Preface

This book describes how to use CD or DVD media to install the Solaris^TM Operating System (Solaris OS) on a nonnetworked system.

This book does not include instructions about how to set up system hardware or other peripherals.

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Note –

This Solaris release supports systems that use the SPARC® and x86 families of processor architectures: UltraSPARC®, SPARC64, AMD64, Pentium, and Xeon EM64T. The supported systems appear in the Solaris 10 Hardware Compatibility List at http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl. This document cites any implementation differences between the platform types.

In this document these x86 related terms mean the following:

• “x86” refers to the larger family of 64-bit and 32-bit x86 compatible products.

• “x64” points out specific 64-bit information about AMD64 or EM64T systems.

• “32-bit x86” points out specific 32-bit information about x86 based systems.

For supported systems, see the Solaris 10 Hardware Compatibility List.

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Who Should Use This Book

This book is intended for system administrators who are responsible for installing the Solaris OS. This book provides basic Solaris installation information for system administrators who perform infrequent Solaris installations or upgrades.

If you need advanced Solaris installation information, see Related Books to find the book that describes the information.

Related Books

Table P–1 lists documentation that developers need when they install the Solaris software.

Table P–1 Are You a Developer Installing on a Single System?

Description	Information
Do you need system requirements or other planning information, such as how to partition or backup your system?	x86: Solaris Express Developer Edition Getting Started
Do you need step-by-step installation instructions?	Solaris Express Developer Edition Installation Guide: Laptop Installations
Do you need a roadmap to learn about the numerous interfaces, frameworks, and tools to take advantage of Solaris technologies?	Introduction to the Solaris Development Environment
Do you need troubleshooting information?	Solaris Express Developer Edition Release Notes

Table P–2 lists documentation for system administrators.

Table P–2 Are You a System Administrator Who is Installing Solaris?

Description	Information
Do you need system requirements or high-level planning information? Or want a high-level overview of GRUB based booting, Solaris Zones partitioning technology, or creating RAID-1 volumes?	Solaris Express Installation Guide: Planning for Installation and Upgrade
Do you need to upgrade or patch your system with almost no downtime? Save system downtime when upgrading by using Solaris Live Upgrade.	Solaris Express Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning
Do you need to install a secure installation over the network or Internet? Use WAN boot to install a remote client. Or, do you need to install over the network from a network installation image? The Solaris installation program steps you through an installation.	Solaris Express Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations
Do you need to install or patch multiple systems quickly? Use Solaris Flash software to create a Solaris Flash archive and install a copy of the OS on clone systems.	Solaris Express Installation Guide: Solaris Flash Archives (Creation and Installation)
Do you need to back up your system?	Chapter 23, Backing Up and Restoring File Systems (Overview), in System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems
Do you need troubleshooting information, a list of known problems, or a list of patches for this release?	Solaris Release Notes
Do you need to verify that your system works on Solaris?	SPARC: Solaris Sun Hardware Platform Guide
Do you need to check on which packages have been added, removed, or changed in this release?	Solaris Package List
Do you need to verify that your system and devices work with Solaris SPARC and x86 based systems and other third-party vendors.	Solaris Hardware Compatibility List for x86 Platforms

Documentation, Support, and Training

The Sun web site provides information about the following additional resources:

• Documentation

• Support

• Training

Typographic Conventions

The following table describes the typographic conventions that are used in this book.

Table P–3 Typographic Conventions

Typeface	Meaning	Example
AaBbCc123	The names of commands, files, and directories, and onscreen computer output	Edit your .login file. Use ls -a to list all files. machine_name% you have mail.
AaBbCc123	What you type, contrasted with onscreen computer output	machine_name% su Password:
aabbcc123	Placeholder: replace with a real name or value	The command to remove a file is rm filename.
AaBbCc123	Book titles, new terms, and terms to be emphasized	Read Chapter 6 in the User's Guide. A cache is a copy that is stored locally. Do not save the file. Note: Some emphasized items appear bold online.

Shell Prompts in Command Examples

The following table shows the default UNIX® system prompt and superuser prompt for the C shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell.

Table P–4 Shell Prompts

Shell	Prompt
C shell	machine_name%
C shell for superuser	machine_name#
Bourne shell and Korn shell	$
Bourne shell and Korn shell for superuser	#

Platform Conventions

The following keyboard and mouse conventions are applicable to SPARC and x86 based systems:

• The key referred to as Return is labeled Enter on some keyboards.

• From left to right on a three-button mouse, the default settings for CDE are SELECT, ADJUST, and MENU. For example, the text says, “Click SELECT” instead of “Click the left mouse button.” Otherwise, these keys are referred to as mouse button 1, mouse button 2, and mouse button 3.

• From left to right on a two-button mouse, the default settings are SELECT and MENU. The ADJUST function is obtained by simultaneously pressing SELECT and the Shift key on the keyboard (Shift-SELECT).