Solaris 8 Advanced Installation Guide

Creating a Boot Server on a Subnet With CD Media

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 CD Media

Note –

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.

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

The system must include a local CD-ROM drive or 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.

Decide if you want to mount the Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD from the drive or from an image on an NFS server.
- If you want to mount the disc from the drive, insert Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD.
- If you want to mount the disc from an image on an NFS server, follow these steps.
  1. Mount the Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD image.
    # mount -F nfs -o ro server_name:path /mnt
    server_name:path
    
    Is the host name and absolute path to the disc image
  2. Change directory to the mounted disc image:
    # cd /mnt

Change to the Tools directory on the Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD image by typing:
# cd Solaris_8/Tools

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

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.

Eject Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD.

Insert the Solaris 8 Installation CD into the system's drive.

Change to the directory that contains modify_install_server on the mounted CD:

For SPARC CD media:
# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/s0
For IA CD media:
# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/s2

Use the modify_install_server command to copy the Solaris Web Start interface software to the install server:

# ./modify_install_server install_dir_path installer_miniroot_path

`install_dir_path`	Specifies the directory where the Solaris Web Start interface is to be copied
`installer_miniroot_path`	Specifies the directory on the CD from which the Solaris Web Start interface is to be copied

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

Example 12–2 SPARC: Creating a Boot Server on a Subnet With SPARC CD Media

The following example illustrates how to create a boot server on a subnet. These commands copy the boot software from the Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 SPARC Platform Edition CD image to /export/install/boot on the system's local disk. Also, the Solaris Web Start interface software is copied to the install server.

# mount -F nfs -o ro crystal:/export/install/boot /mnt
# cd /mnt
# cd /cdrom/sol_8_sparc/s0/Solaris_8/Tools
# ./setup_install_server -b /export/install/boot
# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/s0
# ./modify_install_server /export/install/boot /cdrom/cdrom0/s1

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

Example 12–3 x86: Creating a Boot Server on a Subnet With IA CD Media

# mount -F nfs -o ro crystal:/export/install/boot /mnt
# cd /mnt
# cd /cdrom/cdrom/s02/Solaris_8/Tools
# ./setup_install_server -b /export/install/boot
# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/s2
# ./modify_install_server /export/install/boot /cdrom/cdrom0/s0

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

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