test

System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Troubleshooting Diskless Client Problems

This section lists some common problems with diskless clients and possible solutions.

Problem

  • OS server does not respond to client RARP requests

  • OS server does not respond to client bootparam requests

  • OS server cannot mount diskless client root file system

Solution

In a files environment

  • Verify that files is listed as the first source for hosts, ethers, and bootparams in the /etc/nsswitch.conf file on the OS server.

  • Verify that the client's IP address appears in the /etc/inet/hosts file.

  • Verify that the client's Ethernet address appears in the /etc/ethers file.

  • Verify that the /etc/bootparams file contains the following paths to the client's root and swap areas:


    client root=os-server:/export/root/client swap=os-server:
/export/swap/client

    The swap size varies depending on whether you specify the -x swapsize option when you add the diskless client. If you specify the -x dump option when you add the diskless client, the following line is present:


    dump=os-server:/export/dump/client dumpsize=24

    The dump size varies depending on whether you specify the -x dumpsize option when you add the diskless client.

  • Verify that the OS server's IP address appears in the /export/root/client/etc/inet/hosts file.

In a name service environment

  • Verify that both the OS server's and the client's Ethernet address and IP address are correctly mapped.

  • Verify that the /etc/bootparams file contains the paths to the client's root and swap areas, as follows:


    client root=os-server:/export/
root/client swap=os-server:/export/
swap/client swapsize=24

    The swap size varies depending on whether you specify the -x swapsize option when you add the diskless client. If you specify the -x dump option when you add the diskless client, the following line is present:


    dump=os-server:/export/dump/client dumpsize=24

    The dump size varies depending on whether you specify the -x dumpsize option when you add the diskless client.

Problem

Diskless client panics

Solution

  • Verify that the OS server's Ethernet address is correctly mapped to its IP address. If you physically moved a system from one network to another, you might have forgotten to remap the system's new IP address.

  • Verify that the client's host name, IP address, and Ethernet address do not exist in the database of another server on the same subnet that responds to the client's RARP, TFTP, or bootparam requests. Often, test systems are set up to install their OS from an install server. In these cases, the install server answers the client's RARP or bootparam request, returning an incorrect IP address. This incorrect address might result in the download of a boot program for the wrong architecture, or a failure to mount the client's root file system.

  • Verify that the diskless client's TFTP requests are not answered by an install server (or previous OS server) that transfers an incorrect boot program. If the boot program is of a different architecture, the client immediately panics. If the boot program loads from a non-OS server, the client might obtain its root partition from the non-OS server and its /usr partition from the OS server. In this situation, the client panics if the root and /usr partitions are of conflicting architectures or versions.

  • If you are using both an install server and an OS server, verify that the following entry exists in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file:


    share -F nfs -o -ro /export/exec/Solaris_version_instruction_set.all/usr

    Where version=2.6, 2.7, or 8, and instruction_set=sparc or i386.

  • Verify that the diskless client's root, /swap, and /dump (if specified) partitions have share entries: 


    share -F nfs -o rw=client,root=client /export/root/client 
share -F nfs -o rw=client,root=client /export/swap/client 
share -F nfs -o rw=client,root=client /export/dump/client

  • On the OS server, type the following to check which files are shared: 


    % share

    The OS server must share /export/root/client and /export/swap/client_name (defaults), or the root, /swap, and /dump partitions you specified when you added the diskless client.

    Verify that the following entries exists in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file:


    share -F nfs -o ro /export/exec/Solaris_version_instruction_set.all/usr
share -F nfs -o rw=client,root=client /export/root/client
share -F nfs -o rw=client,root=client /export/swap/client

Problem

OS server is not responding to diskless client's RARP request

Solution

From the client's intended OS server, run the snoop command as root by using the client's Ethernet address:


# snoop xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Problem

Boot program downloads, but panics early in the process

Solution

Using the snoop command, verify that the intended OS server is answering the client's TFTP and NFS requests.

Problem

  • Diskless client hangs

  • Incorrect server responds to diskless client's RARP request

Solution

Restart the following daemons on the OS server:


# /usr/sbin/rpc.bootparamd
# /usr/sbin/in.rarpd -a