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Solaris Express Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations

x86: GRUB Menu Commands for Installation

Starting with the Solaris Express Developer Edition 5/07 release, changes have been made to GRUB that enable the boot loader to directly load and boot the unix kernel. The GRUB multiboot module is no longer used. This implementation integrates the previous multiboot functionality directly into the platform-specific unix kernel module. These changes reduce the time, as well as memory requirements, that are needed to boot the Solaris OS.

Two new keywords, kernel$ and module$, have been added to GRUB to assist in creating menu.lst entries that work with either 32-bit or 64-bit systems. Another new keyword, $ISADIR, displays 32–bit and 64–bit information in the boot command. In addition, the bootadm command that manages the menu.lst file has been modified to create file entries for the platform-specific unix module that is loaded by GRUB. During an upgrade, the bootadm command converts any existing multiboot menu.lst entries to unix entries.

Note –

These new keywords are used in normal installations. However, the miniroot is 32-bit only. Therefore, failsafe installations do not use the new keywords.

For overview and task-related information, see Chapter 11, Administering the GRUB Bootloader (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration. See also Chapter 12, Booting a Solaris System With GRUB (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

For more information, see the boot(1M) and bootadm(1M) man pages.

You can customize the network boot and installation of your system by editing the commands in the GRUB menu. This section describes several commands and arguments you can insert in the commands in the GRUB menu.

In the GRUB menu, you can access the GRUB command line by typing b at the prompt. A command line that is similar to the following output is displayed.


kernel$ /I86PC.Solaris_11-30/platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/kernel/unix \
     -B install_media=192.168.79.61:/export/Solaris_11-30 
module$ /I86PC.Solaris_11-30/boot_archive

You can edit this command line to customize your boot and installation. The following list describes several common commands you might want to use. For a complete list of boot arguments that you can use with the -B option, see the eeprom(1M) man page.

Note –

To add multiple arguments with the -B option, separate the arguments with a comma.

Table 8–1 x86: GRUB Menu Commands and Options

Command/Option 

Description and Examples 

kernel$ and module$

Starting with the Solaris Express Developer Edition 5/07 release, enable GRUB to determine 32-bit or 64-bit hardware capacity. Results are displayed by using the $ISADIR keyword.

Note –

These new keywords are used in normal installations. However, the miniroot is 32-bit only. Therefore, failsafe installations do not display these keywords.

$ISADIR

Starting with the Solaris Express Developer Edition 5/07 release, resolves to amd64 for 64-bit hardware and to null for 32-bit hardware.

install

Insert this option before the -B option to perform a custom JumpStart installation.


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix install 
-B install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

url|ask

Specifies the location of the custom JumpStart files or prompts you for the location. Insert either option with the install option.

  • url - Specifies the path to the files. You can specify a URL for files that are located on an HTTP or HTTPS server:


    http://server_name:IP_address/jumpstart_dir_path/
compressed_config_file&proxy_info

    • If you placed a sysidcfg file in the compressed configuration file, you must specify the IP address of the server that contains the file, as in the following example:


      kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix install 
http://192.168.2.1/jumpstart/config.tar 
-B install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

    • If you saved the compressed configuration file on an HTTP server that is behind a firewall, you must use a proxy specifier during boot. You do not need to specify an IP address for the server that contains the file. You must specify an IP address for the proxy server, as in the following example:


      kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix install 
http://www.shadow.com/jumpstart/config.tar&proxy=131.141.6.151 
-B install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

url|ask (continued)

  • ask - When used with the install option, specifies that the installation program prompt you to type the location of the compressed configuration file after the system boots and connects to the network. If you use this option, you are not able to do a completely hands off JumpStart installation.

    If you bypass the prompt by pressing Return, the Solaris installation program interactively configures the network parameters. The installation program then prompts you for the location of the compressed configuration file.

    The following example performs a custom JumpStart and boots from a network installation image. You are prompted to input the location of the configuration file after the system connects to the network.


    kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix install ask 
-B install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

dhcp

Insert this option before the -B option to instruct the installation programs to use a DHCP server to obtain network installation information that is needed to boot the system. If you do not specify to use a DHCP server by typing dhcp, the system uses the /etc/bootparams file or the naming service bootparams database. For example, you would not specify dhcp if you wanted keep a static IP address.


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix dhcp 
-B install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

- text

Insert this option before the -B option to perform a text-based installation in a desktop session.


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix - text 
-B install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

- nowin

Insert this option before the -B option to perform a text-based installation in a console session.


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix - nowin 
-B install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

console=serial-console

Use this argument with the -B option to instruct the system to use a serial console, such as ttya (COM1) or ttyb (COM2).


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix -B console=ttya 
install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

ata-dma-enabled=[0|1]

Use this argument with the -B option to enable or disable Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) or Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) devices and Direct Memory Access (DMA) during the installation.


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix -B ata-dma-enabled=0 
install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

acpi-enum=[0|1]

Use this argument with the -B option to enable or disable Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI ) power management.


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix -B acpi-enum=0 
install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

atapi-cd-dma-enabled=[0|1]

Use this argument with the -B option to enable or disable DMA for CD or DVD drives during the installation.


kernel$ /Solaris_11_x86/kernel/unix -B atapi-cd-dma-enabled=0
install_media=192.168.2.1:/export/cdrom0/boot
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive
Note –

The DMA name atapi is the current variable name used for DMA. This variable is subject to change.