Overview of Automated Installation

Automated Installation of a single system that boot from AI boot media (CD/USB)

Automated Installation of mutiple systems that boot from Network

Automated Installation using AI media

Automated Installation of multiple systems using network boot

AI automates the installation of the Oracle Solaris 11 OS on SPARC and x86 clients over the network.

The clients can be customized with installation parameters such as disk layout and software selection and with system configuration parameters such as host name, network configuration, and user accounts.

Customizations can be made on a client-by-client basis and can be scaled for large environments.

An automated installation of a client over the network consists of the following high-level steps:

The client system boots over the network and gets its network configuration and the location of the install server from the DHCP server.
The install server provides a boot image to the client.
Characteristics of the client determine which installation instructions and which system configuration instructions are used to install the client.
The Oracle Solaris 11 OS is installed on the client, pulling packages from the package repository specified by the installation instructions in the AI install service.

References