Converting a SunOS release 4 system to the Solaris 7 environment is a three-phase process that includes pre-installation (backing up data), installing the Solaris environment, and post-installation (restoring data).
This chapter provides information about the pre-installation and post-installation phases for a single system or an entire network. See Chapter 10, Setting Up a Solaris 7 Server to Support SunOS Release 4 Diskless Clients, for information about creating an environment that serves both Solaris 7 and SunOS release 4 clients.
The Solaris 7 environment introduces a number of changes in the way you install software on systems, which makes it different than installing the SunOS release 4 software. These include:
The Solaris 7 software is distributed on compact disc (CD) only. This means you must have access to a CD-ROM drive before you can install the software. For systems without a local CD-ROM drive, you can set up a system that has a CD-ROM drive to act as an install server on the network. For more information about network installations, see Solaris Advanced Installation Guide.
The Solaris 7 software is bundled into modules called packages. You can select which packages to install on your system and control the amount of space each installation requires.
Also, related packages are grouped into clusters. This means that you can select a cluster to install without having to select each package separately.
Solaris 7 installation also provides a set of software groups, which are groups of packages and clusters for typical users (for example, there is an end-user software group). You can select a software group to get systems running without selecting individual packages and clusters. This can be useful when you are first installing the Solaris 7 software in a limited environment for testing. You can add or remove packages later as you gain more experience with the system.
The Solaris 7 environment includes architecture-specific kernels rather than the generic kernel configuration provided in earlier SunOS software releases. You will find the installed kernel in /kernel instead of /vmunix.
The Solaris 7 installation program guides you step-by-step through the installation process.
The Solaris 7 environment provides custom Solaris JumpStartTM technology to automate installations. This can save time when you need to install many systems. For more information, see Solaris Advanced Installation Guide.
Converting a SunOS release 4 system to the Solaris 7 software involves more than just running the Solaris installation program and loading the software. Usually, there is data on the SunOS release 4 system that needs to be transferred to a Solaris 7 system. This data may be full file systems, such as /home, or locally customized system files, such as /etc/hosts or /etc/passwd.
No matter how you plan to handle the data transfer, you should back up all disk partitions by doing full dumps before you begin the installation process. Because the device naming conventions are different in the Solaris 7 operating environment, you might inadvertently choose the wrong disk when you install the Solaris 7 software. Backing up the file systems before you begin the installation procedure offers some protection should this occur. For information about device naming conventions, see "Device Naming Conventions".
Note about file system formats:
If the Solaris 7 Extended Fundamental Types (EFT) are not used, the SunOS release 4 file system format is upwardly compatible with, and in some cases identical to that used in, the software.
If you are running SunOS release 4.1.1 with QuickCheck or Backup CopilotTM utilities, or if you have a SunOS release 4.1.2 system, the file system formats are identical.
If you are running SunOS 4.1.1 software without QuickCheck or Backup Copilot utilities, SunOS 4.0.x, or SunOS 4.1 software, the file systems are upwardly and backwardly compatible, although not identical in all cases.
Before you begin the installation process, you should print a copy of the system's existing disk partitions. It can serve as a reference for many decisions that are made about configuring the Solaris 7 system. The following procedure is one way to obtain the disk partition information.
Obtain the names of the disks attached to the system.
To obtain the names of the disks attached to the system, use the format(8) command.
Save the disk partition information.
To obtain the partition information encoded on each disk, use the dkinfo(8) command. You can pipe the output to a printer or to a file that you can save to another system.
Using the previous command provides you with information only on the configured partitions. All nonconfigured partitions are displayed with the message: "No such device or address."
The mappings between file system names (for example, /usr, /home) and device names (for example, /dev/sd0g) reside in the configuration file /etc/fstab. Before proceeding, you should make a printed copy of the /etc/fstab file to help you construct the Solaris 7 file.
Use this section only if you are upgrading a system running the SPARCserverTM Manager or Solstice DiskSuite unbundled products. (These products are used to mirror, concatenate, or stripe multiple disks.)
To upgrade your system without this product, you have to modify your multiple-partition configurations to use single partitions. In particular, a concatenated or striped file system must be reorganized onto a single disk, and partitions and mirrors can no longer be used.
If the system is running SPARCserver Manager or Solstice DiskSuite utilities, you should save the metadevice configuration information before installing Solaris 7 software. This enables you to recover the state of the metadevices when you install Solaris 7 software, and serves as a reference as you construct the list of disks attached to your system.
Use the metastat(8) command to save information, as in the following example.
# /etc/metastat -p | lpr |
Save the output of the metadb(8) command.
For example.
# /etc/metadb -i | lpr |
The output of metadb tells you the state of the database configuration information. This information is necessary to reconstruct the state databases if you reinstall the Solstice DiskSuite product.
You should create a list of the SunOS release 4 files and file systems that you want to back up and restore after installing Solaris 7 software.
Make a list of all the system components in the existing SunOS release 4 environment and decide which are critical to the user's system. Consider:
Locally developed applications
Any unbundled software products
Third-party applications
Third-party peripheral devices and drivers (8 mm tape drives and SBus cards, for example)
Use the following guidelines to make the list of file systems to save:
As a general rule, do not transfer entire file systems containing "system" files (for example, the /usr or / file systems).
Do extract and transfer the data files that have changed locally or those on which the server depends for administrative data, such as some /etc files (for example, /etc/hosts), exported file systems (use the exportfs command to list them), and /tftpboot directory, which you should save as a safety precaution.
Do completely preserve file systems containing only locally generated data, such as spool and user home directories.
Save file systems that contain information about clients if you are migrating a server for SunOS release 4 clients. Typically, /export is such a file.
There are a number of SunOS release 4 system configuration files that can be merged or converted for the Solaris platform. Use the example list that follows to help select the system configuration files you want to back up.
The list contains suggestions. You should study the items in the list carefully and add or delete files depending on the configuration at your site. For example, if you have special files in directories from third-party software vendors, you may need to save them.
If the system is a NIS master server, you should save all the files that reside in the NIS master directory (for example, /etc). Additionally, save any other master files that you added to NIS. Examples of files to back up include:
./.cshrc
./.profile
./.login
./.logout
./.rhosts
./etc (if the system is a NIS client or has no name service)
./var/spool/calendar
./var/spool/cron
./var/spool/uucp
./var/nis (if the system is a NIS master server)
Boot programs in./tftpboot
Make a list of how much disk space each file system that you want to move to the Solaris 7 upgrade uses. Refer to this list when installing the Solaris 7 software, since you can partition disk space for your SunOS release 4 file systems when running the Solaris 7 installation program.
If you are converting a network of SunOS release 4 systems to the Solaris 7 software, decide the order of the systems to convert so that you do not inconvenience for the users. For example, you might want to convert all client systems before you convert any servers. The first system you convert should be a standalone system with a locally attached CD-ROM drive.
For a while, you will probably manage a network consisting of both SunOS release 4 and Solaris 7 systems, and part of your planning should involve determining priorities. For example, you may want to convert one domain and use it for system administration testing and for porting internally developed applications before you convert the entire network environment.
Once you decide which files or file systems you need to back up from the SunOS release 4, you can use the standard commands and procedures given in the SunOS release 4 documentation to do backups. The command you use depends on whether the tape drive is local or remote. No matter how you plan to handle the data transfer, it is still a good idea to back up all disk partitions by doing full dumps before you begin the installation process.
Install the Solaris 7 software on the server or standalone system using the software installation procedures given in Solaris 7 (SPARC Platform Edition) Installation Library or Solaris 7 (Intel Platform Edition) Installation Library. These are also known as the Start Here cards.
The Solaris 7 Interactive Installation program has a preserve screen that enables you to preserve existing file systems during installation. This is a good way to preserve any SunOS release 4 file systems so you do not have to restore them.
If you cannot preserve a SunOS release 4 file system or you choose not to (because you want to change how the system's disks are partitioned), you should create new file systems with sufficient disk space for the SunOS release 4 file system that you want to restore (using the disk space requirements you recorded earlier). Then you can restore the SunOS release 4 file systems into the new file systems after Solaris is installed.
This section describes issues related to restoring SunOS release 4 files and file systems you backed up before installing the Solaris 7 software.
You can restore the SunOS release 4 file systems that you could not, or chose not to, preserve into the new file systems you created during the Solaris 7 installation. For information about backup and restore procedures, see System Administration Guide, Volume I.
Before proceeding make sure that the target slice is large enough to accommodate the file system being restored.
Restore any SunOS release 4 user files that you backed up and copy them to the new system.
First, you must restore the SunOS release 4 system configuration files to a temporary directory on the Solaris 7 system. After the information is back on the system in the temporary directory, you need to make it available in the Solaris 7 operating environment. Some of the data can be merged into the files, while some types of data must be converted to new formats.
The system's configuration defines which files you need to work with. Complete the restore by merging or converting files as follows:
Systems with no name service: If the system has no name service, merge or convert all the relevant system files located in /etc and /var.
Systems that are NIS clients: If the system is a NIS client, merge or convert only the local system configuration files located in /etc and /var that are not provided via the NIS name service.
Systems that are NIS master servers: If the system is a NIS master server, merge or convert all the files that reside in the NIS master directory (for example, /etc). Additionally, update other local configuration files in /etc and /var.
To make data from any of the following files available, merge the changes into the Solaris 7 version of the same file. Note, however, that not all of these files were modified on the SunOS release 4 system. Identify files that were changed on the SunOS release 4 system and merge these only. As you read the list, note that some of the file names are slightly different. For example, /etc/auto.* files are now /etc/auto_*.
The following is an example list of the SunOS release 4 files backed up using the instructions in the first part of this chapter. These files are candidates for merging into the Solaris 7 operating environment. See Appendix D, System Files Reference Table, to examine SunOS release 4 files for changes.
All automounter maps, including /etc/auto.master
/etc/aliases
/etc/bootparams
/etc/ethers
/etc/hosts
/etc/format.dat
/etc/inetd.conf
/etc/netmasks
/etc/networks
/etc/protocols
/etc/publickey
/etc/rpc
/etc/services
/etc/hosts.equiv
/etc/remote
/.cshrc
/.profile
/.login
/.logout
/.rhosts
/var/spool/cron
/var/spool/mail
/var/spool/calendar
Many system files, such as the /etc/fstab file, have been replaced and do not exist under the Solaris 7 operating environment. Information from these files must be extracted and manually converted in the Solaris 7 environment. See Appendix D, System Files Reference Table, to examine SunOS release 4 files for changes.
Do not restore operating system executable files (such as system commands in /usr/bin) from the SunOS release 4 system to your system after installing the Solaris 7 software.
You must change the following files before merging the data onto the Solaris 7 system:
/etc/uucp - There have been some changes to the UUCP system. The Config, Grades, and Limits files are new in the Solaris 7 operating environment. The files Devconfig, Devices, Dialcodes, Dialers, Permissions, Poll, Sysfiles, and systems are the same in the Solaris 7 operating environment as they were in the SunOS release 4 software. These files can be merged together. There are also several SunOS release 4 files that are not used in the Solaris 7 operating environment.
/etc/group - The basic format of this file is the same as it was in the SunOS 4.1 and SunOS 4.1.x releases. However, previous releases used a group entry beginning with a plus sign (+) or minus sign (-) to selectively incorporate entries from NIS maps for group. See the group(4) man page if that compatibility is needed under the Solaris 7 operating environment.
/etc/exports - File systems to be shared on the network under the Solaris 7 operating environment use the /etc/dfs/dfstab file instead of /etc/exports. The format of entries in this file is like the following.
share -F fstype -o options -d "text" pathname resource |
See the dfstab(4) man page for additional information.
/etc/fstab - File systems to be mounted under the Solaris 7 operating environment use the /etc/vfstab file instead of /etc/fstab. The format of entries in the /etc/vfstab file is as follows.
dev raw_dev mnt_pt fs_type fsck_pass auto_mnt mnt_option |
Refer to the vfstab(4) man page for additional information.
/etc/passwd - The format of the passwd file is the same as that under the SunOS release 4 software. However, user passwords are now stored in the /etc/shadow file. Refer to the passwd(4) and shadow(4) man pages for additional information.
/etc/sendmail.cf - The format of sendmail.cf is the same as that under the SunOS release 4 structure. The location of the file is now /etc/mail/sendmail.cf.
/etc/ttytab - Under the SunOS release 4 system, ttytab was used to control serial ports and the characteristics of the terminals on those serial lines. Under the Solaris 7 operating environment, the Service Access Facility is used to configure this capability.
/etc/printcap - Under the Solaris 7 operating environment, printers are configured using the SunOS release 5.7 LP print service. See System Administration Guide, Volume I for additional information.