Using the FCode Utility to Create a Bootable Drive (SPARC)

This section describes how to use the FCode utility to set up a RAID volume on a SPARC system prior to installing the Oracle Solaris operating system (OS). You can then use the RAID volume as your boot drive upon which to install the Oracle Solaris OS. This section contains the following topics:

• To Prepare to Use the FCode Utility (SPARC)

• To Create a RAID Volume With the FCode Utility (SPARC)

To Prepare to Use the FCode Utility (SPARC)

Before using the FCode utility to set up a RAID volume on a SPARC system, prepare to use the FCode utility by doing the following:

1. Open an xterm or a gnome terminal window.

   FCode commands can produce large amounts of detailed output. The xterm and gnome terminal windows provide scroll bar functionality, which helps with viewing such output.

2. Enter the OBP environment by performing one of the following tasks:
   • Press STOP+A on a Sun keyboard from Oracle.
   • Issue a break from a remote console.
3. Use the show-devs command to list the device paths on the system and select the device path for the HBA.

   The mpt_sas-based controllers will end with LSI,sas@number.

    {0} ok show-devs
   <...>
   /pci@1e,600000/pci@0/pci@3/LSI,sas@0
    /pci@1e,600000/pci@0/pci@3/LSI,sas@0/disk
    /pci@1e,600000/pci@0/pci@3/LSI,sas@1
   <...>
   

4. Use the select command to select the HBA on which the FCode commands that you issue will operate.

   {0} ok select /pci@1e,600000/pci@0/pci@3/LSI,sas@0

5. If you were able to determine and select the card that you wanted in the previous step, skip to Step 6. Otherwise, if more than one of the mpt_sas-based cards is displayed in the show-devs output, use the select and .properties commands to determine which card you want and then select that card.

   {0} ok select /pci@1e,600000/pci@0/pci@3/LSI,sas@0
   {0} ok .properties
   …
   subsystem-id             00003050
   

   The internal facing cards contain a subsystem-ID of 00003050. To further specify the card, you can also display the SAS addresses of any connected drives by using the show-children command.

6. Review the following table for useful Fcode commands.

   FCode Command Description show-children Lists all connected physical drives and RAID volumes. show-volumes Lists all connected RAID volumes in detail. create-raid0-volume Creates a RAID 0 volume (minimum two targets). create-raid1-volume Creates a RAID 1 volume (exactly two targets). create-raid10-volume Creates a RAID 10 volume (minimum four targets). delete-volume Deletes a RAID volume.

   You are now ready to use the FCode commands to optionally create a RAID volume on the HBA. For more information, see To Create a RAID Volume With the FCode Utility (SPARC). If you plan to install the OS onto a physical drive, go to Creating an Alias for a Bootable Drive (SPARC).

To Create a RAID Volume With the FCode Utility (SPARC)

Perform the steps in this section if you want to optionally configure a RAID volume on a SPARC system. You can then install the Oracle Solaris operating system (OS) on that RAID volume.

1. Use the show-children command to list all the physical drives attached to the HBA.

   {0} ok show-children
   MPT Version 2.00, Firmware Version 4.00.00.00
   Target 9 
   <...>Unit 0   Disk     SEAGATE ST914602SSUN146G0603    286739329 Blocks, 146 GB 
   SASAddress 5000c5000b305b4d  PhyNum 0 
   Target a 
   Unit 0   Disk     SEAGATE ST914602SSUN146G0603    286739329 Blocks, 146 GB 
   SASAddress 5000c5000b304cad  PhyNum 1 
   Target b 
   Unit 0   Disk     HITACHI H101414SCSUN146GSA23    286739329 Blocks, 146 GB 
   SASAddress 5000cca000310015  PhyNum 2 
   Target c 
   Unit 0   Disk     HITACHI H101414SCSUN146GSA23    286739329 Blocks, 146 GB 
   SASAddress 5000cca0002cf035  PhyNum 3
    
    
   

2. Use the create-raid0-volume, create-raid1-volume, or create-raid10-volume command to create a RAID volume from the physical disks.

   ---

   Note - The only volumes supported by the HBA are volumes created with size MAX (the volumes use the maximum drive space possible). Volumes using less than the maximum space of the smallest physical drive in the volume are not supported.

   ---

   {0} ok 9 a create-raid0-volume -- for RAID 0, with targets 9 and a -- 
   {0} ok 9 a b c create-raid10-volume -- for RAID 10 with targets 9, a, b, and c --
   

3. Go to Creating an Alias for a Bootable Drive (SPARC).