Another Version of Oracle Solaris
Of course, there are situations when you want to install a different version of Oracle Solaris. For instance, in our lab repository we have versions 11 Express, 11.0, 11.1, 11.2 with their support SRUs. How can we specify a different version for installation?
In this case we have to create a separate install service. So, the more different versions and CPU architectures you want to install, the more install services you have. Let's figure out what's available. We list 10 most recent updates here:
root@solarislab:~# pkg list -avf install-image/solaris-auto-install | head FMRI IFO pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.3.0.0.29.1:20150817T163032Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.3.0.0.28.0:20150803T161232Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.14.0.5.0:20150910T165659Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.13.0.6.0:20150810T175313Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.12.0.6.0:20150715T155314Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.12.0.5.0:20150701T004857Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.11.0.5.0:20150610T201614Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.10.0.5.0:20150506T023353Z --- pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.9.0.5.0:20150404T222307Z ---
Here we use -v option here to print full FMRIs (Fault Managed Resource
Indicator) for packages: we will need it later.
Well, we already have created an install service for Solaris 11.3, now let's create another one for Solaris 11.2, SRU 11, for example.
root@solarislab:~# installadm create-service -s pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.11.0.5.0 OK to use subdir of /export/auto_install to store image? [y|N]: y 0% : Service svc:/network/dns/multicast:default is not online. Installation services will not be advertised via multicast DNS. 0% : Creating service from: pkg://solaris/install-image/solaris-auto-install@5.11,5.11-0.175.2.11.0.5.0 0% : Using publisher(s): 0% : solaris: http://10.80.11.34:81/ 5% : Refreshing Publisher(s) 15% : Planning Phase 24% : Download Phase 62% : Actions Phase 91% : Finalize Phase 91% : Creating sparc service: solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc 91% : Image path: /export/auto_install/solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc 91% : Setting "solaris" publisher URL in default manifest to: 91% : http://10.80.11.34:81/ 100% : Created Service: 'solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc' 100% : Refreshing SMF service svc:/system/install/server:default 100% : Warning: mDNS registry of service 'solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc' could not be verified.
OK, done. Now let's make it the default SPARC service.
root@solarislab:~# installadm delete-service -n default-sparc WARNING: The service you are deleting, or a dependent alias, is the alias for the default sparc service. Without the 'default-sparc' service, sparc clients will fail to boot unless explicitly assigned to a service using the create-client subcommand. Are you sure you want to delete this alias? [y|N]: y Warning: mDNS registry of service default-sparc could not be verified. Deleted Service: 'default-sparc' root@solarislab:~# installadm create-service -t solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc -n default-sparc 0% : Service svc:/network/dns/multicast:default is not online. Installation services will not be advertised via multicast DNS. 0% : Creating sparc alias: default-sparc 0% : Setting "solaris" publisher URL in default manifest to: 0% : http://10.80.11.34:81/ 100% : Created Service: 'default-sparc' 100% : Refreshing SMF service svc:/system/install/server:default 100% : Enabling SMF service svc:/network/dhcp/server:ipv4 100% : Warning: mDNS registry of service 'default-sparc' could not be verified. root@solarislab:~# svcadm disable dhcp/server:ipv4
And now you can try to install the same client again to check if this service installs the version we have created it with, namely, Solaris 11.2.11.
Spoiler Alert: We can already tell you what is going to happen
during this test install. If you want to learn it yourself, go ahead and
install the ai-client LDom again using the instructions above and then
check what Solaris version was installed with pkg list entire. For
those of you who want to save time and skip this test installation step,
here is what's going to happen:
The client system will boot from the install image, which is 11.2.11,
but it will install the latest available Solaris SRU, which is 11.2.14
in our default repository. Why so? Because it uses the default manifest
and by default it installs the latest SRU available. If we want to
install that particular SRU, we have to create a new manifest. It's time
to learn about AI manifests.
First, let's see what we've got already:
root@solarislab:~# installadm list -m Service Name Manifest Name Type Status Criteria ------------ ------------- ---- ------ -------- default-sparc orig_default derived default none solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc orig_default derived default none solaris11_3-sparc orig_default derived default none
Note that we have two services (one per each Solaris update version) plus one alias. Each service has one default manifest. Our plan is to modify the default manifest and add it to the default service. First, we copy the manifest XML file from its default location to the home directory (actually, it can be any directory).
root@solarislab:~# cp /usr/share/auto_install/manifest/default.xml s11.2.11-manifest.xml
Now we can edit this copy. So we want to specify which SRU we are going to install. Let's list what's available.
root@solarislab:~# pkg list -af entire | head NAME (PUBLISHER) VERSION IFO entire 0.5.11-0.175.3.0.0.29.0 --- entire 0.5.11-0.175.3.0.0.28.0 --- entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.14.0.5.0 --- entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.13.0.6.0 --- entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.12.0.6.0 i-- entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.12.0.5.0 --- entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.11.0.5.0 --- entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.10.0.5.0 --- entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.9.0.5.0 ---
Suppose we decided to install version 11.2.11. Take a note of the
version string: 0.5.11-0.175.2.11.0.5.0 -- you will need it when
editing the manifest. Now start your favorite text editor and open the
manifest file:
root@solarislab:~# vi s11.2.11-manifest.xml
Scroll to almost the end of the file and find the following lines:
For instance, to specify a particular build of S11.2, the
following should be used:
<name>pkg:/entire@0.5.11,5.11-0.175.2.0.0.build</name>
-->
<software_data action="install">
<name>pkg:/entire@0.5.11-0.175.2</name>
<name>pkg:/group/system/solaris-large-server</name>
</software_data>
Change them to tell AI server that you want that specific SRU of Solaris. Also we can change the default 'solaris-large-server' group to 'solaris-small-server' one. After editing it should look like this (changes are in bold):
For instance, to specify a particular build of S11.2, the
following should be used:
<name>pkg:/entire@0.5.11,5.11-0.175.2.0.0.build</name>
-->
<software_data action="install">
<name>pkg:/entire@0.5.11-0.175.2.11.0.5.0</name>
<name>pkg:/group/system/solaris-small-server</name>
</software_data>
Now we have to install this manifest in the default SPARC service.
root@solarislab:~# installadm create-manifest -n default-sparc -m s11.2.11 -f ./s11.2.11-manifest.xml Created Manifest: 's11.2.11' root@solarislab:~# installadm list -m Service Name Manifest Name Type Status Criteria ------------ ------------- ---- ------ -------- default-sparc orig_default derived default none s11.2.11 derived inactive none solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc orig_default derived default none solaris11_3-sparc orig_default derived default none
OK, we have amended the manifest and installed it onto the server, but how can we use it? How can we let the install server know that which manifest to use? Well, we can specify a set of criteria to decide which manifest to apply. We can include IP address, hostname, MAC address in this criteria and the install server will use certain manifests for different clients. If the client doesn't fit any criteria, then the default manifest is applied. Let's define such criteria for our client.
If you remember, before booting the client from OpenBoot prompt we
assigned several boot parameters to it: IP address, hostname, wanboot
script location, etc. So now we can use, for example, its hostname
ai-client as a criteria.
root@solarislab:~# installadm set-criteria -n default-sparc -m s11.2.11 -c hostname=ai-client Changed Manifest: 's11.2.11' root@solarislab:~# installadm list -m Service Name Manifest Name Type Status Criteria ------------ ------------- ---- ------ -------- default-sparc s11.2.11 derived active hostname = ai-client orig_default derived default none solaris11_2_11_5_0-sparc orig_default derived default none solaris11_3-sparc orig_default derived default none
And now we can try to install the client. Login to the console with
telnet localhost 5000 (using the port number provided by your
instructor) and repeat the installation process described above.
After you passed all the installation and configuration steps, login into the client and check it's version:
root@ai-client:~# pkg list entire NAME (PUBLISHER) VERSION IFO entire 0.5.11-0.175.2.11.0.5.0 i--
Success! Let's explain what we have observed here.
- By default install service is always created from the latest available version of Solaris
- For each Solaris Update (i.e.
11.1,11.2,11.3) we need a separate install service - By default install service installs the latest available SRU for the
Solaris Update this service is created for (in our case the service
created from Solaris
11.2.11will install11.2.14unless we specify otherwise) - To specify a particular SRU which you want to install you have to edit and install AI manifest into the install service
Now we will learn how to customize installation process even further. We start with adding other software packages.