System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

SPARC: How to Change the Default Boot Device

You might need to identify the devices on the system before you can change the default boot device to some other device. For information on identifying devices on the system, see SPARC: How to Identify Devices on a System.

  1. Become superuser.

  2. Change to run level 0.


    # init 0
    

    The ok PROM prompt is displayed.

    For more information, see init(1M).

  3. Change the value of the boot-device parameter.


    ok setenv boot-device device[n]

    boot-device

    Identifies the parameter for setting the device from which to boot. 

    device[n]

    Identifies the boot-device value such as a disk or the network. The n can be specified as the disk number.

    Use one of the probe commands if you need help with identifying the disk number.

  4. Verify that the default boot device is changed.


    ok printenv boot-device
    
  5. Save the new boot-device value.


    ok reset
    

    The new boot-device value is written to the PROM.

SPARC: Examples—Changing the Default Boot Device

In this example, the default boot device is set to disk.


# init 0
# 
INIT: New run level: 0
.
.
.
The system is down.
syncing file systems... done
Program terminated
ok setenv boot-device disk
boot-device =         disk
ok printenv boot-device
boot-device           disk                    disk
ok reset
Sun Ultra 5/10 UPA/PCI (UltraSPARC-IIi 333MHz), No Keyboard
OpenBoot 3.15, 128 MB memory installed, Serial #number.
Ethernet address number, Host ID: number.

Boot device: disk  File and args:
SunOS Release 5.9 Version 64-bit
.
.
.
pluto console login:

In this example, the default boot device is set to the network.


# init 0
# 
INIT: New run level: 0
.
.
.
The system is down.
syncing file systems... done
Program terminated
ok setenv boot-device net
boot-device =         net
ok printenv boot-device
boot-device           net                    disk
ok reset
Sun Ultra 5/10 UPA/PCI (UltraSPARC-IIi 333MHz), No Keyboard
OpenBoot 3.15, 128 MB memory installed, Serial #number.
Ethernet address number, Host ID: number.



Boot device: net  File and args:
.
.
.
pluto console login: