How to Install at OpenSolaris.org

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Project: Caiman, Solaris Install Revisited

Slim Installation

The Slim Installer provides an initial installation of an OpenSolaris OS from a Live CD. An existing Solaris fdisk partition is overwritten during the initial installation.

Use the following procedure for most laptop installations. However, if you are installing on a system that is running the Mac OS X, and you have installed Parallels version 1970, see Installing on a Mac OS X System and Parallels. If you are using VMWare, see Getting Started With OpenSolaris Using VMWare.

Installing OpenSolaris OS

Before You Begin

Before installing the OpenSolaris OS, review the system requirements and limitations described in the preceding sections of this document.

Note - Before you install the OpenSolaris OS on a system that is running the Linux OS, save a copy of the menu.1st file. The contents of the GRUB menu.1st file dictate what is displayed in the GRUB menu when you boot the system. You will need to update the GRUB menu after the installation. For further information, see menu.1st file specifics at x86: Booting a Solaris System with GRUB.

The following default settings are used for this release.

The installation uses a previously created Solaris fdisk partition to create a ZFS storage pool. If a second disk is available, you can add a second disk to the ZFS pool to create a mirrored configuration.

The ZFS pool includes an /usr file system, an /opt file system, an /export file system, and others. Swap is located on a ZFS volume (zvol) in the storage pool.
This release installs an OpenSolaris system that is automatically networked by using DHCP with DNS name resolution.
The nwam daemon is enabled by default. nwam introduces an alternate instance of the network/physical SMF service which enables automated network configuration.

For further information, see the man page at OpenSolaris nwam. The nwam(1) man page provides instructions about how to disable the default instance of the network/physical service and how to enable the nwam instance. This man page also explains how to switch between the default instance (legacy mode) and the nwam instance (auto-magic mode).
IPv6 is disabled.
The DNS domain and server IP addresses are retrieved from the DHCP server.
The NFSv4 domain is dynamically derived.
Kerberos is disabled.

To start Slim Install from the Live CD desktop, select the Installer icon on the Live CD desktop.

Slim Installer begins.
Note - If you are prompted to login, both the username and password are "jack". The root password is "opensolaris".
Select the installer language.

The default language is English.
Complete any additional selections for the preliminary installation panels.

CAUTION: Note the following important considerations:
- The Slim Installer expects to find a preset fdisk partition on which to install the OpenSolaris OS. The installation overwrites the whole disk layout if one of the following is true:
  - The disk table cannot be read.
  - The disk was not previously partitioned.
- If an existing Solaris fdisk partition is on a multiboot system, and the user makes no modifications to the existing partitions, the installation overwrites the Solaris fdisk partition only. Other existing partitions are not changed.
In the Disk panel, select disk and partition location for the OpenSolaris OS.
- In the top portion of the Disk panel, select the disk where the OpenSolaris OS will be installed.
  
  The top portion of this panel displays the internal disks, external disks, and solid-state drives that are available on the system. This panel also displays the size of each disk in gigabytes.
  
  Note - In order to be recognized by the installer, the disks and solid-state drives must be turned on at the time the computer boots.
  
  The recommended minimum size for the OpenSolaris OS installation is displayed. Disks that are too small for a successful installation are labeled as such. The recommended size is at least 10 Gbytes.
- In the bottom portion of the Disk panel, click to either Use the whole disk or Partition the disk.
  
  The bottom portion of this panel displays the existing disk partitioning.
  
  CAUTION: If the existing partition table cannot be read, a warning is displayed, and the panel displays proposed partitioning. In this case, all data on the disk is destroyed.
  - If you choose to partition the disk, review the following partitioning guidelines:
    - Only x86 based systems can be partitioned.
    - Only one Solaris partition is enabled.
    - You can resize existing partitions, delete partitions, and create new partitions in this panel. For this option, one existing Solaris partition must be available as the target for the installation.
      
      The partitions are displayed in physically sequential order as they are laid out on the disk.
      
      CAUTION: Resizing a partition destroys the data on that partition and all physically subsequent partitions. Existing data is not moved to conform to a new partition layout. However, resizing the last partition or adding a new partition does not affect the data that already exists in other partitions. Non-Solaris partitions cannot be resized.
    Note - Manual control of the OpenSolaris file system layout is not supported. During the installation, the Solaris fdisk partition is reformatted with a default ZFS file system layout. All existing file systems on the Solaris partition are destroyed.
    
    The Slim installation uses a previously created Solaris fdisk partition to create a ZFS storage pool. The ZFS pool includes an /usr file system, an /opt file system, an /export file system, and others. Swap is located on a ZFS volume (zvol) in the storage pool.
    
    If a second disk is available, you can add a second disk to the ZFS pool to create a mirrored configuration. To create a mirrored configuration, use the ZFS attach command to add a second disk to the storage pool. For example:
```
# zpool attach tank c0t2d0s0 c0t4d0
```
    The following example illustrates a ZFS file system setup with a non-redundant configuration:
```
<Indiana-build>zpool status
 pool: mypool
 state: ONLINE
 scrub: scrub completed with 0 errors on Wed Sep 26 23:41:40 2007
 config:
 
 NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM
 mypool ONLINE 0 0 0
        ONLINE 0 0 0
 c3t0d0s0 ONLINE 0 0 0
 
 errors: No known data errors 
```
    In the same panel, you can choose instead to install the OpenSolaris OS on the whole disk.
    
    CAUTION: This option erases the existing disk. The entire disk is overwritten with the new OpenSolaris OS.
Complete installation panels for timezone, language, and user settings.

For the Users panel, review the following guidelines:
- Both the root password and user account are optional. However, for better security, do complete these fields.
  
  If the root password is not defined, a reminder is displayed when you click Next. If you do not want to define a root password, you can proceed.
- A user account requires only a Login name for the account to be valid. For better security, however, do complete all fields.
  
  If the user account information is not valid, a reminder is displayed when you click Next. If you do not want to define a user account, you can proceed.
In the Install panel, review and confirm installation specifications and the license agreement.

CAUTION: The installation begins when you click Install. You cannot stop the installation unless you turn off the computer. Terminating the installation leaves the disk in an indeterminate state.

The final panel displays completion messages. You can review installation logs in this panel. You can either Quit or Reboot from this panel.
- After a successful installation, to start the installed system, select Reboot. The reboot process might take a few minutes.
  
  Note - Eject the Live CD as the next boot begins.
  
  To exit, select Quit and shutdown your system.

Next Steps

After you have installed the OpenSolaris OS, complete the following optional tasks.

After you have installed the OpenSolaris OS, if you have another operating system on your system, you might need to update the GRUB menu. The GRUB menu displays a list of operating systems that can be booted. Solaris and Windows operating systems are displayed automatically on the GRUB menu. The contents of the GRUB menu.1st file dictate what is displayed in the GRUB menu when you boot the system. If you have an additional OpenSolaris OS or a Linux OS that is not displayed on the menu, you need to edit the GRUB menu.1st file. For further information, see menu.1st file specifics at x86: Booting a Solaris System with GRUB.
During the installation, a root user is set up. After the installation, you can set up additional user names which can then be used to create logins to the system. On your first login by root after the installation, the Users & Groups Admin tool starts. This tool can be used to set up these additional users. After this setup, log out and log back in as one of these new users. For further information, see Setting Up User Accounts.

Note - Logging in to the system as root for ordinary system usage is not recommended.
If you want to add software to your installed operating system, you can use the new tools that are included in the OpenSolaris Developer Preview
- The Preview includes the Distribution Constructor, a tool which can be used to create your own OpenSolaris distribution. The Distribution Constructor is a command-line tool that enables you to create a bootable live media image with a list of packages specified by you.
  You specify the list of IPS packages to be included in the image in a file. Then, you direct the Distribution Constructor to use the package information in that file. The Distribution Constructor tool processes the list of IPS packages and builds a live media image that contains only the list of packages that you specified.
  For directions about how to download the Constructor tool and how to get start using this tool, see Distribution Constructor Kit: Documentation.
- The Preview includes the Image Packaging System. With IPS, you can select versioned builds of components to manage or create your own custom OpenSolaris distribution.
  IPS packages that are not included in the Slim Install installation image, such as developer tools, can be downloaded after the installation. This prototype uses IPS commands to access packages from the network repositories. Both IPS packages and SVR4 packages are supported.
  The OpenSolaris Project: Image Packaging System project page contains man pages for the IPS commands and a link to the IPS download site.

Previous: Partitioning a Multiboot System.

Next: nwam(1) Man Page.