Solaris OS Installation Overview

The Solaris 10 OS box contains the CD and DVD media and documentation that you will need to install the Solaris OS software for both SPARC and x86/x64 platforms. For your server, use the media for x86/x64 platforms.

The minimum Solaris OS for your server is Solaris 10 5/09 for the x86/x64 family of 64-bit and 32-bit AMD processors.

Note the following conditions:

• If you are going to install your OS on a disk that is part of a RAID array, you must configure the RAID array before installing your OS. See your disk management documentation collection for details.

• During the OS installation, you need to provide the logical names (assigned by the OS) and the physical name (MAC address) of each network interface. See Identifying Logical and Physical Network Interface Names for Solaris OS Installation for details.

Your server supports the following Solaris OS installation methods:

• Boot from the preinstalled Solaris 10 5/09 OS image on the hard drive as described in the Sun Fire X4640 Server Installation Guide.

• Install on one server from DVD or CD-ROM media interactively with the Solaris installation program.

• Install on one server or several servers over the network with Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) technology and the following installation methods:

  • Solaris installation program over the network from remote DVD or CD images

  • JumpStart installation

  • Diskless boot

  • Installation using a serial console

The Solaris Installation Program on the Solaris 10 OS DVD or CD can be run with a graphical user interface (GUI) or as an interactive text installer in a remote console. The Solaris Device Configuration Assistant is included in the Solaris Installation Program.

Use Table 1 to identify the tasks you need to perform to install the Solaris OS.

Table 1 Task Map for Initial Solaris OS Installation

Table 2 Installation Methods