Preface

The Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Operating System Provisioning Guide explains how to use the Sun N1 System Manager software to distribute consistent operating system images across your enterprise.

Who Should Use This Book

This guide is intended for system administrators who are responsible for installing operating systems onto managed servers running the Sun N1 System Manager software. These system administrators are expected to have the following background:

Knowledge of the Solaris^TM Operating System and Red Hat Linux and the network administration tools provided by each operating system
Knowledge of the Solaris, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, and Windows operating systems as appropriate for operating systems that you want to install (provision)
Knowledge of network equipment and network devices from a variety of vendors such as Sun Microsystems, Cisco, Foundry, and Extreme
Knowledge of network device interconnections and cabling
Knowledge of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) because some elements of the N1 System Manager use software that is based on SNMP

Before You Read This Book

Read the following documents:

Related Books

The following books are useful for installing and using the N1 System Manager. When appropriate, more specific references to the information in these books are provided throughout this book.

Related Third-Party Web Site References

Third-party URLs are referenced in this document and provide additional, related information.

Note –

Sun is not responsible for the availability of third-party web sites mentioned in this document. Sun does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials that are available on or through such sites or resources. Sun will not be responsible or liable for any actual or alleged damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services that are available on or through such sites or resources.

Documentation, Support, and Training

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

Typographic Conventions

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

Table P–1 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–2 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	`#`