Creating the JumpStart Installation Files

WAN boot performs a JumpStart installation to install a flash archive on the client. The JumpStart installation method is a command–line interface that enables you to automatically install several systems based on profiles that you create. The profiles define specific software installation requirements. You can also incorporate shell scripts to include preinstallation and postinstallation tasks. You choose which profile and scripts to use for installation or upgrade.

The JumpStart installation method installs or upgrades the system based on the profile and scripts that you select. Also, you can use a sysidcfg file to specify configuration information so that the JumpStart installation is completely free of manual intervention.

The rules file is a text file that contains a rule for each group of systems on which you want to install the Oracle Solaris OS. Each rule distinguishes a group of systems that are based on one or more system attributes. Each rule also links each group to a profile. A profile is a text file that defines how the Oracle Solaris software is to be installed on each system in the group. For example, the following rule specifies that the JumpStart program use the information in the basic_prof profile to install any system with the sun4u platform group:

karch sun4u - basic_prof -

The rules file is used to create the rules.ok file, which is required for JumpStart installations.

For detailed information about how to create a rules file, see Creating the rules File in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.

To prepare the JumpStart files for a WAN boot installation, complete the following tasks:

How to Create the Flash Archive
How to Create the sysidcfg File
How to Create the JumpStart rules File
How to Create the JumpStart Profile
Creating Begin and Finish Scripts

For detailed information on the JumpStart installation method, see Chapter 2, JumpStart (Overview), in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.

How to Create the Flash Archive

The Flash Archive installation feature enables you to use a single reference installation of the Oracle Solaris OS on a system, which is called the master system. You can then create a flash archive, which is a replica image of the master system. You can install the flash archive on other systems in the network, creating clone systems.

Before You Begin

Before you create a flash archive, you must first install the master system.
- For information about installing a master system, see Installing the Master System in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: Flash Archives (Creation and Installation).
- For detailed information about flash archives, see Chapter 1, Flash Archive Overview, in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: Flash Archives (Creation and Installation).
File size issues:
- Check your web server software documentation to verify that the software can transmit files that are the size of a flash archive.
- The flarcreate command no longer has size limitations on individual files. You can create a flash archive that contains individual files over 4 GB.
  
  For more information, see Creating an Archive That Contains Large Files in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: Flash Archives (Creation and Installation).

Boot the master system.
Run the master system in as inactive a state as possible. When possible, run the system in single-user mode. If that is not possible, shut down any applications that you want to archive and any applications that require extensive operating system resources.
Create the archive.
```
# flarcreate -n name [optional-parameters]  document-root/flash/filename
```
name

The name that you give the archive, which is the value of the content_name keyword.

optional-parameters

You can use several options to the flarcreate command to customize your flash archive. For detailed descriptions of these options, see Chapter 6, Flash Archive (Reference), in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: Flash Archives (Creation and Installation).

document-root/flash

The path to the flash subdirectory of the install server's document root directory.

filename

The name of the archive file.

To conserve disk space, you might want to use the -c option of the flarcreate command to compress the archive. However, a compressed archive can affect the performance of your WAN boot installation. For more information about creating a compressed archive, see the flarcreate(1M) man page.
- If the archive creation is successful, the flarcreate command returns an exit code of 0.
- If the archive creation fails, the flarcreate command returns a nonzero exit code.

Example 12-6 Creating a Flash Archive for a WAN Boot Installation

This example creates a flash archive by cloning the WAN boot server system with the host name wanserver. The archive is named sol_10_sparc, and is copied exactly from the master system. The archive is an exact duplicate of the master system. The archive is stored in sol_10_sparc.flar. The archive is saved in the flash/archives subdirectory of the document root directory on the WAN boot server.

wanserver# flarcreate -n sol_10_sparc \
/opt/apache/htdocs/flash/archives/sol_10_sparc.flar

Next Steps

After you create the Flash Archive, preconfigure the client information in the sysidcfg file. For instructions, see How to Create the sysidcfg File.

How to Create the `sysidcfg` File

You can specify a set of keywords in the sysidcfg file to preconfigure a system.

Before You Begin

Create the flash Archive. See How to Create the Flash Archive for detailed instructions.

Create a file called sysidcfg on the install server that contains your desired keywords.
For detailed information about sysidcfg keywords, see sysidcfg File Keywords.
Save the sysidcfg file in a location that is accessible to the WAN boot server.
Save the file to one of the following locations:
- If the WAN boot server and install server are hosted on the same machine, save this file to the flash subdirectory of the document root directory on the WAN boot server.
- If the WAN boot server and install server are not on the same machine, save this file to the flash subdirectory of the document root directory of the install server.

Example 12-7 sysidcfg File for WAN Boot Installation

The following is an example of a sysidcfg file for a SPARC based system. The host name, IP address, and netmask of this system have been preconfigured by editing the naming service.

network_interface=primary {hostname=wanclient
                           default_route=192.168.198.1
                           ip_address=192.168.198.210
                           netmask=255.255.255.0
                           protocol_ipv6=no}
timezone=US/Central
system_locale=C
terminal=xterm
timeserver=localhost
name_service=NIS {name_server=matter(192.168.255.255)
                  domain_name=mind.over.example.com
                  }
security_policy=none

Next Steps

After you create the sysidcfg file, create a JumpStart profile for the client. For instructions, see How to Create the JumpStart Profile.

How to Create the JumpStart Profile

A profile is a text file that instructs the JumpStart program how to install the Oracle Solaris software on a system. A profile defines elements of the installation, for example, the software group to install.

For detailed information about how to create profiles, see Creating a Profile in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.

Before You Begin

Create the sysidcfg file for the client. See How to Create the sysidcfg File for detailed instructions.

Create a profile on the install server containing the desired keywords and values.
Ensure that the name of the profile reflects how you intend to use the profile to install the Oracle Solaris software on a system. For example, you might name the profiles basic_install, eng_profile, or user_profile.
For a list of profile keywords and values, see Profile Keywords and Values in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.
Profile keywords and their values are case sensitive.
Save the profile in a location that is accessible to the WAN boot server.
Save the profile in one of the following locations:
- If the WAN boot server and install server are hosted on the same machine, save this file to the flash subdirectory of the document root directory on the WAN boot server.
- If the WAN boot server and install server are not on the same machine, save this file to the flash subdirectory of the document root directory of the install server.
Ensure that root owns the profile and that the permissions are set to 644.
(Optional) Test the profile.
For detailed information, see Testing a Profile in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.

Example 12-8 Retrieving a Flash Archive From a Secure HTTP Server

In the following example, the profile indicates that the JumpStart program retrieves the flash archive from a secure HTTP server.

# profile keywords         profile values
# ----------------         -------------------
install_type               flash_install
archive_location           https://192.168.198.2/sol_10_sparc.flar
partitioning               explicit
filesys                    c0t1d0s0 4000 /
filesys                    c0t1d0s1 512 swap
filesys                    c0t1d0s7 free /export/home

Some of the keywords and values in this example are as follows:

install_type: The profile installs a flash archive on the clone system. All files are overwritten as in an initial installation.
archive_location: The compressed flash archive is retrieved from a secure HTTP server.
partitioning: The file system slices are determined by the filesys keywords, value explicit. The size of root (/) is based on the size of the flash archive. The size of swap is set to the necessary size and is installed on c0t1d0s1. /export/home is based on the remaining disk space. /export/home is installed on c0t1d0s7.

Next Steps

After you create a profile, you must create and validate the rules file. For instructions, see How to Create the JumpStart rules File.

How to Create the JumpStart `rules` File

Before You Begin

Create the profile for the client. See How to Create the JumpStart Profile for detailed instructions.

On the install server, create a text file that is named rules.
Add a rule in the rules file for each group of systems you want to install.
For detailed information about how to create a rules file, see Creating the rules File in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.
Save the rules file on the install server.
Validate the rules file.
```
$ ./check -p path -r file name
```
-p path

Validates the rules by using the check script from the current Oracle Solaris release software image instead of the check script from the system you are using. path is the image on a local disk or a mounted Oracle Solaris DVD or a Oracle Solaris Software - 1 CD.
Use this option to run the most recent version of check if your system is running a previous version of the Oracle Solaris OS.

-r file name

Specifies a rules file other than the file that is named rules. By using this option, you can test the validity of a rule before you integrate the rule into the rules file.

As the check script runs, the script reports the checking of the validity of the rules file and each profile. If no errors are encountered, the script reports The custom JumpStart configuration is ok. The check script creates the rules.ok file.
Save the rules.ok file in a location that is accessible to the WAN boot server.
Save the file to one of the following locations:
- If the WAN boot server and install server are hosted on the same machine, save this file to the flash subdirectory of the document root directory on the WAN boot server.
- If the WAN boot server and install server are not on the same machine, save this file to the flash subdirectory of the document root directory of the install server.
Ensure that root owns the rules.ok file and that the permissions are set to 644.

Example 12-9 Creating and Validating the rules File

In this example the JumpStart programs use the rules file to select the correct installation profile for the wanclient-1 system.

The IP address of the client system is 192.168.198.210, and the netmask is 255.255.255.0.

This rules file, named wanclient_rule, instructs the JumpStart programs to use the wanclient_prof profile to install the current Oracle Solaris release software on the client.

network 192.168.198.0 - wanclient_prof -

Run the check script to verify that the files are valid.

wanserver# ./check -r wanclient_rule

If the check script does not find any errors, the script creates the rules.ok file.

Save the rules.ok file in the /opt/apache/htdocs/flash/ directory.

Next Steps

After you create the rules.ok file, you can optionally set up begin and finish scripts for your installation. For instructions, see Creating Begin and Finish Scripts.

If you do not want to set up begin and finish scripts, see Creating the Configuration Files to continue the WAN boot installation.

Creating Begin and Finish Scripts

Begin and finish scripts are user-defined Bourne shell scripts that you specify in the rules file. A begin script performs tasks before the Oracle Solaris software is installed on a system. A finish script performs tasks after the Oracle Solaris software is installed on a system but before the system reboots. You can use these scripts only when using JumpStart to install Oracle Solaris.

You can use begin scripts to create derived profiles. Finish scripts enable you to perform various postinstallation tasks, such as adding files, packages, patches, or additional software.

You must store the begin and finish scripts in the same directory as the sysidcfg, rules.ok, and profile files on the install server.

For more information about creating begin scripts, see Creating Begin Scripts in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.
For more information about creating finish scripts, see Creating Finish Scripts in Oracle Solaris 10 1/13 Installation Guide: JumpStart Installations.

To continue preparing for your WAN boot installation, see Creating the Configuration Files.

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