for users root and snuser1. SambaNova strongly recommends that you change these passwords immediately after logging in to a DataScale SN30-H host module.
SambaNova strongly recommends that you do not perform a major upgrade or a kernel update to the DataScale SN30-H host module OS without referring to the supported OS, kernel, and package versions noted within this document and the software release notes because the SambaNova software relies on some strict packages dependencies. SambaNova recommends that you do not perform any major updates unless you are directed to do so by SambaNova.
Before you perform Linux package updates, check the SambaFlow software release notes to ensure there are no package dependencies that might break the SambaFlow software if the packages are not at the correct level.

3. Licensing

SambaNova provides the package repositories for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and for Ubuntu running on the DataScale SN30 rack.

  • SambaNova has a partnership with Red Hat that allows SambaNova to distribute a customized repository for the DataScale SN30 rack.

  • SambaNova has a partnership with Ubuntu that allows SambaNova to distribute a customized repository for the DataScale SN30 rack.

Adding other repositories can cause issues with the operation of the SambaFlow software because of some package and kernel version dependencies.

If the SambaNova software stack has problems running, SambaNova Support might request that you remove any packages that were not originally included from the your Linux repository or that you downgrade certain packages to a version that was certified.

4. Login process

To access the DataScale SN30-H host module for the first time:

  1. Find a system that can access the DataScale SN30 rack access network. The access network might be combined with the management or data network.

  2. Use ssh as user snuser1 to log in to the DataScale SN30-H host module.

  3. Enter the default password for snuser when prompted. See Default username and passwords for components.

$ ssh snuser1@<SN30-H_OS_IP_Address>
snuser1@<SN30-H_OS_IP_Address>’s password: <Default Password>

SambaNova strongly recommends that you change the default password for root and snuser1. To change the snuser1 password, run the following command and enter the new password when prompted:

$ passwd
Changing password for snuser1.
(current) UNIX password: <Current_Default_Password>
Enter new UNIX password: <New_Secure_Password>
Retype new UNIX password: <New_Secure_Password>
passwd: password updated successfully

5. Connect to the SambaNova OS repository

DataScale SN30-H host module connectivity to the SambaNova repository is set up as part of the DataScale SN30 rack installation and relies on the site survey that your company completed. As part of the initial installation, SambaNova provides a sambanova.repo file that contains the appropriate credentials and paths to your specific repository.

If you need to check the setup for the SambaNova OS repository, see KB article #1057.

6. OS repository configuration file

Do not modify the sambanova.repo repository file. Doing so can break SambaFlow software package dependencies, which might cause unrecoverable package dependency issues. You might have to rebuild the SN30-H host module as a result. If you need any packages that are not provided by SambaNova, open a support case with SambaNova Support.

7. Updating the DataScale SN30-H host module OS

SambaNova patch releases handle major upgrades to the DataScale SN30-H host module OS, for example:

  • Going from RHEL 8.5 to RHEL 8.6 or later

  • Going from 20.04 LTS to 22.04 LTS

  • Kernel updates.

See the SambaFlow Release Notes documentation for information about commands that you need to run to perform the upgrade.

8. Updating the SambaFlow software

To update the SambaFlow software packages, log in to the DataScale SN30-H host module(s) where the software packages need to be updated. The commands you run depend on the OS you’re using.

8.1. Update SambaFlow on RHEL

To view what packages are installed on the DataScale SN30-H host module, run the following command:

$ dnf list installed | grep samba[nf]

To view which SambaFlow packages have an update that you can apply, run the following command:

$ dnf check-update | grep samba[nf]

To update the SambaFlow packages, examine the check-update command output, and then run the following command to update a package and any package dependencies:

$ sudo dnf update <package_name>

For example, if the output produced by the check-update command shows that an update is available for the sambaflow package, run the following command:

$ sudo dnf update sambaflow

Repeat this step for each package that needs to be updated. Due to package dependencies, updating one package might update several other packages.

8.2. Update SambaFlow on Ubuntu

To update the SambaFlow software packages, log in to the DataScale SN30-H host module(s) where the software packages need to be updated.

To view what packages are installed on the DataScale SN30-H host module, run the following command:

$ dpkg -l | grep samba[nf]

To view which SambaNova packages have an update you can apply, run the following command:

$ apt list --upgradable | grep samba[nf]

To update all the packages that need to be updated, run the following command, which updates the packages and any package dependencies:

$ sudo apt install --only-upgrade samba[nf]

To update a specific package, replace samba[nf] with the name of a specific package. For example, to update sambaflow, run the following command:

$ sudo apt install --only-upgrade sambaflow