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Linux support in Zeuthen is based on [https://scientificlinux.org Scientific Linux], an effort kindly made available by FNAL with contributions from other labs.BRBRSL is in use at virtually all HEP sites and many other labs, universities, and enterprises.
Information for Linux Users
[:SL5 User Information]
[:SL4 User Information]
[http://www-zeuthen.desy.de/linuxsl3 SL3 User Information]
[:Cluster:Using the Myrinet and Infiniband compute clusters]
[:Batch_System_Usage:Using the batch farm]
Status of SL Releases
Scientific Linux 5
SL5 is becoming our new workhorse right now (Summer 2007) and will be the focus of linux support for a while, most likely at least for all of 2008.
New hardware can be expected to work with SL5 until Autumn 2009. Supporting existing systems is possible until April 2014.
Scientific Linux 4
SL4 is mainly used on servers, and not foreseen for general use especially on the desktop. It's already old and its successor is available. Some SL4 systems will probably have to be provided for the LHC activities, as long as this is the mainstream distribution at CERN. Add-ons will be kept to a minimum.
New hardware can be expected to work with SL4 until Autumn 2007.
Existing systems can be kept alive until February 2012, if required and sensible, under a model similar to the one described for SL3 below:.
Scientific Linux 3
SL3 was our workhorse from early 2005 to Summer 2007. It still works on current hardware (Spring 2007), with growing pains regarding sound and video. It is unlikely to work on next generation hardware.
Upstream support is scheduled to end October 2007. "Legacy support" after this date is under discussion.
Accordingly, desktop support in Zeuthen is scheduled to end October 2007, affecting:
ALSA - sound will no longer work on recent hardware (satyr & oreade class systems)
nonstandard video drivers - only a single TFT screen will work on dryade, satyr & oreade class systems
- add-on software cumbersome to maintain (in particular: firefox, thunderbird, acroread)
SL3 is now essentially frozen (security updates only).
Within these limitations, we plan support for existing SL3 systems until October 2010, the end of life date of RHEL3. If SL legacy support will not be available, we still have two options: use CentOS errata, or purchase subscriptions for the (few) remaining systems.
Local Repositories and Mirrors
We mirror the current SL, SL4, and SL5 releases: [:Local Linux Repositories]
Network installations (http) are also possible from these repositories.
Iso images are available in /project/linux/iso.