How to boot Rocky Linux 8 on a Dell R710
Dell R710 comes with a LSI SAS controller which requires the megaraid_sas kernel driver. However, since RHEL 8, this driver has been removed. As a result, attempting to installing Rocky Linux / CentOS / RHEL 8 on this server will result in the installer environment not being able to find any disks.
Fortunately, ElRepo has the driver disk ISOs that includes the megaraid_sas driver and it can be found at https://elrepo.org/linux/dud/el8/x86_64/.
When booting the server using an ISO, append the following to the boot command line:
ip=$ip::$gateway:$netmask::$interface:off nameserver=$nameserver inst.dd=https://elrepo.org/linux/dud/el8/x86_64/dd-megaraid_sas-07.717.02.00-1.el8_5.elrepo.iso
Issues with Dell R710 iDrac
The iDrac for the Dell R710 is based on Java. I had issues with the arrow keys in the virtual console. Up/down registers as an enter key. As a result, the BIOS boot menu was non usable. In order to change the boot order to boot the virtual CD, I changed the boot order so Virtual CD/DVD is booted first via the BIOS menu (F2) and used Tab or Shift-Tab to navigate up or down. Alternatively, you can also force it to boot the virtual media by checking the 'Enable Boot Once' option under the 'Console/Media -> Configuration' tab.