Designing an Initial Installation of the Master System

The first task in the Flash Archive installation process is to install a system, the master system, with the configuration that you want each of the clone systems to have. You can use any of the Oracle Solaris installation methods to install an archive on the master system. The installation can be a subset or a complete installation of the Oracle Solaris OS. After you complete the installation, you can add or remove software or modify any configuration files. Some limitations to installing the master system are as follows:

• The master system and the clone systems must have the same kernel architectures. For example, you can only use an archive that was created from a master system that has a Sun4U architecture to install clones with a Sun4U architecture. For sample instructions, see How to Install a Sun4U Flash Archive on a Sun 4V Machine.

• You must install the master system with the exact configuration that you want on each of the clone systems. The decisions that you make when you design the installation of the master system depend on the following items:

  • The software that you want to install on the clone systems

  • Peripheral devices that are connected to the master system and the clone systems

  • The architecture of the master system and the clone systems

How to Install a Sun4U Flash Archive on a Sun 4V Machine

This procedure is limited to the following types of installations:

• Simple installations only and not complex installations such as the following:

  • Installations with zones

  • Installations with attached storage

  • Installations with fibre attached or with SAN in use

• For installing through the primary interface only. See CR 6772769.

• Installations that do not involve volume-managed root (encapsulated).

• For a UFS root system only. A flash archive installation of a ZFS root system uses a different installation mechanism.

1. Create a flash archive on a Sun4U machine so that the archive can be installed on a Sun4V machine.

   Use one of the following options to add Sun4V as a supported architecture for the archive.

   • Modify the /var/sadm/system/admin/.platform file.
     1. Add the following line to the /var/sadm/system/admin/.platform file:

        PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4v

     2. (Optional) Verify that the Sun4V platform group is supported by using the following command:

        # flar info archive-dir | grep content_architectures

        This command should display the following results:

        content_architectures=sun4u,sun4v

     3. Create the flash archive.

        For more information about creating flash archives, see Creating a Flash Archive.

   • Use the -Uoption of the flarcreate command during the flash archive creation process to add Sun4V as a supported architecture for the archive.
     1. Issue the flarcreate command with the -Uoption.

        # flarcreate -n archive-name -U "content_architectures=sun4u,sun4v"
        \-c -x /archive-dir /archive-dir/archive-name.flar

        /archive-dir is the location for the archive.

        For example:

        # flarcreate -n S10U5hybrid -U "content_architectures=sun4u,sun4v"
        \-c -x /data /data/S10U5hybrid.flar

     2. (Optional) Verify that the Sun4V platform group is supported by using the following command:

        # flar info archive-dir | grep content_architectures

        This command should display the following results:

        content_architectures=sun4u,sun4v

2. Install the Flash Archive on the Sun4V machine.

   You can use JumpStart and a net image to deploy the flash archive.

   At this point, the Sun4V machine might not boot. Do not try to patch the machine at this stage. If the machine is allowed to reboot after using JumpStart, you will probably see a message such as:

   Boot device: /pci@780/pci@0/pci@9/scsi@0/disk@0,0:a  File and args:
   Boot load failed.
   The file just loaded does not appear to be executable.

3. Upgrade the Sun4V machine using either a network image or a DVD image.

   For example, you could use a Solaris 10 Update 6 JumpStart image and boot the Sun4V image from that network image, selecting the upgrade option.

   In this example, the upgrade completes with the following issues:

   • Where both .u and .v versions of a package were available, both versions will be installed. See CR 6846077.

   • The /var/sadm/system/admin/.platform file contains incorrect information. See CR 6523030.

   • Any third party .v packages are not part of the Oracle Solaris image. So, third party packages will probably not be upgraded.

4. Boot the Sun4V machine.

   You can now apply patches to the machine as needed.

Customizing the Oracle Solaris Installation on the Master System

After you install the Oracle Solaris OS on the master system by using any of the Oracle Solaris installation methods, you can add or delete software and modify system configuration information as necessary. To customize the master system's software, you can do the following:

• You can remove software that you determine is not necessary to install on the clone systems. To see a list of software that is installed on the master system, use the Product Registry. For detailed instructions, refer to Oracle Solaris Administration: Basic Administration.

• You can install software that is included in the Oracle Solaris release or software that is not delivered as part of the Oracle Solaris OS. All of the software that you install on the master system is included in the flash archive and is installed on the clone systems.

• You can alter configuration files on the master system. For example, you can modify the /etc/inet/inetd.conf file to restrict the daemons that the system runs. All of the modifications that you make are saved as part of the flash archive and are installed on the clone systems.

For an overview of other customizations, see Customizing an Archive's Files and Directories.

Creating Archives for SPARC and x86 Systems

If you want to install Oracle Solaris software by using a flash archive on both SPARC and x86 systems, you must create a separate flash archive for each platform. Use the flash archive that was created from the SPARC master system to install SPARC systems. Use the flash archive that was created from the x86 master system to install x86 systems.

SPARC: Supporting Peripheral Devices Not Found on the Master System

When choosing the drivers to install on the master system, note the following dependencies:

• The type of peripheral devices attached to both the master system and the clone system

• The type of software group installed

The Entire Plus OEM Software Group installs all drivers regardless of the hardware that is present on the system. Other software groups provide limited support. If you install another software group and the clone systems have different peripheral devices than the master system, you need to install the appropriate drivers on the master system before you create the archive.

You can install support for peripherals on clone systems that are different from the master system in by installing the Entire Plus OEM Software Group or installing selected packages.