Checklist for Upgrading

Network connection 

Is the system connected to a network? 

Networked/Nonnetworked* 

DHCP 

Can the system use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to configure its network interfaces? 

DHCP provides the network parameters that are necessary for installation. 

Yes/No* 

If you are not using DHCP, note the network address. 

IP Address 

If you are not using DHCP, supply the IP address for the system. 

Example: 172.31.255.255 

To find this information about a running system, type the following command. 

# ypmatch host-name hosts

Subnet 

If you are not using DHCP, is the system part of a subnet? 

If yes, what is the netmask of the subnet? 

Example: 255.255.255.0 

To find this information about a running system, type the following command. 

# more /etc/netmasks

IPv6 

Do you want to enable IPv6 on this machine? 

IPv6 is a part of the TCP/IP Internet protocol that facilitates IP addressing by adding better security and increasing Internet addresses.  

Yes/No* 

Host Name. 

Host name that you choose for the system. 

To find this information about a running system, type the following command. 

# uname -n

Kerberos.

Do you want to configure Kerberos security on this machine? 

If yes, gather this information: 

Yes/No* 

Default Realm: 

Administration Server 

First KDC: 

(Optional) Additional KDCs: 

The Kerberos service is a client-server architecture that provides secure transactions over networks. 

If the system uses a name service, provide the following information. 

Name Service 

Which name service should this system use? 

To find this information about a running system, type the following command. 

# cat /etc/nsswitch.conf

A naming service stores information in a central place, which enables users, machines, and applications to communicate across the network. Examples of information stored are host names and addresses or user names and passwords. 

NIS+/NIS/DNS/ LDAP/None* 

Domain Name 

Provide the name of the domain in which the system resides. 

To find this information about a running system, type the following command. 

# domainname

NIS+ and NIS 

Do you want to specify a name server or let the installation program find one? 

If you want to specify a name server, provide the following information. 

Specify one/Find one* 

Server's host name: 

• For NIS clients, type the following command to display the server's host name.

  # ypwhich

• For NIS+ clients, type the following command to display the server's host name.

  # nisping

Server's IP Address: 

• For NIS clients, type the following command to display the server's IP address.

  # ypmatch nameserver-name hosts

• For NIS+ clients, type the following command to display the server's IP address.

  # nismatch nameserver-name hosts.org_dir

Network Information Service (NIS) makes network administration more manageable by providing centralized control over a variety of network information, such as machine names and addresses. 

DNS 

Provide IP addresses for the DNS server. You must enter at least one IP address, but you can enter up to three addresses. 

Server's IP Address: 

To display the server's IP address, type the following command. 

# getents ipnodes dns

You can enter a list of domains to search when a DNS query is made. 

Search Domain: 

Search Domain: 

Search Domain: 

The domain name system (DNS) is the name service provided by the Internet for TCP/IP networks. DNS provides host names to the IP address service. DNS focuses on making communication simpler by using machine names instead of numerical IP addresses. DNS also serves as a database for mail administration. 

LDAP 

Provide the following information about your LDAP profile. 

Profile Name: 

Profile Server: 

If you specify a proxy credential level in your LDAP profile, gather this information. 

Proxy-bind distinguished name: 

Proxy-bind password: 

LDAP defines a relatively simple protocol for updating and searching directories running over TCP/IP. 

Default Route. 

Do you want to specify a default route IP address or let the Solaris installation find one?

The default route provides a bridge that forwards traffic between two physical networks. An IP address is a unique number that identifies each host on a network. 

You have the following choices:  

• You can specify the IP address. An /etc/defaultrouter file is created with the specified IP address. When the system is rebooted, the specified IP address becomes the default route.

• You can let the Solaris installation program detect an IP address. However, the system must be on a subnet that has a router that advertises itself by using the ICMP router discovery protocol. If you are using the command-line interface, the software detects an IP address when the system is booted.

• You can choose None if you do not have a router or do not want the software to detect an IP address at this time. The software automatically tries to detect an IP address on reboot.

Specify one/Detect one/None* 

Time Zone. 

How do you want to specify your default time zone? 

Geographic region*  

Offset from GMT 

Time zone file 

Root Password 

Provide the root password for the system.  

Upgrading a system with non-global zones 

Starting with the Solaris 10 release, you can use the Solaris 10 DVD or a DVD-based network installation image to upgrade a system that has non-global zones installed. If you choose to upgrade a system with non-global zones installed, you cannot customize your upgrade.

In the Solaris 10 release, you cannot upgrade a system with non-global zones installed with the Solaris Software - 1 CD or the Solaris Live Upgrade installation method.

If your system has more than one root (/) partition or disk, the installation program prompts you to select a root partition to upgrade. 

Yes/No 

Root (/) to upgrade: 

Default or Custom Install  

Do you want to perform a default installation, or customize the installation?  

• Select Default installation to format the entire hard disk and install a preselected set of software.

• Select Custom installation to modify the hard disk layout and select the software that you want to install.

The text installer does not prompt you to select a Default or Custom Installation. To perform a default installation, accept the default values that are provided in the text installer. To perform a custom installation, edit the values in the text installer screens.

Default installation*/Custom installation  

Locales. 

For which geographic regions do you want to install support? 

SPARC: Power Management (only available on SPARC systems that support Power Management). 

Do you want to use Power Management? 

If your system has Energy Star version 3 or later, you are not prompted for this information.

Yes*/No 

Automatic reboot or CD/DVD ejection. 

Reboot automatically after software installation? 

Eject CD/DVD automatically after software installation? 

Yes*/No 

Yes*/No 

Disk space reallocation. 

If you do not have enough disk space to accommodate the Solaris OS, you might be prompted to modify your disk layout. You can reallocate disk space with either of the following methods. 

• Instruct the installation program to automatically re-layout the systems on your disks.

• Manually enter a new disk layout

By default, the installation program selects manual layout. 

Yes/No* 

If you are installing through a tip line, follow these instructions.

Ensure that your window display is at least 80 columns wide and 24 rows long. For more information, see tip(1).

To determine the current dimensions of your tip window, use the stty command. For more information, see the man page, stty(1).

Check your Ethernet connection. 

If the system is part of a network, verify that an Ethernet connector or similar network adapter is connected to your system. 

Solaris Live Upgrade use. 

• Determine your resource requirements for creating a new boot environment and upgrading it. For detailed information, refer to Chapter 7, Solaris Live Upgrade (Planning).

• Determine requirements if you are using RAID-1 volumes. For detailed information, refer to Guidelines for Selecting Slices for File Systems.

Apply patches before installing Solaris Live Upgrade 

Correct operation of Solaris Live Upgrade requires that a limited set of patch revisions be installed for a given OS version. Before installing or running Solaris Live Upgrade, you are required to install these patches.

Make sure you have the most recently updated patch list by consulting http://sunsolve.sun.com. Search for the info doc 72099 on the SunSolve^SM Web site.

If this set of patches is not installed, Solaris Live Upgrade fails and you might see the following error message. If you don't see the following error message, necessary patches still might not be installed. Always verify that all patches listed on the Sunsolve infodoc have been installed before attempting to install Solaris Live Upgrade.

ERROR: Cannot find or is not
executable: </sbin/biosdev>.
ERROR: One or more patches required
 by Live Upgrade has not been
installed.

Check the system for the existence of Prestoserve software. 

If you begin the upgrade process by shutting down the system with the init 0 command and you're using Prestoserve software, you might lose data. Refer to the Prestoserve documentation for shutdown instructions.

Check for patches needed. 

The most recent patch list is provided at http://sunsolve.sun.com.

Review the planning chapter and other relevant documentation. 

• Review the entire planning chapter or specific sections in Chapter 3, Solaris Installation and Upgrade (Planning).

• Review the Solaris Release Notes and vendor release notes to ensure that the software you use is supported in the new Solaris release.

• Review the Sun Hardware Platform Guide to ensure that your hardware is supported.

• Review the documentation that accompanied your system to ensure that your system and devices are supported by the Solaris release.