Previous | Next

Section 18 SYSTEM REBUILD

Objectives

This section will walk you through the installation of the Solaris operating system. It will also attempt to address

the steps involved
the solution of troubleshooting other hardware issues that may arise
adding on additional software

You may have to rebuild a workstation if a hardware malfunction occurs, such as a disk failure. Each of the workstations has two 500 Mb hard disks (Landinfo has a 500 Mb and a 1 Gb disk.) One disk is configured with the operating system, swap space, and utility software. The second disk is configured for user accounts and workspace, along with the GIS software. Each workstation is configured to mount the ICL server for NFS (network file system) disk space with either read-only (in the case of /geobase and /geodoc) or read-write (in the case of /geowork) access.

Store Data on the ICL System for Backup

The data can be copied to a directory in /geowork for backup on the ICL tape machine, or the workstation can be remotely mounted by the ICL. You can also use the floppy drive for small files. If the boot disk has failed, you can boot using the operating system CD, used in the procedure below, to try mount and backup the other disk. Regular periodic backup of the system eliminates the need for this step, and by storing your data on /geowork, the backup will be accomplished by the MIS department as part of their support for the Geobase activity.

Booting Solaris 2.4 from CD

Locate inside a Solaris Software box the foldout "Solaris Roadmap", which introduces the parts of the package. You will need the "SPARC: Installing Solaris Software" manual, the small folder "Solaris 2.4 Hardware: 3/95" containing the CD, and the stapled notes "Solaris 2.4: Latest Notes."

Open the manual, refer to the section tagged About Installing Solaris

Stage 1: remove the CD from its envelope
Stage 2: put the CD into the drive, located on the right side of the machine. Push the rectangular button to open the drive. Dust off the media side of the CD if required and place the CD in the drive with the label side facing up.
Stage 3: if the machine will not start from the boot drive yet the workstation is currently operational, you will have to login as root, use the /etc/halt command to get to the point where the system has a PROM prompt ok, and issue the command boot cdrom.

Problem Causes

If the system does not show any prompt at this time, the problem may be the power supply, memory, graphic display card, or motherboard and processor.
1. Check the power supply to the workstation via the surge protector to assure both devices are plugged in. You should at least hear a fan and feel air circulating from the vents on the side of the workstation when the power button has been toggled to the on (1) setting. If this does not work, plug the workstation into the outlet directly to check if the surge protector is the problem.
2. Check to see that the monitor is on and that the power cables and video cables are connected. You can check the monitor by swapping it with another workstation. Likewise, if the Graphic Card or CD ROM is malfunctioning, it could be swapped with one in another machine. Before swapping the card, refer to the manual "Sun CD 2Plus Installation and Users Manual" and provide static protection via a wrist strap.
Stage 4: the system will respond with messages about the boot device, the operating system level, possibly a warning about the clock, and configuration of temporary directories on the white screen before finally starting up OpenWindows.

The type of system we are configuring is Networked Standalone (see section Preparing to Install Solaris page 7) Each workstation meets the required hardware of a SPARC processor and 32 Mb of RAM.

SPARC Memory Chips

We are using single inline memory modules (SIMM) of 32 Mb per card (Sun Part Number X132M). If one of these should fail, it must be replaced as there is no memory provided on the system motherboard. An alternative might be to have at least two 8 MB SIMMs (Sun PN# X108M) available to meet the minimum required 16 Mb of RAM. A suggested upgrade for the current system would be to have 8 MB RAM added to each of the systems, for a total of 40 Mb on each system. If one system had a problem, 8 MB RAM could be taken from each of 2 systems and used as a backup.

Our local workstations will be configured to include the Entire Distribution, as described on Preparing to Install Solaris page 9, which requires 360 Mb of disk space. All of the workstations contain at least 1,000 Mb of disk space.

Rebuilding a Disk

You will only need to do this if a disk is bad and you have to replace it, or perhaps if the formatting has been upset by bad sectors on an existing disk. If you have the operating system running you may be able to run this function from superuser. Otherwise you may need to boot from CD ROM and accomplish the tasks using a command tool. (note that booting from the CD ROM you will be prompted for operating system installation, and you will need to select a new Command Tool window for this procedure. NOTE THAT USING THE FORMAT WILL DESTROY ANY DATA ON THE DISK - MAKE SURE TO BACKUP ANYTHING YOU NEED AND CAN ACCESS FIRST!!! See also Solaris Systems Administrators Guide by Janice Winsor, pg 73-76

The `format` Command

Just starting format does not really do anything more than present the format menu. format can be used both for formating a new disk as well as looking at the available disk selections. Also, at any time to get help just enter a ? at the prompt.

# format

FORMAT MENU:
	disk		- select a disk
	type		- select (define) a disk type
	partition	- select (define) a disk type
	partition	- select (define) a partition table
	current		- d select (define) a partition table
	current		- describe the current disk
	format		- format and analyze the disk
	repair		- repair a defective sector
	label		- write a label to the disk
	analyze		- surface analysis
	defect		- defect list management
	backup		- search for backup labels
	verify		- read and display labels
	save		- save new disk/partition definitions
	inquiry		- show vendor, product and revision
	volname		- set 8-character volume name
	quit

format> disk

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:
	0. c0t1d0   GIS
	/iommu@0,10000000/sbus@0,10001000/espdma@5,8400000/esp@5,8800000/sd@1,0
	1. c0t3d0   SOLARIS
	/iommu@0,10000000/sbus@0,10001000/espdma@5,8400000/esp@5,8800000/sd@3,0

0. c0t1d0 ( will be used for the GIS programs and user accounts ) The c0t1d0 disk should be set with just info for the partition 2 (backup) and partition 7 (home) areas

1. c0t3d0 ( will be used for Solaris and swap space ) The c0t3d0 should be set for operating system defaults after formating, with exception for boosting partition 1 swap space as described for Arc/Info, and to add some to the partition 4 var space for spooling of printing and mail.

Specify disk (enter its number) [0]: 1
selecting c0t3d0: SOLARIS
[disk formated]
Warning: Current Disk has mounted partitions.

By typing 1 in this case we select the Solaris system disk. To select a different disk, use disk
Next, let the system know about defects with defect followed by both to make the primary and grown defect lists available (if you want to do your own check of the disk surface, you can use the analyze module of the format command.) quit gets out of any module.
format again within format actually does the formating and verifies the media.
Use volname to set the volume name to either "SOLARIS" or "GIS" as appropriate. Note that the " marks must be included. When you finish all the actions in format, use quit to end the entire format module.

Using the Interactive Solaris Installation Program

The method we will use is described in Preparing to Install Solaris on page 11 as number 2 - Interactive. On page 14 is a flowchart for the installation.

The system is coming up.  Please wait.

Appears on your screen, after everything is done with the boot sequence in the previous section. After reading the contents of the window, point & left-button click with the mouse on continue or press the key.

Identification of the system is provided by the first section (click continue or <return>).

	Host name: 	|____________________|

Indicate landinfoX where X = the number posted to the workstation. Continue.

	Networked:	< x>  Yes
			<  >  No

Make sure that the response Yes is pressed before clicking continue.

	IP address:	|____________________|

We have defined the addresses as follows to link up with the existing RC MIS configuration which are also listed in the IP table (rcx3 is where geobase, geowork, geodoc, and gis reside):

		Machine name	IP address

		rcx1		192.9.100.1
		rcx2		192.9.100.2
		rcx3		192.9.100.3
		Landinfo1	192.9.100.5
		Landinfo2	192.9.100.6
		Landinfo3	192.9.100.7
		Landinfo4	192.9.100.8

			MIS IP Address Table

Enter the appropriate IP address in the box and then continue.

You will get a screen to verify your entries, which you can then change or continue. Some network services will start (as seen in the console window.)

starting rpc services: rpcbind sysidnis

	Name Service:	<  >  NIS+
			<  >  NIS (formerly yp)
			<  >  Other
			< x>  None

None, continue.

starting rpc services: rpcbind sysidnis done.

System part of a subnet:	<  >  Yes
				< x>  No

No, Continue. You will get a screen to verify your entries, which you can either change or continue.

Specify timezone by:	< x>  Geographic region
			<  >  Other from GMT
			<  >  Timezone file

Continue.

You then can specify the time zone default by geographic region. Pick this option, then indicate Set... and pick Asia, Western for region and Saudi Arabia for time zone.

Regions:			Timezones:
Africa				Turkey
Asia, Eastern			Western Soviet Union
Asia, Western			Iran
Australia / New Zealand		Israel
Canada				Saudi Arabia
Europe
Mexico
South America
United States

Continue by setting the time. You will get a screen to verify your entries, to which you can either change or continue.

System identification is completed.

Now the profile begins, hit continue for the next screen and initial for install (note: upgrade option is highlighted first.)

	System Type:	< x>  Standalone
			<  >  Server
			<  > Dataless client

Standalone, continue.

Software Group:				Recommend Size:
<  >  Entire Distribution plus OEM support	354 MB
< x>  Entire Distribution			354 MB
<  >  Developer System Support			263 MB
<  >  End User System Support			170 MB
<  >  Core System Support			 69 MB

Select Entire Distribution, then continue.

Click and Add > both the c0t3d0 disk and the c0t1d0 disk (note that the required size is 274 MB leaving 80 Mb or about 20% available for expansion), then click continue.

You will be asked if you want to preserve data. You can just hit continue if you formated the disks prior, or you can use the preserve button to keep previous file systems intact.

The next screen enables Auto-layout which will be appropriate in most cases, and use that button to proceed.

	Software Group:	< x>  /
			< x>  swap
			< x>  /usr
			<  >  /opt
			<  >  /export/home
			<  >  /var

Take the defaults for / (i.e. root), swap and /usr for the disk layout.

You will have to adjust (Customize...) the partition tables now also to match those below.

	GIS disk			Solaris Disk 535
									 new
No	Name		Size	No	Name		Size [default]	 set

0	unassigned	0	0	/ (root)	31.45		 93
1	unassigned	0	1	swap		50.59		 120
2	overlap		entire	2	overlap		entire
3	unassigned	0	3	unassigned	0	0
4	unassigned	0	4	unassigned	0	0
5	unassigned	0	5	unassigned	0	0
6	unassigned	0	6	/usr		full-(root+swap) 296
7	/home		entire	7	unassigned	0	0

Size Determination

The size of the areas will be calculated for the Solaris disk on the basis of the amount of operating system to install (360 Mb) with some extra (20 Mb) for spooling files plus swap space of the remainder (120 Mb), or for the full area to be in the home directory on the GIS disk. The amount of disk in the partition 2 area for backup is the entire area of the disk. The numbers that you assign are the amount of disk space for the partition, then continue.

The next screen will allow you to remotely mount software systems. You will want to mount rcx3, which is ICL server at IP address 192.9.100.3, and the filesystems of /geobase, /geodoc, and /geowork, while indicating the same name as the local mount point. Indicate test to check any mounts out, then Add > each and repeat until all three are listed before you continue. You will get a profile that will allow you to see the entire setup and either Begin installation or Change as needed.

You should also indicate on the next screen No to reboot after installation as there are several patches we will add after the initial installation. This installation will take approximately 30 minutes. Once the installation is successful, activate the console window (with the root - # - prompt) and follow the patch install instructions (another 20 minutes.)

Preparing to install Solaris. Please wait.

Setting up disk c0t3d0:
		- Creating Solaris disk label (VTOC)

Setting up disk c0t1d0:
		- Creating Solaris disk label (VTOC)

Creating and checking UFS file systems:
		- Creating / (c0t3d0s0)
		- Creating /usr (c0t3d0s6)
		- Creating /home (c0t1d0s7)
Beginning Solaris package installation...
Solaris 2.4 software package installation succeeded

Customizing system files:
		- Local mount points (/etc/vfstab)
		- Network host addresses (/etc/hosts)

Customizing system devices:
		- Logical devices (/dev)
		- Physical devices (/devices)

Installing boot information on disk c0t3d0:
		- Installing boot blocks

Before rebooting, the installation log can be found in:
		/tmp/install_log

After rebooting, the installation log can be found in:
		/var/sadm/install_data/install_log


Installation sucessful...

Installing Patches for Solaris 2.4

Source: "Solaris 2.4; Latest Notes." pgs 2-3.

1. Run the install_patches script located in the product directory.

	# cd /cdrom/Patches
	# ./install_patches [-u] /a

This automatically installs the patch cluster on your system. The -u option skips the validation step of install_patches.

Installing Patches  (using install_patches 1.25)

Installation will be logged on in /a/var/sadm/install_data/Patches_log

install_patches completed sucessfully

2. If you encounter errors, check the detailed logfile for error information.
Errors encountered during the patch installation will be listed at the end of installation.
Look in the detail logfile for additional details about any patches that were not installed, for the causes of any failure.

	# more /a/var/sadm/install_data/Patches_log

3. Reboot your system to effect the patches.

	# reboot

You will be prompted for the root password to be placed on the machine. This will be determined by department personnel.

On this screen you can create a root password.

A root password can contain any number of characters, but only the first eight
characters in the password are significant.  (For example, if you create
'a1b2c3d4e5f6' as your root password, you can use 'a1b2c3d4' to gain root access.)

You will be prompted to type the root password twice; for security, the password
will not be displayed on the screen as you type it.

> If you do not want a root password, press RETURN twice.

Root password: _

Press Return to continue.

Check to see that /geobase, /geodoc, and /geowork have mounted properly.

On entry to the new workstation, only root will be defined, so you will need to establish all the user accounts. For the immediate time, you can ftp .cshrc from root on one of the other machines, after using either admintool and hosts or editing /etc/hosts to contain the other workstation names and IP addresses listed above in the MIS IP Address Table. It will make starting up csh and OpenWindows easier.

Optional Packages

Other optional packages, such as Answerbook, WABI, or NetWorker, can be installed from thier respective CD-ROMs. Likewise the scanner software and printer drivers need to be installed on the appropriate machines.

Conclusion

This should restore a system to its original state when it arrived. Any data that was not backed up on the system, such as home directories, will have been overwritten. This is not the way to approach fixing the system until all other approaches have been tried. This will essentially wipe the slate clean and put the basic software on the system.

Previous | Next

Paul Bailey (author)
Chris Hanson (html 11/09/96)

Section 18

SYSTEM REBUILD

Problem Causes

SPARC Memory Chips

The format Command

Size Determination

Installing Patches for Solaris 2.4

The `format` Command