Creating a Boot Server on a Subnet With a DVD Image

You can install the Solaris software from the network from any install server on the network. If you use the add_install_client command with the -d option for DHCP, you do not need to create a boot server. DHCP provides the installation parameters necessary for installation. However, a system that needs to use an install server on another subnet and does not use DHCP requires a separate boot server on its own subnet. A boot server contains enough of the boot software to boot systems from the network, and then the install server completes the installation of the Solaris software.

To Create a Boot Server on a Subnet With a DVD Image

This procedure assumes that the system is running the Volume Manager. If you are not using the Volume Manager to manage media, refer to System Administration Guide: Basic Administration for detailed information about managing removable media without the Volume Manager.

1. On the system you intend to make the boot server for the subnet, log in and become superuser.

   The system must have access to the remote Solaris 8 disc images. If you use a name service, the system must also be in the NIS, NIS+, DNS, or LDAP name service. If you do not use a name service, you must distribute information about this system by following your site's policies.

2. Mount the Solaris 8 DVD from an image on an NFS server.

   # mount -F nfs -o ro,anon=0 server_name:path /mnt

   server_name:path

   Is the host name and absolute path to the disc image

3. Change directory to the mounted disc image:

   # cd /mnt

4. Change to the Tools directory on the Solaris 8 DVD image by typing:

   # cd Solaris_8/Tools

5. Copy the boot software to the boot server.

   # ./setup_install_server -b boot_dir_path

   -b	Specifies to setup the system as a boot server
   boot_dir_path	Specifies the directory where the boot software is to be copied

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   Note –

   The setup_install_server command indicates whether or not there is enough disk space available for the images. To determine available disk space, use the df -kl command.

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   You are now ready to set up systems to be installed from the network. See Adding Systems to Be Installed From the Network.

Example 11–5 SPARC: Creating a Boot Server on a Subnet

The following example illustrates how to create a boot server on a subnet. These commands copy the boot software from the Solaris 8 DVD image to /export/home/s8dvdsparc on the system's local disk.

# mount -F nfs -o ro,anon=0 crystal:/export/home/s8dvdsparc /mnt 
# cd /mnt
# cd Solaris_8/Tools
# ./setup_install_server -b /export/home/s8dvdsparc

In this example, the disc is inserted and automatically mounted before the command. After the command, the disc is removed.