Installing, Running and Maintaining Large Linux Clusters at CERN

Having built up Linux clusters to more than 1000 nodes over the past five years, we already have practical experience confronting some of the LHC scale computing challenges: scalability, automation, hardware diversity, security, and rolling OS upgrades. This paper describes the tools and processes we have implemented, working in close collaboration with the EDG project [1], especially with the WP4 subtask, to improve the manageability of our clusters, in particular in the areas of system installation, configuration, and monitoring.