Getting Started

C H A P T E R 1

Getting Started

This chapter provides information you will need to know before installing the Microsoft Windows Server 2003/2008 operating system on a Sun Blade X6240 server module.

Note - This chapter contains important guidelines and information to help you in the installation process. Make sure to read the remainder of this chapter before beginning the Windows Server 2003 or 2008 installation.

The following sections are included in this chapter:

Installation Prerequisites

Important Installation Considerations

Supported Windows Operating Systems

Installation Procedures

Tip - We recommend that you use the Sun Installation Assistant (SIA) to install the Microsoft Windows Server operating system. SIA is a convenient, front-end application designed to assist you in installing Windows on your server. SIA supplements the standard installation utilities and procedures that ship with Microsoft Windows Server; it does not replace them. For more information, refer to the Sun Installation Assistant User’s Guide, (820-33587).

Installation Prerequisites

The Sun Blade X6240 server modules require additional server-specific drivers that are not included with the Windows Server 2003/2008 operating system. The following chapters in this document describe how to access and install the operating system and drivers. The installation procedures apply to both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003/2008.

Depending on the installation methods chosen, a USB hub may be required. Before you begin, make sure you have access to the following:

Windows Server 2003/2008 installation media

Sun Blade X6240 server module installation media

USB keyboard and mouse

Monitor

USB CD/DVD

USB floppy drive and diskette

USB hub (depending on installation method chosen)

USB dongle connector with at least two ports to connect to the front slot of the Sun Blade X6240 server module

Note - Your server module has only two USB ports. Use the dongle cable included with the system to attach a USB hub for the keyboard, mouse, and CD drive if needed. The second USB port is then available for a USB diskette drive.

Important Installation Considerations

Please note the following important considerations before beginning the Windows Server operating system installation on a Sun Blade X6240 server module:

When you install the Windows operating system, any data on the boot drive, including any preinstalled operating system, will be overwritten.

A primary consideration during installation is providing the mass storage drivers for the disk controller used with the Sun Blade X6240 server modules. The Microsoft Windows Server media does not contain the mass storage drivers needed for operating system installation.

Windows requires that the mass storage drivers be delivered via a floppy diskette. The Windows installation program can only read mass storage drivers from diskette drive A. Other devices such as CD/DVD or USB flash drives are not supported for mass storage driver delivery.

There are three methods that can be used to deliver the drivers for Windows Server installation:

Use a physical USB diskette drive connected to a USB dongle connector with at least two ports to connect to the front slot of the Sun Blade X6240 server module.

Use RKVMS ^[1] to redirect the diskette device to a physical diskette drive on another system that is hosting the JavaRConsole ^[2] (JavaRConsole system).

Use RKVMS to redirect the diskette device to a diskette image file on another system that is hosting the JavaRConsole.

There are also three different methods that can be used to deliver the Windows Server media for installation:

Use a physical USB CD drive connected to a USB dongle connector with at least two ports to connect to the front slot of the Sun Blade X6240 server module.

Use RKVMS to redirect the CD drive to a physical CD drive on the JavaRConsole system.

Use RKVMS to redirect the CD drive to a Windows CD image on the JavaRConsole system.

Depending on the methods chosen, a USB hub with a minimum of 2 ports may be required.

If you use the RKVMS method for any of these installations, you will need to refer to the Sun Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) documentation for details on setting up the hardware needed for the installation. (Note that there are multiple versions of ILOM, be sure to refer to the guide that matches your server’s installed version of ILOM.)

Supported Windows Operating Systems

The Sun Blade X6240 server module supports the following Microsoft Windows operating systems at the time of publication of this document:

Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition with SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise/Datacenter (32-bit and 64-bit)

The updated lists of supported operating systems for the Sun Blade X6240 server module are available at: http://www.sun.com/servers/blades/

Note - The Solaris Operating System or the Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition with SP2 Operating System is preinstalled on the Sun Blade X6240 server module boot disk.

Server-Specific Driver Packages

The server-specific driver packages available for Windows Server operating system installations are:

lsi32.img - This file contains the LSI 3081E drivers for 32-bit windows systems.

lsi64.img - This file contains the LSI 3081E drivers for 64-bit windows systems.

srl.img - This file contains the Sun StorageTek drivers.

The drivers are available on the Tools and Drivers CD-ROM (708-0346) that ships with the Sun Blade X6240 server module.

Installation Procedures

This section outlines the procedures that you must follow to install the Windows Server operating system on the Sun Blade X6240 server module.

Note - If you want to install Windows Server 2003 using a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) server, go to Installing a Windows Server 2003 Image From a RIS Server.

TABLE 1-1 lists the installation requirements of the Windows Server OS on the Sun Blade X6240 server module:

TABLE 1-1 Installation Requirements
Item	Local	Remote
Windows Server 2003/2008 installation media	Required.	Required.
Sun Blade X6240 server module installation media (download and/or Tools and Drivers CD [708-0346])	Required.	Required.
Floppy diskette	Required for REM only.	Required for REM only.
Keyboard, monitor, and mouse	Required. Attached to dongle/USB hub.	Required. Attached to local machine.
Dongle cable	Required.	Not required.
USB hub	Optional. Attached to USB connector on dongle cable.	Not required.
CD/DVD drive	Required. USB CD/DVD drive attached to USB hub.	CD/DVD drive attached to local machine. Not required for CD image install. Use .iso file instead.
Diskette drive	Required for REM only. USB diskette drive attached directly to USB connector on dongle cable	Required for REM only. Diskette drive attached to local machine

Note - The floppy diskette and floppy drive are required to install mass storage drivers on systems with a RAID Expansion Module (REM). They are unnecessary for systems without a REM.

Complete the following procedures to install Windows 2003 or 2008:

1. Selecting the Delivery Methods.

2. Preparing for Mass Storage Drivers Delivery.

3. Configuring the JavaRConsole System.

4. Installing the appropriate version of the Windows Server operating system.

Installing Windows Server 2003.

Installing Windows Server 2008.

5. Updating Critical System-Specific Drivers.

^{1 (Footnote) RKVMS -Remote Keyboard, Video, Mouse, Storage. Allows redirection of the server keyboard, video output, mouse and storage devices via a networked system.}

^{2 (Footnote) JavaRConsole - ILOM Remote Console application run from a networked system.}