[geeks] Solaris install with Jumpstart

[Shannon Hendrix]

Today I tried again to do a Jumpstart install of Solaris 10 U6.

I used OpenSolaris 11/2008 as the jumpstart server, as it is the only  
version of Solaris I can get running at the moment.

I read articles at Big Admin and several other places, and none of  
what I tried has worked.  The instructions are anything but clear and  
straightforward, but I followed them pretty carefully and I seemed to  
have all the needed services up and running.

One issue is that the documentation frequently contradicts itself or  
gives options but does not explain when or if you need them.

Still, from running the various status commands, it seemed I had  
everything configured.

I ran the install creation scripts from the DVD, which put all of the  
DVD files in /jumpstart/dvd.

 From there I ran the add_client* script, which generated multiple  
errors.

These bugs are well known and there is documentation on fixing them.   
Mostly things like missing tftp entries in inetd, etc.

In the end, pxeboot failed with the jumpstart server saying it could  
see the boot requests, but that it was ignoring them.  I could not  
find a reason for that in the logs or in any documentation I read.

There are also things I do not understand like the tftp server showing  
up as a UDP6 server, which would seem to indicate it was using IPv6  
which I don't want, but it seems everyone uses that so I guess it is  
correct and that's not the issue.

I'm two weeks late getting this server upgraded to U6, and any help  
appreciated.

I have never seen a network install as complicated as Jumpstart, but  
since I can't install from DVD, it is currently my only option.

If someone else has done this, maybe you could share your steps and  
configuration, and it would help me figure out if I have something  
misconfigured or whatever.

Thanks.




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