Matching Installation Instructions With Client Characteristics

When you use AI, you first set up a DHCP server and an AI server. The AI server has at least one AI boot image and an AI service that is associated with that AI boot image. When a client boots, DHCP directs the client to the install server. The client is associated with a particular install service. The install service uses the methods described in this chapter to match the client with the correct installation and configuration instructions to use.

To define installations that use different AI images (a SPARC image and an x86 image, or different Oracle Solaris versions), create a separate service for each image. See Set Up the Install Image and Install Service.

To associate a client with a specific install service, add that client to the install service. See Chapter 7, Installing Client Systems. Specify the MAC address of the client and the name of the install service for this client to use. When the client with this MAC address boots, DHCP directs the client to the install server, and the client uses the specified install service.

To define more than one type of installation for one AI image, create additional AI manifests and add the new AI manifests to the AI service for that AI image. Specify criteria that define which clients should use which AI manifest. See Associate Client-Specific Installation Instructions With Install Services.

To create a custom AI manifest, start with a copy of the default manifest in net_install_image_path/auto_install/default.xml for the service. See also Default AI Manifest and Annotated AI Manifest for examples. To change installation specifications such as target disk or additional packages to install, see Chapter 4, Specifying Installation Instructions. To change configuration specifications such as user account or root role password, see Chapter 5, Configuring the Client System.

An AI manifest is selected for a client according to the following algorithm:

• If no custom AI manifests are defined for this install service, the default AI manifest is used. The default AI manifest is not associated with any client criteria. See Review the Default Installation Instructions.

• If custom AI manifests are defined for this install service but the client does not match criteria for any custom AI manifest, then the client uses the default AI manifest.

• If the client matches criteria that have been specified for a custom AI manifest, the client uses that manifest.

  If client characteristics match multiple AI manifests, the client characteristics are evaluated in the order shown in the following table to select a manifest for the installation. The installadm tool verifies that criteria of the same type do not overlap. See Add an AI Manifest.

  Multiple non-overlapping criteria are used in the order specified in the following table. For example, if one criteria specification matches the client's MAC address and another criteria specification matches the same client's IP address, the manifest associated with the MAC address criteria specification is used, because mac is higher priority for selection than ipv4.

Table 3-1 Criteria Tags and Criteria Hierarchy

<ai_criteria name="arch">
    <value>i86pc</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="mac">
    <value>0:14:4F:20:53:97</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="mac">
   <range>
       0:14:4F:20:53:94
       0:14:4F:20:53:A0
   </range>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="ipv4">
    <value>10.6.68.127</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="ipv4">
    <range>
        10.6.88.1
        10.6.68.200
    </range>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="cpu">
    <value>sparc</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="platform">
    <value>SUNW,Sun-Fire-T200</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="mem">
     <range>
        2048
        unbounded
     </range>
</ai_criteria>

Example 3-1 Matching Clients With AI Manifests

In the following example, two custom AI manifests have been added to the same install service. The client criteria associated with those manifests are as shown.

The manifest_x86.xml AI manifest was added to the service with the following criteria file that specifies client architecture:

<ai_criteria_manifest>
    <ai_criteria name="arch">
        <value>i86pc</value>
    </ai_criteria>
</ai_criteria_manifest>

The manifest_mac1.xml AI manifest was added to the service with the following criteria file that specifies a client MAC address:

<ai_criteria_manifest>
    <ai_criteria name="mac">
        <value>00:14:4f:a7:65:70</value>
    </ai_criteria>
</ai_criteria_manifest>

If an x86 client is being installed, it is assigned manifest_x86.xml.

If a SPARC client with MAC address 00:14:4f:a7:65:70 is being installed, it is assigned manifest_mac1.xml.

If a SPARC system with some other MAC address is being installed, it is assigned the default AI manifest.