Provisioning Oracle Solaris 9 and 10

You can create OS profiles for provisioning Oracle Solaris 9 or 10 on x86 or SPARC platforms. The OS Provisioning and OS Configuration profiles collect all the information such as type of target, OS image, time zone and language setup, required JET modules, disk partitions, naming services and network details.

Perform the following before you provision the operating system:

  • Import the OS image. Uploading the packages from Oracle to the library can take several hours.

  • (Optional) Edit an existing OS Provisioning profile or create a new profile.

  • Discover the service processors of the target systems.

  • Verify that the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) services are enabled on Proxy Controllers. You cannot create a profile or assign any network if the DHCP services are not enabled. The Install Server option to provision OS on a server is not enabled if the DHCP is not enabled on any of the interfaces.

    Note:

    Oracle Solaris 10 supports an Oracle Solaris DHCP Server. The external DHCP-related files are copied only if the Proxy Controller is running on an Oracle Solaris 10 operating system.

  • Verify that any scripts the profile uses are in a directory that the Enterprise Controller can access. You can save scripts in a local directory of the Enterprise Controller, or in a directory that the Enterprise Controller mounts using NFS.

  • When you are provisioning a dynamic system domain of an M-Series server, the domain must have an IP address.

Note:

It is a good practice to place the systems that you are going to provision in Maintenance Mode so that you can take the system offline without generating alerts and incidents.

Complete the following steps to provision an operating system:

  1. Verify that the OS Provisioning profile and OS Configuration profile are available and configured with the parameters you want to use.

  2. Create a deployment plan that enables OS provisioning. The plan must contain an OS Provisioning profile and an OS Configuration profile that use the same subtype, either Oracle Solaris SPARC or x86.

  3. Discover the service processors of the target systems.

  4. Place the asset in Maintenance Mode to prevent events related to a system going offline.

  5. Select the deployment plan and define the targets for the plan. Make any last minute changes in the plan, then submit the job.

See the Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center Provisioning Oracle Solaris 10 Operating System Guide for an end-to-end example.

Specifying Common Oracle Solaris 9 and 10 Parameters

Specify parameters to create a profile that installs the Oracle Solaris 9 or 10 OS.

To create a profile that installs the Oracle Solaris 9 or 10 OS, specify the following parameters:

  • Manual reboot: By default, the profile reboots the OS. You can choose the Manual Net Boot option to enable manual control of network boot operations for the target system.

    Note:

    The Enterprise Controller cannot remotely control the network boot process on systems that do not have a service processor. When your target system does not have a service processor, you must select the Manual Net Boot option.

  • Custom Scripts: When you specify the OS Parameters, you have the option to include custom scripts. This feature is disabled for Oracle Solaris 11 profiles.

About JumpStart Enterprise Toolkit (JET) for Oracle Solaris

For Oracle Solaris 9 and 10 only, you can optionally use JumpStart Enterprise Toolkit (JET) modules to specify additional installation parameters. Oracle Solaris 11 uses the Automated Installer (AI) instead of JET.

JET provides a framework to simplify and extend the JumpStart functionality provided within the Oracle Solaris 9 and 10 operating system. The SUNWjet and JetFLASH packages are installed on the Proxy Controller during installation when the Proxy Controller is installed on an Oracle Solaris 10 operating system.

Using JET provides more options for defining the Jumpstart parameters. When you install JET on a JumpStart server, you have the following advantages:

  • Install multiple versions of Oracle Solaris

  • Deploy flash archives

  • Utilize multiple boot methods

  • Install recommended patches

  • Configure all your network interfaces

Note:

You cannot define IPMP groups or link aggregation for a JET template profile.

Table 7-3 describes the JET modules that are installed on the Proxy Controller.

Table 7-3 JET Modules and Associated Packages

JET Module Name JET Package Description

base_config

SUNWjet

Provides the standard installation configuration for the client, including the information required to set up the JumpStart server to allow the client to boot and build.

custom

SUNWjet

Adds functionality to the JumpStart framework to handle packages, patches, scripts, and files.

flash

JetFLASH

Adds the ability for the JumpStart server to deliver Solaris images in Solaris Flash format.

Within the Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center UI, there are 2 methods of influencing the JET template variables:

  • Import a JET Template

  • Add JET variables to the OS provisioning profile

You cannot manipulate the JET template in the UI. When you want to make changes to a template, make the changes and then import the template.

Creating a JET Template

To create a profile that uses the JumpStart Enterprise Toolkit (JET), select a JET template that defines all the parameters for OS provisioning.

Place the JET template on a directory that the Enterprise Controller can access. You can also create a JET template on the Enterprise Controller in the directory /opt/SUNWjet/Templates, using the following command:

./make_template template_name

A sample template is provided. You can make a copy and change the values in the JET template as required. During provisioning, the OS provisioning parameters are read from the template. After you create the JET templates, you can save them on the Enterprise Controller and use them in your Oracle Solaris provisioning profiles.

Creating an Oracle Solaris 9 or 10 OS Provisioning Profile

The OS Provisioning profile defines the OS provisioning parameters, including the platform-specific OS image and software package, file system layout, user accounts, naming services, and other installation requirements.

Complete the following steps to create an OS Provisioning profile:

  1. Expand Plan Management in the Navigation pane.
  2. Select OS Provisioning under the Profiles and Policies section.
  3. Click Create Profile in the Actions pane.
  4. Define the following profile parameters in the Create Profile-OS Provisioning wizard, then click Next.

    • Name: The name of the profile.

    • Description: A description of the profile.

    • Subtype: Select Solaris SPARC or Solaris x86.

    • Target Type: Select the target type, either SPARC or x86.

  5. Select an OS Image, OS Image Version, and Software Group. This example does not include custom scripts. Click Next.
  6. Specify the following OS setup parameters:

    • Language: Select a language for the OS.

    • TimeZone: Specify the time zone for the OS.

    • Terminal Type: Enter a terminal type, if other than the default type listed.

    • Console Serial Port: A default port appears in the wizard. If incorrect, select the correct console serial port device for your environment. This port enables you to monitor the installation using a serial connection.

    • Console Baud Rate: A default serial port device baud rate is provided. If incorrect, select the correct baud rate for your device.

    • NFS4 Domain: Enter the NFS4 domain name that the target system will use. The dynamic value for NFSv4 domain name enables the NFSv4 domain to be derived dynamically, at run time, based on the naming service configuration. You can also provide valid domain name to hard code the value for NFSv4 domain.

    • Password: Enter the root password for the root user on systems provisioned using this profile. Re-enter the password for confirmation.

  7. Click Next to skip specifying the Installation Parameters.
  8. Review and edit the default file system layout, then click Next.

    To specify changes, click the size field for the file system and redefine the size. To add another file system, click the Add icon and complete the fields.

  9. Select the naming service you want, or select None, then click Next.
  10. Review the parameters selected for Oracle Solaris 10 operating system provisioning, then click Finish to save the profile.

Creating an Oracle Solaris 9 or 10 OS Configuration Profile

The OS Configuration profile defines the networking configuration.

When you create a configuration profile for Oracle Solaris, you can configure the following advanced networking options:

  • Link aggregation: Provides high availability and higher throughput by aggregating multiple interfaces at the MAC layer. Link aggregation enables you to combine the capacity of multiple full-duplex Ethernet links into a single logical link.

  • IP Multipathing (IPMP): Provides features such as higher availability at the IP layer. IPMP enables you to configure multiple IP interfaces into a single IPMP group.

You can implement both Link Aggregation and IPMP methods on the same network because they work at different layers of the network stack.

After you create the profiles, you create a deployment plan to apply the profiles. As part of applying the plan, you can change some of the options that you defined earlier in the profiles.