Chapter 4 System Requirements, Guidelines, and Upgrade (Planning)
This chapter describes system requirements to install or upgrade to
the Solaris OS. General guidelines for planning the disk space and default
swap space allocation are also provided. This chapter contains the following
sections:
System Requirements and Recommendations
Table 4–1 Memory, Swap, and Processor
Recommendations
|
Requirement Type
|
Size
|
|
Memory to install or upgrade
|
-
For UFS file systems: 768 MB is the recommended size. 256 MB is the minimum size.
Note –
Some optional installation
features are enabled only when sufficient memory is present. For example,
if your system has insufficient memory and you install from a DVD, you install
through the Solaris installation program 's text installer, not through the GUI. For more information
about these memory requirements, see Table 4–2.
-
In previous
Solaris releases, you could not install and boot the Solaris OS from a disk
that was greater than 1 terabyte in size. Starting
with the Solaris 10 10/09 release, you can install and boot the
Solaris OS from a disk that is up to 2 TB in size.
Starting with the Solaris 10 10/09 release, you can
use the VTOC label on a disk of any size, but the addressable space by the
VTOC is limited to 2 TB. This feature allows disks that are larger than 2
TB to be used as boot drives, but the usable space from the label is limited
to 2 TB.
Note –
This feature is only available on systems that run a 64-bit kernel.
A minimum of 1 GB of memory is required for x86 based systems.
For detailed information, see Two-Terabyte Disk Support for Installing and Booting the Solaris
OS in System Administration Guide: Devices
and File Systems.
-
For ZFS root pools:
|
|
Swap area
|
Note –
You might need to customize the swap space. Swap space is based
on the size of the system's hard disk.
|
|
Processor requirements
|
|
You can choose to install the software with a GUI or with or without
a windowing environment. If there is sufficient memory, the GUI is displayed
by default. Other environments are displayed by default if memory is insufficient
for the GUI. You can override defaults with the nowin or text boot options. But, you are limited by the amount of memory
in your system or by installing remotely. Also if the Solaris installation
program does not detect a video adapter, it automatically displays in a console-based
environment. Table 4–2 describes
these environments and lists minimal memory requirements for displaying them.
Table 4–2 Memory Requirements for
Display Options
|
Memory
|
Type of Installation
|
Description
|
|
256-767 MB
|
Text-based
|
Contains no graphics, but provides a window and the ability to open
other windows.
If you install by using the text boot option and
the system has enough memory, you are installing in a windowing environment.
If you are installing remotely through a tip line or using
the nowin boot option, you are limited to the console-based
installation.
|
|
768
MB or greater
|
GUI-based
|
Provides windows, pull-down menus, buttons, scrollbars, and iconic images.
|
Allocating Disk and Swap Space
Before you install the Solaris software, you can determine if your system
has enough disk space by doing some high-level planning.
General Disk Space Planning and Recommendations
Planning disk space is different for everyone. Consider allocating space
for the following conditions, depending on your needs.
Note –
For information about disk space for a ZFS root pool installation,
see Disk Space Requirements for a ZFS Installation
Table 4–3 General Disk Space and
Swap Space Planning
|
Conditions for Space Allocations
|
Description
|
|
For UFS file systems
|
For each file system that you create, allocate an additional 30 percent
more disk space than you need to enable you to upgrade to future Solaris versions.
By default, the Solaris installation methods create only root (/)
and /swap. When space is allocated for OS services, the /export directory is also created. If you are upgrading to a major
Solaris release, you might need to reslice your system or allocate double
the space that you need at installation time. If you are upgrading to an update,
you could prevent having to reslice your system by allocating extra disk space
for future upgrades. A Solaris update release needs approximately 10 percent
more disk space than the previous release. You can allocate an additional
30 percent of disk space for each file system to allow space for several Solaris
updates.
Note –
In
previous Solaris releases, you could not install and boot the Solaris OS from
a disk that was greater than 1 terabyte in size. Starting
with the Solaris 10 10/09 release, you can install and boot the
Solaris OS from a disk that is up to 2 TB in size.
Starting with the Solaris 10 10/09 release, you can
use the VTOC label on a disk of any size, but the addressable space by the
VTOC is limited to 2 TB. This feature allows disks that are larger than 2
TB to be used as boot drives, but the usable space from the label is limited
to 2 TB.
This feature is only available on systems that run a
64-bit kernel. A minimum of 1 GB of memory is required for x86 based systems.
For detailed information, see Two-Terabyte Disk Support for Installing and Booting the Solaris
OS in System Administration Guide: Devices
and File Systems.
|
|
The /var file system for UFS file systems
|
If you intend to use the crash dump feature savecore(1M), allocate double the amount
of your physical memory in the /var file system.
|
|
Swap
|
Note –
For swap allocations for a ZFS root pool, see Disk Space Requirements for a ZFS Installation.
For UFS file systems, the Solaris installation program allocates a default
swap area of 512 MB under the following conditions:
By default, the Solaris installation programs allocate swap space by
placing swap so that it starts at the first available disk cylinder (typically
cylinder 0 on SPARC based systems). This placement provides maximum space
for the root (/) file system during the default disk
layout and enables the growth of the root (/) file system
during an upgrade.
If you think you might need to expand the swap area in the future, you
can place the swap slice so that it starts at another disk cylinder by using
one of the following methods.
For an overview of the swap space, see Chapter 20, Configuring
Additional Swap Space (Tasks), in System
Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems.
|
|
A server that is providing home directory file systems
|
By default, home directories are usually located in the /export file
system.
|
|
The Solaris software group you are installing
|
A software group is a grouping of software packages. When you are planning
disk space, remember that you can add or remove individual software packages
from the software group that you select. For information about software groups,
see Disk Space Recommendations for Software Groups.
|
|
Upgrade
|
|
|
Language support
|
For example, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. If you plan to install a
single language, allocate approximately 0.7 GB of additional disk space for
the language. If you plan to install all language supports, you need to
allocate up to approximately 2.5 GB of additional disk space for the language
supports, depending on the software group you install.
|
|
Printing or mail support
|
Allocate additional space.
|
|
Additional software or third-party software
|
Allocate additional space.
|
Disk Space Recommendations for Software Groups
The Solaris software groups are collections of Solaris packages. Each
software group includes support for different functions and hardware drivers.
-
For an initial installation, you select the software group
to install, based on the functions that you want to perform on the system.
-
For an upgrade, you must upgrade to a software group that
is installed on the system. For example, if you previously installed the End
User Solaris Software Group on your system, you cannot use the upgrade option
to upgrade to the Developer Solaris Software Group. However, during the upgrade
you can add software to the system that is not part of the currently installed
software group.
When you are installing the Solaris software, you can choose to add
or remove packages from the Solaris software group that you selected. When
you are selecting which packages to add or remove, you need to know about
software dependencies and how the Solaris software is packaged.
The following figure shows the grouping of software packages. Reduced
Network Support contains the minimal number of packages and Entire Solaris
Software Group Plus OEM Support contains all the packages.
Figure 4–1 Solaris Software Groups
Table 4–4 lists the Solaris
software groups and the recommended amount of disk space that you need to
install each group.
Note –
The disk space recommendations in Table 4–4 include space for the following items.
You might find that the software
groups require less disk space than the amount that is listed in this table.
Table 4–4 Disk Space Recommendations
for Software Groups
|
Software Group
|
Description
|
Recommended Disk Space
|
|
Entire Solaris Software Group Plus OEM Support
|
Contains the packages for the Entire Solaris Software Group plus additional
hardware drivers, including drivers for hardware that is not on the system
at the time of installation.
|
6.8 GB
|
|
Entire Solaris Software Group
|
Contains the packages for the Developer Solaris Software Group and additional
software that is needed for servers.
|
6.7 GB
|
|
Developer Solaris Software Group
|
Contains the packages for the End User Solaris Software Group plus
additional support for software development. The additional software development
support includes libraries, include files, man pages, and programming tools.
Compilers are not included.
|
6.6 GB
|
|
End User Solaris Software Group
|
Contains the packages that provide the minimum code that is required
to boot and run a networked Solaris system and the Common Desktop Environment.
|
5.3 GB
|
|
Core System Support Software Group
|
Contains the packages that provide the minimum code that is required
to boot and run a networked Solaris system.
|
2.0 GB
|
|
Reduced Network Support Software Group
|
Contains the packages that provide the minimum code that is required
to boot and run a Solaris system with limited network service support. The
Reduced Network Support Software Group provides a multiuser text-based console
and system administration utilities. This software group also enables the
system to recognize network interfaces, but does not activate network services.
|
2.0 GB
|
Upgrade Planning
Table 4–5 Solaris Upgrade Methods
|
Current Solaris OS
|
Solaris Upgrade Methods
|
|
Solaris 8, Solaris 9, Solaris 10
|
-
Solaris Live Upgrade – Upgrades a system by creating
and upgrading a copy of the running system
-
The Solaris installation program – Provides an interactive upgrade with
a graphical user interface or command-line interface
-
Custom JumpStart method – Provides an automated upgrade
|
Upgrading and Patching Limitations
The following table lists limitations when you upgrade a system under
some conditions.
|
Issue
|
Description
|
For More Information
|
|
For ZFS root pools, there are other upgrade limitations
|
You can only use Solaris Live Upgrade to upgrade ZFS root pools.
|
For requirements and limitations. seeChapter 12, Solaris Live Upgrade
for ZFS (Planning), in Solaris 10 10/09
Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.
|
|
Upgrading to a different software group
|
You cannot upgrade your system to a software group that is not installed
on the system. For example, if you previously installed the End User Solaris
Software Group on your system, you cannot use the upgrade option to upgrade
to the Developer Solaris Software Group. However, during the upgrade you can
add software to the system that is not part of the currently installed software
group.
|
For more information on software groups, see Disk Space Recommendations for Software Groups.
|
|
Upgrading when non-global zones are installed
|
You can upgrade a system that has non-global zones installed with the
Solaris installation program, Solaris Live Upgrade or JumpStart. The following
limitations apply:
-
Solaris Live Upgrade is the recommend program to upgrade or
patch a system. Other upgrade programs might require extensive upgrade time,
because the time required to complete the upgrade increases linearly with
the number of installed non-global zones. If you are patching a system with
Solaris Live Upgrade, you do not have to take the system to single-user mode
and you can maximize your system's uptime.
-
When you use a Solaris Flash archive to install, an
archive that contains non-global zones is not properly installed on your system.
|
For requirements and limitations see Upgrading With Non-Global Zones.
|
|
Patching with Solaris Live Upgrade from the Solaris 8 or 9 OS
|
You cannot use Solaris Live Upgrade to patch a Solaris 10 inactive boot
environment when the active boot environment is running the Solaris 8 or 9
OS. Solaris Live Upgrade will invoke the patch utilities on the active boot
partition to patch the inactive boot partition. The Solaris 8 and Solaris
9 patch utilities are unaware of Solaris Zone, Service Management Facility (SMF), and
other enhancements in the Solaris 10 OS. Therefore the patch utilities fail
to correctly patch an inactive Solaris 10 boot environment. Therefore, if
you are using Solaris Live Upgrade to upgrade a system from the Solaris 8
or Solaris 9 OS to the Solaris 10 OS, you must first activate the Solaris
10 boot environment before patching. After the Solaris 10 boot environment
is activated, you can either patch the active boot environment directly or
set up another inactive boot environment and patch that one by using Solaris
Live Upgrade.
|
For more information on patching with Solaris Live Upgrade, see To
Add Patches to a Network Installation Image on a Boot Environment in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and
Upgrade Planning
|
|
Upgrading with Veritas file systems
|
The Solaris interactive installation and custom JumpStart programs do
not present you with the opportunity to upgrade a system when you are using
Veritas VxVM file systems under these conditions:
-
If the root file system to be upgraded is under Veritas control.
For example, if the root (/) file system is mounted
on a /dev/vx/... device.
-
If any Solaris software is installed on any file system that
is under Veritas control. For example, if the /usr file
system is mounted on a /dev/vx/... device.
|
To upgrade when Veritas VxVM is configured, use one of the following
methods:
|
Upgrade Programs
You can perform a standard interactive upgrade with the Solaris installation
program or an unattended upgrade with the custom JumpStart installation method.
Solaris Live Upgrade enables you to upgrade a running system.
|
Upgrade Program
|
Description
|
For More Information
|
|
Solaris Live Upgrade
|
Enables you to create a copy of the currently running system. The copy
can be upgraded and then a reboot switches the upgraded copy to become the
currently running system. Using Solaris Live Upgrade reduces the downtime
that is required to upgrade the Solaris OS. Also, Solaris Live Upgrade can
prevent problems with upgrading. An example is the ability to recover from
an upgrade if the power fails, because the copy being upgraded is not the
currently running system.
|
To plan for disk space allocation when using Solaris Live Upgrade, see Solaris
Live Upgrade Requirements in Solaris 10
10/09 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.
|
|
The Solaris installation program
|
Guides you through an upgrade with an interactive GUI.
|
Chapter 2, Installing With the Solaris Installation Program For UFS File
Systems (Tasks), in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation
Guide: Basic Installations.
|
|
Custom JumpStart program
|
Provides an automated upgrade. A profile file and optional preinstallation
and postinstallation scripts provide the information required. When creating
a custom JumpStart profile for an upgrade, specify install_type upgrade.
You must test the custom JumpStart profile against the system's disk configuration
and currently installed software before you upgrade. Use the pfinstall -D command on the system that you are upgrading to test
the profile. You cannot test an upgrade profile by using a disk configuration
file.
|
|
Installing a Solaris Flash Archive Instead of
Upgrading
The Solaris Flash installation
feature provides a method of creating a copy of the whole installation from
a master system that can be replicated on many clone systems. This copy is
called a Solaris Flash archive. You can install an archive by using any
installation program.
Caution –
A Solaris Flash archive cannot be properly created when
a non-global zone is installed. The Solaris Flash feature is not compatible
with Solaris Zones partitioning technology. If you create a Solaris Flash
archive, the resulting archive is not installed properly when the archive
is deployed under these conditions:
Creating an Archive That Contains Large Files
The default copy method that is used when you create a Solaris Flash archive
is the cpio utility. Individual file sizes cannot be greater
than 4 Gbytes. If you have large individual files, the flarcreate command
with the -L pax option uses the pax utility
to create an archive without limitations on individual file sizes. Individual
file sizes can be greater than 4 Gbytes.
For information about installing an archive, see the following table.
Upgrading With Disk Space Reallocation
The upgrade option in the Solaris installation program and the upgrade keyword in the custom JumpStart program provide the ability to
reallocate disk space. This reallocation automatically changes the sizes of
the disk slices. You can reallocate disk space if the current file systems
do not have enough space for the upgrade. For example, file systems might
need more space for the upgrade for the following reasons:
-
The Solaris software group that is currently installed on
the system contains new software in the new release. Any new software that
is included in a software group is automatically selected to be installed
during the upgrade.
-
The size of the existing software on the system has increased
in the new release.
The auto-layout feature attempts to reallocate the disk space to accommodate
the new size requirements of the file system. Initially, auto-layout attempts
to reallocate space, based on a set of default constraints. If auto-layout
cannot reallocate space, you must change the constraints on the file systems.
Note –
Auto-layout does not have the ability to “grow” file
systems. Auto-layout reallocates space by the following process:
-
Backing up required files on the file systems that need to
change.
-
Repartitioning the disks on the basis of the file system changes.
-
Restoring the backup files before the upgrade happens.
-
If you are using the Solaris installation program, and auto-layout
cannot determine how to reallocate the disk space, you must use the custom
JumpStart program to upgrade.
-
If you are using the custom JumpStart method to upgrade and
you create an upgrade profile, disk space might be a concern. If the current
file systems do not contain enough disk space for the upgrade, you can use
the backup_media and layout_constraint keywords
to reallocate disk space. For an example of how to use the backup_media and layout_constraint keywords in a profile, refer to Profile Examples in Solaris
10 10/09 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations.
Using the Patch Analyzer
When Upgrading
The Patch Analyzer performs an analysis on your system if you want to
upgrade to one of these releases that follow the initial Solaris 10 3/05 release.
-
Solaris 10 1/06 release
-
Solaris 10 6/06 release
If you are already running the Solaris OS and have installed individual
patches, upgrading to a subsequent Solaris 10 release causes the following:
-
Any patches that were supplied as part of one of the releases
noted above are reapplied to your system. You cannot back out these patches.
-
Any patches that were previously installed on your system
and are not included in one of the releases noted above are removed.
You can use the Patch Analyzer to determine which patches, if
any, will be removed. For detailed instructions about using the Patch Analyzer,
refer to Appendix
C, Using the Patch Analyzer When Upgrading (Tasks), in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and
Upgrade Planning.
Backing Up And Restarting Systems For an Upgrade
Backing up your existing file systems before you upgrade to the Solaris
OS is highly recommended. If you copy file systems to removable media, such
as tape, you can safeguard against data loss, damage, or corruption.
In previous releases, the restart mechanism enabled you to continue
an upgrade after a loss of power or other similar problem. Starting with the
Solaris 10 10/08 release, the restart mechanism is unreliable. If you have
a problem, your upgrade might not restart.
Planning Network Security
Starting with the Solaris 10 11/06 release, you have
the option during an initial installation to change the network security settings
so that all network services, except Secure Shell, are disabled or restricted
to respond to local requests only. This option minimizes the potential vulnerabilities
a remote attacker might try to exploit. In addition, this option provides
a base for customers to enable only the services they require. This security
option is only available during an initial installation, not during an upgrade.
An upgrade maintains any set services that were previously set. If necessary,
you can restrict network services after an upgrade by using the netservices command.
Depending on the installation program you are using, you can select
to restrict network services or keep the services enabled by default:
Restricted Security Specifics
If you choose to restrict network security, numerous
services are fully disabled. Other services are still enabled, but these services
are restricted to local connections only. The Secure Shell remains fully enabled.
For example, the following table lists network services that, for the
Solaris 10 11/06 release, are restricted to local connections.
Table 4–6 Solaris 10 11/06 SMF Restricted Services
|
Service
|
FMRI
|
Property
|
|
rpcbind
|
svc:/network/rpc/bind
|
config/local_only
|
|
syslogd
|
svc:/system/system-log
|
config/log_from_remote
|
|
sendmail
|
svc:/network/smtp:sendmail
|
config/local_only
|
|
smcwebserver
|
svc:/system/webconsole:console
|
options/tcp_listen
|
|
WBEM
|
svc:/application/management/wbem
|
options/tcp_listen
|
|
X server
|
svc:/application/x11/x11-server
|
options/tcp_listen
|
|
dtlogin
|
svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login
|
dtlogin/args
|
|
ToolTalk
|
svc:/network/rpccde-ttdbserver:tcp
|
proto=ticotsord
|
|
dtcm
|
svc:/network/rpccde-calendar-manager
|
proto=ticits
|
|
BSD print
|
svc:/application/print/rfc1179:default
|
bind_addr=localhost
|
Revising Security Settings After Installation
With the restricted network security feature, all of the affected services
are controlled by the Service Management Framework (SMF). Any individual network
service can be enabled after an initial installation by using the svcadm and svccfg commands.
The restricted network access is achieved
by invoking the netservices command from the SMF upgrade
file found in /var/svc/profile. The netservices command
can be used to switch the service startup behavior.
To disable
network services manually, run the following command:
This command can be used on
upgraded systems, where no changes are made by default. This command can also
be used to re-establish the restricted state after enabling individual services.
Similarly, default services can be enabled as they were in previous Solaris
releases by running the following command:
For further information about revising security settings, see How to Create
an SMF Profile in System Administration
Guide: Basic Administration. See also the following man
pages.
-
netservices(1M)
-
svcadm(1M)
-
svccfg(1M) commands.
Locale Values
As a part of your installation, you can preconfigure the locale that
you want the system to use. A locale determines how online
information is displayed in a specific language and specific region. A language
might also include more than one locale to accommodate regional differences,
such as differences in the format of date and time, numeric and monetary conventions,
and spelling.
You can preconfigure the system locale in a custom JumpStart profile
or in the sysidcfg file.
Platform Names and Groups
When you are adding clients for a network installation, you must know
your system architecture (platform group). If you are writing a custom JumpStart
installation rules file, you need to know the platform name.
Some examples of platform names and groups follow. For a full list of
SPARC based systems, see Solaris Sun Hardware Platform Guide at http://docs.sun.com/.
Table 4–7 Example of Platform Names and Groups
|
System
|
Platform Name
|
Platform Group
|
|
Sun Fire
|
T2000
|
sun4v
|
|
Sun BladeTM
|
SUNW,Sun-Blade-100
|
sun4u
|
|
x86 based
|
i86pc
|
i86pc
|
Note –
On a running system, you can also use the uname -i command
to determine a system's platform name or the uname
-m command to determine a system's platform group.
x86: Partitioning Recommendations
When using the Solaris OS on x86 based systems, follow these guidelines
for partitioning your system.
The Solaris installation program uses a default boot-disk partition layout. These partitions
are called fdisk partitions. An fdisk partition is a logical
partition of a disk drive that is dedicated to a particular operating system
on x86 based systems. To install the Solaris software, you must set up at
least one Solaris fdisk partition on an x86 based system.
x86 based systems allow up to four different fdisk partitions
on a disk. These partitions can be used to hold individual operating systems.
Each operating system must be located on a unique fdisk partition.
A system can only have one Solaris fdisk partition per
disk.
Table 4–8 x86: Default Partitions
|
Partitions
|
Partition Name
|
Partition Size
|
|
First partition (on some systems)
|
Diagnostic or Service partition
|
Existing size on system.
|
|
Second partition (on some systems)
|
x86 boot partition
|
-
If you are performing an initial installation, this partition
is not created.
-
If you upgrade and your system does not have an existing x86
boot partition, this partition is not created.
-
If you upgrade and your system has an x86 boot partition:
-
If the partition is required to bootstrap from one boot device
to another, the x86 boot partition is preserved on the system.
-
If the partition is not required to boot additional boot devices,
the x86 boot partition is removed. The contents of the partition are moved
to the root partition.
|
|
Third partition
|
Solaris OS partition
|
Remaining space on the boot disk.
|
Default Boot-Disk Partition Layout Preserves the
Service Partition
The Solaris installation program uses a default boot-disk partition
layout to accommodate the diagnostic or Service partition. If your system
currently includes a diagnostic or Service partition, the default boot-disk
partition layout enables you to preserve this partition.
Note –
If you install the Solaris OS on an x86 based system that does
not currently include a diagnostic or Service partition, the installation
program does not create a new diagnostic or Service partition by default.
If you want to create a diagnostic or Service partition on your system, see
your hardware documentation.
How to Find the Version of the Solaris OS
That Your System Is Running
To see the version of Solaris software that is running on your system,
type either of the following commands.
The cat command provides more detailed information.
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