Preconfiguring System Configuration Information (Tasks)

This chapter describes how to preconfigure system information. Preconfiguration can help you to avoid being prompted for this information when you install the Solaris operating environment. This chapter also describes how to preconfigure Power Management™ information. This chapter contains the following sections:

• Advantages of Preconfiguring System Configuration Information

• Ways to Preconfigure System Configuration Information

• Preconfiguring With the sysidcfg File

• Preconfiguring With the Name Service

• Preconfiguring System Configuration Information With the DHCP Service (Tasks)

• SPARC: Preconfiguring Power Management Information

Advantages of Preconfiguring System Configuration Information

The installation methods require configuration information about a system, such as peripheral devices, host name, Internet Protocol (IP) address, and name service. Before the installation tools prompt you for configuration information, they check for the information in the sysidcfg file and then in the name service databases.

When the Solaris Web Start program, Solaris suninstall program, or the custom JumpStart installation program detects preconfigured system information, the installation program does not prompt you to enter the information. For example, you have several systems and you do not want a time zone prompt every time you install the Solaris 9 software on one of the systems. You can specify the time zone in the sysidcfg file or the name service databases. When you install the Solaris 9 software, the installation program does not prompt you to type a time zone.

Ways to Preconfigure System Configuration Information

You can choose one of the following ways to preconfigure system configuration information. You can add the system configuration information to either of the following.

• A sysidcfg file on a remote system or diskette

• The name service database available at your site

If your site uses DHCP, you can also preconfigure some system information in the site DHCP server. For more information about how to use a DHCP server to preconfigure system information, see Preconfiguring System Configuration Information With the DHCP Service (Tasks).

Use the following table to determine whether to use a sysidcfg file or a name service database to preconfigure system configuration information.

Table 7-1 Methods to Preconfigure System Configuration Information

Preconfiguring With the sysidcfg File

You can specify a set of keywords in the sysidcfg file to preconfigure a system. The keywords are described in Table 7-2.

You must create a unique sysidcfg file for every system that requires different configuration information. You can use the same sysidcfg file to preconfigure the time zone on a set of systems if you want all the systems to be assigned the same time zone. However, if you want to preconfigure a different root (superuser) password for each of those systems, you need to create a unique sysidcfg file for each system.

You can place the sysidcfg file in one of the following.

• NFS file system - If you put the sysidcfg file in a shared NFS file system, you must use the -p option of the add_install_client(1M) command when you set up the system to install from the network. The -p option specifies where the system can find the sysidcfg file when you install the Solaris 9 software.

• UFS or PCFS diskette - Place the sysidcfg file in the root (/) directory on the diskette.

• HTTP or HTTPS server - If you want to perform a WAN boot installation, place the sysidcfg file in the document root directory of the web server.

Note - If you are performing a custom JumpStart installation and you want to use a sysidcfg file on a diskette, you must place the sysidcfg file on the profile diskette. To create a profile diskette, see Creating a Profile Diskette for Standalone Systems.

You can place only one sysidcfg file in a directory or on a diskette. If you are creating more than one sysidcfg file, you must place each file in a different directory or on a different diskette.

Syntax Rules for the sysidcfg File

You can use two types of keywords in the sysidcfg file: independent and dependent. Dependent keywords are guaranteed to be unique only within independent keywords. A dependent keyword exists only when it is identified with its associated independent keyword.

In this example, name_service is the independent keyword, while domain_name and name_server are the dependent keywords:

name_service=NIS {domain_name=marquee.central.sun.com
name_server=connor(129.152.112.3)}