Solaris Advanced Installation Guide

How the System's Root Disk Is Determined

A system's root disk is the disk on the system that contains the root file system. In a profile, you can use the rootdisk variable in place of a disk name, which the Solaris installation program sets to the system's root disk. Table 8-5 describes how the installation program determines the system's root disk for the installation. This only applies during an initial installation; a system's root disk cannot change during an upgrade.

Table 8-5 How the Installation Program Determines the System's Root Disk (Initial Installation Only)


Stage	Action
1	If the `root_device` keyword is specified in the profile, the installation program sets `rootdisk` to the root device.
2	If `rootdisk` is not set and the `boot_device` keyword is specified in the profile, the installation program sets `rootdisk` to the boot device.
3	If `rootdisk` is not set and a `filesys cwtxdysz` `size /` entry is specified in the profile, the installation program sets `rootdisk` to the disk specified in the entry.
4	If `rootdisk` is not set and a `rootdisk.sn` entry is specified in the profile, the installation program searches the system's disks (in kernel probe order) for an existing root file system on the specified slice. If a disk is found, the installation program sets `rootdisk` to the found disk.
5	If `rootdisk` is not set and `partitioning existing` is specified in the profile, the installation program searches the system's disks (in kernel probe order) for an existing root file system. If a root file system is not found or more than one is found, an error will occur. If a root file system is found, the installation program sets `rootdisk` to the found disk.
6	If `rootdisk` is not set, the installation program sets `rootdisk` to the disk where the root file system will be installed.