Verify that your hardware and software meet the system requirements listed in Section 1.1, System Requirements and Supported Platforms.

If there was a previous installation of Sentinel, ensure that there are no files or system settings remaining from a previous installation. For more information, see Section V, Uninstalling.

For optimal performance, stability, and reliability of Sentinel server, use the ext3 file system on SLES and ext4 file system on RHEL. For more information on file systems, see Overview of File Systems in Linux in the Storage Administration Guide.

Configure the network settings such that the system has a valid IP address and a valid hostname.

Obtain your license key from the Novell Customer Care Center if you plan to install the licensed version.

Synchronize time by using the Network Time Protocol (NTP).

Ensure that the ports listed in Section 1.3, Ports Used are opened in the firewall.

For optimal performance, the memory settings must be appropriate for the PostgreSQL database:

The SHMMAX parameter must be greater than or equal to 1073741824. To set the appropriate value, append the following information in the /etc/sysctl.conf file:

# for Sentinel Postgresql
kernel.shmmax=1073741824

For a minimal or headless installation, the operating system for the Sentinel server must include at least the Base Server components of the SLES server or the RHEL 6 server. Sentinel requires the 64-bit versions of the following RPMs: