About This Documentation (PDF and HTML)
Shell Prompts in Command Examples
Introduction to Sun Installation Assistant
Getting Started With Sun Installation Assistant
SIA Version 2.3 Through 2.4 Features and Benefits
Supported Servers and SIA Media Availability
Starting SIA and Preparing for Deployment or Recovery Tasks
Local and Remote Media Options
How to Start SIA and Prepare for Tasks Using Local or Remote Media
How to Create a RAID Volume Using SIA
How to Delete a RAID Volume Using SIA
How to Install Windows With SIA Using Local or Remote Media
How to Install Linux With SIA Using Local or Remote Media
Using SIA to Upgrade System Firmware
How to Upgrade the System BIOS and ILOM Firmware
How to Upgrade Expander Firmware
Using SIA to Recover a Service Processor
How to Recover a Service Processor
Performing an SIA PXE-Based Attended Installation
Obtain the SIA PXE Image Files
How to Create the SIA Image and Prepare for PXE Boot
How to Boot SIA From a PXE Server for an Attended Installation
Performing an SIA PXE-Based Unattended Installation
Obtain the SIA PXE Image Files
Contents of the SIA State File
How to Prepare for an Unattended SIA Installation of Linux
How to Prepare for an Unattended SIA Firmware Upgrade
How to Create the SIA Image and Prepare for PXE Boot
How to Boot SIA From a PXE Server and Perform an Unattended Installation
Observing an SIA PXE-Based Unattended Installation
Set Up Passwords for Root and Virtual Access
Using a Virtual Console or Secure Shell (SSH) Connection
Debugging Unattended Installation Problems
Creating a Bootable SIA USB Flash Drive
Setting BIOS Parameters and Booting Off the SIA USB Flash Drive
Identifying a Linux Boot Device on a Sun Fire X4500 Server
How to Identify a Linux Boot Device on a Sun Fire X4500 Server
How to Install Service Tags in Linux
Starting with SIA software version 2.1.0, support for a PXE-based SIA unattended installation of Window Server 2003 was added. Starting with SIA version 2.3, support for doing a PXE-based SIA unattended installation of Windows Server 2008 was added.
Create the SIA Unattended State File for Windows.
The SIA state file is a text file that directs the unattended installation of your Windows Server operating system and other SIA tasks to be performed (such as BIOS/SP firmware upgrade). Consider these requirements when creating an SIA state file:
When SIA boots from PXE, the state file must identify location of the OS media to be installed and the transfer protocol method (FTP, NFS, or HTTP).
The state file must not contain extraneous spaces or punctuation of any kind.
Each variable with its value must be on a separate line in the state file without line breaks.
The lines specified in the SIA state file must correspond to the steps you would see if you were interactively using the SIA program to perform tasks.
Sample SIA State File for Windows:
An SIA state file for an unattended Windows Server 2003 installation looks like the following sample, see Table 4 for an explanation of each variable. Variables required for a Windows Server 2008 installation are different.
[STATE_BEGIN noname apit] apit.unattended=true apit.networking=true apit.welcome.acceptlicense=true apit.networkconfig.needNetwork=true apit.networkconfig.useDHCP=true apit.networkconfig.needProxy=false apit.taskList.selectedTask=Operating System Installation apit.remoteUpdate=true apit.remoteupdateURL=http://sia-updates.sun.com/remoteUpdate apit.http_proxy=path_to_my_http_proxy apit.osid.installMedia=networkWindows apit.osid.installMethod=http, ftp or nfs apit.osid.url1=path_to_Windows_OS_CD1_iso_file apit.osid.url2=path_to_Windows_OS_CD2_iso_file apit.windows.key=XXXXX-XXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX apit.windows.computerName=computername apit.windows.orgName=organizationname apit.windows.userName=username apit.windows.adminPasswd=password apit.windows.acceptEula=Yes [STATE_DONE noname apit]
When done, proceed to How to Create the SIA Image and Prepare for PXE Boot.