C H A P T E R 1 |
Configuring the Preinstalled Solaris Operating System |
This chapter walks you through the steps for configuring the Solaris Operating System (OS) that has been preinstalled on your Sun Fire X4500 Server.
Note - Unlike with SPARC® systems, you will not see most of the output of the pre-installed Solaris 10 image through a monitor when you power on the server. You will see the BIOS Power-On Self Test (POST) and other boot information output.
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This chapter covers these topics:
Before you begin configuring the preinstalled OS, do the following:
1. Perform initial configuration of the server's Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Service Processor (SP) and determine the server's network settings, as described in the Sun Fire X4500 Installation Guide.
2. Gather the information that you will need for the configuration, as listed in Gathering Information for the Installation Worksheet. Note that default values are indicated by an asterisk (*).
Use the worksheet in TABLE 1-1 to gather the information that you need for configuring the preinstalled Solaris OS.
The IO board and SP MAC addresses are printed on their respective PC boards, but these are also printed on the system controller handle.
The Solaris 10 Operating System is preinstalled on the hard disk drives in slot 0 and mirrored in slot 1. Use the information that you gathered in Gathering Information for the Installation Worksheet as you configure this preinstalled OS.
You can configure the preinstalled Solaris OS by using another system to connect to the server. Two possible ways to do this are described here:
If you use this method, you first must determine the service processor's IP address. The server must be connected to the network.
If you use this method, you do not need to determine the service processor's IP address, but you must have a cable connection from the server to the serial port of of the host system.
Optionally, you can redirect the console output to the video output. For more information, see To Redirect the Console Output to the Video Port (Optional).
Note - This procedure assumes that you have connected the server to your network through an Ethernet cable. |
1. Determine the service processor's IP address:
a. Power on the main power to the platform by using a stylus to press the recessed Power button on the front panel.
Power-On Self-Test (POST) messages appear on your screen as the OS boots.
b. Initialize the BIOS Setup utility by pressing the F2 key while the system is performing the POST.
The main BIOS screen is displayed.
The Advanced screen is displayed.
d. Select IPMI 2.0 Configuration.
The IPMI 2.0 Configuration screen is displayed.
e. Select the LAN Configuration menu item.
f. Select the IP Address menu option.
The service processor's IP address is displayed using the following format:
Current IP address in BMC: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
2. Using a client system, establish a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the service processor's IP address.
3. Log in to the service processor as an administrator, for example:
login: rootpassword: changeme
4. If you have changed the SP Serial Port default settings, make sure you reset them to the default settings.
The default settings are 9600 baud, 8N1 (eight data bits, no parity, one stop bit), no flow control.
5. Start the serial console mode by typing the following:
Note - Only accounts with Administrator privileges are enabled to configure the SP serial port. |
6. Follow the Solaris preinstallation on-screen prompts.
7. Use the information gathered in Gathering Information for the Installation Worksheet to help you enter the system and network information as you are prompted.
The screens that are displayed will vary, depending on the method that you chose 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.
The server's console is automatically directed to the serial port. GRUB, the open source boot loader, is the default boot loader in the Solaris OS for X86 or X64 based systems. The boot loader is the first software program that runs after you power on a system.
From the GRUB menu, you have the option of displaying the installation process to a VGA connection (video port) as shown here:
*******************************************************************
* Solaris 10 11/06 s10x_u2wos_09a X86 *
* Solaris failsafe *
* Solaris 10 11/06 s10x_u2wos_09a X86 (VGA) *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
To display output to the video port, choose the Solaris 10 11/06 s10x_u2wos_09a X86 (VGA) option.
1. Use a cable to connect the serial port of the server to the serial port of the host system where you will run a terminal program.
Tip - You might need a Sun RJ45 to terminal concentrator adapter. For serial port pinouts, see the Sun Fire X4500 Service Manual. |
2. Make sure the communication properties of the serial port of the system are set to the default.
The default settings are 9600 baud, 8N1 (eight data bits, no parity, one stop bit), no flow control.
3. Start a terminal program to connect to the serial console:
On a client running Solaris OS, type:
$ tip -9600 /dev/ttyx
On a client running Windows, start a program such as HyperTerminal.
On a client running Linux, start a program such as Minicom, 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.
4. Log in to the service processor as an administrator, for example:
login: root
password: changeme
5. Start the serial console by typing the following:
start /SP/console
6. Power on the main power to the server by using a stylus to press the recessed Power button on the front panel.
Power-on self test (POST) messages display on your screen as the OS boots.
The documentation listed in this section provides instructions for using the Solaris Installation program and is available at the following web site:
Make sure you follow the instructions for x86-based systems, not SPARC-based systems. For more information, see the Solaris 10 Release and Installation Collection for the version of the Solaris 10 operating system you have installed. This documentation is available at:
http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/solaris.10
Make sure the Sun Fire X4500 Server is connected to:
For locations of connections, see the Sun Fire X4500 Server Installation Guide.
After you configure the preinstalled Solaris OS, the Solaris Installation program reboots the system and prompts you to log in. The system displays the message of the day, indicating the preloaded software that comes with your system:
In addition to this software, Sun N1 System Manager is shipped on DVD, which is enclosed in the system box.
Online documentation for this software can be found at:
Sun Java Enterprise System (Java ES) is a set of software components that provide services needed to support enterprise-strength applications distributed across a network or Internet environment.
Sun Studio 11 includes high-performance, optimizing C, C++, and Fortran compilers for the Solaris OS on SPARC and x86/x64 platforms, plus command-line tools and a NetBeans-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for application performance analysis and debugging of mixed source language applications. The tools offer multi-platform support, compatible with gcc, Visual C++, C99, OpenMP, and Fortran 2003.
Sun N1 System Manager is an aggregated system manager that helps administrators reduce cost and complexity while providing the agility to manage hundreds of systems. Using the N1 System Manager software, administrators can discover, provision, patch, monitor and manage anywhere from one to hundreds of Sun systems. The benefits of the N1 System Manager software include a centralized, interactive, easy-to-use browser and command line interface (CLI), allowing administrators to make quick and accurate changes to single systems or groups of systems.
http://www.sun.com/software/products/system_manager
The Solaris OS is preinstalled on the hard disk in physical slot 0 and is mirrored on the hard disk in physical slot 1. Hard disks in physical slot 2 through 26 are configured as a single ZFS volume.
See the following documentation for more information about managing the server.
Installing the hd utility is recommended. The hd utility enables you to map the logical-to-physical devices for the server. You need to understand this mapping to administer the system, manage the hard disks, and troubleshoot the system. The hd utility is available from:
http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4500/support.xml
For more information about the utility, see the Sun Fire X4500 Administration Guide. If you reinstall the Solaris 10 operating system, you will need to use the pkgadd command to reinstall the hd utility.
If you want to reinstall Solaris or to install a different version of Solaris, you can install the OS in one of several ways, including by DVD and network (using Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE)).
For step-by-step procedures, see the book, Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Basic Installations.
In addition to installing the Solaris 10 Operating system, you must install any required patches as described in the product download site. To access the product download site, go to the following web site and locate the Downloads section.
http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4500/support.xml
If you need to reinstall software, you can download the software from these sites:
http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/get.jsp
http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=home
Note the following important guidelines when installing the Solaris OS on the Sun Fire X4500 Server:
The controller number of the bootable disk differs depending on the server's configuration. For example, the controller number of the bootable disk is set during installation based on:
Thus, you must identify the bootable disk during the installation procedure.
The Sun Fire X4500 Server comes with six controllers, each supporting up to eight SATA drives, for a total of 48 SATA drives. Before you reinstall the Solaris OS, you need to determine the logical device name that corresponds to the two bootable disks, which is in the form:
cXtYdZsW
To determine the bootable disk, use the command cfgadm as described below. The cfgadm command provides configuration administration operations on dynamically reconfigurable hardware resources. For more information this command, see the man page.
This procedure assumes you are running the Solaris Installation Program and you are reinstalling the Solaris 10 operating system.
1. From the Solaris Installation Program, choose the installation type.
From the Solaris Installation Program, you should see a screen similar to this:
Select the type of installation you want to perform:
1 Solaris Interactive
2 Custom JumpStart
3 Solaris Interactive Text (Desktop session)
4 Solaris Interactive Text (Console session)
5 Apply driver updates
6 Single user shell
Enter the number of your choice followed by the <ENTER> key.
Alternatively, enter custom boot arguments directly.
If you wait 30 seconds without typing anything,
an interactive installation will be started.
a. Choose option 1 or 3 as the installation type as these options allow you to open a terminal window while running the installation program. Opening a terminal window is required in Step 4.
b. Alternatively, you can choose 4, Console session, exit the installation after verifying the system is complete, type the commands in Step 4, and restart the installation by using the suninstall command.
2. Use the information gathered in Gathering Information for the Installation Worksheet to help you enter the system and network information when prompted.
3. When prompted for the type of installation you want to perform, click Next.
4. Find the logical disk name for the bootable disks.
a. Open a terminal window by right-clicking your mouse and choosing the option Program > Terminal.
b. Determine the bootable disk in physical slot #0 for installing the operating system by typing:
The system displays the logical disk name for the disk in physical slot #0 that is available for booting, for example:
sata3/0::dsk/c4t0d0 disk connected configured OK
c. (Optional) To determine the bootable disk in physical slot #1, type:
5. Go back to the installation program and select the logical disk name that corresponds to the bootable disk onto which you want to install the Solaris OS.
In this example, the bootable disk in physical slot #0 has the logical disk name of c4t0d0.
Note - You might see a message that the disk is not a bootable disk drive. Ignore this message and continue. |
a. Use the up and down arrow keys to select the bootable disk determined in Step 4 and press F2 to continue.
b. If the disk you chose contains Windows or Linux partitions, you need to create a Solaris partition that can coexist with the Windows or Linux partition. To do this, follow the prompts to create a Solaris fdisk partition to hold the Solaris OS installation.
6. Install the latest version of required patches as described in the product download site. To access the product download site, go to the following web site and locate the Downloads section.
http://www.sun.com/servers/x64/x4500/support.xml
Sun provides flexible training options that accommodate your personal schedule and learning style. The training options include instructor-led, web-based online, CD-ROM and Live Virtual classes. For Solaris 10 Training and Certification options at a glance, please visit:
http://www.sun.com/training/catalog/solaris10.html
For information on installing other operating systems, see the following:
Other operating systems might require software updates; see the appropriate Release Notes for the software release that supports the OS you want to install.
Copyright © 2007, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.