Operating System Installation Overview

C H A P T E R 1

This chapter gives an overview of the operating system (OS) installation process for Linux and the Solaris OS.

Note - Installation for Windows is covered in the Sun Fire X4500/X4540 Server Windows Operating System Installation Guide(820-0407).

For additional information about disk management and monitoring utilities, refer to Sun Fire X4500/X4540 Server Administration Guide (819-6562).

Preparing to Install an OS on a Sun Fire X4500 Server

There are several supported OS distributions and several ways to install each. This section is intended only as a general guide that refers you to detailed procedures.

Prerequisites

You must complete the following before you can begin the installation:

Install the server hardware.

(Optional) Configure the service processor (you can do this after installation if you prefer).

(Solaris OS only) Install and set up the software on the preinstall image and the Bootable Diagnostics CD.

Gather needed information, such as the IP address and netmask.

Things You Must Decide

Before you begin installing the OS, answer the following questions.

Which OS must I install?

A list of supported operating systems for the Sun Fire X4500 series servers is available at http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4500/os.jsp.

Must I configure the server for diskless booting?

Operating System	Relevant Documentation on Diskless Configurations
Solaris 10	See About Solaris OS Installation or Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations at `http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/817-5504.`
Red Hat Linux	See About RHEL Installation or Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide at `https://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/.`
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10	See About SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Installation, or go to `http://www.novell.com/documentation/sles10/index.html`.

Which installation method must I use?

Method	Solaris	Red Hat	SUSE
Preinstalled on disk	YES	NO	NO
Install from distribution media (CD/DVD) on the server	YES	YES	YES
Install from distribution media (CD/DVD) via KVMS	YES	YES	YES
Install from network using PXE	YES	YES	YES
Sun Installation Assistant (Linux only)	NO	YES	YES

Note - The Sun Fire X4500 server supports industry-standard remote KVMS (keyboard, video, mouse, and storage) operation with the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Remote Console application. For more information on setting up a remote KVMS connection to your server using the ILOM Remote Console application, see the Integrated Lights Out Manager Administration Guide.

Must I update the OS?

In general, you might need to perform updates once the OS has been installed. For details, see the appropriate chapter for your particular OS.

Next Steps

See the appropriate chapter for your OS.

Gather the installation, administration, and configuration documentation. See the chapters in this guide for pointers to relevant documentation.