ReaR rescue environment fails to load on Blade Hardware

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension SP1

Situation

ReaR (1.7) rescue environment fails to load with messages like these:
...
[ 61.403784] Loading bnx2x-e1h-5.2.13.0.fw
[ 121.382044] Can't load firmware file bnx2x-e1h-5.2.13.0.fw
...

Resolution

ReaR 1.7 was not designed to work on hardware that requires firmware loading such as blades, but an enhancement request has been submitted and firmware loading should be supported in the next version of ReaR included in SLE HA SP2.

Additional Information

Steps to Duplicate:

1- Install ReaR on SLES 11 SP1 on blade hardware (e.g ProLiant BL460c G6)

2- Configure required settings in /etc/rear/local.conf (e.g location of back up (nfs) and output type (iso))

3- Run command #rear mkbackup

4- Copy the ReaR.iso to cd/dvd on the server so it boots from it

5- Reboot the server

6- At rear screen with prompt "boot" type "rear"to enter rear image.

ReaR fails to load firmware at this point.

Disclaimer

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