Establish Serial Port Connection to Configure the Factory-Installed Solaris 10 OS

The following procedure describes how to configure the factory-installed Solaris 10 OS through a serial port connection.

Before You Begin

To use this procedure, you will need:

  • To physically attach a console to the serial port on one of the following modules:

  • A local client interface (i.e., terminal window) capable of capturing the input and output of the Solaris 10 OS configuration.

  • The serial properties on the attached console to match the following default serial port settings:

    • 9600 Baud

    • 8N1 (eight data bits, no parity, one stop bit)

    • Disable flow control

  • The ILOM administrator account to log into the system. For details about using the preconfigured administrator account ( root) supplied with ILOM, see Preconfigured ILOM Administrator Account.

  • The MAC address of all EM and NEM ports connected to a network. For more information about data port MAC addresses, see NEM and EM External Data Port MAC Addresses.

What to Do

  1. From the local console, start a terminal session by doing one of the following:

    • On a serial console running Solaris:

      Type the appropriate command to start a terminal session. For example, you can start a terminal session on a Solaris console by typing:

      $tip -9600 /dev/ttya

    • On a client running Windows:

      Open the appropriate program to start a terminal session. For example, you can start a terminal session on a Windows console by selecting:

      Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Communications -> Hyperterminal

    • On a client running Linux:

      Type the appropriate command to start a terminal session. For example, to start a terminal session on a Linux console, you could launch Minicom.

      Minicom is a text-based serial communication program that is included in the Linux distributions. For more information, see the man pages included in the Linux distribution.

  2. Log in to the Sun Blade Server Module as an Administrator, for example:

    login: root

    password: changeme

  3. Reset the Solaris 10 OS image on the blade by doing one of following:

    • Reset Solaris 10 OS through CMM

      In the ILOM ssh session, type the command to reset the Solaris OS on the blade, for example:

      reset /CH/BL#/SYS

      where # = the slot number of the blade in the chassis. For example, if you wanted to reset the blade that is installed in slot 2 of the chassis, you would type:

      reset/CH/BL2/SYS

      or

    • Reset Solaris 10 OS image through blade SP:

      In the ILOM ssh session, type the command to reset the Solaris OS on the blade, for example:

      reset /SYS

    The system prompts you to confirm that you want to reset /SYS (y/n)?

  4. Continue the reset operation by typing y (for yes) and pressing Enter.

    The message Performing hard reset on /SYS appears followed by the system prompt ->.

  5. At the system prompt (->), specify the command to start the ILOM CLI console by doing one of the following:

    • Start the ILOM CLI console on CMM

      Type the command to start the ILOM CLI console from the CMM, for example:

      start /CH/BL#/SP/console

      where # = the slot number of the blade in the chassis. For example, if you wanted to connect to the blade that is installed in slot 2 of the chassis, you would type:

      start /CH/BL2/SP/console

      or

    • Start the ILOM CLI console on blade SP

      Type the command to start the ILOM CLI console from the blade SP, for example:

      start /SP/console

    A message appears prompting you to confirm that you want to start the ILOM CLI console.

  6. Continue the operation for starting the ILOM CLI console by typing y (for yes) and pressing Enter.

    The GRUB boot loader menu appears.

  7. In the GRUB boot loader menu, press Enter to boot the factory installed Solaris OS image.

    The Select a Language menu appears.

  8. In the Terminal Type menu, select the appropriate terminal choice and press Enter.

    The Configure kdmconfig menu appears enabling you to configure a keyboard, display, and mouse.

  9. In Configure kdmconfig menu, press F2.

    The kdmconfig utility detects the drivers that are necessary to configure the keyboard, display, and mouse on your system. A second Configure kdmconfig menu appears.

  10. In the Configure kdmconfig menu, examine the information about the kdmconfig, then press F2 to continue.

    After a few moments, a series of network-related questions appear. If the system is to be attached to a network, you will be expected to choose at least one network interface from a list of Solaris-named interfaces (for example, e1000g0; e1000g1; and so on).

  11. To continue configuring the Solaris system and network information, do one of the following:

    • For a non-network system configuration. You should choose No in the Network Configuration screen and continue the normal Solaris configuration by following the Solaris 10 OS pre-installation on-screen prompts.

      After you have entered the system-configuration information, the server completes the boot process and displays the Solaris login prompt. Next, you will need to reconfigure the GRUB time-out value, for more information see Reset GRUB Menu Time-out Value (Mandatory).

    • For a networked system configuration - certain of logical network interface names with the physical network ports:

    1. Continue the normal Solaris configuration process by following the Solaris 10 OS preinstallation on-screen prompts.

    2. Refer to the Solaris documentation for additional details and the information you gathered in the Configuration Worksheet to help you specify the required Solaris system and network information

      The screen that appears may vary depending on the method that you choose for assigning network information to the server (DHCP or static IP address). After you have entered the system-configuration information, the server completes the boot process and displays the Solaris login prompt.

    3. After Solaris reboots, reset the GRUB menu time-out value, see Reset GRUB Menu Time-out Value (Mandatory)

    • For a network system configuration - uncertain of logical interface names and physical port names.

      If you are uncertain how to match a Solaris-named interface to a physical EM or NEM networked port, you should choose NO in the Network Connection screen then continue the normal Solaris configuration process.

      After the system boots, you will need to log into the system as root and run the ifconfig -a command in a shell to display a complete list of interfaces. For more details, see Identify Network Interface Names By Logical and Physical Names

    Tip

    If you selectedYes in the Network Connection screen and you are uncertain which Solaris-named interfaces to select in the Configure Multiple Network Interfaces screen, you should choose any selection, and then press F2 to proceed. The next time the Network Connection screen appears, answer No and continue the normal configuration process, then proceed to Identify Network Interface Names By Logical and Physical Names to learn how to identify and match the logical and physical network interface names.