Installing Oracle Solaris11 on SPARC Part 1

Step by step guide to install Oracle Solaris 11 on SPARC machine: Step 1) First step is to ensure that your hardware supports Oracle Solaris 11 Operating System. If you are unsure, please visit the below URL and check the compatibility list: http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/hcl/data/s11ga/index.html Dont just assume that since you already have Solaris 10 running, it will support Solaris 11 too. Step 2) If you are not going to install it on a blank hard disk, please ensure to backup your data before proceeding.

Step 3) Please have the Solaris 11 DVD ready with you. You can download Solaris 11 operating system iso image here: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/solaris11/downloads/index.html Select Download for SPARC Text Install. Please check MD5 checksun to ensure the downloaded file is not corrupt. After having downloaded this image, please write it to DVD using any ISO burner (such as Active ISO Burner). Step 4) Connect to the system console either via iLO/ALOM etc through serial cable or ssh/telnet over the network in case of remote management configured. Step 5) Login to the console, in the example case a T2000 machine has been used.
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Step 6) On sc or rsc prompt type console f and console respectively and hit enter. You will now get OK prompt, if you powered on the server. In case if you are upgrading from Solaris 10, you will need to bring the server to OK prompt by typing init 0 or any other method you prefer. Please note, you cannot do a version upgrade from Solaris 10 to Solaris 11. There are several differences in these two versions, many features are now obsolete. Solaris 11 has to be a fresh install. Step 7) Make sure Solaris 11 DVD is inserted in the DVD drive. Now type boot cdrom without quote on OK prompt to begin installation as shown in the below screenshot:

Step 8) The pre-installation phase or requirements gathering phase will being. Oracle Solaris 11 will ask several questions with options to you. The first step is to select the keyboard layout of your choice. Defaut keyboard layout for Oracle Solaris 11 installation via DVD is US-English.

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Step 9) Next, select the language of your choice, default installation language for Oracle Solaris 11 is English.

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Step 10) Hostname is by default selected as Solaris. You will get a chance to change it very soon.

Step 11) Next step will give you an option to Install Oracle Solaris. If you are using a remote ssh session on shell, I would rather select 4 Terminal type and specify the correct terminal type I am using, in order for me to have a aligned display of the installation screens. The next page will give you further details about this.

Installing Oracle Solaris11 on SPARC Part 2

As mentioned in the previous post, lets select option 4 and select the correct terminal type. vt100 is your best bet if you are unsure about what terminal type are you using. While installing Oracle Solaris 11, the screen type chosen here will help you a lot.

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After choosing terminal type, on the installation menu, select 1 to install Oracle Solaris 11. Ads you can see 1 is the default value, hence you can just press enter/return key here.

Next screen will show you the location of installation log, which is /system/volatile/install_log. Remember, from here until completion of install Oracle Solaris 11, you can move to forward screen by pressing F2 or to quit you can press F9.

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You have an option to press F6 for help.

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After you are on next screen of Solaris 11 installation, you will have the disk option, disk where Oracle Solaris 11 will be installed. Very important point to note and also, a considerable difference from Solaris 10 to Solaris 11 is noticed in this step. Solaris 11 is installed on rpool. Yes, zfs is the default file system of Oracle Solaris 11. To remind you, Solaris 10 has UFS as default file system.

So, select the desired disk, I would recommend a whole disk for the installation, however, you have the option to install it on a single slice.

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Installing Oracle Solaris11 on SPARC Part 3

Now, Oracle Solaris 11 installer will give you option to choose a hostname. Type any name that you want. If you want to change it later, you can change hostname from Solaris 11 operating system once the system is fully installed. The default name is solaris.

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You will also get options to choose from regarding how would you like to setup networking on the machine. If you are using DHCP you can select Automatically or if you know the IP address, netmask value and gateway address, you can select Manually and provide these details for an interface to be plumbed and IP configured. Alternatively, if you are experienced with Oracle Solaris 9 or Oracle Solaris 10, you can choose None to manually plumb and configure network interface later, after the Operating System is installed.

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Next screen is to select time zone:

Now select location that contains your time zone, press F2 to continue:

In this example, I have selected United States as my server is located here:

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Eastern Time selected in this example, you can choose any other, based on your location or preference:

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Installing Oracle Solaris11 on SPARC Part 4

Next, select option of date and time. Next, set root password, also, you need to create an user because solaris11 wont allow direct root login.

Review before installation of Oracle Solaris 11 begins, you can press F3 to go back and change any setting that you want:

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Press F2 to continue or F9 to quit installation. I pressed F2 and now watch the progress of Oracle Solaris 11 installation:

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Installing Oracle Solaris11 on SPARC Part 5 Last part

Oracle Solaris 11 installation in progress:

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Installation of Oracle Solaris 11 is over. You can view install logs at /system/volatile/install_log before reboot. Once the system is rebooted install logs can be found at /var/sadm/system/logs/install_log.

As mentioned earlier, Oracle Solaris 11 wont allow direct root login because it treats root as a role. Use the user id created during installation and then su to obtain root prompt:

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Congratulations on your installation of Oracle Solaris 11 operating system, now enjoy and explore this great OS. In next tutorial, I will show you how to install oracles Solaris 11 on Microsoft Windows OS as a virtual machine and save yourself from complex installation of dual boot. Stay tuned and keep learning.

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