Solaris Flash Introduction

The Solaris Flash installation feature enables you to create a single reference installation of the Solaris operating environment on a system, which is called the master system. Then, you can replicate that installation on a number of systems, which are called clone systems. Installing clone systems with the Solaris Flash installation method is a three–part process.

1. Install the master system. You select a system and use any of the Solaris installation methods to install the Solaris operating environment and any other software.

2. Create the Solaris Flash archive. The Solaris Flash archive contains a copy of all of the files on the master system.

3. Install the Solaris Flash archive on clone systems. When you install the Solaris Flash archive on a system, all of the files in the archive are copied to that system. The newly installed system now has the same installation configuration as the original master system, thus the system is called a clone system.

You cannot upgrade a system that is running the Solaris operating environment by using the Solaris Flash installation feature. You can only perform an initial installation.