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System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Procedurex86: How to Perform a GRUB Based Boot From the Network

To perform a GRUB based network boot a DHCP server that is configured for PXE clients is required. A boot server that provides tftp service is also required. The DHCP server must be able respond to the DHCP classes, PXEClient and GRUBClient to obtain the IP address of the file server and the boot file (pxegrub). By default, the menu file is /tftpboot/menu.lst.01ethernet-address. If this file does not exist, then pxegrub reverts to DHCP Option 150, if this option is specified, or the /tftpboot/boot/grub/menu.lst file.

If you are booting the system from the Solaris Software 1 CD or DVD, the system boots automatically.

Before You Begin

Before performing a network boot on an x86 based system with GRUB, do the following:

See Chapter 4, Installing From the Network (Overview), in Solaris Express Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations for more information.

  1. On the DHCP server, create a client macro for the DHCP service with the following two options:

    • BootSrvA: svr-addr

    • BootFile: client-macro

      Note that you must have superuser privileges on the DHCP server to run the dhtadm command.

      where svr-addr is the IP address of the server, and client-macro is named by the client's Ethernet type (01) and the mac address, in uppercase letters. This number is also the name of the file that is used in the /tftpboot directory on the installation server.

      Note –

      The notation for the client-macro should not contain any colons.

      You can create the client macro from the DHCP GUI or from command-line interface.

      To create the client macro from the command-line, type:


      # dhtadm -[MA] -m client macro -d
":BootFile=client-macro:BootSrvA=svr-addr:"

  2. Reboot the system.

  3. Instruct the BIOS to boot from the network.

    • If your system uses a specific keystroke sequence to boot from the network, type the keystrokes when the BIOS screen is displayed.

    • If you need to manually modify the BIOS settings to boot from the network, type the keystroke sequence to access the BIOS setup utility. Then, modify the boot priority to boot from the network.

  4. When the GRUB menu is displayed, select the network installation image that you want to install.