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Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Planning for Installation and Upgrade
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Chapter 2 What's New in Solaris Installation

This chapter describes new features in the Solaris installation programs. To view features for all of the Solaris OS, see Solaris 10 10/09 What’s New. This chapter describes the following sections.

What's New in the Solaris 10 10/09 Release for Installation

ZFS and Flash Installation Support

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/09 release, you can set up a JumpStart profile to identify a flash archive of a ZFS root pool.

A Flash archive can be created on a system that is running a UFS root file system or a ZFS root file system. A Flash archive of a ZFS root pool contains the entire pool hierarchy, except for the swap and dump volumes, and any excluded datasets. The swap and dump volumes are created when the Flash archive is installed.

You can use the Flash archive installation method as follows:

  • Generate a Flash archive that can be used to install and boot a system with a ZFS root file system.

  • Perform a JumpStart installation of a system by using a ZFS Flash archive.

    Note –

    Creating a ZFS Flash archive backs up an entire root pool, not individual boot environments. Individual datasets within the pool can be excluded by using the flarcreate and flar command's -D option.

For detailed instructions and limitations, see Installing a ZFS Root File System (Flash Archive Installation) in Solaris ZFS Administration Guide.

Two-Terabyte Disk Support for Installing and Booting the Solaris OS

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.

Faster Installations

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/09 release, SVR4 package commands run faster. This enhancement means that the Solaris installation technologies, such as initial installations, upgrades, Live Upgrades, and zone installations, perform significantly faster.

Zones Parallel Patching Reduces Patching Time

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/09 release, zones parallel patching enhances the standard Solaris 10 patch utilities. This feature improves zones patching performance by patching non-global zones in parallel.

For releases prior to the Solaris 10 10/09 release, this feature is delivered in the following patch utilities patches:

  • SPARC: patch 119254-66 or later revision

  • x86: patch 119255-66 or later revision

Note –

The global zone is still patched before the non-global zones are patched.

For more information, see the following documentation:

What's New in the Solaris 10 10/08 Release for Installation

Installing a ZFS Root File System

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, you can install and boot a ZFS root file system.

The following installation programs perform an initial installation of a ZFS root pool.

You can use Solaris Live Upgrade to perform the following tasks:

  • Migrate a UFS root (/) file system to a ZFS root pool

  • Create a new boot environment in the following ways:

    • Within an existing ZFS root pool

    • Within another ZFS root pool

    • From a source other than the currently running system

    • On a system with non-global zones installed

After you have used the lucreate command to create a ZFS boot environment, you can use other Solaris Live Upgrade commands on the boot environment, such as the luupgrade and luactivate commands. For more information on using Solaris Live Upgrade for ZFS, see Chapter 11, Solaris Live Upgrade and ZFS (Overview), in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.

Structure Change for Installation Media

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the structure of the Solaris Operating System DVD and Solaris Software - 1 CD have changed for the SPARC platform. Slice 0 is no longer at the top of the directory structure. Therefore, the structure of the x86 and SPARC DVD and Solaris Software - 1 CD are the same. This change in structure makes setting up an install server easier if you have a mix of platforms, such as a SPARC install server and x86 media. For procedures for setting up an install server, see the following:

What's New in the Solaris 10 8/07 Release for Installation

Upgrading the Solaris OS When Non-Global Zones Are Installed

Starting with the Solaris 10 8/07 release, you can upgrade the Solaris OS when non-global zones are installed without most of the limitations found in previous releases.

Note –

The only limitation to upgrading involves a Solaris Flash archive. When you use a Solaris Flash archive to install, an archive that contains non-global zones is not properly installed on your system.

Changes to accommodate systems that have non-global zones installed are summarized below.

  • For the Solaris interactive installation program, you can upgrade or patch a system when non-global zones are installed with CDs, as well as DVDs. Or you can use a network installation image for either the DVD or CDs. Previously, you were limited to upgrading with a DVD. The time to upgrade or patch might be extensive, depending on the number of non-global zones that are installed.

  • For an automated JumpStart installation, you can upgrade or patch with any keyword that applies to an upgrade or patching. In previous releases, a limited number of keywords could be used. The time to upgrade or patch might be extensive, depending on the number of non-global zones that are installed.

  • For Solaris Live Upgrade, you can upgrade or patch a system that contains non-global zones. If you have a system that contains non-global zones, Solaris Live Upgrade is the recommended upgrade program or program to add patches. 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.

    Solaris Live Upgrade creates a copy of the OS on the inactive boot environment. The inactive boot environment can be upgraded or patched when non-global zones are installed. The inactive boot environment can then be booted to become the new boot environment. Changes to accommodate systems that have non-global zones installed are the following:

    • A new package, SUNWlucfg, is required to be installed with the other Solaris Live Upgrade packages, SUNWlur and SUNWluu. This package is required for any system, not just a system with non-global zones installed.

      These three packages comprise the software needed to upgrade by using Solaris Live Upgrade. These packages include existing software, new features, and bug fixes. If you do not install these packages on your system before using Solaris Live Upgrade, upgrading to the target release fails.

    • Creating a new boot environment from the currently running boot environment remains the same as in previous releases with one exception. You can specify a destination disk slice for a shared file system within a non-global zone.

      The argument to the -m option has a new optional field, zonename. This new field enables creating the new boot environment and specifying zones that contain separate file systems. This argument places the zone's file system on a separate slice in the new boot environment.

    • The lumount command now provides non-global zones with access to their corresponding file systems that exist on inactive boot environments. When the global zone administrator uses the lumount command to mount an inactive boot environment, the boot environment is mounted for non-global zones as well.

    • Comparing boot environments is enhanced. The lucompare command now generates a comparison of boot environments that includes the contents of any non-global zone.

    • Listing file systems with the lufslist command is enhanced to display a list of file systems for both the global zone and the non-global zones.

For step-by-step procedures for upgrading a system with non-global zones installed or for information on the Solaris Zones partitioning technology, see the following references.

Description 

For More Information 

Upgrading with Solaris Live Upgrade on a system with non-global zones 

Chapter 8, Upgrading the Solaris OS on a System With Non-Global Zones Installed, in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning

Creating and using non-global zones 

System Administration Guide: Solaris Containers-Resource Management and Solaris Zones

Upgrading with JumpStart 

Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations

Upgrading with the Solaris installation interactive GUI 

Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Basic Installations

New sysidkdb Tool Prevents Having to Configure Your Keyboard

This feature is new in the following releases:

  • For SPARC, starting with the Solaris 10 10/06 release

  • For x86, starting with the Solaris 10 8/07 release

The sysidkdb tool configures your USB language and its corresponding keyboard layout.

The following procedure occurs:

  • If the keyboard is self-identifying, the keyboard language and layout automatically configures during installation.

  • If the keyboard is not self-identifying, the sysidkdb tool provides you, during the installation, a list of supported keyboard layouts during installation, so that you can select a layout for keyboard configuration.

SPARC: Previously, the USB keyboard assumed a self-identifying value of 1 during the installation. Therefore, all of the keyboards that were not self-identifying always configured for a U.S. English keyboard layout during installation.

Note –

PS/2 keyboards are not self-identifying. You are asked to select the keyboard layout during the installation.

Prevent Prompting When You Use the JumpStart Program

If the keyboard is not self-identifying and you want to prevent being prompted during your JumpStart installation, select the keyboard language in your sysidcfg file. For JumpStart installations, the default is for the U.S. English language. To select another language and its corresponding keyboard layout, set the keyboard keyword in your sysidcfg file.

For more information, see one of the following:

NFSv4 Domain Name Configurable During Installation

Starting with the Solaris 10 8/07 release, the NFS version 4 domain can now be defined during the installation of the Solaris OS. Previously, the NFS domain name was defined during the first system reboot after installation.

This new feature affects installation as follows:

  • The sysidtool command includes an enhanced sysidnfs4 program. The sysidnfs4 program now runs during the installation process to determine whether an NFSv4 domain has been configured for the network.

    For further information, see the sysidtool(1M) and sysidnfs4(1M) man pages.

    During an interactive installation, the user is provided with the default NFSv4 domain name that is automatically derived from the OS. The user can accept this default. Or, the user can specify a different NFSv4 domain.

  • As part of a Solaris JumpStart installation, a new keyword is available in the sysidcfg file. The user can now assign a value for the NFSv4 domain by using the new keyword, nfs4_domain.

What's New in the Solaris 10 11/06 Release for Installation

Enhanced Security Using the Restricted Networking Profile

Starting with the Solaris 10 11/06 release, you can, during installation, set the default behavior for network services to run in a much more secured manner. During an interactive installation (hands on), this new security option is provided in the installation configuration selection screens. For automated JumpStart installations (hands off), you can select a restricted network profile by using a new service_profile keyword in the sysidcfg file. This security option is only available for initial installations. An upgrade maintains all previously set services. If necessary, you can restrict network services after an upgrade by using the netservices command.

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. Secure Shell remains available for remote administrative access to the system.

With this restricted networking profile, you reduce your risk of exposure on the Internet or LAN. The system retains full graphical desktop use and outbound network access. For example, you can still access your graphical interface, use browsers or email clients, and mount NFSv4 file shares.

The network services can be enabled after installation by using the netservices open command or by enabling individual services by using SMF commands. See Revising Security Settings After Installation.

For additional information about this security option, see the following references.

Table 2–1 Additional Information About the Limited Network Profile

Description 

For More Information 

Administer security for network services 

How to Create an SMF Profile in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Reopen network services after installation 

Revising Security Settings After Installation

Plan installation configuration 

Planning Network Security

Select restricted network security during a hands-on installation 

Chapter 2, Installing With the Solaris Installation Program For UFS File Systems (Tasks), in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Basic Installations

Set up restricted network security for a JumpStart installation 

service_profile Keyword in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations

Installing Solaris Trusted Extensions

Starting with the Solaris 10 11/06 release, Solaris Trusted Extensions provides multilevel security for the Solaris OS. This feature enables you to control information in a flexible but highly secure manner. You can now enforce strict access controls to your data based on data sensitivity, not just data ownership.

An installation that accesses Solaris Trusted Extensions differs from a standard installation. For a list of these installation differences and further information about Solaris Trusted Extensions, see Installing or Upgrading the Solaris OS for Trusted Extensions in Solaris Trusted Extensions Installation and Configuration for Solaris 10 11/06 and Solaris 10 8/07 Releases.

Solaris Flash Can Create an Archive That Includes Large Files

The flarcreate command no longer has size limitations on individual files. You can create a Solaris Flash archive that contains individual files that are greater than 4 Gbytes. The following two archive utilities are available for use:

  • The cpio archive utility is the default. Individual files cannot be greater than 2 or 4 Gbytes. The size limitation depends on the version of cpio used.

  • The portable archive interchange utility, pax, is invoked with the -L pax option. If the -L pax option is specified, the archive can be created without size limitations on individual files.

For more information, see Creating an Archive That Contains Large Files in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Solaris Flash Archives (Creation and Installation).

What's New in the Solaris 10 1/06 Release for Solaris Installation

This section describes the following new installation features in the Solaris 10 1/06 release.

Upgrading the Solaris OS When Non-Global Zones Are Installed

Solaris Zones partitioning technology provides the ability to configure non-global zones in a single instance of Solaris, the global zone. A non-global zone is an application execution environment in which processes are isolated from all other zones. Starting with the Solaris 10 1/06 release and if you are running a system with non-global zones installed, you can use standard Solaris upgrade programs to upgrade. You can use either the Solaris interactive installation program or custom JumpStart to upgrade. There are some limitations to upgrading with non-global zones installed.

For details on using the Solaris interactive installation program, see Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Basic Installations

x86: GRUB Based Booting

Starting with the Solaris 10 1/06 release, the open source GNU GRand Unified Boot Loader (GRUB) has been adopted in the Solaris OS for x86 based systems. GRUB is responsible for loading a boot archive into the system's memory. A boot archive is a collection of critical files that is needed during system startup before the root (/) file system is mounted. The boot archive is used to boot the Solaris OS.

The most notable change is the replacement of the Solaris Device Configuration Assistant with the GRUB menu. The GRUB menu facilitates booting the different operating systems that are installed on your system. The GRUB menu is displayed when you boot an x86 based system. From the GRUB menu, you can select an OS instance to install by using the arrow keys. If you do not make a selection, the default OS instance is booted.

The GRUB based boot feature provides the following improvements:

  • Faster boot times

  • Installation from USB CD or DVD drives

  • Ability to boot from USB storage devices

  • Simplified DHCP setup for PXE boot (no vendor-specific options)

  • Elimination of all realmode drivers

  • Ability to use Solaris Live Upgrade and the GRUB menu to quickly activate and fall back to boot environments

For more information about GRUB refer to the following sections.

Task 

GRUB Task 

For More Information 

Installation 

Overview information about GRUB based booting 

x86: GRUB Based Booting (Overview)

Installation planning for GRUB based booting 

x86: GRUB Based Booting (Planning)

How to boot and install over the network with the GRUB menu 

Installing the System From the Network With a DVD Image in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations

How to boot and install with the GRUB menu and the Custom JumpStart installation method 

Performing a Custom JumpStart Installation in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations

How to use the GRUB menu and Solaris Live Upgrade to activate and fall back to boot environments  

Locating the GRUB menu's menu.lst file

Chapter 14, Managing the Solaris Boot Archives (Tasks), in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

System Administration 

How to perform system administration tasks with the GRUB menu 

Note –

GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not UNIX.” For more information, go to http://www.gnu.org.

Upgrade Support Changes for Solaris Releases

Starting with the Solaris 10 1/06 release, you can upgrade the Solaris OS from the Solaris 8, 9, or 10 releases. Upgrades from the Solaris 7 release are not supported.

What's New in the Solaris 10 3/05 Release for Solaris Installation

This section describes the following new installation features in the Solaris 10 3/05 release.

Solaris Installation Changes Including Installation Unification

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, several changes in the installation of the Solaris OS provide a more simplified and unified installation experience.

The changes include the following:

  • This release has one installation DVD and several installation CDs. The Solaris Operating System DVD includes the content of all the installation CDs.

    • Solaris Software 1 – This CD is the only bootable CD. From this CD, you can access both the Solaris installation graphical user interface (GUI) and the console-based installation. This CD also enables you to install selected software products from both the GUI and the console-based installation.

    • Other Solaris Operating System CDs – These CDs contain the following:

      • Solaris packages that the software prompts you to install if necessary

      • ExtraValue software that includes supported and unsupported software

      • Installers

      • Localized interface software and documentation

  • The Solaris Installation CD no longer exists.

  • For both CD and DVD media, the GUI installation is the default (if your system has enough memory). However, you can specify a console-based installation with the text boot option.

  • The installation process has been simplified, enabling you to select the language support at boot time, but select locales later.

Note –

The (noninteractive) Solaris custom JumpStart installation method has not changed.

To install the OS, simply insert the Solaris Software - 1 CD or the Solaris Operating System DVD and type one of the following commands.

  • For the default GUI installation (if system memory permits), type boot cdrom.

  • For the console-based installation, type boot cdrom - text.

For instructions about how to install the Solaris OS by using CD or DVD media with the new text boot option

Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Basic Installations

For changes to setting up an installation server with CD media 

Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Network-Based Installations

Accessing the GUI or Console-based Installations

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, you can choose to install the software with a GUI or with or without a windowing environment. If the memory is sufficient, the GUI is displayed by default. If the memory is insufficient for the GUI, other environments are displayed by default. You can override defaults with the nowin or text boot options. However, 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, the program is automatically displayed in a console-based environment.

For specific memory requirements, see System Requirements and Recommendations.

Custom JumpStart Installation Package and Patch Enhancements

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, when you install and upgrade the Solaris OS by using the custom JumpStart installation method, new customizations enable the following:

  • A Solaris Flash installation with additional packages

    The custom JumpStart profile package keyword has been enhanced to enable installing a Solaris Flash archive with additional packages. For example, you can install the same base archive on two machines, but add a different set of packages to each machine. These packages do not have to be a part of the Solaris OS distribution.

  • An installation with additional packages that might not be part of the Solaris distribution

    The package keyword has also been enhanced to enable an installation with a package that is not part of the Solaris distribution. You no longer need to write a postinstallation script to add extra packages.

  • An installation with the ability to install Solaris OS patches

    The new custom JumpStart profile patch keyword enables the installation of Solaris OS patches. This feature allows the installation of a list of patches that are specified in a patch file.

For further information, see Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations.

Configuring Multiple Network Interfaces During Installation

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, the Solaris installation programs enable you to configure multiple interfaces during your installation. You can preconfigure these interfaces in the sysidcfg file for your system. Or you can configure multiple interfaces during the installation. For more information, see the following documents:

SPARC: 64-bit Package Changes

In previous Solaris releases, the Solaris software was delivered in separate packages for 32-bit components and 64-bit components. Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, packaging has been simplified with the delivery of most 32-bit components and 64-bit components in a single package. The combined packages retain the names of the original 32-bit packages, and the 64-bit packages are no longer delivered.

The removal of the 64-bit packages simplifies installation and increases performance:

  • Reduces the number of packages, which simplifies Custom JumpStart scripts that contain lists of packages

  • Simplifies the packaging system with only one package that groups software functions

  • Reduces installation time because fewer packages are installed

The 64-bit packages are renamed with the following conventions:

  • If a 64-bit package has a 32-bit counterpart, the 64-bit package is named with the 32-bit package name. For example, a 64-bit library such as /usr/lib/sparcv9/libc.so.1 previously would have been delivered in SUNWcslx, but now is delivered in SUNWcsl. The 64-bit SUNWcslx package is no longer delivered.

  • If a package does not have a 32-bit counterpart, the “x” suffix is removed from the name. For example, SUNW1394x becomes SUNW1394.

This change means that you might need to modify your custom JumpStart script or other package installation scripts to remove references to the 64-bit packages.

Custom JumpStart Installation Method Creates New Boot Environment

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, you can now use the JumpStart installation method to create an empty boot environment when you install the Solaris Operating System. The empty boot environment can then be populated with a Solaris Flash archive for later use.

For further information, see Chapter 8, Custom JumpStart (Reference), in Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations.

Reduced Networking Software Group

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, you can now create a more secure system with fewer enabled network services by selecting or specifying the Reduced Networking software group (SUNWCrnet) during your installation. The Reduced Networking software group provides system administration utilities and a multiuser text-based console. SUNWCrnet enables the system to recognize network interfaces. During the installation, you can customize your system's configuration by adding software packages and by activating network services as needed.

For further information, see Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations.

Modifying Disk Partition Tables by Using a Virtual Table of Contents

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, the Solaris installation program now enables you to load existing slices from the virtual table of contents (VTOC.) You can now preserve and use the system's existing disk slice tables during your installation, rather than use the installer's default disk layout.

x86: Change in Default Boot-Disk Partition Layout

Starting with the Solaris 10 3/05 release, a new feature in the Solaris installation program is a boot-disk partition layout. This layout, by default, accommodates the Service partition on Sun x86 based systems. This installation program enables you to preserve an existing Service partition.

The new default includes the following partitions.

  • First partition – Service partition (existing size on system)

  • Second partition – x86 boot partition (approximately 11 Mbytes)

  • Third partition – Solaris Operating System partition (remaining space on the boot disk)

If you want to use this default layout, select Default when the Solaris installation program asks you to choose a boot-disk layout.

Note –

If you install the Solaris OS for x86 based systems on a system that does not currently include a Service partition, the Solaris installation program does not create a new Service partition. If you want to create a Service partition on your system, first use your system's diagnostic CD to create the Service partition. After the Service partition is created, then install the Solaris Operating System.

For information about how to create the Service partition, see your hardware documentation.

For more information, see Solaris 10 10/09 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations.