Sun Enterprise 250 Server Owner's Guide

How to Boot the System Using a PCI-Based Ethernet Interface

Before You Begin

Before you can boot the system over a network interface, you must complete the installation procedure; see:

"How to Install the Enterprise 250 Server"

Specifically, you must perform the following tasks:

Set up a system console; see "About Setting Up a Console"

Configure the PCI-based Ethernet port; see "How to Add an Ethernet Interface"

Attach the Ethernet port to a network; see "How to Attach a Twisted-Pair Ethernet (TPE) Cable" or "How to Attach an MII Ethernet Transceiver"

Power on the system; see "How to Power On the System"

Note -

To boot the system over an Ethernet network, it is necessary that there be a bootable image for Sun4u architecture somewhere on the network. For details, see the installation instructions accompanying your Solaris software.

What to Do

At the ok prompt, enter:
```
ok show-devs
```
The show-devs command lists the system devices. It displays the full path name of the hme device, similar to the example below:
```
/pci@1f,4000/pci@5/SUNW,hme@0,1
```

Change the default net device. At the ok prompt, enter:
```
ok nvalias net 
hme_path
ok nvstore
```
where hme_path is the full path name of the hme device--in this example, /pci@1f,4000/pci@5/SUNW,hme@0,1.

Load and boot the operating system over the network interface. Enter either of the following commands:
1. To load the operating system into the server's volatile memory, enter:
```
ok boot net
```
  Note -
  Because the operating system is only in volatile memory, it is not retained across power cycles.
2. To install the operating system onto the server's internal system hard drive, enter:
```
ok boot net - install
```
  Both commands boot the system, and the system console displays the system prompt.

What Next

If you want to use this Ethernet interface as the default boot device, you must permanently change the value of the boot-device parameter. For more information, see:

"How to Select the Boot Device"

OpenBoot 3.x Command Reference Manual in the Solaris System Administrator AnswerBook for your specific Solaris release