Planning for a Network Installation Introduction

This section provides you with information you need before you can perform an installation from the network. Network installations enable you to install the Solaris software from a system, called an install server, that has access to the Solaris 8 disc images to other systems on the network. You copy the contents of the Solaris 8 DVD or CD media to the install server's hard disk. Then, you can install the Solaris software from the network by using any of the Solaris installation methods.

Required Servers for Network Installation

To install the Solaris operating environment from the network, the systems to be installed require the following servers to be present on the network.

• Install server – A networked system that contains the Solaris 8 disc images from which you can install Solaris 8 on another system on the network. You create an install server by copying the images from one of the following media:

  • Solaris 8 DVD

  • Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD

  After you copy the image from the Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD, you can also copy the images from the Solaris 8 Software 2 of 2 CD, Solaris 8 Installation CD, and Solaris 8 Languages CD as necessary for your installation requirements.

  You can enable a single install server to provide disc images for different Solaris releases and for multiple platforms by copying the images on to the install server's hard disk. For example, a single install server could contain the disc images for the SPARC platform and IA platform.

  For details about how to create an install server, refer to one of the following sections.

  • To Create a SPARC Install Server With SPARC or IA DVD Media

  • To Create an IA Install Server With SPARC or IA DVD Media

  • To Create an Install Server CD Media

• Boot server – A system used to boot the system to be installed from the network. A boot server and install server are typically the same system. However, if the system on which the Solaris 8 software is to be installed is located in a different subnet than the install server and you are not using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), a boot server is required on that subnet.

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  Note –

  When using DHCP, you do not need to create a separate boot server. For more information, see Using DHCP to Provide Network Installation Parameters.

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  A single boot server can provide Solaris 8 boot software for multiple releases, including the Solaris 8 boot software for different platforms. For example, a SPARC boot server can provide the Solaris 8 boot software for SPARC based systems. The same SPARC boot server can also provide the Solaris 8 boot software for IA based systems.

  For details about how to create a boot server, refer to one of the following sections:

  • Creating a Boot Server on a Subnet With a DVD Image

  • Creating a Boot Server on a Subnet With CD Media

• (Optional) Name server – A system that manages a distributed network database, such as NIS+ or LDAP, that contains information about users and other systems on the network.

  For details about how to create a name server, refer to Solaris Naming Administration Guide.

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  Note –

  The install server and name server can be the same or different systems.

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Figure 10–1 illustrates the servers typically used for network installation.

Figure 10–1 Network Installation Servers

Using DHCP to Provide Network Installation Parameters

When using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), you do not need to create a separate boot server. Once you have created the install server, you add clients to the network with the add_install_client command. With the add_install_client's -d option, you can set up client systems for Solaris installation from the network using DHCP. DHCP provides the network parameters that are necessary for installation. For information on DHCP options for installation parameters, see System Administration Guide, Volume 3.