Chapter 3 Installing the Solaris Operating System

This chapter provides information about installing the Solaris OS on your workstation, if you do not want to use the optional preinstalled Solaris OS.

Solaris 10 10/08 (x86/x64) is the minimum version supported for your Sun Ultra 27 Workstation. If you do not already have the latest CD distribution media, you can download it from:

http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/releases.jsp

For information describing how to configure the optional preinstalled Solaris OS image, refer to the Sun Ultra 27 Workstation Installation Guide (820-6771) for setup instructions. Do not follow the instructions listed here.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• System Requirements

• Preparing for the Solaris OS Installation

• Installing the Solaris OS

• Installing Drivers

System Requirements

The following table outlines the various requirements for installing the Solaris 10 operating system on your workstation.

Preparing for the Solaris OS Installation

The following procedures describe how to prepare your workstation for Solaris installation.

• Erasing the Currently Installed OS

• Setting the BIOS for the Solaris OS

• Setting the LSI RAID Configuration

Erasing the Currently Installed OS

To erase the currently installed OS, you can use the Tools and Drivers DVD to erase partitions on the boot hard drive. If you use the Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk option, it erases all partitions except the diagnostic partition.

The Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk option erases all partitions and all user data on the hard drive, except the diagnostic partition. Be sure to back up all data on the hard drive before performing this action.

The system diagnostic software requires the diagnostic partition to write its test scripts. Otherwise, the only output is the display on the diagnostic screen.

If you accidentally remove the diagnostic partition, you can re-create and mount it using the Create Diagnostic Partition option on the Tools and Drivers DVD. See the Sun Ultra 27 Workstation Service Manual for instructions.

To Erase the Currently Installed OS

To erase all partitions on primary boot hard drive except the diagnostic partition:

1. Back up any data on the workstation's boot hard disk that you want to save.

2. Insert the Tools and Drivers DVD into the workstation DVD drive and power cycle the workstation.

   The workstation will boot from the Tools and Drivers DVD.

3. When the Tools and Drivers main menu appears, select the following option:

   Erase Primary Boot Hard Disk

   This option erases all partitions currently located on the primary hard drive, except for the diagnostic partition. The diagnostic partition, if it is present, remains untouched.

Setting the BIOS for the Solaris OS

SATA is configured as AHCI in the BIOS by default.

• If the BIOS was not changed, you do not need to perform this setup.

• To verify that the Configured SATA As option in the BIOS is set correctly, do the following.

To Set the BIOS for the Solaris OS

1. Power on the workstation.

2. Press the F2 key at the Sun logo screen to enter the BIOS Setup menu.

3. Go to Advanced > Integrated Devices.

4. If necessary, change the Configured SATA As option to AHCI.

5. Press the F10 key to save your changes and exit the BIOS.

Setting the LSI RAID Configuration

If your workstation has multiple disks, you can use this procedure to set up a mirrored RAID volume. The process of RAID creation for the LSI controller included in your workstation is fully described in the Sun LSI 106x RAID User's Guide (820–4933).

To Set the LSI RAID Configuration

1. Power on the workstation.

2. During the BIOS portion of the boot, press Ctrl-C when prompted to open the LSI configuration tool.

3. Select the SAS controller you want and press Enter.

   The adapter properties screen appears.

4. Select RAID properties and press Enter.

   The RAID properties screen appears.

5. Select the type of RAID volume you wish to create.

   The Create New Array screen appears.

6. Select the disks you would like to include in the RAID volume.

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   Caution –

   Do not mix SAS and SATA disks within a RAID volume.

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7. Add global hot spares, as needed.

8. When the volume has been fully configured, press C.

9. After the array is configured, save changes and exit.

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   Note –

   After you create IM and IME RAID arrays, the system may perform an automatic reboot to enable the write cache feature.

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Installing the Solaris OS

You have two options for installing Solaris 10 operating system (OS) on your workstation:

• Install Solaris locally (at the workstation) using a distribution CD.

  To install Solaris 10 OS from a distribution CD, refer to the Solaris 10 OS Installation Guide: Basic Installations on the web in the documentation collection for the version of Solaris you are installing: http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/solaris.10

• Install Solaris over the network using a previously created remote image.

  If you want to install the Solaris 10 OS on multiple client systems on a network, refer to Installing the Solaris Operating System From a JumpStart Server

After completing one of the above installation options, proceed to Installing Drivers.

Installing Drivers

After installing the OS, run the installation script provided on the Tools and Drivers DVD to install the drivers that correspond to your OS.

The Tools and Drivers DVD is included with your workstation.

The Tools and Drivers DVD also contains the tools to re-create and mount the diagnostic partition. You should not have to do this unless you accidentally erased it. See the Sun Ultra 27 Workstation Service Manual for details.

Perform this procedure to install drivers if you are performing a new installation of the Solaris OS.

To Install Drivers

1. Log in to the system as superuser.

2. Insert the Tools and Drivers DVD into the DVD drive.

   The DVD is automounted by the Solaris OS.

3. Change to the /cdrom/cdrom0/drivers/sx86 directory by typing the following command:

   # cd /cdrom/cdrom0/drivers/sx86

4. Run the installation script by typing the following command:

   # ./install.sh

   The system drivers are installed.

   The script prompts you to reboot the system for changes to take effect.

5. Press the Y key to reboot, or the N key to allow a manual reboot.

6. Remove the DVD from the DVD drive.

7. When prompted for networking information on your system, enter the networking information for your server.