Migrating from Solaris JumpStart to OpenSolaris Automated Installer

Under Construction

Overview of JumpStart and Automated Installer

Both Solaris Custom JumpStart and OpenSolaris Automated Installer automatically install multiple systems on a network.

If you are an expert user of JumpStart, you might want to read the remainder of this document, which compares JumpStart and Automated Installer. If you are not an expert user of JumpStart, you should disregard this page and instead go directly to learning about Automated Installer. See the following resources for information about Automated Installer:

• How to Use the Automated Installer [PDF], an OpenSolaris How To Guide
• OpenSolaris Automated Installer Guide [HTML]

Similarities: JumpStart and Automated Installer

Both JumpStart and Automated Installer:

• Perform network installs. Network connectivity is required.
• Can install both x86 and SPARC clients. One install server can serve both x86 and SPARC installations.
• Can boot clients either from an install server or from media.

Differences: JumpStart and Automated Installer

For complete Solaris JumpStart instructions, see the Solaris 10 Installation Guide: Custom JumpStart and Advanced Installations.

Upgrade Systems

To upgrade systems using JumpStart, specify the upgrade value for the install_type keyword in the profile.

To upgrade OpenSolaris systems to a new operating system version, use the image-update subcommand as in the following example:

ssh -l <someone>@<somesystem.org> '/usr/sbin/pkg image-update'

Make sure the user has privilege to run the pkg command. Make sure your preferred package publisher is set to the package repository to which you want to update. See the OpenSolaris Image Packaging System Guide and the OpenSolaris Managing Boot Environments guide for more information.

To upgrade only specified packages on OpenSolaris systems, use the install and uninstall subcommands as in the following example:

ssh -l <someone>@<somesystem.org> '/usr/sbin/pkg install <pkg1> <pkg2> <pkg3>'

Make sure the user has privilege to run the pkg command. Make sure your preferred package publisher is set to the package repository where you want to get the specified packages. See the OpenSolaris Image Packaging System Guide for more information.

Install Third-Party Software

To install third-party software after a JumpStart installation, use a JumpStart finish script.

To install third-party software after an Automated Installer installation, create a first reboot SMF service. Save the service as an IPS package, and install that package during the Automated Installer installation.

Reset the Root Password on the Client

To reset the root password after a JumpStart installation, use a JumpStart finish script.

To reset the root password after an Automated Installer installation,

AI Install Server

In this configuration, install one system with the OpenSolaris OS, and then set up this system as the AI install server. On this install server, set up an installation service. An installation service is described by manifests, or specifications, for particular x86 or SPARC installations. Manifests can include information such as target device, additional packages, partition information, and other parameters. When the client boots, the client initiates a search for a manifest that matches the client's machine specifications. When a matching manifest is found, the client is installed with the OpenSolaris OS according to the specifications in the manifest files. AI does a package-based installation from one or more Image Packaging System (IPS) repositories that are specified in the manifests.

The tools required to set up an AI server are included on the OpenSolaris CD or in the OpenSolaris OS ISO. These AI tools are not installed by default when you install the OpenSolaris OS, but you can easily install these tools with the Package Manager utility or with the pkg(1) command:

$ pfexec pkg install SUNWinstalladm-tools

When you have installed the SUNWinstalladm-tools package, use the installadm(1M) command to administer this system as an AI install server.

Bootable AI

You can download a SPARC or x86 AI image from opensolaris.com and burn it to media. Then you can boot a SPARC or x86 client system and perform an automated installation from the media, without setting up an install server. The installation can use a default manifest or a custom manifest. This media option is particularly useful for SPARC systems that do not have WANboot support.

For complete AI information, including instructions for automated installations from media, see the OpenSolaris Automated Installer Guide.

Comparing Features: Solaris JumpStart and Automated Installer

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Comparing Task Maps: Solaris JumpStart and Automated Installer

Dave Miner: Task maps are not specific enough. We should more directly document existing, common Jumpstart use cases and then provide the equivalent how-to for AI.

The Solaris 10 OS media includes the tools you need to set up Solaris 10 network install servers and custom Jumpstart configurations. For example, when you insert a Solaris 10 OS DVD into your system, you go to the /media/dvd0/Solaris_10/Tools directory on the mounted DVD to access the tools used to set up a network install image. From this directory, you run the setup_install_server script to create a new network install image. This directory also provides various other scripts, such as add_install_client, that are necessary to administer this network install image (Sundar: Or administer this client?).

JumpStart: You can use shell scripts to include pre-installation and post-installation tasks. You can use a sysidcfg(4) file to specify configuration information so that the custom JumpStart installation is completely automated.

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Comparing Keywords: Solaris JumpStart Keywords and Automated Installer Directives

The following tables list examples of the Rules keywords and Profile keywords for JumpStart. For each keyword, an example of the most comparable directive in AI is given.

• Jumpstart rules keywords are compared against AI criteria directives.

• Jumpstart profile keywords are compared against directives in the AI manifest file.

Note: JumpStart uses plain text files. AI uses XML files.

Rules Keywords

<ai_criteria name="ARCH">
     <value>sparc</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="IPV4">
     <value>10.6.68.127</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria name="MEM">
     <value>2048</value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria_name="Platform">
     <value>
        SUNW,Sun-Fire-880
     </value>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria_name="IPV4">
     <range>
	10.6.68.0
	10.6.68.255
     </range>
</ai_criteria>

<ai_criteria_name="MAC">
     <value>0:3:ba:33:9d:b6</value>
</ai_criteria>

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Profile Keywords

<ai_target_device>
     <target_device_name>c0t0d0s0</target_device_name>
</ai_target_device>

<ai_install_packages>
     <pkg name="entire"/>
     <pkg name="SUNWcsd"/>
     <pkg name="SUNWcs"/>
     <pkg name="babel_install"/>
</ai_install_packages>

<ai_target_device>
     <target_device_name>c0t3d0</target_device_name>
</ai_target_device>

<ai_device_partitioning>
      <partition_action>create</partition_action>
      <partition_type>SOLARIS</partition_type>
      <partition_size>max_size</partition_size>
      <partition_size_units>GB</partition_size_units>
</ai_device_partitioning>

<ai_target_device>
     <target_device_name>c0t3d0</target_device_name>
</ai_target_device>

<ai_device_partitioning>
     <partition_type>SOLARIS2</partition_type>
     <partition_action>delete</partition_action>
</ai_device_partitioning>

<ai_pkg_repo_default_authority>
     <main url="http://pkg.opensolaris.org/release" authname="opensolaris.org"/>
     <mirror url=""/>
</ai_pkg_repo_default_authority>
...
<ai_install_packages>
     <pkg name="entire"/>
     <pkg name="SUNWcsd"/>
     <pkg name="SUNWcs"/>
     <pkg name="babel_install"/>
     ...
     ...
     <pkg name="SUNWnew"/>
</ai_install_packages>

<ai_uninstall_packages>
     <pkg name="SUNWfoo"/>
</ai_uninstall_packages>

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Examples: Converting Sample JumpStart Rules and Profile to AI Manifest Directives

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Sample JumpStart Profile

In the following sample JumpStart profile, the first column contains profile keywords, and the second column contains profile values.

install_type           initial_install
system_type            standalone
fdisk                  c0t0d0 solaris maxfree
cluster                SUNWCall
cluster                SUNWCstaroffice
cluster                SUNWevo

The above sample JumpStart profile states:

• Systems will receive an initial installation.
• Systems will be set up as standalone systems.
• On each system, a Solaris fdisk partition is created on the largest contiguous free space on the c0t0d0 disk.
• The Entire Distribution software group, SUNWCall, is installed on the system.
• The StarOffice suite of tools is installed on the system.
• The Evolution email and calendar utilities are not ?? to be installed on the system.

Equivalent AI Manifest Directives

The following excerpts from AI manifests show how you could convert the JumpStart profile above into directives in AI manifests.

<!-- The OpenSolaris release will be installed on the c0t0d0 disk. 
A Solaris2 partition will be created on the biggest chunk of contiguous free space. -->

<ai_manifest name=manifest1>
     <ai_target_device>
          <target_device_name>c0t0d0</target_device_name>
     </ai_target_device>

     <ai_device_partitioning>
          <partition_action>create</partition_action>
          <partition_type>SOLARIS</partition_type>
          <partition_size>max_size</partition_size>
          <partition_size_units>GB</partition_size_units>
     </ai_device_partitioning>

     <!-- Specifies an IPS repository. Packages will be retrieved from this repository and
installed on the system. -->

     <ai_pkg_repo_default_authority>
          <main url="http://pkg.opensolaris.org/dev" authname="opensolaris.org"/>
     </ai_pkg_repo_default_authority>

     <!-- The following packages will be installed from the IPS repository.
This list of packages corresponds to a standard OpenSolaris OS installation.
Due to dependency issues, entire must be listed first in the package list,
followed by SUNWcsd, and then SUNWcs. Any additional packages must be listed after SUNWcs.
"babel_install" represents the group package for the standard OpenSolaris OS.
"redistributable" represents the group package for all redistributable software in OpenSolaris.
"openoffice" is the group package for the OpenOffice suite of tools.-->

     <ai_install_packages>
          <pkg name="entire"/>
          <pkg name="SUNWcsd"/>
          <pkg name="SUNWcs"/>
          <pkg name="babel_install"/>
          <pkg name="redistributable/>
          <pkg name="openoffice"/>
     </ai_install_packages>

     <!-- The following packages will be uninstalled from the system.
"babel_install", "slim_install", and "redistributable" are uninstalled because they represent
the group package definitions used to install the system, and so must removed so that
individual packages can be removed. The SUNWevolution will be removed from the system.-->

     <ai_uninstall_packages>
          <pkg name="babel_install"/>
          <pkg name="slim_install"/>
          <pkg name="redistributable"/>
          <pkg name="SUNWevolution"/>
     </ai_uninstall_packages>

</ai_manifest>

SC manifest?

<!-- This SC manifest provides configuration settings for the installed system.-->

<sc_embedded_manifest name = "sc_manifest1">
     <service_bundle type="profile" name="name">
          <service name="ai_properties" version="1" type="service">
               <instance name="default" enabled="true">
                    <property_group name="ai" type="application">
                         <propval name="username" type="astring" value="jack"/>
                         <propval name="userpass" type="astring" value="9Nd/cwBcNWFZg"/>
                         <propval name="description" type="astring" value="default_user"/>
                         <propval name="rootpass" type="astring"
value="<propval name="timezone" type="astring" value="US/Pacific"/>
                         <propval name="hostname" type="astring" value="opensolaris"/>
                    </property_group>
               </instance>
          </service>
     </service_bundle>
</sc_embedded_manifest>

Sample JumpStart Rules File

In the following sample JumpStart rules file, the first column contains rule keywords and rule values, the second column is the begin script, the third column is the profile, and the fourth column is the finish script. Note: No begin or finish scripts are specified for any of the three alternatives.

memsize 2048-4096 && model SUNW      -             lx_prof          -
arch i86pc                           -             prog_prof        -
any                                  -             generic_prof     -

The above sample JumpStart rules file identifies three basic groups of systems, and each group is assigned a different profile.

This sample rules file states:

• Any SPARC systems with a memory size between 2048 and 4096 MB will be installed using specifications in the lx_prof profile.
• Any x86 systems will be installed using specifications in the prog_prof profile.
• Any systems not covered in the above rules will be installed using specifications in the generic_prof profile.

Equivalent AI Criteria Manifest Directives

Below are sample AI criteria manifests that are comparable to the three rules from the JumpStart sample above. Each criteria manifest corresponds to a specified converted profile. For this example, assume you have already converted the profiles lx_prof, prog_prof, and generic_prof to AI manifests ai_lx_manifest.xml, ai_prog_manifest.xml, and ai_generic_manifest.xml respectively.

<!-- The following criteria manifest specifies that any Sparc system with Memory size
between 2048Mb and 4096Mb will use the AI manifest, "ai_lx_manifest.xml" which is a
file located in the same directory as this Criteria manifest. -->

<ai_criteria_manifest>
     <ai_criteria name="MEM">
          <range>
              2048
              4096
          </range>
     </ai_criteria>
     <ai_criteria name="ARCH">
          <value>Sparc</value>
     </ai_criteria>

<!-- The criteria manifest references a specific AI manifest and a specific SC manifest
to be used for the installations. The AI and SC manifests are included below, embedded
within the criteria manifest. -->

     <ai_manifest_file URI="./ai_lx_manifest.xml"/>
     <sc_manifest_file name="AI" URI="./sc_manifest1.xml"/>

</ai_criteria_manifest>

<!-- The following criteria manifest specifies that any x86 system will use the
AI manifest, "ai_prog_manifest.xml", which is a file located in the same directory
as this Criteria manifest. -->

<ai_criteria_manifest>
     <ai_criteria name="ARCH">
          <value>i86pc</value>
     </ai_criteria>

<!-- The criteria manifest references a specific AI manifest and a specific SC manifest
to be used for the installations. -->

     <ai_manifest_file URI="./ai_prog_manifest.xml"/>
     <sc_manifest_file name="AI" URI="./sc_manifest1.xml"/>

</ai_criteria_manifest>

<!-- Because the following criteria manifest has no actual criteria specified, it is
the default AI manifest that is given to systems that fail to match any of the above criteria.
The AI manifest file "ai_generic_manifest.xml" is a file located in the same directory
as this Criteria manifest.
Note: For this manifest to be a valid default AI manifest, the "name" directive in the
referenced AI manifest file must be named "default". -->

<ai_criteria_manifest>

<!-- The criteria manifest references a specific AI manifest and a specific SC manifest
to be used for the installations. -->

     <ai_manifest_file URI="./ai_generic_manifest.xml"/>
     <sc_manifest_file name="AI" URI="./sc_manifest1.xml"/>
</ai_criteria_manifest>

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