[rescue] Sun-HOWTO

[rescue at sunhelp.org]

Sounds like the kind of thing I'd have loved to read about 2 years ago.

To the extent that my experience and knowledge allows, I'd love to help
out.

I have worked on several Sun boxes hardware-wise: 5's and 20's mostly,
but also a 3/80 and an Ultra 450. I've installed thge OS more times than
I can count, from Sun OS 4.0.3 through Solaris 8. I've installed from
tape and CDROM, with a regular keyboard and with a terminal, on SPARC
hardware and on x86. In addition to that I have 6 years or so experience
with Linux, and a familiarity with BSD and SCO.

Let me know when you have a plan. It'll be nice working with people who
don't ask for documents in MS Word format!


Bill Bradford wrote:
> 
> Had this idea in the shower the other day (where I do some of my
> best thinking).
> 
> Anybody interested in working with me on a "Sun HOWTO" ?  Basically,
> a chapter-by-chapter "howto" for working with a SPARC system.  Something
> like:
> 
> 1.  Brief History of Sun and the SPARC architecture and systems
> 
> 2.  I've got a Sun box, now what?
>         a.  identifying what you have
>         b.  hooking up a serial terminal (aka, "what, it wont use my
>             ps2 keyboard and mouse?)
>         c.  Booting the system
>         d.  identifying hardware from boot messages
> 
> 3.  OpenBoot quick tutorial
>         a.  printenv/setenv
>         b.  boot-device, input-device, output-device
>         c.  when all else fails: set-defaults
>         d.  booting from CD-ROM or network or tape
> 
> 4.  NVRAM/IDPRM issues
>         a.  what to do if the nvram battery is dead
>         b.  sources of replacements
> 
> 5.  I've got an OS already!
>         a.  "I dont know the root password"
>                 I.  Booting off cd-rom to reset root password
>         b.  I'm in as root, now how do I reconfigure the network?
>                 I.  IP address
>                 II.  Hostname
>                 III.  Subnet/Netmask
>                 IV.  Routing / default router
>                 V.  DNS issues and setup
> 
> 6.  I dont have an OS installed!
>         a.  Make sure you have a HD and CD-ROM
>                 I.  Compatible CD-ROM drives, setting SCSI IDs, blocksize..
>         b.  Make sure your HD is big enough.
>                 II.  SCSI vs. IDE, etc.
>         c.  Booting an OS (Solaris, etc) off CD-ROM and installing
>                 I.  IP address, hostname, etc
>                 II.  Which "distribution" should I pick to install?
>                 III.  Disk layout for home users
>                 IV.  Disk layout for servers
> 
> 7.  Everything's installed and on the network, now what?
>         a.  Lockdown the system.
>                 I.  Security guidelines here
>         b.  Software packages
>                 I.  Sunfreeware, etc.
>                 II.  Mozilla, etc, etc.
>                 III.  Freshmeat.
>         c.  Where's the compiler?
>                 I.  How to get/install GCC
>                 II.  Forte personal free license
> 
> 8.  CDE/Openwindows is ugly, how do I get <linux-centric window manager> on
>     here?
>         a.  www.plig.org/~xwinman
>         b.  how to start other window managers using .xinitrc
>         c.  (optional) compiling XFree86 on Solaris/SPARC
> 
> Something like that - I'm sure much more could be added, and I've forgotten
> things.. but what do you guys think?
> 
> Bill
> 
> --
> Bill Bradford
> mrbill at mrbill.net
> Austin, TX
> _______________________________________________
> rescue maillist  -  rescue at sunhelp.org
> http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue

-- 
Steve Sandau
ssandau at bath.tmac.com