Creating a Boot Environment Within the Same ZFS Root Pool

If you have an existing ZFS root pool and want to create a new ZFS boot environment within that pool, the following procedure provides the steps. After the inactive boot environment is created, the new boot environment can be upgraded and activated at your convenience. The -p option is not required when you create a boot environment within the same pool.

How to Create a ZFS Boot Environment Within the Same ZFS Root Pool

Before running Live Upgrade for the first time, you must install the latest Live Upgrade packages from installation media and install the patches listed in the My Oracle Support knowledge document 1004881.1 - Live Upgrade Software Patch Requirements (formerly 206844). Search for the knowledge document 1004881.1 - Live Upgrade Software Patch Requirements (formerly 206844) on the My Oracle Support web site.
The latest packages and patches ensure that you have all the latest bug fixes and new features in the release. Ensure that you install all the patches that are relevant to your system before proceeding to create a new boot environment.
The following substeps describe the steps in the My Oracle Support knowledge document 1004881.1 - Live Upgrade Software Patch Requirements (formerly 206844).

Note - Using Live Upgrade to create new ZFS boot environments requires at least the Solaris 10 10/08 release to be installed. Previous releases do not have the ZFS and Live Upgrade software to perform the tasks.
1. Become superuser or assume an equivalent role.
  Note - Roles contain authorizations and privileged commands. For more information about roles, see Configuring RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Security Services.
2. From the My Oracle Support web site, follow the instructions in knowledge document 1004881.1 - Live Upgrade Software Patch Requirements (formerly 206844) to remove and add Live Upgrade packages.
  The three Live Upgrade packages, SUNWluu, SUNWlur, and SUNWlucfg, comprise the software needed to upgrade by using Live Upgrade. These packages include existing software, new features, and bug fixes. If you do not remove the existing packages and install the new packages on your system before using Live Upgrade, upgrading to the target release fails. The SUMWlucfg package is new starting with the Solaris 10 8/07 release. If you are using Live Upgrade packages from a release previous to Solaris 10 8/07, you do not need to remove this package.
  
  Note - The SUMWlucfg package is new starting with the Solaris 10 8/07 release. If you are using Live Upgrade packages from a previous release, you do not need to remove this package.
```
# pkgrm SUNWlucfg SUNWluu SUNWlur
```
3. Install the new Live Upgrade packages. For instructions, see Installing Live Upgrade.
4. Before running Live Upgrade, you are required to install the following patches. These patches ensure that you have all the latest bug fixes and new features in the release.
  Ensure that you have the most recently updated patch list by consulting My Oracle Support. Search for the knowledge document 1004881.1 - Live Upgrade Software Patch Requirements (formerly 206844) on the My Oracle Support web site.
  - If you are storing the patches on a local disk, create a directory such as /var/tmp/lupatches and download the patches to that directory.
  - From the My Oracle Support web site, obtain the list of patches.
  - Change to the patch directory as in this example.
```
# cd /var/tmp/lupatches
```
  - Install the patches with the patchadd command.
```
# patchadd -M path-to-patches patch_id patch_id
```
    path-to-patches is the patch to the patch directory such as /var/tmp/lupatches. patch_id is the patch number or numbers. Separate multiple patch names with a space.
    
    Note - The patches need to be applied in the order that is specified in the knowledge document 1004881.1 - Live Upgrade Software Patch Requirements (formerly 206844).
  - Reboot the system if necessary. Certain patches require a reboot to be effective.
    
    x86 only: Rebooting the system is required or Live Upgrade fails.
```
# init 6
```
    You now have the packages and patches necessary for a successful creation of a new boot environment.
Create the new boot environment.
```
# lucreate [-c zfsBE] -n new-zfsBE
```
-c zfsBE

Assigns the name zfsBE to the current boot environment. This option is not required and is used only when the first boot environment is created. If you run lucreate for the first time and you omit the -c option, the software creates a default name for you.

-n new-zfsBE

Assigns the name to the boot environment to be created. The name must be unique on the system.

The creation of the new boot environment is almost instantaneous. A snapshot is created of each dataset in the current ZFS root pool, and a clone is then created from each snapshot. Snapshots are very disk-space efficient, and this process uses minimal disk space. When the inactive boot environment has been created, you can use the luupgrade or luactivate command to upgrade or activate the new ZFS boot environment.

(Optional) Verify that the boot environment is complete.

The lustatus command reports whether the boot environment creation is complete and bootable.

# lustatus
boot environment   Is        Active  Active     Can        Copy 
Name               Complete  Now     OnReboot   Delete     Status 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
zfsBE               yes       yes     yes         no             -
new-zfsBE           yes       no      no          yes            -

(Optional) Verify the basic dataset information on the system.

In this example, the ZFS root pool is named rpool, and the @ symbol indicates a snapshot. The new boot environment mount points are temporary until the luactivate command is executed. The /dump and /swap volumes are shared with the ZFS root pool and boot environments within the root pool.

# zfs list
NAME                                      USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT 
rpool                                    9.29G  57.6G    20K  /rpool 
rpool/ROOT                               5.38G  57.6G    18K  /rpool/ROOT 
rpool/ROOT/zfsBE                         5.38G  57.6G   551M  
rpool/ROOT/zfsBE@new-zfsBE               66.5K      -   551M  -
rpool/ROOT/new-zfsBE                     85.5K  57.6G   551M  /tmp/.alt.103197
rpool/dump                               1.95G      -  1.95G  - 
rpool/swap                               1.95G      -  1.95G  -

You can now upgrade and activate the new boot environment. See Example 13-2.

Example 13-2 Creating a Boot Environment Within the Same ZFS Root Pool

The following commands create a new ZFS boot environment, new-zfsBE. The -p option is not required because the boot environment is being created within the same root pool.

# lucreate [-c zfsBE] -n new-zfsBE
Analyzing system configuration.
Comparing source boot environment <zfsBE> file systems with the file
system(s) you specified for the new boot environment. Determining which
file systems should be in the new boot environment.
Updating boot environment description database on all BEs.
Creating configuration for boot environment new-zfsBE.
Source boot environment is zfsBE.
Creating boot environment new-zfsBE.
Cloning file systems from boot environment zfsBE to create 
boot environment new-zfsBE.
Creating snapshot for <rpool> on <rpool> Creating clone for <rpool>. 
Setting canmount=noauto for <rpool> in zone <global> on <rpool>. 
Population of boot environment zfsBE successful on <rpool>.
# lustatus
boot environment   Is        Active  Active     Can        Copy 
Name               Complete  Now       OnReboot   Delete     Status 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
zfsBE               yes       yes     yes         no          - 
new-zfsBE           yes       no      no          yes         -
# zfs list
NAME                                      USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT 
rpool                                    9.29G  57.6G    20K  /rpool 
rpool/ROOT                               5.38G  57.6G    18K  /rpool/ROOT 
rpool/ROOT/zfsBE                         5.38G  57.6G   551M  
rpool/ROOT/zfsBE@new-zfsBE               66.5K      -   551M  - 
rpool/ROOT/new-zfsBE                     85.5K  57.6G   551M  /tmp/.alt.103197 
rpool/dump                               1.95G      -  1.95G  - 
rpool/swap                               1.95G      -  1.95G  -

You can now upgrade and activate the new boot environment. For an example of upgrading a ZFS boot environment, see Example 13-1. For more examples of using the luupgrade command, see Chapter 5, Upgrading With Live Upgrade (Tasks).

# luactivate new-zfsBE
**********************************************************************

The target boot environment has been activated. It will be used when you 
reboot. NOTE: You MUST NOT USE the reboot, halt, or uadmin commands. You 
MUST USE either the init or the shutdown command when you reboot. If you 
do not use either init or shutdown, the system will not boot using the 
target BE.

**********************************************************************
In case of a failure while booting to the target BE, the following process 
needs to be followed to fallback to the currently working boot environment:

1. Enter the PROM monitor (ok prompt).

2. Change the boot device back to the original boot environment by typing:

     setenv boot-device /pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@4,1/disk@2,0:a

3. Boot to the original boot environment by typing:

     boot

**********************************************************************

Modifying boot archive service
Activation of boot environment <new-zfsBE> successful.

Reboot the system to the ZFS boot environment.

# init 6
# svc.startd: The system is coming down.  Please wait.
svc.startd: 79 system services are now being stopped.
.
.
.

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