You use the Solaris Zones utilities zonecfg and zoneadm to configure and install new zones directly from an archive. When you create a new zone using an archive as a reference source, the new zone will mimic the original system's configuration. For specific instructions, see How to Deploy a Zone From a Unified Archive.
Zone creation and installation operations using archives are independent of each other. Although you can use the same archive to source both configuration and installation data, doing so is not a requirement. A zone configuration may already exist or may be created using any supported method.