OS Provisioning Command Overview

The N1–ok shell provides a simple command set with which to provision and reprovision servers. Use the following list to plan your work and guide you through the provisioning tasks.

1. Configure your hardware to support OS provisioning. A more detailed discussion of appropriate configuration recommendations and requirements is in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

2. Assume a user role with appropriate privileges. See Introduction to User Security in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for procedural information.

3. Provide access to an existing OS distribution. The specific steps differ, depending on the OS and on whether you are provisioning a diskless client.

   To provide access to an OS image, use the create os command.

   • For Solaris and Linux systems, copy an OS distribution to the management server. See To Copy an OS Distribution From CDs or a DVD, To Copy an OS Distribution From ISO Files, and To Copy a Flash Archive to the Management Server.

   • For Solaris and Linux diskless clients, configure a link to a diskless client image. See To Configure a Link to a Solaris Diskless Client Image.

   • For Windows systems, make sure that you have access to an appropriately configured RIS server. See Setting Up a Windows Remote Installation Services Server in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

     Then, create an OS distribution on the RIS server and link it to the management server. See To Create a Windows OS Distribution.

4. Customize the parameters used to install the OS distribution in the OS profile. Default OS profiles are created automatically when OS distributions are copied or linked. However, you likely will need to modify this profile to suit your provisioning needs. For Solaris and Linux systems, the default profile is optimized for Sun Fire V20z systems. For information about modifying OS profiles, see To Modify an OS Profile.

   SP

   After successful completion of the Create OS job, an image or distribution is identified by its name. The same name is used for the default OS profile. To view the available OS profiles, use the show osprofile command and the all attribute. For example:

   N1–ok> show osprofile all

5. Install an OS profile on a server or a server group.

   To provision individual servers and groups of servers, use the load server orload group command with the osprofile parameter and the required values. For example:

   N1–ok> load server server osprofile osprofile networktype networktype

   ---

   Tip –

   The N1 System Manager browser interface provides an OS profile wizard and drag-and-drop installation of groups of servers to limit the complexity of OS provisioning. The wizard builds commands to help you learn the syntax and provides default settings to enable efficient configuration of common parameters. See To Access the N1 System Manager Browser Interface in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for login instructions. Refer to the N1 System Manager online help for wizard instructions.

   ---

   To reprovision a server or server group with a new OS profile, run the load command on a server or server group that was previously provisioned.

6. Track the installation output and the Load OS job progress. See Connecting to the Serial Console for a Managed Server in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide and Managing Jobs in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide.

7. After the Load OS job completes, monitor the installed OS. See OS Health Monitoring in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide and To Add the OS Monitoring Feature in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide.

8. If you choose not to specify base management or OS monitoring feature support during the load operation, you can add base management and OS monitoring support. See To Add the OS Monitoring Feature in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for procedural information.