Partitioning Your System

This section provides guidelines for partitioning a system prior to installation or during an interactive installation. It also describes how to set up partitions on x86 and Solaris VTOC slices.

Guidelines for Partitioning a System Prior To Installation

When installing Oracle Solaris from the LiveCD ISO image or from the text installer image, you can use the entire disk, or you can install the operating system on an x86 partition. In addition, with the text installer, you can install the operating system on a SPARC slice.

On x86 based systems, the installer uses GRUB, which supports booting multiple operating systems on one or more drives. You can create a partition for installing Oracle Solaris prior to installation as well as during an installation. After partitioning and installing the various operating systems, you can deploy any of them by selecting the appropriate menu entry in the GRUB menu at boot time.

Caution - Remember to back up your system prior to partitioning the hard drive.

You can use the fdisk command to create or modify an Oracle Solaris fdisk partition. For instructions, see How to Create a Solaris fdisk Partition in Oracle Solaris Administration: Devices and File Systems. See also the fdisk(1M) man page.

Alternately, you can use commercial products or open-source tools to partition your hard drive.

Note - If you create Linux-swap partitions, note that Linux-swap uses the same partition ID that Oracle Solaris uses. During the installation, in the disk partitioning step, you can change the Linux-swap partition to an Oracle Solaris partition.

Guidelines for Partitioning a System During an Interactive Installation

On an x86 based system, you can select, create, or modify partitions during a GUI installation or a text installation. For the text installer only, you can select, create, or modify VTOC slices during an interactive installation.

When installing Oracle Solaris, note the following important information about disk partitioning:

The installation overwrites the whole disk layout, if any of the following is true:
- The disk table cannot be read.
- The disk was not previously partitioned.
- You select the entire disk for the installation.
If an existing fdisk partition is on an Oracle Solaris system and you make no modifications to the existing partitions, the installation overwrites the fdisk partition only. Other existing partitions are not changed.
Only one Solaris partition is allowed.
A Solaris partition must be used for the installation.
If there is an existing Solaris partition, that partition is selected by default. The partition can be a logical partition within an existing extended partition.
Changes you make to disk partitioning or slices are not implemented until you finish making the installer panel selections and the installation begins. At any point prior to the installation, you can cancel your changes and restore the original settings.
If the existing partition table cannot be read, proposed partitioning information is displayed.

Caution - In this case, all of the existing data on the disk is destroyed during the installation.
During the installation, if you select the Partition the Disk option, the panel displays the existing fdisk partitions for the selected disk. Up to four primary partitions are displayed in the same order that they are laid out on the disk. Unused disk space is displayed for these primary partitions. The partition type, current size, and maximum available disk space for each partition are also displayed. If an extended partition exists, its logical partitions are also displayed in the disk layout order within the extended partition.
An fdisk partition cannot be larger than 2 TB, in order to be used for installing the OS. Disks or partitions that do not have enough space for a successful installation are labeled as such.

x86: Setting Up Partitions During an Interactive Installation

For installations on the x86 platform, you can make changes to disk partitioning by directly editing the entries in the installation screens. As you proceed through the installation, the recommended and minimum sizes for installing the software are also displayed.

The following table describes the disk partitioning options. Use this table to help you determine which option best suits your needs.

Table 2-2 Options for Partitioning a Disk During an Interactive Installation

Partitioning Option	Description and User Action (if required)
Use the existing Solaris partition.	This option installs Oracle Solaris 11 operating system on the existing Solaris partition using its current size. Select the Partition a Disk option. No other changes are required.
Create a new Solaris partition.	If there is currently no existing Solaris partition on the system, you can create a new Solaris partition. To do so, select a primary partition or a logical partition and then change its type to Solaris. During an installation, this modification erases the existing partition contents.
Increase the space that is allocated to a Solaris partition and install on that partition.	If enough disk space is available, you can increase the size that is allocated to a Solaris partition before installing the software on that partition. The available space contains any contiguous unused space before or after the selected partition. If you enlarge the partition, unused space after the partition is used first. Then, unused space before the partition is used, which changes the starting cylinder of the selected partition.
Install Oracle Solaris 11 operating system on a different primary partition.	You can install the operating system on a different primary partition. To do so, you must first change the existing Solaris partition type to Unused. You can then select another partition and change its type to Solaris. During an installation, this modification erases the existing partition contents for both the previous Solaris partition and the new Solaris partition.
Create a new Solaris partition within an extended partition.	You can create a new Solaris partition within an extended partition. If a Solaris partition already exists, change its type to Unused. Then, to create a new extended partition, change the partition type to Extended. You can resize the extended partition and then change one of the logical partitions in the extended partition to a Solaris partition. Also, you can enlarge the logical partition up to the size of the extended partition that contains that logical partition.
Delete an existing partition.	You can delete an existing partition by changing its type to Unused. During an installation, the partition is destroyed, and its space is made available when resizing adjacent partitions.

Setting Up VTOC Slices During a Text Installation

For text installations on the SPARC platform, you can modify VTOC slices during the installation. For text installations on the x86 platform, you can modify a slice within a partition if that partition has not already been modified during the installation.

When setting up VTOC slices, keep the following in mind:

The installer displays the existing slices. The slices are displayed in the order in which they are laid out. The current size and maximum available size for each slice are also displayed.
Oracle Solaris must be installed in an Oracle ZFS root pool. By default, the slice that contains the root pool is labeled rpool by the installer. If you want to install the operating system on a slice that does not contain the root pool, change the type for that slice to rpool in the installer. During the installation, a ZFS root pool will be created on that slice.

Note - Because only one ZFS pool can be named rpool, if an rpool is already on the device, the installer will name any new pool using the format rpool#.
The size of a slice can be increased up to the maximum available size. To make more space available, you can change an adjoining slice to Unused, thereby making its space available to adjacent slices.
If the slice is not explicitly altered, the content of the slice is preserved during the installation.

The following table describes the options for modifying slices during a text installation.

Table 2-3 Options for Modifying VTOC Slices During a Text Installation

Option	Description and User Action (if required)
Use an existing slice.	This option installs the Oracle Solaris 11 operating system on an existing VTOC slice using its current size. Select the target slice, then change its type to `rpool`.
Resize a slice.	You can change the size only of a newly created `rpool` slice. Type the new size in the field.
Create a new slice.	Select an unused slice and change its type. For example, change Unused to `rpool`.
Delete an existing slice.	Changing the slice type to Unused. During the installation, the slice is destroyed and its space is made available for resizing adjacent slices.

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