System Requirements for Using the Solaris Web Start Program (Solaris 8 Advanced Installation Guide)

Solaris 8 Advanced Installation Guide

System Requirements for Using the Solaris Web Start Program

Slice Requirements for Upgrading

To use the Solaris Web Start program to upgrade, you must have a slice on the disk that does not store files. The swap slice is preferred, but you can use any slice that is not located in any of the “upgradable” root slices that are listed in /etc/vfstab. The size of this slice must be at least 512 Mbytes.

x86 only –

You cannot use the Solaris Web Start program to upgrade to Solaris 8 from the Solaris 2.5.1, Solaris 2.6, or Solaris 7 operating environments. The Solaris Web Start installation method requires a separate 10 Mbyte IA boot partition that was not required in previous Solaris releases. You must use the Solaris 8 Interactive Installation Program upgrade.

You can use the Solaris Web Start program to upgrade from the Solaris 8 release to a Solaris 8 Update release.

x86: System Disk Partitions

The Solaris Web Start program requires two fdisk partitions on the system disk to perform an installation or upgrade.

Solaris fdisk partition

This is the typical Solaris fdisk partition. If you do not have a Solaris fdisk partition on your system, the Solaris Web Start program prompts you to create one.

Caution –
If you change the size of an existing fdisk partition, all data on that partition is automatically deleted. Back up your data before you create a Solaris fdisk partition.
x86 boot fdisk partition

This is a 10 Mbyte fdisk partition that enables the Intel architecture to boot the miniroot that is placed on the newly created swap slice that is located on the Solaris fdisk partition.

Caution –
Do not create the x86 boot partition manually.

The Solaris Web Start installation program creates the x86 boot partition, removing 10–Mbytes from the Solaris fdisk partition. By allowing the installation program to create the x86 boot partition, you prevent any existing fdisk partitions from being altered.

x86: Logical Block Addressing Requirement

The BIOS and SCSI driver for the default boot disk must support Logical Block Addressing (LBA). LBA enables the machine to boot beyond the 1024–cylinder limit and across Solaris disk slices.

To determine if your system supports LBA, type:

# prtconf -pv | grep -i lba

If the BIOS and SCSI driver for the default boot disk support LBA, the following message appears.

lba-access-ok:

If the SCSI driver for the default boot disk does not support LBA, the following message appears.

no-bef-lba-access

If the default boot disk BIOS and SCSI driver do not support LBA, use the Solaris 8 Interactive Installation Program on the Solaris 8 Software 1 of 2 CD to install or upgrade to the Solaris 8 operating environment.