Adding AutoClient Systems

The procedure in this section explains how to add individual or multiple AutoClient systems to a server. When you add AutoClient systems to the server, the systems themselves may be up and running or powered down.

You will be required to provide the information shown in Table 6-2 when adding an AutoClient system to your network.

The Swap Size default is the minimum amount of swap created. It is possible that you will have more swap space than you requested. If you choose 2disks as your configuration option, the entire second disk is used for swap. Always leave swap size at its default value if you choose the 2disks option.

The Disconnectable option allows access to unavailable network file systems as long as the requested file information is contained in the cache. The caching mechanism attempts to keep information in the cache; however, under various circumstances, the caching mechanism must invalidate entries in the cache. Because of this invalidation, information that users expect to be in the cache may not be in the cache at all times. To increase the likelihood that a file will be available when a server becomes unavailable, the cachefspack command must be run to verify that the needed files are resident on the client's machine. Refer to the cachefspack man page or "How to Pack Files in the Cache" for more information.

Disk Configuration

Table 6-3 describes the various disk configuration options for AutoClient systems. You will need to choose one of these options for each AutoClient system.

The local200 and local400 disk configuration options allow you to set up a scratch file system on your AutoClient system. This file system can be used to store files that are not written back to the server. Since the files are not written back to the server, it is possible to lose this information if the system malfunctions. If you choose the local200 or local400 disk configuration option, and your system disk is smaller than 300Mbytes or 500Mbytes respectively, you could get a runtime error when the AutoClient system first boots.

Default Cache Disk Selection

The default cache disk is selected depending upon your system. The default cache disk is selected according to the following criterion:

• First, the AutoClient software checks for a disk on your system that contains an existing root (/) file system record.

• If that is not available, the AutoClient software checks for the boot disk specified in the eprom.

• If that is not specified, the AutoClient software selects the first available disk.

Supported JumpStart Disk Configuration Profiles

You can use JumpStart to configure your AutoClient disk(s); the syntax used to configure the disk is the same as standard JumpStart profiles, except that only the disk related keywords are allowed.

The system_type is specified as cacheos. The new profiles are placed in /opt/SUNWadmd/etc/autoinstall/arch and the tools copy the selected profile to the client root when the client is created.

The basic 1disk profile is:

install_type initial_install
system_type cacheos

In this case, all the disk configuration settings are set to the defaults.

You can use the usedisk and dontuse keywords to force the disk configuration to use a specific set of disks on the machine. You can use the filesys keyword to partition the disks the way you want. The following sample profile is more complex:

install_type initial_install
system_type cacheos
partitioning explicit
filesys c0t3d0s7 existing /.cache
filesys c0t3d0s0 existing /local preserve
filesys   red:/opt 128.227.192.97 /opt rw,intr,hard,bg,noac
filesys   red:/var/mail 128.227.192.97 /var/mailrw,intr,hard,bg,noac
filesys   red:/export/calendar/visi7 128.227.192.97 /var/spool/calendar
          rw,hard,bg,intr,noac

The following list provides the keywords supported in the AutoClient profiles:

• install_type

• system_type

• fdisk

• partitioning

• filesys

• usedisk

• dontuse

For more information about JumpStart, refer to your operating system documentation.

How to Add an AutoClient System to a Server

This procedure assumes that the AutoClient server is already set up as an OS server and is already installed with the kernel architectures of the AutoClient system(s) to be added. For information on adding an OS Server or converting an existing system to an OS Server, see the online help or the Solstice AdminSuite 2.3 Administration Guide.

1. Start Host Manager from the Solstice Launcher and select the name service, if not done already.

   See "Starting Host Manager"for more information.

2. Choose Add from the Edit menu.

   The Add window is displayed. Note that the default system type is Solaris Standalone.

3. Choose Solstice AutoClient from the System Type menu.

   The Add window for a Solstice AutoClient system is displayed.

   

4. Fill in the system information for the AutoClient system.

5. After entering the required information, click on OK.

   If you have not enabled licensing for the Solstice AutoClient feature, you will see a message saying that the software was unable to check out a license. For information on enabling licensing, see the Solstice AutoClient 2.1 Installation and Release Notes.

   The AutoClient system becomes part of the list of AutoClient systems to add, and it is displayed on the Host Manager main window with a plus sign (+) next to it. The + means that the system is a "pending add."

6. Repeat Step 2 through Step 5 to add subsequent AutoClient systems to your "batch" of pending changes.

   The "Total Changes Pending" status will be incremented each time you add a system.

7. When you are ready to confirm addition of all the AutoClient systems listed in the window, choose Save Changes from the File menu.

   The Saving Changes message window appears. All of the AutoClient systems are added when you choose Save Changes from the File menu.

   

   Adding each client takes several minutes, depending on server speed, current load, and the number and type of patches that will be automatically added.

   As each AutoClient system is successfully added (as shown in the Saving Changes window), its corresponding entry no longer appears as a pending add in the Host Manager main window (that is, the + no longer appears next to the host name).

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   Caution -

   For the AutoClient system to work properly, it needs root access to its /export/root directory. If Host Manager displays a message that the /export directory is already shared and has different share options than required, you need to allow root access to the client root area before the AutoClient system will function properly. The access mode for the client root is normally rw=clientname, root=clientname. If Host Manager displays a message that the /usr directory is already shared, it is because it tried to share /usr read-only. If you have it shared with read-write permissions, it is okay and you do not have to make any modifications.

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8. Boot your AutoClient system(s) from the network.

   For more information about booting your AutoClient systems, see Chapter 7, Booting a System From the Network.

9. Provide system configuration information for the AutoClient system during the initial boot process, if prompted.

10. Create a root password when prompted.

Example of a Completed Add Window

The following example shows a completed Add window for the Solstice AutoClient system type.

Verification

To verify that all the systems have been added, make sure the status line at the bottom of the main window says "All changes successful."

Example of a Command-Line Equivalent for Adding an AutoClient System

The following command is equivalent to using Host Manager to add support for an AutoClient system.

% admhostadd -i 129.152.225.10 -e 8:0:20:7:9:8b \

-x type=AUTOCLIENT -x tz=US/Mountain -x fileserv=lorna \

-x os=sparc.sun4c.Solaris_2.4 -x root=/export/root \

-x swapsize=32 -x disconn=N -x diskconf=1disk -x pass=abc knight

In this example,

Troubleshooting Adding Systems

If you receive any error messages indicating that any AutoClient systems failed to be added, use Table 6-4 to troubleshoot the problem.