Booting the Installation Environment Without Starting an Installation

Use one of the following methods to boot the installation environment without starting an automated installation. When the client is booted, a menu displays, as shown in Starting Installation After Booting Without Initiating an Installation. Use this menu to examine or install the system.

SPARC client booting over the network

Use the following command to boot a SPARC client over the network without starting an automated installation:

ok boot net:dhcp

Do not specify the install flag as a boot argument.

SPARC client booting from media

Use the following command to boot a SPARC client from media without starting an installation:

ok boot cdrom

Do not specify the install flag as a boot argument.

x86 client booting over the network

For x86 installations that boot over the network, the following GRUB menu displays:

Oracle Solaris 11.1 Text Installer and command line
Oracle Solaris 11.1 Automated Install

The default entry, “Text Installer and command line,” boots the image without starting a hands-free automated installation.

Make sure the entry does not have the install=true boot property specified in its kernel line.

x86 client booting from media

If you boot an x86 system from media and do not want to start an installation, edit the GRUB menu and remove the install=true boot property from the kernel line of the entry you want to boot.

In general for x86 installations, if the install=true boot property is specified in the kernel line of the GRUB entry you are booting from, the installation automatically starts. If you want to boot your x86 based system without initiating an automated installation, check that the GRUB boot entry does not specify the install=true boot property. If the property is specified, edit the boot entry as described in Adding Kernel Arguments by Editing the GRUB Menu at Boot Time in Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.1 Systems, and remove the property.