What You Can Do With Host Manager

Host Manager is a graphical user interface that enables you to add and maintain server and client support on a network. With a name service like NIS+, you can manage system information in a centralized manner so that important system information, such as host names, do not have to be duplicated on every system in the network.

Host Manager enables you to:

• Add and modify system support

• Update system types

• Convert system types

• Add OS services

• Remove OS services

• Set up remote installation services

• Queue tasks

• Set root passwords

• Run scripts

• Create multihomed hosts

Add and Modify System Support

Host Manager enables you to add and modify support for the following system types:

• Solstice AutoClient systems

• Solaris diskless clients

• JavaStations

• Solaris dataless clients (this client will no longer be supported with operating systems later than Solaris 2.5.1)

• Solaris standalone systems

• Solaris OS servers

For detailed information about each system type, see "Overview of System Types".

Table 6-3 describes the server-client configurations that are supported by the Solstice AdminSuite 2.3 release of Host Manager.

The SunOS 4.x release is only supported on SPARC systems with the Sun4, Sun4c, or Sun4m platform group. Support for the SunOS 4.x release will be removed in a later version of the Solstice AdminSuite software.

Update System Types

Host Manager initially marks the system types of previously added systems as generic. However, you can choose Update System Types from the File menu to probe previously added systems and attempt to determine their system types. If Host Manager cannot determine the system type (for example, the system is not running the Solaris software) the systems will stay marked as generic.

Previously added systems running Solaris 2.5 must also have the Solstice AdminSuite software installed for Host Manager to determine their system type.

The system type information is stored in the bootparams file in the local /etc files or a name service database. Host Manager will either modify an existing bootparams entry or add a new one such as the following for a Solaris standalone system named mars:

mars	boottype=:st

Convert System Types

Host Manager enables you to convert one system type to another. Table 6-4 shows what conversions you can make.

You can add Solaris 2.x OS services during a conversion to an OS server.

Add OS Services

A Solaris OS server is a server that provides operating system (OS) services to support diskless or dataless clients. By using Host Manager, you can add support for an OS server or convert a standalone system to an OS server.

For each platform group and Solaris release that you want to support, you must add the particular OS service to the OS server. For example, if you want to support SPARC Sun4m systems running Solaris 2.4, you must add Sun4m/Solaris 2.4 OS services to the OS server. You would also still need to add OS services to support SPARC Sun4c systems or x86 systems running Solaris 2.4, because they are different platform groups.

You must have access to the appropriate Solaris CD image to add OS services.

Although Host Manager enables you to add support for diskless and dataless clients running the Sun4.x release, you cannot add SunOS 4.x OS services using Host Manager. You must use the install4x command to add OS services to an OS server and then use Host Manager to add support for the SunOS 4.x client.

Adding OS Services to a Server When the OS Services Have Been Patched

When adding OS services to an OS server, you may see error messages saying that you have inconsistent versions of the OS running on the server and the OS that you are trying to add. This message occurs when the installed version of the OS has packages that were previously patched and the OS services being added do not have those packages patched (because the patches have been integrated into the packages).

For example, you may have a server that is running Solaris 2.5.1; you may also have additional OS services loaded on this server, including the Solaris 2.5 sparc sun4m OS services that have been patched. If you try to add the Solaris 2.5 sparc sun4c OS services from a CD-ROM to a client of this server, you could get the following error message: To work around this problem, you will need to remove the patches related to the package that the error message listed. You can then try adding the OS services again. You may have to do this workaround for additional patches before the OS is successfully installed.

Error: inconsistent revision, installed package appears to
have been patched resulting in it being different than the
package on your media. You will need to backout all patches
that patch this package before retrying the add OS service
option.

Remove OS Services

OS services can be removed from an OS server using Host Manager. For instance, if you no longer want to support SPARC Sun4m systems running Solaris 2.4, you can remove these OS services from the server using Host Manager. You can use Host Manager to remove Sun4.x or JavaStation support.

Set Up Remote Installation Services

Host Manager enables you to set up systems to provide Solaris 2.x installation services for other systems on the network. You can set up the following types of installation services on a system:

• An install server - A system on the network that provides a Solaris CD image (either from a CD-ROM drive or a copy on a hard disk) for other systems to install from.

• A boot server - A system that provides boot information to other systems on the network. The boot server and the install server are usually the same system.

• A profile server - A system that contains JumpStart files for systems to perform a custom JumpStart installation.

A boot server and install server are typically the same system. However, if the system to be installed is on a different subnet than the install server, a boot server is required on that subnet.

Queue Tasks

Host Manager enables you to queue tasks such as converting system types and adding OS services. Since these tasks may require several minutes to process, Host Manager enables you to set up tasks to be performed without requiring you to wait for each task to be completed. After setting up the tasks, choose Save Changes from the File menu. Host Manager's progress is displayed in the message bar located at the bottom of the window as each task is processed.

Set Root Passwords

When adding a Solstice AutoClient or Solaris Diskless client using Host Manager, you can now set the root password using the GUI just as you do when setting the group or user password.

Enable Scripts

When you add a Solstice AutoClient using Host Manager, you have the option to enable scripts to run before or after you add the AutoClient to the server, or before or after you boot the AutoClient.

These scripts are those that you have created to customize the addition or deletion of AutoClient systems; these scripts need to be located in the /opt/SUNWadmd/Scripts directory in order for the AdminSuite software to read them.

Add a Multihomed Host

Host Manager enables you to add a multihomed host alias for servers with multiple network interfaces. For instance, if a server has more than one IP address because it is on multiple networks, it is considered a multihomed host. With Host Manager, you can specify more than one IP address for a host to make it a multihomed host.