Avoid Overwriting the Embedded Oracle System Assistant USB Flash Drive

Sun Server X3-2 systems that have the Oracle System Assistant USB flash drive are (for the purposes of installing a Linux operating system or virtual machine software), multi-storage drive systems, even if they have only one hard-disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD). The Oracle System Assistant USB flash drive looks like an ordinary disk to the installer.

During operating system (OS) installations, you must not accept the default disk layout presented by the installer without carefully reviewing the devices used for disk partitions. If you accept the default disk partitions suggested by the OS installer without reviewing or correcting the device selections, you might overwrite the Oracle System Assistant USB flash drive and incur other system software issues.

This is more likely to happen in Oracle Linux 6.x or Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6.x based installations in Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) mode, because the installer will recognize the USB flash drive as a valid Efi System Partition (ESP boot partition) and will attempt to use the Oracle System Assistant USB flash drive to boot the OS in many of the default disk configurations. Always select the disk partitioning options that allow you to review the disk layout.

• For details on creating a custom layout or modifying the default layout, see http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Installation_Guide/s1-diskpartitioning-x86.html

• For details on the disk partitioning setup, see http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Installation_Guide/s1-diskpartsetup-x86.html

For more information, see the following sections in the software installation guides:

• For Linux operating systems, see “Installation Target Options” in the Sun Server X3-2 Installation Guide for Linux Operating Systems.

• For Oracle VM, see “Installation Target Options” in the Sun Server X3-2 Installation Guide for Oracle VM.

• For VMware ESXi, see “Installation Target Options” in the Sun Server X3-2 Installation Guide for VMware ESXi.