[geeks] Solaris install with Jumpstart

[Shannon Hendrix]

On Apr 12, 2009, at 10:05 , Joshua Boyd wrote:

>> Having said that, I would like to eventually figure out how to get  
>> it running, so for now I have saved my Jumpstart setup and will  
>> revisit it at a later date.
>
> I'm sorry it is so difficult for you.

None of it was hard, it just didn't work.

I have set it up for SPARC and it worked, so it seems mostly the X86  
procedure is flawed.

Also, it has nothing to do with PCs... they pxeboot pretty easily.

After all, network install is fairly trivial: shuffle the OS to the  
machine, and then after that it is just a matter of network media file  
transfer.

I think Sun DHCP is the worst part of it, mainly because the variables  
(macros) you have to set aren't very clear.  That's probably where my  
error is.

> When I finally bit the bullet and set up jumpstart, the entire thing  
> from looking up the two guides MrBill posted through having a  
> working new install was significantly faster than doing a CD install  
> would have been.

Interesting.

I booted up from the DVD, and it took me around a minute to enter the  
base information, and after that I just watched the install.

Picking out custom package sets would take longer, but then you have  
to do that for network install too if you want to pick and choose.

I think my install took 45 minutes, most of which was just copying  
files, and it was about the same speed as my gigabit network, so I  
can't see how a network install would be faster.

My next thing is to create a custom install DVD, or maybe mess with  
Flash archives.

One thing is for certain: ZFS simplifies things.

It's easier to just install it all and prune, not having to worry  
about space in your layouts.


-- 
"Where some they sell their dreams for small desires."