This chapter provides you with information about decisions you need to make before you install or upgrade the Solaris Operating System (Solaris OS). This chapter contains the following sections:
This book uses the term slice, but some Solaris documentation and programs might refer to a slice as a partition.
x86: To avoid confusion, this book distinguishes between x86 fdisk partitions and the divisions within the Solaris fdisk partition. The x86 fdisk divisions are called partitions. The divisions within the Solaris fdisk partition are called slices.
The following task map is an overview of the steps necessary to install or upgrade the Solaris OS when using any installation program. Use this task map to identify all of the decisions that you need to make to complete the most efficient installation for your environment.
Table 3–1 Task Map: Installing or Upgrading the Solaris Software
Task |
Description |
For Instructions |
---|---|---|
Choose initial installation or upgrade. |
Decide if you want to perform an initial installation or an upgrade. | |
Choose an installation program. |
The Solaris OS provides several programs for installation or upgrade. Choose the installation method that is most appropriate for your environment. | |
(Solaris interactive installation program) Choose a default or custom installation. |
Decide which type installation is suitable for your environment:
|
For information on the Solaris installation program's choices, see Chapter 5, Gathering Information Before Installation or Upgrade (Planning) |
For initial installations only, choose open network security or restricted network security. |
For an initial installation, determine whether to disable or constrain network services to respond to local requests only during the installation. The default is to open network security during installation. | |
Review system requirements. Also, plan and allocate disk space and swap space. |
Determine if your system meets the minimum requirements to install or upgrade. Allocate disk space on your system for the components of the Solaris OS that you want to install. Determine the appropriate swap-space layout for your system. |
Chapter 4, System Requirements, Guidelines, and Upgrade (Planning). |
Choose to install a system from local media or from the network. |
Decide on the most appropriate installation media for your environment. | |
Gather information about your system. |
|
|
(Optional) Set system parameters. |
You can preconfigure system information to avoid being prompted for the information during the installation or upgrade. | |
(Optional) Prepare to install the Solaris software from the network. |
If you chose to install the Solaris software from the network, complete the following tasks.
|
To install over a local area network, see Chapter 6, Installing From the Network With CD Media (Tasks), in Solaris 10 11/06 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations. To install over a wide area network, see Chapter 11, Installing With WAN Boot (Tasks), in Solaris 10 11/06 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations. |
(Upgrade only) Perform tasks prior to upgrade. |
Back up your system and determine if you can upgrade with disk space reallocation. | |
Perform an installation or upgrade. |
Use the Solaris installation method that you chose to install or upgrade the Solaris software. |
The chapter or chapters that provide detailed instructions for the installation programs. |
Troubleshoot installation problems |
Review the troubleshooting information when you encounter problems with your installation. |
The Solaris software is distributed on DVD or CD media so that you can install or upgrade systems that have access to a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive.
You can set up the systems to install from the network with remote DVD or CD images. You might want to set up systems this way for the following reasons:
If you have systems that do not have local DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drives
If you are installing several systems and do not want to insert the discs into every local drive to install the Solaris software
You can use all of the Solaris installation methods to install a system from the network. However, by installing systems from the network with the Solaris Flash installation feature or with a custom JumpStart installation, you can centralize and automate the installation process in a large enterprise. For more details about the different installation methods, refer to Choosing a Solaris Installation Method.
Installing the Solaris software from the network requires initial setup. For information about preparing to install from the network, choose one of the following options.
For detailed instructions about preparing to install from a local area network | |
For instructions about preparing to install over a wide area network | |
For instructions about how to install x86 based clients over the network by using PXE |
You can choose to perform an initial installation or, if your system is already running the Solaris OS, you can upgrade your system.
An initial installation overwrites the system's disk with the new version of the Solaris OS. If your system is not running the Solaris OS, you must perform an initial installation.
If the system is already running the Solaris OS, you can choose to perform an initial installation. If you want to preserve any local modifications, before you install, you must back up the local modifications. After you complete the installation, you can restore the local modifications.
You can use any of the Solaris installation methods to perform an initial installation. For detailed information about the different Solaris installation methods, refer to Choosing a Solaris Installation Method.
You can upgrade the Solaris OS by using two upgrade methods: standard and Solaris Live Upgrade. A standard upgrade maintains as many existing configuration parameters as possible of the current Solaris OS. Solaris Live Upgrade creates a copy of the current system. This copy can be upgraded with a standard upgrade. The upgraded Solaris OS can then be switched to become the current system by a simple reboot. If a failure occurs, you can switch back to the original Solaris OS with a reboot. Solaris Live Upgrade enables you to keep your system running while you upgrade and enables you to switch back and forth between Solaris OS releases.
For more information about upgrading and the list of upgrade methods, see Upgrade Planning.
The Solaris OS provides several programs for installation or upgrade. Each installation technology offers different features that are designed for specific installation requirements and environments. Use the following table to help you decide which installation method to use.
Table 3–2 Choosing Your Installation Method
Task |
Installation Method |
Reasons for Choosing This Program |
Instructions |
---|---|---|---|
Install one system from CD-ROM or DVD-ROM media with an interactive program. |
Solaris installation program |
| |
Install one system over a local area network. |
Solaris installation program over the network |
This program enables you to set up an image of the software you want to install on a server and install this image on a remote system. If you need to install multiple systems, you can use the network installation image with the custom JumpStart and Solaris Flash installation methods to efficiently install or upgrade systems on your network. | |
Automate the installation or upgrade of multiple systems based on profiles you create. |
Custom JumpStart |
This program efficiently installs multiple systems. But if you only have a few systems, the creation of a custom JumpStart environment might be time consuming. For a few systems, use the Solaris interactive installation program. | |
Replicate the same software and configuration on multiple systems. |
| ||
Install systems over a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet. |
WAN boot |
If you want to install a Solaris Flash archive over the network, this program enables a secure installation. |
Chapter 9, WAN Boot (Overview), in Solaris 10 11/06 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations |
Upgrade a system while it is running. |
Solaris Live Upgrade |
| |
After installing the Solaris OS, create an isolated application environment. |
Solaris Zones partitioning technology |
This program creates isolated non-global zones that provide a secure application environment. This isolation prevents processes that are running in one zone from monitoring or affecting processes that are running in any other zones. |
Starting with the Solaris 10 11/06 release, you have the option during an initial installation to change the network security settings so that all network services, except Secure Shell, are disabled or restricted to respond to local requests only. This option minimizes the potential vulnerabilities a remote attacker might try to exploit. In addition, this option provides a base for customers to enable only the services they require. This security option is only available during an initial installation, not during an upgrade. An upgrade maintains any set services that were previously set. If necessary, you can restrict network services after an upgrade by using the netservices command.
Depending on the installation program you are using, you can select to restrict network services or keep the services enabled by default:
For the Solaris interactive installation, you can select the option of enabling network services by default as in previous Solaris releases. Or, you can select the option to restrict network services. For a detailed description of hands-on installations, see Chapter 2, Installing With the Solaris Installation Program (Tasks), in Solaris 10 11/06 Installation Guide: Basic Installations.
For an automated JumpStart installation, you can set this security restriction by using a new keyword, service_profile in the sysidcfg file. For further information about this keyword, see service_profile Keyword in Solaris 10 11/06 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations.
If you choose to restrict network security, numerous services are fully disabled. Other services are still enabled, but these services are restricted to local connections only. The Secure Shell remains fully enabled.
For example, the following table lists network services that, for the Solaris 10 11/06 release, are restricted to local connections.
Table 3–3 Solaris 10 11/06 SMF Restricted Services
Service |
FMRI |
Property |
---|---|---|
rpcbind |
svc:/network/rpc/bind |
config/local_only |
syslogd |
svc:/system/system-log |
config/log_from_remote |
sendmail |
svc:/network/smtp:sendmail |
config/local_only |
smcwebserver |
svc:/system/webconsole:console |
options/tcp_listen |
WBEM |
svc:/application/management/wbem |
options/tcp_listen |
X server |
svc:/application/x11/x11-server |
options/tcp_listen |
dtlogin |
svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login |
dtlogin/args |
ToolTalk |
svc:/network/rpccde-ttdbserver:tcp |
proto=ticotsord |
dtcm |
svc:/network/rpccde-calendar-manager |
proto=ticits |
BSD print |
svc:/application/print/rfc1179:default |
bind_addr=localhost |
With the restricted network security feature, all of the affected services are controlled by the Service Management Framework (SMF). Any individual network service can be enabled after an initial installation by using the svcadm and svccfg commands.
The restricted network access is achieved by invoking the netservices command from the SMF upgrade file found in /var/svc/profile. The netservices command can be used to switch the service startup behavior.
To disable network services manually, run the following command:
# netservices limited |
This command can be used on upgraded systems, where no changes are made by default. This command can also be used to re-establish the restricted state after enabling individual services.
Similarly, default services can be enabled as they were in previous Solaris releases by running the following command:
# netservices open |
For further information about revising security settings, see How to Create an SMF Profile in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration. See also the following man pages.
netservices(1M)
svcadm(1M)
svccfg(1M) commands.
The Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 provides for broad deployment of application services and web services. This software is automatically installed with the Solaris OS. You can find documentation for the server in the following areas:
Description |
For More Information |
---|---|
For documentation about starting the server |
See Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 QuickStart Guide in the installation directory at /docs/QuickStart.html |
For the full Application Server documentation set | |
For a tutorial |