How Do I Use the Automated Installer?

To use AI to install client systems over the network, you must set up DHCP and set up an AI service on an AI server. See Chapter 2, Setting Up an AI Install Server. AI uses DHCP to provide the IP address, subnet mask, router, DNS server, and the location of a boot image to the client machine to be installed. The DHCP server and AI server can be the same machine or two different machines. See Chapter 6, Setting Up DHCP for AI.

The client machines you want to install must be able to access an Oracle Solaris Image Packaging System (IPS) package repository. The IPS package repository can be on the AI server or on another server on the local network, or the package repository can be on the Internet.

An AI service is associated with a SPARC or x86 AI install image and one or more sets of installation instructions. The AI image is not a complete installation. Client machines must access an IPS package repository to complete their installation. The installation instructions specify one or more IPS package repositories where the client retrieves the packages needed to complete the installation. The installation instructions also include the names of additional packages to install and information such as target device and partition information. See Chapter 4, Specifying Installation Instructions for more information. You can also specify instructions for post-installation configuration of the client. See Chapter 5, Configuring the Client System.

If two client machines are different architectures or need to be installed with different versions of the Oracle Solaris OS, then create two AI services, and associate each AI service with a different AI image.

If two client machines need to be installed with the same version of the Oracle Solaris OS but need to be installed differently in other ways, then create two sets of installation instructions for the AI service. The different installation instructions can specify different packages to install or a different slice as the install target, for example.

The installation begins when you boot the client. When the client boots, DHCP directs the client to the AI install server, and the client accesses the correct install service and the correct installation instructions within that service. Chapter 7, Installing Client Systems explains how a client is associated with a particular install service. Chapter 3, Customizing Installations explains how a client finds the correct installation instructions to use.