x86: How to Connect a Secondary Disk and Boot

If you are adding a disk with an EFI disk label on an x64 system, see EFI Disk Label for more information.

Generally, most modern bus types support hot-plugging. If your system's bus type supports hot-plugging, you might not need to do steps 2 or 3 below.

For more information about hot-plugging devices, see Chapter 6, Dynamically Configuring Devices (Tasks).

1. Become superuser or assume an equivalent role.

2. (Optional) If the disk is unsupported by the Solaris software, add the device driver for the disk by following the instructions included with the hardware.

3. (Optional) Create the /reconfigure file that will be read when the system is booted.

   # touch /reconfigure

   The /reconfigure file causes the SunOS software to check for the presence of any newly installed peripheral devices when you power on or boot your system later.

4. Shut down the system.

   # shutdown -i0 -gn -y

   -i0

   Brings the system down to run level 0, the power-down state.

   -gn

   Notifies logged-in users that they have n seconds before the system begins to shut down.

   -y

   Specifies that the command should run without user intervention.

   The Press any key to reboot prompt is displayed.

5. Turn off the power to the system and all external peripheral devices.

6. Ensure that the disk you are adding has a different target number than the other devices on the system.

   Typically, a small switch is located at the back of the disk for this purpose.

7. Connect the disk to the system and check the physical connections.

   Refer to the disk's hardware installation guide for details.

8. Turn on the power to all external peripheral devices.

9. Turn on the power to the system.

   The system boots and displays the login prompt.

After You Connect a Secondary Disk and Boot ...

After the system is booted, you can create an fdisk partition if the disk is less than 1 terabyte in size. Go to x86: How to Create a Solaris fdisk Partition.