Solaris SPARC to Solaris x86 Porting Guide

Overview

Solaris and HP

Solaris has been certified to run on HP ProLiant servers since 1996. During this time, the joint solution

has established a significant installation base. HP and Sun Solaris engineers have worked together on

platform interoperability to satisfy customer needs, resolving issues, and enhancing the customer

experience.

The HP and Sun Solaris agreement enables HP ProLiant servers to distribute 1 year and 3 year,

Standard (9x5) and Premium (24x7) Solaris subscriptions, which include the entitlement to Solaris 10

and online access to patches, fixes, and updates through Sun Connection for the duration of the

subscription.

Solaris x86 benefits

• Solaris is a key operating environment for ProLiant servers and blade servers.

• HP offers greater choice of Solaris certified ProLiant and StorageWorks platforms.

• HP is the only OEM with Solaris and Sun Cluster certified platforms.

• HP has SAP on Solaris certified ProLiant platforms.

• HP has one of the largest worldwide support organizations in the industry.

• HP customers benefit from the confidence, convenience, and choice that come from a single point

of purchase, contact, and accountability for their entire Solaris operating environment.

Migration

Prerequisites

Check for hardware-dependent application to be ported to Solaris x86 on the Sun website.

For information on Target Solaris x86 Operating System and HP ProLiant Server compatibility support,

see the

HP ProLiant Support website.

For information on HP Storage support for Solaris x86 operating system, see the

HP StorageWorks for

Sun Solaris website.

Issues and recommendations

• The device-naming schema might change in Solaris on x86 operating system. Hardware-dependent

scripts must be modified accordingly.

• Check third-party tools and application support on Solaris on x86. If you are using third-party tools

and application, check the support on Solaris on x86.

• Jumpstart software. You can jumpstart an x86 machine from SPARC and vice-versa. However, the

x86 Solaris installation cannot be totally automated.

To jumpstart a Solaris OS x86 client, you must have one of the following:

• Already installed Solaris OS for Intel®

• Solaris OS CD-ROM (and BIOS capable of booting off CD-ROM)

• Solaris Device Configuration Assistant (DCA) boot floppy

The installation is started by booting off of the appropriate device and media. The DCA is responsible

for probing and configuring the devices. During an x86-based installation, the installation program

automatically runs the kdmconfig command. This kdmconfig command determines the type of