Chapter 42Preparing to Install With WAN Boot (Planning)
This chapter describes how to prepare your network for a WAN boot installation. This chapter describes the following topics.
WAN Boot Requirements and Guidelines
The section describes the system requirements to perform a WAN boot installation.
Table 42-1 System Requirements for WAN Boot Installation
System and Description | Requirements |
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WAN boot server - The WAN boot server is a web server that provides the wanboot program, the configuration and security files, and the WAN boot miniroot. | Operating system - Solaris 9 12/03 operating environment, or compatible version Must be configured as web server Web server software must support HTTP 1.1 If you want to use digital certificates, the web server software must support HTTPS
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Install server - The install server provides the Solaris Flash archive and custom JumpStart files that are required to install the client. | Available disk space - space for each Solaris Flash archive Media drive - CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive Operating system - Solaris 9 12/03 operating environment, or compatible version
If the install server is a different system than the WAN boot server, the install server must meet these additional requirements. Must be configured as a web server Web server software must support HTTP 1.1 If you want to use digital certificates, the web server software must support HTTPS
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Client system - The remote system you want to install over a WAN | Memory - Minimum of 256 Mbytes of RAM CPU - UltraSPARC II processor minimum Hard disk - At least 2 Gbytes of hard disk space OBP - WAN boot-enabled PROM If the client does not have the appropriate PROM, the client must have a CD-ROM drive. To determine if your client has a WAN boot-enabled PROM, see To Check the Client OBP for WAN Boot Support.
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(Optional) DHCP server - You can use a DHCP server to provide client configuration information. | If you are using a SunOS DHCP server, you must perform one of the following tasks. If the DHCP server is on a different subnet than the client, you must configure a BOOTP relay agent. For more information about how to configure a BOOTP relay agent, see "Configuring DHCP Service (Task)" in System Administration Guide: IP Services. |
(Optional) Logging server - By default, all booting and installation log messages are displayed on the client console during a WAN installation. If you want to view these messages on another system, you can specify a system to serve as a logging server. | Must be configured as web server.
Note - If you use HTTPS during your installation, the logging server must be the
same system as the WAN boot server.
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(Optional) Proxy server - You can configure the WAN boot feature to use an HTTP proxy during the download of the installation data and files. | If the installation uses HTTPS, the proxy server must be configured to tunnel HTTPS. |
Web Server Software Requirements and Guidelines
The web server software you use on your WAN boot server and install server must meet the following requirements.
Operating system requirements - WAN boot provides a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) program (wanboot-cgi) that converts data and files into a specific format that the client machine expects. To perform a WAN boot installation with these scripts, the web server software must run on the Solaris 9 12/03 operating environment, or compatible version.
File size limitations - Your web server software might limit the size of the files you can transmit over HTTP. Check your web server documentation to make sure the software can transmit files that are the size of a Solaris Flash archive.
SSL support - If you want to use HTTPS in your WAN boot installation, the web server software must support SSL version 3.
Server Configuration Options
You can customize the configuration of the servers that are required by WAN boot to meet your network needs. You can host all the servers on one system, or place the servers on multiple systems.
Single server - If you want to centralize the WAN boot data and files on one system, you can host all the servers on the same machine. You can administer all your different servers on one system, and you only need to configure one system as a web server. However, a single server might not be able to support the volume of traffic that is required for a large number of simultaneous WAN boot installations.
Multiple servers - If you want to distribute the installation data and files across your network, you can host these servers on multiple machines. You might set up a central WAN boot server, and configure multiple install servers to host Solaris Flash archives across your network. If you host the install server and logging server on independent machines, you must configure those servers as web servers.
Storing Installation and Configuration Files in the Document Root Directory
The wanboot-cgi program transmits the following files during a WAN boot installation.
wanboot program
WAN boot miniroot
Custom JumpStart files
Solaris Flash archive
To enable the wanboot-cgi program to transmit these files you must store these files in a directory that is accessible to the web server software. One way to make these files accessible is to place these files in the document root on your web server.
The document root, or primary document directory, is the directory on your web server where you store files you want to make available to clients. You can name and configure this directory in your web server software. See your web server documentation for more information about setting up the document root directory on your web server.
You might want to create different subdirectories of the document root directory to store your different installation and configuration files. For example, you might want to create specific subdirectories for each group of clients that you want to install. If you plan to install several different releases of the Solaris operating environment across your network, you might create subdirectories for each release.
Figure 42-1 shows a basic sample structure for a document root directory. In this example, the WAN boot server and install server are on the same machine. The server is running the Apache web server software.
Figure 42-1 Sample Strucutre for Document Root Directory
 This sample document directory uses the following structure.
The /opt/apache/htdocs directory is the document root directory.
The WAN boot miniroot (miniroot) directory contains the WAN boot miniroot.
The wanboot directory contains the wanboot program.
The Solaris Flash (flash) directory contains the custom JumpStart files that are required to install the client and the subdirectory archives. The archives directory contains the Solaris 9 Flash archive.
Note - If the WAN boot server and the install server are different systems, you might want to store the flash directory on the install server. Ensure that these files and directories are accessible to the WAN boot server.
For information about how to create the document root directory, see your web server documentation. For detailed instructions about how to create and store these installation files, see Creating the Custom JumpStart Installation Files.
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