The following table compares the capabilities of the various installation options.
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In addition, you have the option of creating installation images, including custom Live Media images, text installer image and automated installation images. See Creating a Custom Oracle Solaris 11.3 Installation Image.
The GUI installer on Live Media and the text installer are simple installation methods.
You can use either method to install Oracle Solaris on the x86 platform. You can also use the text installer to install Oracle Solaris on the SPARC platform.
Both installers can function with a minimum of memory. See Oracle Solaris 11.3 Release Notes for memory requirements.
Both installers enable you to select, create, or modify disk partitions during an installation.
The Live Media contains a set of software that is appropriate for a desktop or laptop. The text installer installs a smaller set of software that is more appropriate for a general-purpose system.
The text installer has the following advantages over the GUI installer:
Enables you to install the operating system on either SPARC or x86 based systems.
Can be used on systems that do not have, or do not require, graphics cards.
Can require less memory than the GUI installer depending on your system's specifications.
Enables manual configuration of the network and naming services.
If the network is set up to perform automated installations, you can perform a text installation over the network by setting up an install service on the network and selecting a text installation when the install client boots.
Besides the ability to modify partitions, the text installer enables you to create and modify VTOC slices within the Solaris partition.
For further information about performing a simple installation, see Preparing for the Installation.
You can perform a “hands-free” installation of the Oracle Solaris software on single or multiple systems by using the Automated Installer (AI) feature.
To use AI, you must first set up an AI server on your network, unless you only want to boot from AI media which is described below. When an AI client boots, the system gets installation specifications from the AI server, retrieves software packages from an Oracle Solaris package repository, and the software is installed on the stem.
AI can perform “hands-free” automatic network installations on both x86 and SPARC based systems. The AI clients can differ in architecture, disk and memory capacity, and other characteristics. The installations can differ in network configuration, packages installed, and other specifications.
For further information, see What Is an Automated Installation?.
In addition to the “hands-free” network installations, you can perform an interactive text installation over the network. The interactive installation enables you to further customize the installation specifications for any particular system. For further information, see How to Start a Text Installation Over the Network.
If you have access to an AI image, even if you haven't configured an AI server, you can download the image and store it on the network or locally. Next, you can copy the image to removable media Then, you can boot the AI media or ISO image directly on each of your systems. Installations that use AI media are non-interactive. For instructions, see Automated Installations That Boot From Media.