Solaris 10 What's New

Installation Enhancements

The following installation features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 8/07 release.

NFSv4 Domain Name Configurable During Installation

The NFS version 4 domain can now be defined during the installation of the Solaris OS. In releases prior to Solaris 10 8/07, the NFS domain name was defined during the first system reboot after installation.

The NFSv4 domain name feature affects installation of the OS as follows:

Solaris Live Upgrade

Starting with this release, Solaris Live Upgrade has been changed with the following enhancements:

For more information about upgrading when non-global zones are installed on a system, see Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.

Upgrading the Solaris OS When Non-Global Zones Are Installed

Starting with the Solaris 10 8/07 release, you can upgrade the Solaris OS when non-global zones are installed without most of the limitations found in releases prior to Solaris 10 8/07.


Note –

The only limitation to upgrading involves a Solaris Flash archive. When you use a Solaris Flash archive to install, an archive that contains non-global zones is not properly installed on your system.


The following changes accommodate systems that have non-global zones installed:

A Solaris system that is configured with Trusted Extensions requires extra steps to upgrade labeled zones. For information on this procedure, see Upgrading a Trusted Extensions System That is Configured with Labeled Zones under Installation Enhancements in Solaris 10 8/07 Release Notes.

Keyboard Configuration Automated

Starting with this release, the sysidkdb tool configures your USB language and its corresponding keyboard layout.

With the new sysidkdb tool, the following procedure occurs:

Previously, the USB keyboard assumed a self-identifying value of one during the installation. Therefore, all of the keyboards that were not self-identifying always configured for a U.S. English keyboard layout during installation on SPARC.


Note –

PS/2 keyboards are not self-identifying. You will have to select the keyboard layout during the installation.


JumpStart Specifications: If the keyboard is not self-identifying and you want to prevent being prompted during your JumpStart installation, select the keyboard language in your sysidkdb file. For JumpStart installation, the default is for a U.S. English keyboard layout. To select another language and its corresponding keyboard layout, set the keyboard keyword in your sysidkdb file .

For more information, see the Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations.

Deferred-Activation Patching

Starting with patch 119254-42 and 119255-42, the patch installation utilities, patchadd and patchrm, have been modified to change the way that certain patches delivering features are handled. This modification affects the installation of these patches on any Solaris 10 release. These “deferred-activation” patches handle the large scope of change delivered in feature patches better.

A limited number of patches are designated as a deferred-activation patch. Typically a deferred-activation patch is a kernel patch associated with a Solaris 10 release after the Solaris 10 3/05 release, such as the Solaris 10 8/07 release. Patches are designated a deferred-activation patch if the variable SUNW_PATCH_SAFEMODE is set in the pkginfo file. Patches not designated as deferred-activation patches continue to install as before. For example, previously released patches, such as kernel patches 118833-36 (SPARC) and 118855-36 (x86), do not use the deferred-activation patching utilities to install.

Previously, complex patch scripting was required for these kernel patches. The scripting was required to avoid issues during the patch installation process on an active partition because of inconsistencies between the objects the patch delivers and the running system (active partition). Now, deferred-activation patching uses the loopback file system (lofs) to ensure the stability of the running system. When a patch is applied to the running system, the lofs preserves stability during the patching process. These large kernel patches have always required a reboot, but now the required reboot activates the changes made by the lofs. The patch README provides instructions on which patches require a reboot.

If you are running non-global zones or have lofs disabled, consider these points when installing or removing deferred-activation patches:


Note –

Sun recommends Solaris Live Upgrade to manage patching. Solaris Live Upgrade prevents the problems of patching a running system. Solaris Live Upgrade reduces the amount of downtime involved in patching and reduces risk by providing fallback capability if problems occur. See Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.