Installing Communications Suite on Solaris Zones

This section explains how to install Communications Suite on Solaris 10 Zones. For an overview of Solaris 10 with Communications Suite, see Overview of Solaris Zones in Sun Java Communications Suite 5 Installation Guide.

This page includes the following topics:

Installing on Solaris 10 Zones: Best Practices

You can install Communications Suite components in the global zone, whole root non-global zones, and sparse non-global zones. Follow these guidelines:

• Treat the global zone as an "administration zone". Install shared components and OS patches there that will be shared among all zones. But don't install and run products from the global zone.

• You can have different shared component versions in the whole root non-global zone, but it isn't entirely insulated. If you do a packaging/patch operation in the global zone for a shared component, that operation will be attempted in the whole root zone. So if you really want different shared component versions then an alternate root would be one way to go. Unfortunately, you can't use alternate root for this purpose because of a bug (6548217) in Messaging Server.

• You could try just having whole root zones and never ever installing and patching shared components in the global zone. I don't know how realistic it is to believe that you'll never have to install or patch a shared component in the global zone. For example, NSS is a shared component, but it is part of Solaris. So to say you'll never install and patch it in the global zone seems unrealistic, especially given it is a security component.

• In sparse non-global zones, shared components can not be installed into the default root because many of them install into a readonly shared filesystem (/usr). Thus you must run the installer in the global zone to install shared components into the default root. Prepend your selection with ~ in the global zone to install only the dependencies (i.e. shared components). You do not have to install in the global zone first before installing in the sparse zone, the installer will allow you to continue even when you don't install all the dependencies.

Solaris 10 Zones Installation Sequences

This section describes how to install Communications Suite components in the four Solaris 10 Zone scenarios:

• Global zone with existing non-global zones
• Global zone with no existing non-global zones
• Non-global whole root zone
• Non-global sparse root zone

Global Zone with Existing Non-Global Zones

Note This Zone scenario is not recommended for Communications Suite implementation. It requires the same version of shared components be running on each zone. Futhermore, the global zone should be reserved for administrative zone support.

If you install Communications Suite components in a global zone with existing non-global zones, you install the appropriate OS patches, shared component patches, and Communications Suite components into the global zone. It will propagate the shared component patches into the non-global zones. To install Communications Suite in a global zone with existing non-global zones:

1. Follow pre-installation requirements as described in Installation Overview.
2. Run the installer in the global zone by following the steps in To Begin Installation.

Global Zone with No Existing Non-Global Zones

If you install Messaging Server in a global zone with no existing non-global zones, you need to prepare your installation as if you might add non-global zones in the future. Modifying your deployment at a later time becomes difficult if you don~t plan for this step. To do this, follow the steps in Global zone with existing non-global zones.

Non-Global Whole Root Zone

The non-global whole root zone scenario is the equivalent of installing Messaging Server on a single box with no zones. Simply install Communications Suite as described in To Begin Installation.

Caution Any operations performed in the global zone (such as installations, uninstallations, and patching) affect the whole root zones.

Non-Global Sparse Root Zone

To install Communications Suite in a non-global sparse root zone, you first need to install/upgrade the applicable OS patches and shared components in the global zone. You are unable to do so in the sparse root zone, because the /usr directory (where the shared components reside) is a read-only directory in the sparse root zone.

1. Follow pre-installation requirements as described in Installation Overview.
2. Verify that you are about to install the shared components and OS patches in the global zone and not the sparse root zone.
3. Run the installer in the global zone and only install/upgrade the OS patches and the Shared Components:
   
   commpkg install -upgradeSC y
   
4. Do not install Communications Suite components in the global zone. To do this, add a ~ (tilde) to the component number you want to install in the sparse zone. For example, if you plan to install Messaging Server in the sparse zone, you select ~3 during the global zone installation. The installer will know to only install dependencies and not the product itself.
5. Once you have the shared components and OS patches installed, install Communications Suite components in the sparse root zone by following the steps in the To Begin Installation section.

Guidelines for Using SunCluster HA Packages in a Non-Global Zone

Take the following steps to install the Communications Suite 6 Update 1 Sun Cluster HA agent in non-global zones:

1. Run the Communications Suite command in the global zone only:
   

   # commpkg install
   

   This command installs the Sun Cluster HA Agent package on global zone and all non-global zones.
   

   Note In case of IM_SCHA, run the command from global and non-global zones.

2. Run the Sun Cluster HA Agent pre-configuration command in the global zone only:
   

   # <scha_base>/bin/init-config