Creating Solaris Images and Profiles

To provide basic JumpStart functionality, an image of the appropriate Solaris OS media must be installed on the JET server. That image must then be attached to a profile that explains how the image is to be installed.

How to Import a Solaris Image

To provide basic JumpStart functionality, an image of the appropriate Solaris OS media must be installed on the JET server. The version or versions of Solaris to be imported onto the JET server depend on those required by the target servers. You can install multiple versions of the Solaris media on the same JET server at the same time.

While it is recommended that you copy the media to disk on the JET server, it is not strictly required. You can share the physical media appropriately to allow the target servers to boot from it. However, using the physical media severely restricts the performance of the target server build and minimizes your ability to support multiple versions of Solaris.

You can import images created by the setup_install_server command, as well as ISO images. Edit the plan variable settings to specify which images to import.

Before You Begin

If you want to fully automate the deployment of the Solaris 9 OS, you must create additional configuration files to accompany your Solaris 9 installation image. For more information, see Automating Solaris 9 Installations on x86 Based Systems.

Steps

1. Mount the Solaris DVD on the JET server, either through a local drive, or by using a shared drive on the network.

2. In the Common Tasks section of the N1 SPS browser interface, select OS Provisioning.

3. On the OS Provisioning Common Tasks page, click Import in the Solaris Images section.

4. On the Plans Details page, click Run.

5. Choose variables to use for this plan.

   • To use an existing variables set, select a name from the drop-down menu in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

   • To create a new variables set, click Select from List in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

     1. Click Create Set.

     2. Type a name for the variables set.

     3. Type the Solaris main version number into the version variable.

     4. Type the Solaris minor version number into the release variable.

     5. Verify the remaining variables and change them, if needed.

        The following table describes the additional variables and their default values.

        Variable Name	Description	Default Value
        architecture	Architecture of the physical system, for example, SPARC or x86.	sparc
        installPath	Unique name for the imported Solaris image.	Solaris:[version]_:[release]_:[architecture] For example: Solaris9_u7_sparc
        image_path	Path to where imported image will be stored.	/export/osp_image/:[installPath]
        image_subnet_addr	Subnet address of the image server.	:[target(/):sys.ipAddress]
        image_subnet_mask	Subnet mask of the image server	255.255.255.0
        media_src	Path to the image files. By default, the software assumes the files are on a DVD disc.	/cdrom/cdrom0/s0
        ISO_files	Space-separated names of ISO files in the media_src directory. The files must be unzipped. Specify the bootable CD as the first ISO in the list. Note – You cannot import cross-platform CD ISO images of the Solaris OS. For example, you cannot import Solaris x86 CD ISO files to a boot and install server running the Solaris OS for SPARC. Solaris SPARC CD ISO files cannot be imported to a Solaris x86 boot and install server.	sol-10-GA-sparc-v1-iso sol-10-GA-sparc-v2-iso sol-10-GA-sparc-v3-iso sol-10-GA-sparc-v4-iso

     6. Save the variables set.

     7. Select the variables set that you just saved from the drop-down menu in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

6. On the Plan Details Run page, select the JET image server on which to import the image.

   ---

   Tip –

   The host name of the JET image server ends in -jet.

   ---

7. Click Run Plan (includes preflight).

Creating Solaris Provisioning Profiles With JET

The JumpStart Enterprise Toolkit (JET) is a set of utilities that simplifies the process of creating the profiles necessary to provision the Solaris OS. Through the N1 SPS browser interface, you can generate the profile keywords and values that are required to perform an automated JET installation of your target host.

If you prefer to not use JET, and create the profile values manually, you can create the Solaris Provisioning profile without using JET modules. See Creating Non-JET Solaris Provisioning Profiles.

How to Create a Solaris Provisioning Profile With JET (Browser Interface)

Before You Begin

• Make sure the JET server exists and that the Solaris OS software is available to that server. For more information about creating the JET server, see Setting up the Solaris JET Server. For more information about creating the Solaris image, see How to Import a Solaris Image.

• If you are provisioning the Solaris OS on x86 target hosts, you must create a custom JumpStart profile that deletes any existing partitions, and point to that profile in the profile_base_config variable. For instructions about how to create a JumpStart profile that deletes existing partitions with the fdisk keyword, see Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations.

Steps

1. In the Common Tasks section of the N1 SPS browser interface, select OS Provisioning.

2. On the OS Provisioning Common Tasks page, click Create Profile in the Solaris Images section.

3. On the Plans Details page, click Run.

4. Choose variables to use for this plan.

   • To use an existing variables set, select a name from the drop-down menu in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

   • To create a new variables set, click Select from List in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

     1. Click Create Set.

     2. Type a name for the variables set.

     3. Type the Solaris main version number into the version variable.

     4. Type the Solaris minor version number into the release variable.

     5. Verify the remaining variables and change them, if needed.

        The following table describes the additional variables and their default values.

        Variable Name	Description	Default Value/Example
        architecture	Architecture of the physical system, for example, SPARC or x86	sparc (Default)
        installPath	Solaris image name to attach	Solaris:[version]_:[release]_:[architecture] For example: Solaris9_u7_sparc
        image_path	Path to location where image file resides	/export/osp_image/:[installPath] (Default)
        image_subnet_addr	Subnet address of the image server	:[target(/):sys.ipAddress] (Default)
        image_subnet_mask	Subnet mask of the image server	255.255.255.0 (Default)
        media_src	Path to the image files.	/cdrom/cdrom0/s0 (Example)
        ISO_files	List of ISO files located in the directory specified in the media_src variable	sol-10-GA-sparc-v1-iso sol-10-GA-sparc-v2-iso sol-10-GA-sparc-v3-iso sol-10-GA-sparc-v4-iso (Example)

     6. Save the variables set.

     7. Select the variables set that you just saved from the drop-down menu in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

5. On the Plan Details Run page, select the JET image server on which to create the profile.

   ---

   Tip –

   The host name of the JET image server ends in -jet.

   ---

6. If needed, change the Profile Name.

7. If needed, change the Profile Description.

8. Update the list of the JET modules to use.

   The JET product modules are located on the JET server in the directory /opt/SUNWjet/Products.

   By default, the plan variable JET Modules Name(s) lists two JET modules to include in the Solaris profile component:

   • base_config – Installs and configures the Solaris OS. For information about base_config variables, see Basic Solaris OS Configuration Variables.

   • spsra – Installs and configures the N1 SPS Remote Agent (RA) on a Solaris system. For information about spsra variables, see Component Variables for Solaris Remote Agents.

   base_config is the required JET module for basic Solaris installation. All other /opt/SUNWjet/Products modules are optional. Adding a module name to this list adds the module installation function and configuration variables to the newly created Solaris provisioning profile.

   One of the /opt/SUNWjet/Products optional modules is the custom module. The custom module installs arbitrary lists of Solaris packages, patches, and files, and can run arbitrary collections of scripts. See Using the custom Module for further details. You can also write other JET modules. For information about creating JET modules, see Appendix F, Creating Additional JET Modules.

9. Click Run Plan (includes preflight).

10. (Optional) Change default profile values.

    1. Navigate to the Solaris folder that contains the new Provision component.

       For example, /com/sun/n1osp/autogen-biss1-jet/provision/.

    2. Click the Solaris provisioning component name.

       For example, Solaris10_0205_sparc.standard.

    3. Edit default values.

       For information about Solaris profile variables, see Appendix B, Solaris Profile Component Variables.

       ---

       Note –

       If you are provisioning the Solaris OS to an x86 target host, you must create a custom JumpStart profile that deletes all existing partitions on the target host. For the profile_base_config variable value, point to the location of this profile

       ---

       1. Click the Edit button at bottom of Details page.

       2. Change values.

       3. Click the Check-in button at the bottom of the Details page.

How to Create a Solaris Provisioning Profile With JET (Command-Line Interface)

Steps

1. To create a variable set for the SolarisImage component, type a command similar to the following example:

   # cr_cli -cmd cdb.vs.add -comp NM:/com/sun/n1osp/untyped/SolarisImage \ -name "solaris10sparc" -u admin -p admin -vars "version=10;release=ga;architecture=sparc; \ image_path=/export/install/s10ga-sparc;image_subnet_addr=10.42.42.2; \ image_subnet_mask=255.255.255.0;media_src="

2. To run the plan, type a command similar to the following example:

   # cr_cli -cmd pe.p.run -u admin -p admin -PID NM:/com/sun/n1osp/untyped/SolarisImage-create-profile -tar H:NM:biss1-jet -comp - -vs solaris10sparc -pto 30 -nto 10 -f /tmp/solaris-profile

   Note the default N1 SPS user value you specified with the -u option. This user must exist after the OS installation for the N1 SPS Remote Agent software to start on the target host.

Creating Non-JET Solaris Provisioning Profiles

If you prefer to manually create the Solaris provisioning profiles, you can create the Solaris profile without using JET modules. This section describes how to create non-JET Solaris profiles.

If you prefer to use JET to generate your profiles, see Creating Solaris Provisioning Profiles With JET.

How to Create a Non-JET Solaris Provisioning Profile (Browser Interface)

In certain circumstances, you might want to manually create the Solaris Provisioning profile, rather than generating a profile with JET. For example, if you have an existing custom JumpStart environment that you want to import into your N1 SPS environment, you need to manually create the OS Provisioning profile to include the information about your JumpStart files.

Before You Begin

Make sure the Solaris image server exists and that the Solaris operating system software is available to that server. For more information about creating the Solaris image server, see Setting up the Solaris JET Server.

Steps

1. In the Common Tasks section of the provisioning software page, select OS Provisioning.

2. On the OS Provisioning Common Tasks page, click Create Profile in the Solaris Images section.

3. On the Plans Details page, click Run.

4. Choose variables to use for this plan.

   • To use an existing variables set, select a name from the drop-down menu in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

   • To create a new variables set, click Select from List in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

     1. Click Create Set.

     2. Type a name for the variables set.

     3. Type the Solaris main version number into the version variable.

     4. Type the Solaris minor version number into the release variable.

     5. Verify variables and change them, if needed.

        The following table describes the additional variables and their default values.

        Variable Name	Description	Default Value/Example
        architecture	Architecture of the physical system, for example, SPARC or x86	sparc (Default)
        installPath	Solaris image name to attach	Solaris:[version]_:[release]_:[architecture] For example: Solaris9_u7_sparc
        image_path	Path to location where image file resides	/export/osp_image/:[installPath] (Default)
        image_subnet_addr	Subnet address of the image server	:[target(/):sys.ipAddress] (Default)
        image_subnet_mask	Subnet mask of the image server	255.255.255.0 (Default)
        media_src	Path to the image files.
        ISO_files	List of ISO files located in the directory specified in the media_src variable

     6. Save the variables set.

     7. Select the variables set that you just saved from the drop-down menu in the SolarisImage component row of the Plan Parameters table.

5. On the Plan Details Run page, select the Solaris image server on which to create the profile.

   ---

   Tip –

   The host name of the Solaris image server ends in -solaris.

   ---

6. If needed, change the Profile Name.

7. If needed, change the Profile Description.

8. Deselect the checkbox for Use the Jet Modules Specified Above.

9. Click Run Plan (includes preflight).

10. To verify that the Solaris profile is created to the Solaris image server, click Components in the left pane of the N1 SPS browser interface.

    You should find a provision component in the folder /com/sun/n1osp/autogen-server-name-solaris/provision/, where server-name is the Solaris server name that you provided in the variable set. For example: /com/sun/n1osp/autogen-Solaris9_u7_sparc-solaris/provision/.

11. (Optional) Change default profile values.

    1. Navigate to the Solaris folder that contains the new Provision component.

       For example, /com/sun/n1osp/autogen-biss1-jet/provision/.

    2. Click the Solaris provisioning component name.

       For example, Solaris10_0205_sparc.standard.

    3. Edit default values.

       For information about Solaris profile variables, see Appendix B, Solaris Profile Component Variables.

       ---

       Note –

       If you are provisioning the Solaris OS to an x86 target host, you must create a custom JumpStart profile that deletes all existing partitions on the target host. For the profile_base_config variable value, point to the location of this profile

       ---

       1. Click the Edit button at bottom of Details page.

       2. Change values.

          ---

          Note –

          If you want to use an existing JumpStart environment for your provisioning plan, set the values for the osp_profile_jumpstart_ip_address and osp_profile_jumpstart_directory variables to point to the directory and IP address of your JumpStart files.

          ---

       3. Click the Check-in button at the bottom of the Details page.

How to Create a Non-JET Solaris Provisioning Profile (Command-Line Interface)

Steps

1. To create a variable set for the SolarisImage component, type a command similar to the following example:

   # cr_cli -cmd cdb.vs.add -comp NM:/com/sun/n1osp/untyped/SolarisImage \ -name "solaris9" -u admin -p admin -vars "version=9;release=u7;architecture=sparc; \ image_path=/export/install/Solaris_9;image_subnet_addr=10.42.42.2; \ image_subnet_mask=255.255.255.0;media_src="

2. To provide JET module information, create a file /tmp/solaris-profile that contains the following entries:

   standard-nojet
   Standard Solaris
   base_config spsra
   false

   Where:

   • The first line in the file corresponds to the Profile Name field in the plan variables section of the browser interface.

   • The second line in the file corresponds to the Profile Description field in the plan variables section of the browser interface.

   • The third line in the file corresponds to the JET Module Name field in the plan variables section of the browser interface.

   • The fourth line in the file corresponds to the Use the Jet Modules Specified Above checkbox in the plan variables section of the browser interface

3. To run the plan, type a command similar to the following example:

   # cr_cli -cmd pe.p.run -u admin -p admin -PID NM:/com/sun/n1osp/untyped/SolarisImage-create-profile -tar H:NM:biss1-jet -comp - -vs solaris9 -pto 30 -nto 10 -f /tmp/solaris-profile

   Note the default N1 SPS user value you specified with the -u option. This user must exist after the OS installation for the N1 SPS Remote Agent software to start on the target host.