SPARC Client Installations

Review the following information about SPARC client installations:

What Happens During the SPARC Client Boot Sequence?
What Should I See During the SPARC Client AI Boot Sequence?
SPARC Booting Errors and Possible Causes

What Happens During the SPARC Client Boot Sequence?

Boot the client from the network. For SPARC clients, at the open boot prompt, type:

OK boot net:dhcp

The technical details of what occurs during the automated installer (AI) boot of a SPARC client are as follows:

The client boots and gets IP address and the bootfile, wanboot-cgi, from the DHCP server.
wanboot-cgi reads wanboot.conf and sends the location of the WAN Boot binary to the client.
The WAN Boot binary is downloaded using HTTP, and the client boots the WAN Boot program.
WAN Boot gets the boot_archive file, and Solaris is booted.
Net image archives, solaris.zlib and solarismisc.zlib, are downloaded using HTTP.
The AI SMF service does the client discovery and gets the install service by using multicast DNS, a DNS service.
The client contacts the server, http server, by using the information in the install service, and gets the AI manifest.
The AI install program is invoked with the AI manifest to perform the installation of the OpenSolaris OS to the client.

What Should I See During the SPARC Client AI Boot Sequence?

The SPARC client installation is initiated by typing at the open boot prompt:

OK boot net:dhcp

The output from the boot sequence displays as follows:

{3} ok boot net:dhcp

Sun Fire(TM) T1000, No Keyboard
Copyright 2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
OpenBoot 4.23.4, 8184 MB memory available, Serial #69329298.
Ethernet address 0:14:4f:21:e1:92, Host ID: 8421e192.

Rebooting with command: boot net:dhcp
Boot device: /pci@7c0/pci@0/network@4:dhcp  File and args: 
1000 Mbps FDX Link up
1000 Mbps FDX Link up
<time unavailable> wanboot info: WAN boot messages->console
<time unavailable> wanboot info: Starting DHCP configuration
<time unavailable> wanboot info: DHCP configuration succeeded
<time unavailable> wanboot progress: wanbootfs: Read 366 of 366 kB (100%)
<time unavailable> wanboot info: wanbootfs: Download complete
Tue Aug  5 17:12:09 wanboot progress: miniroot: Read 165251 of 165251 kB (100%)
Tue Aug  5 17:12:09 wanboot info: miniroot: Download complete
SunOS Release 5.11 Version snv_111 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
Hostname: opensolaris
Remounting root read/write
Probing for device nodes ...
Preparing automated install image for use
Downloading solaris.zlib archive
--11:09:11--  http://10.6.35.226:5555//export/home \
/images/osol-0906-ai-sparc//solaris.zlib
           => `/tmp/solaris.zlib'
Connecting to 10.6.35.226:5555... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 82,679,296 (79M) [text/plain]

100%[====================================>] 82,679,296    33.39M/s             

11:09:13 (33.36 MB/s) - `/tmp/solaris.zlib' saved [82679296/82679296]

Downloading solarismisc.zlib archive
--11:09:13--  http://10.6.35.226:5555//export/home/images \
/osol-0906-ai-sparc//solarismisc.zlib
           => `/tmp/solarismisc.zlib'
Connecting to 10.6.35.226:5555... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 620,032 (606K) [text/plain]

100%[====================================>] 620,032       --.--K/s             

11:09:13 (36.48 MB/s) - `/tmp/solarismisc.zlib' saved [620032/620032]

--11:09:13--  http://10.6.35.226:5555//export/home/images/ \
osol-0906-ai-sparc//install.conf
           => `/tmp/install.conf'
Connecting to 10.6.35.226:5555... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 39 [text/plain]

100%[====================================>] 39            --.--K/s             

11:09:13 (953.58 KB/s) - `/tmp/install.conf' saved [39/39]

Done mounting automated install image
Configuring devices.
Reading ZFS config: done.

Automated Installation started
The progress of the Automated Installation can be followed by 
viewing the logfile at /tmp/install_log

SPARC Booting Errors and Possible Causes

This section describes errors or problems you might see when booting a SPARC client and possible causes:

1. Timed out Waiting for BOOTP/DHCP Reply

2. Boot Load Failed

3. Internal Server Error or WAN Boot Alert

4. Error Message 403: Forbidden

5. Couldn't Determine the Source of the Automated Install Image

1. Timed out Waiting for BOOTP/DHCP Reply

If a DHCP server is not responding to a SPARC client's request, the following messages display:

Sun Fire(TM) T1000, No Keyboard
   Copyright 2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
   OpenBoot 4.23.4, 8184 MB memory available, Serial #69329298.
   Ethernet address 0:14:4f:21:e1:92, Host ID: 8421e192.

   Rebooting with command: boot net:dhcp
   Boot device: /pci@7c0/pci@0/network@4:dhcp  File and args: 
   1000 Mbps FDX Link up
   Timed out waiting for BOOTP/DHCP reply
   Timed out waiting for BOOTP/DHCP reply
   Timed out waiting for BOOTP/DHCP reply
   Timed out waiting for BOOTP/DHCP reply

The timeout message indicates that the client is sending a DHCP request, and no response has been made to that request. This error is probably caused by a DHCP configuration problem. Check whether your client is configured correctly in the DHCP server.

2. Boot Load Failed

If the AI client starts downloading the boot_archive, but then fails with the error, “Boot load failed,” as shown below, that indicates that the client DHCP information is configured incorrectly.

Rebooting with command: boot net:dhcp
   Boot device: /pci@7c0/pci@0/network@4:dhcp  File and args: 
   1000 Mbps FDX Link up
   HTTP: Bad Response: 500 Internal Server Error
   Evaluating: 

   Boot load failed

This error could happen if another DHCP server is responding to the client. Check the DHCP configuration for this client. If the configuration appears to be correct, determine whether there is another DHCP server in the subnet. If you are running Sun's DHCP server, you can run the DHCP daemon in debug mode with the command:

# /usr/lib/inet/in.dhcpd -dv

3. Internal Server Error or WAN Boot Alert

After the AI client has obtained the IP address and initial parameters to start downloading the boot archive, the client might be unable to find or download the boot_archive.

If the client cannot find the boot_archive, the following error displays:

Rebooting with command: boot net:dhcp
      Boot device: /pci@7c0/pci@0/network@4:dhcp  File and args: 
      1000 Mbps FDX Link up
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: WAN boot messages->console
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: Starting DHCP configuration
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: DHCP configuration succeeded
      <time unavailable> wanboot progress: wanbootfs: Read 366 of 366 kB (100%)
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: wanbootfs: Download complete
      Tue Aug  5 20:46:43 wanboot alert: miniinfo: Request returned code 500
      Tue Aug  5 20:46:44 wanboot alert: Internal Server Error \
(root filesystem image missing)

If the AI client finds the boot_archive file but cannot access the file, then the following error is displayed:

Rebooting with command: boot net:dhcp
      Boot device: /pci@7c0/pci@0/network@4:dhcp  File and args: 
      1000 Mbps FDX Link up
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: WAN boot messages->console
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: Starting DHCP configuration
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: DHCP configuration succeeded
      <time unavailable> wanboot progress: wanbootfs: Read 366 of 366 kB (100%)
      <time unavailable> wanboot info: wanbootfs: Download complete
      Tue Aug  5 20:53:02 wanboot alert: miniroot: Request returned code 403
      Tue Aug  5 20:53:03 wanboot alert: Forbidden

For both of these problems, fix the boot_archive file configured for this client. Check the path name and permissions of the boot_archive at $IMAGE/boot/boot_archive.

4. Error Message 403: Forbidden

This message, “ERROR 403: Forbidden,” can be seen if the AI client successfully downloads the boot_archive and boots the OpenSolaris kernel, but fails to get one of the net image archives. An error message is displayed indicating which file is causing the problem. For example, in the output below, the solaris.zlib file does not exist at the specified location.

Rebooting with command: boot net:dhcp
   Boot device: /pci@7c0/pci@0/network@4:dhcp  File and args: 
   1000 Mbps FDX Link up
   1000 Mbps FDX Link up
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: WAN boot messages->console
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: Starting DHCP configuration
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: DHCP configuration succeeded
   <time unavailable> wanboot progress: wanbootfs: Read 366 of 366 kB (100%)
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: wanbootfs: Download complete
   Tue Aug  5 21:43:37 wanboot progress: miniroot: Read 165251 of 165251 kB (100%)
   Tue Aug  5 21:43:38 wanboot info: miniroot: Download complete
   SunOS Release 5.11 Version snv_111 64-bit
   Copyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
   Use is subject to license terms.
   Hostname: opensolaris
   Remounting root read/write
   Probing for device nodes ...
   Preparing automated install image for use
   Downloading solaris.zlib archive
   --15:40:37--  http://10.6.35.226:5555//export/home/images/ai_sparc_111/solaris.zlib
           => `/tmp/solaris.zlib'
   Connecting to 10.6.35.226:5555... connected.
   HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 403 Forbidden
   15:40:37 ERROR 403: Forbidden.

   FAILED
   Requesting System Maintenance Mode
   (See /lib/svc/share/README for more information.)
   Console login service(s) cannot run

This problem can be caused by one of the following conditions:

The image path configured in WAN boot is not correct.
The image path doesn't exist or is incomplete.
Access is denied due to permission issues.

Check your DHCP configuration or the contents of the target directory you specified when you ran installadm create-service. Check your WAN boot configuration.

5. Couldn't Determine the Source of the Automated Install Image

If the Sun DHCP server is not used, for example, if an ISC DHCP server is used, then the image path is not sent to the client unless the client asks for the path. If the client does not ask for the path, the following sample output displays:

Rebooting with command: boot net:dhcp
   Boot device: /pci@1e,600000/pci@0/pci@1/pci@0/network@4:dhcp  File and args:
   1000 Mbps FDX Link up
   Timed out waiting for BOOTP/DHCP reply
   1000 Mbps FDX Link up
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: WAN boot messages->console
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: Starting DHCP configuration
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: DHCP configuration succeeded
   <time unavailable> wanboot progress: wanbootfs: Read 366 of 366 kB (100%)
   <time unavailable> wanboot info: wanbootfs: Download complete
   Thu Mar 26 07:48:13 wanboot progress: miniroot: Read 171484 of 171484 kB (100%)
   Thu Mar 26 07:48:13 wanboot info: miniroot: Download complete
   SunOS Release 5.11 Version snv_111 64-bit
   Copyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
   Use is subject to license terms.
   Hostname: opensolaris
   Remounting root read/write
   Probing for device nodes ...
   Preparing automated install image for use
   Couldn't determine source of automated install image  
   Requesting System Maintenance Mode
   (See /lib/svc/share/README for more information.)
   Console login service(s) cannot run