Solaris 10 6/06 Installation Guide: Solaris Flash Archives (Creation and Installation)
Chapter 5 Solaris Flash (Reference)
This chapter provides a description of Solaris Flash sections,
keywords, and keyword values. Also, the chapter describes the flar command options.
Solaris Flash Archive Section Descriptions
Each Solaris Flash archive is grouped into sections. Some sections
are generated by the Solaris Flash software and need no input from you.
Some sections require input or optionally allow you to add information. The
following table describes each section.
Table 5–1 Flash Archive
Sections
Section Name
|
Description
|
Required by Archive?
|
Requires Input From User?
|
Archive cookie
|
The first section contains a cookie that identifies the file
as a Solaris Flash archive. The deployment code uses the cookie for identification
and validation purposes. The cookie must be present for an archive to be
valid.
|
Yes
|
No
|
Archive identification
|
The second section contains keywords with values that provide
identification information about the archive. The software generates some
information such as the following:
You are required to specify a name for the Solaris Flash archive.
Other information that you can specify about the archive includes the following:
-
The author of the archive
-
The date that the archive was created
-
The name of the master system that you used to create the
archive
For a list of keywords that describe the archive, see Archive Identification Section Keywords.
|
Yes
|
Content is generated by both user and the software
|
Manifest
|
A section of a Solaris Flash archive that is used to validate
a clone system. The manifest section lists the files on a system to be retained,
added to, or deleted from the clone system. The installation fails if the
files do not match the expected file set. This section is informational only.
The section lists the files in an internal format and cannot be used for scripting.
You can exclude this section by creating the differential archive with
the flarcreate -M option. Because no validation of
the archive occurs, excluding this section is not recommended.
|
No
|
No
|
Predeployment, Postdeployment, Reboot
|
This section contains internal information that the flash software
uses before and after installing an OS image. Any customization scripts that
you have provided are stored in this section.
|
Yes
|
No
|
Summary
|
This section contains messages about the archive creation and
records the activities of predeployment scripts.
|
Yes
|
Content is generated by both user and the software
|
User-defined
|
This section follows the archive-identification section. The archive can
contain zero or more user-defined sections. These sections are not processed
by the archive extraction code. These sections are retrieved separately and
can be used for content descriptions.
|
No
|
Yes
|
Archive files
|
The archive files section contains the files that have been gathered
from the master system in binary data. This section begins with section_begin=archive, but it does not have an ending section boundary.
|
Yes
|
No
|
Solaris Flash Keywords
Solaris Flash keywords are like custom JumpStart keywords. They
define elements of the installation. Each keyword is a command that controls
one aspect of how the Solaris Flash software installs the software on
a clone system.
Use the following guidelines to format keywords and values:
-
Keywords and values are separated by a single equal sign with
only one pair per line
-
Keywords are case insensitive
-
Individual lines can be any length
General Keywords
Each Solaris Flash archive section is defined by the section_begin and section_end keywords. For example, the
archive files section includes a section_begin keyword,
though with a different value. User-defined archive sections are delimited
by section_begin and section_end
keywords, with values appropriate to each section. The values for the section_begin and section_end keywords are described in the
following table.
Table 5–2 Values for
section_begin and
section_end Keywords
Archive Section
|
Value for section_begin and section_end keywords
|
Archive cookie
|
cookie – This section is not delimited by the section_begin and section_end keywords.
|
Archive identification
|
identification
|
User-defined sections
|
section_name – An example of a section_name keyword is X-user_section_1.
|
Archive files
|
archive
|
Archive Identification Section Keywords
The following tables describe the keywords for use in the archive identification section and
the values you can define for them.
Every section uses the keywords in Table 5–3 to delimit each section.
Table 5–3 Archive Identification Section
Keywords: General Keywords
Keywords
|
Value Definitions
|
Value
|
Required
|
section_begin
section_end
|
These keywords are used to delimit sections in the archive and are not
limited exclusively to the archive identification section. For a description of these keywords, see General Keywords.
|
Text
|
Yes
|
The following keywords, used in the archive-identification section,
describe the contents of the archive files section.
Table 5–4 Archive Identification Section
Keywords: Contents of Archive Files Section
Keywords
|
Value Definitions
|
Value
|
Required
|
archive_id (optional)
|
This keyword uniquely describes the contents of the archive. This
value is used by the installation software only to validate the contents of
the archive during archive installation. If the keyword is not present, no
integrity check is performed.
For example, the archive_id keyword might be FlAsH-ARcHive-2.0.
|
Text
|
No
|
files_archived_method
|
This keyword describes the archive method that is used in the files
section.
-
If this keyword is not present, the files section is assumed to be
in cpio format with ASCII headers. This format is
the cpio -c option.
-
If the keyword is present, it has the value of cpio.
If the files_compressed_method is present, the compression
method is applied to the archive file that is created by the archive method.
|
Text
|
No
|
files_archived_size
|
This keyword value is the size of the archived files section in bytes.
|
Numeric
|
No
|
files_compress_method
|
This keyword describes the compression algorithm that is used on the
files section.
-
If the keyword is present, it can have one of the following
values.
-
If this keyword is not present, the archive files section
is assumed to be uncompressed.
The compression method that is indicated by this keyword is applied
to the archive file created by the archive method indicated by the files_archived_method keyword.
|
Text
|
No
|
files_unarchived_size
|
This keyword defines the cumulative size in bytes of the extracted archive.
The value is used for file-system size verification.
|
Numeric
|
No
|
The following keywords provide descriptive information about the entire
archive. These keywords are generally used to assist you in archive selection
and to aid in archive management. These keywords are all optional and are
used to help you to distinguish between individual archives. You use options
for the flarcreate command to include these keywords. For an example, see Example 3–8.
Table 5–5 Archive Identification Section
Keywords: User Describes the Archive
Keywords
|
Value Definitions
|
Value
|
Required
|
creation_date
|
This keyword value is a textual timestamp that represents the time that
you created the archive.
-
You can use the flarcreate command with the -i option to create the date.
-
If you do not specify a creation date with the flarcreate command,
the default date is set in Greenwich mean time (GMT).
-
The value must be in ISO-8601 complete basic calendar format
without the time designator (ISO-8601,§5.4.1(a)). The format is CCYYMMDDhhmmss. For example, 20000131221409 represents January
31, 2000, 10:14:09 p.m.
|
Text
|
No
|
creation_master
|
This keyword value is the name of the master system you used to create
the archive. You can use the flarcreate -m option
to create this value. If you do not specify a value, the value is taken from
the uname -n command.
|
Text
|
No
|
content_name
|
This keyword identifies the archive. The value is generated from the flarcreate -n option.
Follow these guidelines when you create this value:
|
Text
|
Yes
|
content_type
|
This keyword value specifies a category for the archive. You use the flarcreate -T option
to generate the value.
|
Text
|
No
|
content_description
|
The keyword value describes the contents of the archive. The value
of this keyword has no length limit. You use the flarcreate -E option
to create this value.
|
Text
|
No
|
content_author
|
This keyword value identifies the creator of the archive. You use the flarcreate-a option
to create this value. Suggested values include the full name of the creator
and the creator's email address.
|
Text
|
No
|
content_architectures
|
This keyword value is a comma-separated list of the kernel architectures
that the archive supports.
-
If the keyword is present, the installation software validates
the kernel architecture of the clone system against the list of architectures
that the archive supports. The installation fails if the archive does not
support the kernel architecture of the clone system.
-
If the keyword is not present, the installation software
does not validate the architecture of the clone system.
|
Text list
|
No
|
The following keywords also describe the entire archive. By default,
the values are filled in by uname when the flash archive
is created. If you create a flash archive in which the root directory is
not /, the archive software inserts the string UNKNOWN
for the keywords. The exceptions are the creation_node, creation_release, and creation_os_name keywords.
-
For creation_node, the software uses the
contents of the nodename file.
-
For creation_release and creation_os_name, the software attempts to use the contents of root directory /var/sadm/system/admin/INST_RELEASE. If the software is unsuccessful
in reading this file, it assigns the value UNKNOWN.
Regardless of their sources, you cannot override the values of these
keywords.
Table 5–6 Archive Identification Section
Keywords: Software Describes the Archive
Keyword
|
Value
|
creation_node
|
The return from uname -n
|
creation_hardware_class
|
The return from uname -m
|
creation_platform
|
The return from uname -i
|
creation_processor
|
The return from uname -p
|
creation_release
|
The return fromuname -r
|
creation_os_name
|
The return from uname -s
|
creation_os_version
|
The return from uname -v
|
User-Defined Section Keywords
In addition to the keywords that are defined by the Solaris Flash archive,
you can define other keywords. The Solaris Flash archive ignores user-defined
keywords, but you can provide scripts or programs that process the archive identification section
and use user-defined keywords. Use the following format when creating user-defined
keywords:
-
Begin the keyword name with an X.
-
Create the keyword with any characters other than linefeeds,
equal signs, and null characters.
-
Suggested naming conventions for user-defined keywords
include the underscore-delimited descriptive method used for the predefined
keywords. Another convention is a federated convention similar to the
naming of Java packages.
For example, X-department is a valid name for a user-defined
keyword.
For an example of using options to include user-defined keywords in
the archive identification
section, see Example 3–8.
Solaris Flash flar Command
Use the Solaris Flash flar command to create a Solaris Flash archive and administer the archive.
The flar Command
The flar command can be used with the following options:
-
flarcreate creates an archive
-
flar combine merges two archives
-
flar split breaks an archive into sections
-
flar info checks the structure of an archive
Use the flarcreate command to create a Solaris Flash archive from
a master system. You can use this command when the master system is running
in multiuser mode or single-user mode. You can also use flarcreate when
the master system is booted from the following media.
The master system should be in as stable a state as possible when you
create a Solaris Flash archive.
Note – You can create a Solaris Flash archive by using either of these
command options:
The syntax
of the command is as follows:
flarcreate -n archive_name [-R root] [-A unchanged_master_image_dir] [-H][-I][-M][[-S]-c][-t [-p posn] [-b blocksize]][-i date][-u section ...][-m master][-f [list_filename| -] [-F][-a author][-e descr|-E descr_file] [-T type][-U key=val ...][-x exclude_dir/filename]
[-y include_dir/filename] [-z list_filename] [-X list_filename]path/filename
flar combine [-d dir] [-u section...] [-t [-p posn] path/filename
flar split [-d dir] [-u section...]
[-f] [-S section]
[-t [-p posn] path/filename
flar info
[-l] [-k keyword]
[-t [-p posn] path/filename
In the previous command lines, path is
the directory in which you want the archive file to be saved. filename is the name of the archive file. If you do not specify a path, flarcreate saves
the archive file in the current directory.
Table 5–7 Command-Line Options for the
flar Command
Option
|
Description
|
Required Options
|
-n archive_name
|
The value of this flag is the name of the archive. The archive_name you specify is the value of the content_name keyword.
|
Option for Compression
|
-c
|
Compresses the archive by using compress(1).
|
Options for Directories and Sizes
|
-R root
|
Creates the archive from the file system tree that is rooted at root. If you do not specify this option, flarcreate creates
an archive from a file system that is rooted at /.
|
-S
|
Omits sizing information in the archive.
|
-H
|
Does not generate the hash identifier.
|
Options for Creating a Differential Archive
|
-A unchanged_master_image_dir
|
Creates a differential archive by comparing a new system image with
the image that is specified by the unchanged_master_image_dir argument.
By default, the new system image is root (/). You can
change the default with the -R option. unchanged_master_image_dir is a directory where the unchanged master system image is stored
or mounted through UFS, NFS, or lumount.
You can modify the effects of file selection for a differential archive
by using the options for contents selection described in the next section
of the table.
|
-M
|
Excludes the manifest file. When you use this option, no validation
occurs on the differential archive. When creating a differential archive, flarcreate creates
a long list of the files in the system that are unchanged, are changed, and
are to be deleted from the archive. This list is stored in the manifest section
of the archive. When the differential archive is deployed, the software uses
this list to perform a file-by-file check, ensuring the integrity of the clone
system. Use of this option avoids such a check and saves the space that is
used by the manifest section in a differential archive. However, you must
consider the savings in time and disk space against the loss of an integrity
check upon installation. Because no validation occurs, avoid using this option.
|
Options for Contents Selection
|
Caution – Use the flarcreate file-exclusion options
with caution. If you exclude some directories, others that you were unaware
of might be left in the archive, such as system configuration files. The system
would then be inconsistent and the installation would not work. Excluding
directories and files is best used with data that can easily be removed without
disrupting the system, such as large data files.
|
-y include_dir/filename
|
Adds to the archive those files and directories that are specified on
the command line. This option is used when you have excluded a directory,
but want to restore individual subdirectories or files.
include_dir/filename is the name of the subdirectory
or file to be included.
|
-f list_filename
|
Adds files and directories from a list to the archive.
list_filename is the full path to a file
that contains a list. The contents of the file are added to the file list
unless -F is specified.
-
The list_filename file must contain
one file per line.
-
If you specify a file system with -R root, the path to each file must be relative to the alternate root directory or an absolute path.
-
If filename is “-”, flarcreate reads
standard input as the list of files. When you use the value “-”,
the archive size is not calculated.
|
-F
|
Uses only the files in -f list_filename to
create the archive. This option makes the -f list_filename the absolute list, rather than a list that is appended to the
normal file list.
|
-x exclude_dir/filename
|
Excludes files and directories from the archive. These files and directories
are specified at the command line. You can use multiple instances of this
option to exclude more than one file or directory.
exclude_dir/filename is the name of the directory
or file to be excluded.
|
-X list_filename
|
Excludes a list of files or directories from the archive.
list_filename is the full path to a file
that contains the list.
-
The list_filename file must contain
one file per line.
-
If you specify a file system with -R root, the path to each file must be relative to the alternate root directory or an absolute path.
-
If list_filename is “-”, flarcreate reads
standard input as the list of files. When you use the value “-”,
the archive size is not calculated.
|
-z list_filename
|
Excludes or includes a list of files or directories from the archive.
Each file or directory in the list is noted with a plus “+” or
minus “-”. A plus indicates an included file or directory and
the minus indicates an excluded file or directory.
list_filename is the full path to a file
that contains the list.
-
The list_filename file must contain
one file per line.
-
If you specify a file system with -R root, the path to each file must be relative to the alternate root directory or an absolute path.
|
-I
|
Override the integrity check. To prevent you from excluding important
system files from an archive, flarcreate runs an integrity
check. This check examines all files that are registered in a system package
database and stops archive creation if any of them are excluded. Use of this
option overrides this integrity check. Therefore, avoid the use of the -I option.
|
Options
for Splitting and Merging Archives
|
-d dir
|
Retrieves the sections to copy from dir,
rather than from the current directory.
|
-u section
|
-
If you use this option, flar copies the
cookie, identification, archive, and section sections. You
can specify a single section name or a space-separated list of section names.
-
If you do not use this option, flar copies the cookie, ldentification, and archive sections only.
|
-f archive
|
Extracts the archive section into a directory that is named archive, rather than placing it in a file with the name archive. Used for splitting an archive
|
-S section
|
Only copies the section that is named section from
the archive. This section is user defined. Used for splitting an archive.
|
Options Used With User-Defined Sections
|
-u section
|
Includes section as a user-defined section.
To include more than one user-defined section, section must
be a space-separated list of section names.
|
-d dir
|
Retrieves the section file that is specified with -u from dir.
|
Options Used With Tape Archives
|
-t
|
Creates an archive on a tape device. The filename argument
is the name of the tape device.
|
-p posn
|
Use only with the -t option. Specifies the position
on the tape device for flarcreate to store the archive.
If you do not use this option, flarcreate places the archive
at the current position of the tape.
|
-b blocksize
|
Specifies the block size flarcreate uses when creating
the archive. If you do not specify a block size, flarcreate uses
the default block size of 64 KB.
|
Options for Archive Identification
These keywords and values appear in the archive identification section of the archive.
|
-U key=val
|
Includes user-defined keywords and values in the archive identification section.
|
-i date
|
Uses date as the value for the creation_date keyword. If you do not specify a date, flarcreate uses
the current system time and date.
|
-m master
|
Uses master as the name of the master system
on which you created the archive. master is the
value for the creation_master keyword. If you do not
specify master, flarcreate uses
the system name that is reported by uname -n.
|
-e descr
|
Uses descr for the value of the content_description keyword. You cannot use this option when you use the -E option.
|
-E descr_file
|
Retrieves the value for the content_description keyword
from the descr_file file. You cannot use this
option when you use the -e option.
|
-a author
|
Uses author as the author name in the archive identification section. author is the value for the content_author keyword.
If you do not specify an author, flarcreate does not include the content_author keyword in the archive identification section.
|
-T type
|
Uses type as the value for the content_type keyword. type is user defined. If you
do not specify a type, flarcreate does not include the content_type keyword.
|