Advanced Installation - Solaris 9 System Administrator - page 379

Install Server
An install server is a system that provides the distribution files necessary for
the installation of the Solaris operating system on an install client during an
over-the-network installation. The files can be provided directly from the
Solaris distribution CD mounted in a local CD-ROM drive or from a local
hard disk.
By copying the distribution files to a local hard disk, a single install server can
provide the files for multiple releases (Solaris 8, Solaris 7, Solaris 2.6, and so
on) or for multiple platforms (SPARC and Intel x86). In addition, a local hard
disk typically provides faster access to the distribution files than does a local
CD-ROM drive.
To set up a system as an install server, mount the Solaris 9 Software (1 of 2) dis-
tribution CD in the local CD-ROM drive. Alternatively, you can use the
setup_install_server command, under the Solaris_9/Tools directory on the
Solaris distribution CD, to copy the distribution files to the local hard disk of
the install server. One command-line argument is required: the full pathname
to a target directory to which the distribution files will be copied. Although any
directory can be used, by convention the directory is named /export/install .
The following listing executes the setup_install_server command from the
Solaris_9/Tools directory of the distribution CD to set up an install server:
# ./setup_install_server /export/install
The setup_install_server command copies the CD image of the software
to the specified directory. This includes the Product and Tools directories. A
netmask(4) file that contains the network subnet mask for the server is cre-
ated in the Tools directory.
Once an install server is set up, products from the other Solaris distribution
CDs such as the Solaris 9 Software (2 of 2) or the Solaris 9 Languages CD can
be added to the install server. The directory used for the files associated with
the install server must be specified as a command-line argument. To add to
the install server, insert the supplement CD into the local CD-ROM drive
and execute the add_to_install_server(1M) command on the CD. The fol-
lowing listing shows the add_to_install_server command executed from the
Solaris_9/Tools directory of the distribution CD to add to the install server:
# ./add_to_install_server /export/install
The add_to_install_server command supports two additional command-
line arguments. The first is -s , which allows selection of the products to
install. By default, all products are installed. The second is -p product _ path ,
where product_path is an alternative directory for products to be installed.