Instructions for installing and configuring a full Solaris 10 u6 server with ZFS root filesystem. Solaris 10 is available for free from Sun for sparc and x86 architectures, however registration is required. These instructions were written for sparc machines but also tested and work for x86.
boot cdrom
language, 0 (english)
term type: 3 (vt100) - especially if doing installation over serial
select networked, bge0
use DHCP, no
specify full hostname, ipaddr, subnet mask, default route
kerberos, no
name service, None (or configure DNS)
use the NFSv4 domain derived by the system
time zone, Americas → United States → Eastern Time
remote services enabled, no
auto eject CD/DVD
auto reboot
Standard Install
geographic regions, North America → U.S.A. (en_US.UTF-8)
system locale, U.S.A. (en_US.UTF-8) ( en_US.UTF-8 )
no extra software
install entire distribution
ZFS boot disks:
select two disks and by default it will create a mirror
edit /etc/passwd
root:x:0:0:Super-User:/root:/bin/bash
run: mkdir /root && chmod 700 /root
then move any /.* files to /root (shouldn't be any if this is the first thing you do)
create /root/.bash_profile
export TERM=vt100 export PS1="[\u@\h \W]\\$ " export PATH=/usr/sfw/bin:/usr/sfw/sbin:/opt/sfw/sbin:/opt/sfw/bin:/usr/ccs/bin:$PATH set -o vi
stop some services if they're running:
svcadm disable cde-login cde-ttdbserver cde-calendar-manager cde-printinfo sendmail
remove the motd:
rm /etc/motd touch /etc/motd
create or edit /etc/resolv.conf
domain eng.fsu.edu nameserver ... nameserver ...
edit /etc/nsswitch.conf
hosts: files dns ipnodes: files dns
install rsync from companion cd:
pkgadd -d /path/to/companion/files SFWrsync
edit /etc/default/login (for rsync to work)
PATH=/opt/sfw/bin:/usr/bin SUPATH=/opt/sfw/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
If you have a ZFS mirror root filesystem or want to create one, these steps might at some point be helpful. If a disk fails it needs to be detached and a replacement needs to be added. This was tested on general x86 hardware, for Sun server hardware drives can be swapped while the server is on and come correctly formatted.
detach the failed disk (skip if you're creating your first mirror):
zpool detach rpool c0d0s0
Now shutdown and physically do whatever's necessary to add the new drive and boot up.
Format the new drive correctly:
format (select the disk number) fdisk 3 y 5 fdisk y label y quit
Copy the disk format from the GOOD disk to the NEW disk (NOTE s2 on both):
prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c1d0s2 | fmthard -s - /dev/rdsk/c0d0s2
Attach the disk:
zpool attach rpool c1d0s0 c0d0s0
Install grub to the new disk:
installgrub -m /boot/grub/stage1 /boot/grub/stage2 /dev/rdsk/c0d0s0
That's it. Either disk can fail, the server should still boot and you can follow these steps to replace the drive.
For more details about ZFS see: ZFS Basics