You can use the AI installation method to perform a hands-free installation of Oracle Solaris on single or multiple systems. This installation method requires an install server setup. See Part 3, Installing Using an Install Server, in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems. Also, each system that is to be installed must have network access to retrieve necessary packages during the installation process from a networked IPS repository.
Keep the following key points in mind when using AI:
You can use AI to install single or multiple clients over the network.
An AI server provides multi-platform installation support. However, you must create a separate install service for each client architecture (SPARC and x86), as well as each Oracle Solaris OS version that you plan to install.
Clients must be able to access an IPS software package repository to retrieve the required software packages for the installation.
The location of the IPS package repository, which is specified by a Universal Resource Identifier (URI), can be on the install server, on a server that is on the local network, or on the Internet. See Configuring Publishers in Adding and Updating Software in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
You can optionally customize installation clients with specific installation parameters, for example, disk layout and software selection.
You can optionally customize clients with specific system configuration parameters, for example, host name, network configuration, and user account information.
You can make customizations on a client-by-client basis, as well as scale customizations for large enterprise environments.
For additional information about the AI process and new AI features, see Part 3, Installing Using an Install Server, in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
Prior to installing a system with AI, you must perform certain tasks. At minimum, you must set up an AI install server and create at least one install service. This scenario works well in situations where all of the clients are of the same architecture and will be installed with the same version of Oracle Solaris. This type of installation uses the default AI manifest, which is not associated with any client criteria. When you create a new AI install service, /install-service-image-path/auto_install/manifest/default.xml, is the initial default AI manifest for that install service. The default AI manifest specifies the most recent version of the Oracle Solaris 11 release that is available from the IPS package repository (http://pkg.oracle.com/solaris/release).
For the client machine that is to be installed, AI uses DHCP to provide the IP address, subnet mask, router, name service server, and the location of the install server. SPARC clients can optionally get their network configuration and install server location from the network-boot-arguments variable that is set in the OpenBoot PROM (OBP). Note that the DHCP server and AI install server can be the same system or on two different systems. For more information about setting up an AI install server, see Chapter 8, Setting Up an AI Server in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
For additional information about customizing AI installations, provisioning client systems, and configuring client systems, refer to the following documentation:
Chapter 9, Assigning Customizations to AI Clients in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems
Chapter 10, Defining AI Client Installation Parameters in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems
When you initially set up your install server, you must create at least one install service for each client architecture and for each version of Oracle Solaris that you plan to install. For each install service that you create for the different client architectures, you must also create customized installation instructions and system configuration instructions. Each client is then directed to the AI install server to access the information for the correct install service, as well as the AI manifest and the system configuration profiles within that install service. If you do not provide adequate system configuration instructions prior to the installation, an interactive tool opens during the first boot after the installation, prompting you for any missing system configuration information.
Setting up an install client requires you to run the installadm create-client command on the install server, which associates a particular client with a particular install service. For example, you would set up a SPARC install client and associate the client with the MAC address 00:14:4f:a7:65:70 and the solaris11_2-sparc install service as follows:
# installadm create-client -n solaris11_2-sparc -e 00:14:4f:a7:65:70
In this particular example, the DHCP server does not require configuration because the SPARC wanboot-cgi boot file has already been configured by using the create-service command. See Creating an Install Service in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
For information about setting up an x86 install client, see Setting Up an x86 AI Client in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
After performing the required prerequisite tasks for using AI, plus any optional customization tasks, you are ready to install the client system. The installation begins when you boot the client system over the network.
Boot a SPARC client as follows:
Bring the system to the ok OBP prompt, then boot the system.
ok boot net:dhcp - install
If you are not using DHCP, use this command:
ok setenv network-boot-arguments host-ip=client-ip, router-ip=router-ip,subnet-mask=subnet-mask,hostname=hostname, file=wanboot-cgi-file
When you use the network-boot-arguments variable, the SPARC client does not have DNS configuration information. Ensure that the AI manifest that is used with the client specifies an IP address instead of a host name for the location of the IPS package repository, and for any other URI in the manifest.
Boot the system.
ok boot net - install
See Installing a SPARC AI Client in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems for a list of the events that occur during a SPARC client installation.
Perform a PXE boot of an x86 client as follows:
Boot the client system.
When the client boots, instruct the firmware to boot from the network by typing the specific key sequence when the firmware (BIOS or UEFI) screen is displayed.
For information about UEFI firmware support on x86 platforms, seeBooting Systems With UEFI and BIOS Firmware From the Network in Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
When the GRUB menu is displayed, select the second entry (Automated Install), then press Return to install that image.
Oracle Solaris 11.3 Text Installer and command line Oracle Solaris 11.3 Automated Install
See Installing an x86 AI Client in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems for a list of the events that occur during an x86 client installation.
For examples of a different types of installation scenarios, see Automated Installer Use Cases in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
Non-global zones are installed and configured on the first reboot after the global zone is installed. With AI, you can install non-global zones on the system by using the configuration element that is defined in the AI manifest. During the first boot after the global zone installation, the zone's self-assembly SMF service (svc:/system/zones-install:default) configures and installs each non-global zone that is defined in the global zone AI manifest. If the zone is configured with the auto-boot property set to true (autoboot=true), the system/zones-install service boots the zone after installing it. See Chapter 12, Installing and Configuring Zones in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
During an AI installation, several important AI files are downloaded to the following locations:
Installation log file – /system/volatile/install_log
AI client manifest that is downloaded from the AI server – /system/volatile/ai.xml
AI client derived manifest (if used) – /system/volatile/manifest.xml
SC profiles that are downloaded from the AI server – /system/volatile/profile/*
List of AI services – /system/volatile/service_list