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Jumpstart on X86 (PXE)

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zii kell

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Aug 13, 2007, 10:37:18 AM8/13/07
to
I have configured a couple of jumpstart servers with flash archives
afore on SPARC only, but expect that I will have to start to use x86.

I looked into the PXE configuration a little and would like to know if
jumpstart for x86 (Sun z20 z40) clients actually works, and whether it
would work with flash archives.

Would I be correct to assume that I could power on a Sun z20, and drop
into something that resembles an OBP environment and enter 'boot net -
install' somewhere?


Best regards, z.

klaus...@web.de

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Aug 13, 2007, 10:59:18 AM8/13/07
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On 13 Aug., 16:37, zii kell <huj22mlikzq9...@temporaryinbox.com>
wrote:

Hey,

you need a DHCP-Server with macros. This macros will send a Mini-
Solaris
which installs the complete OS.
Try this site from SUN:
http://www.sun.com/blueprints/0205/819-1692.pdf
You will find a complete documentation.

CU
Klaus Grote
DNS GmbH

Darren Dunham

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Aug 13, 2007, 12:54:07 PM8/13/07
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zii kell <huj22ml...@temporaryinbox.com> wrote:

> Would I be correct to assume that I could power on a Sun z20, and drop
> into something that resembles an OBP environment and enter 'boot net -
> install' somewhere?

No. x86 has no OBP or similar. But many (including the Sun servers)
support PXE booting, which the Solaris jumpstart can use.

--
Darren Dunham ddu...@taos.com
Senior Technical Consultant TAOS http://www.taos.com/
Got some Dr Pepper? San Francisco, CA bay area
< This line left intentionally blank to confuse you. >

zii kell

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Aug 14, 2007, 4:30:17 AM8/14/07
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Does one have to use the DHCP on the Sun Server (in my case this would
be a Sparc), or could I use an existing DHCP server.

Why does it not understand RARP?

Casper H.S. Dik

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Aug 14, 2007, 6:58:56 AM8/14/07
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zii kell <huj22ml...@temporaryinbox.com> writes:

>Does one have to use the DHCP on the Sun Server (in my case this would
>be a Sparc), or could I use an existing DHCP server.

You could use an existing one, but it's not always straightforward to
add the additional configuration, especially when it is not under your
control.

>Why does it not understand RARP?

Because RARP/Bootparams is Sun specific and was never supported by
PCs.

Casper
--
Expressed in this posting are my opinions. They are in no way related
to opinions held by my employer, Sun Microsystems.
Statements on Sun products included here are not gospel and may
be fiction rather than truth.

Darren Dunham

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Aug 14, 2007, 11:26:36 AM8/14/07
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zii kell <huj22ml...@temporaryinbox.com> wrote:
> Does one have to use the DHCP on the Sun Server (in my case this would
> be a Sparc), or could I use an existing DHCP server.

Both are possible. The sun documentation isn't going to give
configuration instructions for other DHCP servers, but there are some
guides on the internet for it.

> Why does it not understand RARP?

Nowadays, RARP is non-standard. Commodity x86 equipment commonly
supports PXE, using DHCP. DHCP can routed and handled by centralized
equipment, while RARP needs separate servers on each subnet.

RARP boot would require hardware/bios work that I doubt anyone wants to
do.

Kjetil Torgrim Homme

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Aug 18, 2007, 4:42:25 PM8/18/07
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[Klaus Grote]:

>
> you need a DHCP-Server with macros. This macros will send a Mini-
> Solaris which installs the complete OS.

you don't need the macros for PXE booting, it only uses well known
DHCP options. for SPARC, you need vendor options which are different
for each hardware model. (the internal options are the same, but the
vendor option namespace has a model specific name.) once set up, you
don't need rarpd and can bootstrap on any subnet which has a dhcp
helper defined.

> Try this site from SUN:
> http://www.sun.com/blueprints/0205/819-1692.pdf
> You will find a complete documentation.

this documentation is only complete enough to install on a Solaris
server...

BTW, if anyone needs it, I have a Perl script to simplify configuring
a Windows DHCP server for Jumpstart, it simply emits a netsh script.
--
Kjetil T.

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