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Solaris 8 System Administration Supplement

Chapter 4 Managing Diskless Clients

The Solaris 8 software release includes new diskless client functionality.

Note -

For the most current man pages, use the man command. The Solaris 8 Update release man pages include new feature information that is not in the Solaris 8 Reference Manual Collection.

Managing Diskless Clients Overview

For the 1/01 release, Diskless Client Management updates the Solstice AdminSuiteTM 2.3 Diskless Client tool. The AdminSuite 2.3 Diskless Client tool is GUI based, whereas Diskless Client Management consists solely of a command-line interface.

The following are supported:

A diskless client is a workstation that depends on an OS server, or host, for its operating system, software, and storage. A diskless client mounts its root (/), /usr, and other file systems from its OS server. A diskless client has its own CPU and physical memory and can process data locally. However, a diskless client cannot operate if it is detached from its network or if its OS server malfunctions. A diskless client generates significant network traffic because of its continual need to function across the network.

Working With Diskless Client Management

You use the command-line interface to work with the Diskless Client Management tool. By writing your own shell scripts and using the commands shown in Table 4-1, you can easily set up and manage your diskless client environment.

Table 4-1 Diskless Client Management Commands

Command 

Subcommand 

Task 

/usr/sadm/bin/smosservice

add

Add OS services 
 

delete

Delete OS services 
 

list

List OS services 
 

patch

Manage OS service patches 

/usr/sadm/bin/smdiskless

add

Add a diskless client to an OS server 
 

delete

Delete a diskless client from an OS server 
 

list

List the diskless clients on an OS server 
 

modify

Modify the attributes of a diskless client 

You can obtain help on these commands in two ways:

User Rights

Users can make use of either a subset or all of the Diskless Client Management commands, according to the rights to which they are assigned. Table 4-2 lists the rights that are required to use the Diskless Client Management commands.

Table 4-2 Required Rights

Right 

Command 

Task 

Basic Solaris User,Network Management 

smosservice list

smosservice patch

smdiskless list

List OS services 

List OS patches 

List diskless clients 

Network Management 

smdiskless add

Add diskless clients 

System Administrator 

All commands 

 

Disk Space Requirements

Before you begin to set up your diskless client environment, make sure you have the required space available for each partition that is created. Table 4-3 lists the disk space requirements for each Diskless Client Management partition.

Table 4-3 Disk Space Requirements

Partition 

Required Space (MB) 

/export/Solaris_version

10 

/export/exec

800 

/export/share

5 

/export/dump/diskless_client_name

32 

/export/root/templates/Solaris_version

30 

/export/root/clone/Solaris_version/machine_class

30-60, depending on machine class 

/export/root/diskless_client_name(clone of above)

30-60, depending on machine class 

/export/swap/diskless_client_name

32 

/tftpboot/inetboot.machine_class.Solaris_version

200 KB per machine_class.Solaris_version

How to Set Up Your Diskless Client Environment

  1. Choose where to start.

    • If your system currently supports diskless clients that were created with the Diskless Client tool, proceed to step 2.

    • If your system does not currently support diskless clients that were created with the Diskless Client tool, proceed to step 4.

  2. Remove the existing diskless clients by using the /usr/sadm/bin/admhostdel command.

  3. Remove the existing OS services by using the /usr/sadm/bin/admhostmod command.

  4. Upgrade the machine(s) designated as the OS server(s) to the Solaris 8 1/01 operating environment.

  5. To view Diskless Client error messages in the Solaris Management Console (SMC) Log Viewer, start the SMC by typing the following at the command line:


    % /usr/sadm/bin/smc &

    Then choose Log Viewer from the SMC main screen.

  6. Add the required OS services. See "Preparing to Add OS Services" and "How to Add an OS Service".

  7. Add the diskless client(s). See "How to Add a Diskless Client".

  8. Boot each diskless client from the PROM level by using the boot net command. For more information on the boot net command, refer to System Administration Guide, Volume 1.

Preparing to Add OS Services

When you use the smosservice add command to add OS services, you must type the platform, mediapath, and cluster of each diskless client platform that you want to support. Therefore, you must first do some high-level work to determine the following for each diskless client:

How to Add an OS Service

After you determine the platform, media path, and cluster for each diskless client, you are ready to add OS services. The following directories are created and populated for each OS service that you add:

/export/Solaris_version/Solaris_version_instruction_set.all (symbolic link to /export/exec/Solaris_version/Solaris_version_instruction_set.all)/export/Solaris_version/export/Solaris_version/var/export/Solaris_version/opt/export/share/export/dump/export/root/templates/Solaris_version/export/root/clone/export/root/clone/Solaris_version/export/root/clone/Solaris_version/machine_class

  1. Use the /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice add command, including the required mediapath, platform, and cluster options, to add the first OS service.

    For example, the following command adds an OS service for the Solaris 8 software for the sun4u machine class, where the OS server is not using a name service:


    % /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice add -- -x mediapath=/net/image/5.8/sparc \
-x platform=sparc.sun4u.Solaris_8 -x cluster=SUNWCXall
    The installation process can require 45 minutes, depending on the server speed and the OS service configuration you choose.

  2. Continue to use the /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice add command to add any other OS services.

  3. When you are finished adding OS services, use the /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice list command to verify that the OS services were installed.

How to Add a Diskless Client

The following default directories are created and populated on the OS server for each diskless client that you add:

/export/root/diskless_client_name/export/swap/diskless_client_name/export/dump/diskless_client_name/tftpboot/diskless_client_ipaddress_in_hex

Note -

You can modify the default locations of the /root, /swap, and /dump directories by using the -x option. However, do not create these directories under the /export branch.

To add a diskless client:

  1. Use the smdiskless add command, including the required IP address, Ethernet address (MAC address), name, and operating system options, for the first diskless client that you want to add.

    For example, the following adds the "client1" diskless client, which runs Solaris 8 on a sun4u machine:


    % /usr/sadm/bin/smdiskless add -- -i 129.9.200.1 \
-e 8:0:11:12:13:14 -n client1 -x os=sparc.sun4u.Solaris_8 \

    Note -

    The operating system is in the format of instruction_set.machine_class.Solaris_os_version and is equivalent to the platform you specified when you used the smosservice command to set up OS services.

  2. Continue to use the /usr/sadm/bin/smdiskless add command to add each remaining diskless client.

  3. When you are finished adding diskless clients, use the /usr/sadm/bin/smdiskless list command to verify that the diskless clients were installed.

Patching OS Services Overview

You use the /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice patch command to manage the OS service patches. You can:

Note -

Diskless clients share the /export/exec/Solaris_version/Solaris_version_instruction_set.all directory on the OS server. Because this directory is shared, patches that you apply to this directory are not printed when you type the showrev -p command from the diskless client. However, kernel patches are applied to the diskless client's root directory, and therefore print when you type the showrev -p command from the diskless client.

How to Add Non-Solaris Patches

If you want to add non-Solaris patches to an OS server, do the following:

  1. Create a .copyof* "staging area" for the patches, using the following command:


    % /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice patch -- -m -U

  2. Add the patch(es) to the staging area using the following command:


    % /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice patch -- -a staging area

  3. Push the patch(es) out to the clients using the following command:


    % /usr/sadm/bin/smosservice patch -- -a -m -U