HP Workstations with Linux FAQs

• Do all HP Personal Workstations support Linux?
  
  Yes.  All HP Personal Workstations are available (or will be available) with preinstalled Red Hat Linux or with the HP Installer Kit for Linux.
  
• What is the HP Installer Kit for Linux?
  
  The HP Installer Kit for Linux is a set of HP provided CD’s to be used in conjunction with a Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation to complete your Linux workstation installation. The CD’s in the HPIKL are:

• HP Driver CD for Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3 and 4. This is a “post install” CD used at the end of a Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation which contains HP content for your Linux workstation. Content provided includes:

• NVIDIA and ATI accelerated graphics drivers that have passed HP quality standards and are compatible with the hardware platform and RHEL releases.
• HP Documentation links
• Additional hardware drivers provided by HP that are not part of the standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux releases.

All content provided on this CD is compatible with both RHEL WS 3 and RHEL WS 4.

• Red Hat Driver Disk – for a specific Red Hat Enterprise Linux UpdateThis is the “RED” CD and is not included in ALL versions of the HPIKL. It will be included with the HPIKL when a hardware driver is required for the workstation platform that has not yet become a part of a standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux release. The next subsequent Update from Red Hat removes the need for this CD.
  
  For information on how to use the HP Driver CD or the Red Hat Driver Disk, refer to the HP Linux Workstation User manual at http://www.hp.com/support/linux_user_manual (See chapters 1-3).

• Does the HP Installer Kit for Linux actually contain the Red Hat Box Sets?
  
  No, you must obtain the Red Hat Box Set of your choice. The HP Installer Kit for Linux is a CD set to be used in conjunction with a RHEL install and supports both Red Hat Enterprise WS 3 or 4.
  
  Red Hat requires that you purchase Red Hat Enterprise WS 3 or 4. It is available from HP as After Market Option (AMO) kits.

• HP is only offering a preload of RHEL WS 4 (64 bit). What if I want to run the 32 bit OS instead?
  
  

  Included with the preloaded RHEL WS 4 workstation is a Red Hat Network registration card. Use this card to register your workstation with the Red Hat Network. This enables you to download all versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3 or 4 for your workstation, and get any future updates from Red Hat as well. You can choose the 32 bit OS instead of the 64 bit OS if desired.
  
  Note: See the detailed hardware support matrix at http://www.hp.com/support/linux_user_manual for clarification of what minimum Red Hat release/update is required for Red Hat Enterprise Linux to functional correctly on your workstation platform

• Will I get recovery CD’s with my preloaded Linux workstation?

  The expected OS delivery model for Red Hat Enterprise Linux is electronic. This is because of the Red Hat Network that Red Hat uses to continually provide updates for their customers for their operating system releases.

  As a result HP has found that creating a set of OS installation CD’s has limited value for the customer. They quickly want to register to the Red Hat Network and obtain newer OS versions or build their own custom golden image. So instead HP is including the OS install CD’s as ISO images on a hard disk drive partition. The customer can choose to create install CD’s from the ISO images if he prefers. Or he can get them from the Red Hat Network as well.

• What value does HP bring to Linux on personal workstations?

• HP has a dedicated Linux R&D team with 20+ years of experience in OS and driver development
• HP provides an engineered solution of Red Hat Linux
• HP provides a single point of support (for warranty and extended software support services)
• HP partners with multiple third-party partnerships to enable the complete Linux workstation solution
• HP engineering provides extensive pre-sales technical support HP publishes detailed documents, drivers, and white papers on the support website regarding Linux on HP workstations.

• Why would I choose Linux on HP workstations?

• HP Workstations deliver ROI-based solutions on industry standard platforms.
• HP partners with customers and key technology providers to deliver an HP engineered Linux workstation you can deploy quickly and with confidence.
• HP Workstations offer worry-free deployment through
      - HP worldwide service and support 
      - HP accountability and indemnification

• HP Workstations offers on-line technical white papers, drivers, and customer advisories enabling customers to support themselves more easily.

• Why is HP supporting Linux on workstations?
  
  Some of HP's technical workstation markets and customers rely on the UNIX operating environment, both in their infrastructure and the applications that they use. Linux on personal workstations is a very viable and attractive UNIX alternative. In addition, many OEMs are turning to Linux as a cost effective open source operating system for many different applications. This is especially true in the DCC, EDA, oil and gas, OEM, and some MCAD markets.
  
  Offering HP workstations with Linux is part of HP's overall multi-OS strategy which provides HP-UX, Linux and Windows solutions to customers.

• Where can I find (in detail) what workstation hardware is supported by Red Hat Linux?
  
  At www.hp.com/support/linux_hardware_matrix is a detailed hardware support matrix that is kept up to date every month with the latest support information for hardware platforms and their components. This matrix will indicate the minimum RHEL update version required for the workstation platform to operate correctly. As well it will indicate what add-in components are supported by RHEL.

• Where can I find technical information to guide my installation, configuring, or customizing of my Linux workstation solution?
  
  At www.hp.com/support/linux_user_manual under "setup, install, and configure" you will find multiple white papers on Linux configuration tips such as enabling large memory configurations, hyper threading, multi-headed graphics configurations, and release notes for each Red Hat Enterprise Linux Update.

• Why is HP enabling the Red Hat distribution?
  
  HP has a strategic corporate relationship with Red Hat resulting in Red Hat solutions across all of HP product lines.  As well, Red Hat has a market presence that results in customer demand for this distribution.  The ISV’s of importance to the Linux workstation market are certified on Red Hat Enterprise Linux as well.

• Will Linux distributions other than Red Hat work on HP workstations?
  
  Most likely they will work. However HP warranty support is only available for the Red Hat distribution. In addition HP has reviewed the performance, functionality, and reliability of the Red Hat distribution on the hardware platform and made any required adjustments.
  
  At www.hp.com/support/linux_hardware_matrix you can find a detailed hardware support matrix that is kept up to date every month with the latest support information for hardware platforms and their components.

• What is HP's Linux strategy in the future? 
  
  HP workstations are continually evaluating market trends along with customer requirements to determine solutions that best meet customer needs. HP’s corporate strategy is strategic relationships with both Red Hat and Novell/SUSE and many of HP’s products offer both Red Hat and SuSE distributions.

• What does the future hold for HP and Linux?
  
  HP simplifies the integration of open source and Linux! Our solutions are built with best-of-breed software from our industry leading partners, complemented by HP value-add in areas like management and high availability clustering, implemented on market-leading standards-based platforms, and supported by HP Services worldwide.
  
  Known for its performance, scalability, reliability and low cost, Linux is proving to be the answer for workstation environments that were in the past traditionally a proprietary UNIX infrastructure. Such markets as Digital Content Creation (DCC), oil and gas, EDA, MCAD, and software development areas are adopting and using Linux in their infrastructures.

• Why doesn't HP offer a dual boot with Windows and Linux?
  
  HP cannot offer dual boots due to licensing agreements.

• What version of Red Hat Linux supports 64-bit?
  
  Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS3 and WS4 (RHEL WS3 and WS4) has both a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version. HP will preinstall the 64-bit version of RHEL WS4 and will also support the 32 and 64-bit versions with a Driver CD in the HP Installer Kit for Linux.

• Are there other 64-bit distributions of Linux that will work on the HP Workstations?
  
  It is very likely that other Linux distributions will work. However Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the distribution HP is choosing to do a full engineering evaluation and support for our customers.

• Can I run 32-bit apps on a 64-bit Linux OS? How does this work?
  
  Yes, you can run 32-bit apps on 64-bit Linux OS as the runtime support (mainly shared libraries) for the application exists on the system. The Linux convention for having 32-bit libraries and 64-bit libraries on the same OS is to have companion library directories. The 32-bit libraries are in the conventional locations…. /lib, /usr/lib, /usr/X11R6/lib, etc whereas 64-bit libraries just append 64 to the directory name such as /lib64, /usr/lib64, and /usr/X11R6/lib64. This also includes 32-bit versions of the graphics libraries which HP has included from the graphics vendors.

• What do I do if my 32-bit apps do not run due to missing shared libraries?
  
  You will need to get the library from Red Hat's 32-bit RHEL 3 distribution and put it on your system in the appropriate directory and report the missing library to Red Hat through their Red Hat Network subscription. This will help Red Hat to get the right set of 32-bit libraries needed for most apps in future releases.

• Once I have installed the 64-bit version of Linux, what do I have to do to build 64-bit apps?
  
  Simple. Just rebuild from scratch and the compiler will build 64-bit by default. This is true for most apps. However, some apps must be made 64-bit clean which means that the developers must review the code to get rid of any assumptions about 32-bitness, such pointer arithmetic issues. Some makefiles that explicitly declare paths such as /lib, /usr/lib and /usr/X11R6/lib might need to be changed to append "64."