Preface

The N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, Installation Guide describes the process of connecting the Sun Fire^TM B1600 Blade system Chassis and associated equipment, installing or upgrading the N1 Provisioning Server software, and performing initial configuration and validation of an N1^TM Infrastructure Fabric (I-Fabric).

This guide is part of a four-volume implementation reference set. The set should be read in the following order:

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, Release Notes

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, Installation Guide

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, System Administration Guide

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, Control Center Management Guide

Who Should Use This Book

This guide is intended for system administrators who are responsible for installing or upgrading the N1 Provisioning Server software. The system administrators are expected to have the following background:

• Knowledge of Sun/Solaris, Linux, and Microsoft Windows, and the network administration tools provided by each operating environment

• Knowledge of network equipment and network devices from a variety of vendors such as Sun and Cisco

• Knowledge of network device interconnections and cabling

Before You Read This Book

Sun recommends that you take the following Sun Education courses before installing the N1 Provisioning Server software:

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1 Blades Edition Deployment

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1 Blades Edition Administration

How This Book Is Organized

• Chapter 1, N1 Provisioning Server Overview provides an overview of N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition architecture, components, features, and concepts.

• Chapter 2, Hardware and Software Requirements lists the hardware and software requirements for the B1600 Blade System Chassis, the N1 Provisioning Server machine, the gigabit Ethernet cards, external Ethernet switches, and third-party software.

• Chapter 3, N1 Provisioning Server System and Network Preparation provides the guidelines and procedures for connecting the blade system chassis to the N1 Provisioning Server machine and to the external Ethernet switches, switch and chassis configuration, operating system installation, and patch installation.

• Chapter 4, Installing Provisioning Server Software describes how to do a first-time installation of the N1 Provisioning Server software.

• Chapter 5, Upgrading to N1 Provisioning Server 3.1 describes how to upgrade from N1 Provisioning Server 3.0, Blades Edition to N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition.

• Chapter 6, Post-Installation Tasks describes how to validate the N1 Provisioning Server installation, and migrate N1 Provisioning Server data from the Oracle database to the PostgreSQL database.

• Chapter 7, Uninstalling N1 Provisioning Server, Blades Edition Software describes how to uninstall N1 Provisioning Server software.

• Appendix A, Installation Main Menu Description provides a summary of the installation main menu.

• Appendix B, N1 Provisioning Server Packages lists the packages that are installed and provides a short description of each package.

• Glossary provides definitions of the terms used in the N1 Provisioning Server environment.

Related Books

• Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis Hardware Installation Guide

• Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis Software Setup Guide

• Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis Administration Guide

• Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis Switch Administration Guide

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, Release Notes

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, System Administration Guide

• N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, Control Center Management Guide

Accessing Sun Documentation Online

The docs.sun.com^TM Web site enables you to access Sun technical documentation online. You can browse the docs.sun.com archive or search for a specific book title or subject. The URL is .

Ordering Sun Documentation

Sun Microsystems offers select product documentation in print. For a list of documents and how to order them, see “Buy printed documentation” at .

Typographic Conventions

The following table describes the typographic changes used in this book.

Table P–1 Typographic Conventions

Typeface or Symbol	Meaning	Example
AaBbCc123	The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output	Edit your .login file. Use ls -a to list all files. machine_name% you have mail.
AaBbCc123	What you type, contrasted with on-screen computer output	machine_name% su Password:
AaBbCc123	Command-line placeholder: replace with a real name or value	To delete a file, type rm filename.
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new words, or terms, or words to be emphasized.	Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be root to do this.

Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default system prompt and superuser prompt for the C shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.

Table P–2 Shell Prompts

Shell	Prompt
C shell prompt	machine_name%
C shell superuser prompt	machine_name#
Bourne shell and Korn shell prompt	$
Bourne shell and Korn shell superuser prompt	#