DISKS

This screen enables you to choose a disk where the Oracle Solaris operating system will be installed. When a disk is highlighted in this screen, the existing partitions for that disk are displayed.

IMPORTANT: The installer, by default, uses GPT formatting when installing onto a whole disk or when creating new partitions. However, on SPARC systems, the necessary openboot firmware is required to support GPT installations. If the required firmware is not provided, VTOC slices are used for the disk. 

Whenever possible, existing GPT partitions, or existing DOS partitions on x86 systems, are retained by default and displayed in this screen. 

In this screen, you select a disk. In the following partitioning screens, you can choose to install into a whole disk, into a new or existing GPT partition, into an existing DOS partition, or into a logical partition within an existing DOS partition on the selected disk.

SIZE

* Devices that are too small for a successful installation are labeled that way. 

* Some devices may be so large that an Oracle Solaris installation cannot use all the space on the device. These devices have a maximum installation size specified.

PROCEDURE

The first section of the screen lists available devices. One device is highlighted by default. The next section of the screen displays the partition or slice information for the currently highlighted device. Depending on the format of the devices, GPT or DOS partitions are listed for x86 systems, and GPT partitions or slices are listed for SPARC systems. 

To exit this help screen, press F3. Then, in the installer screen, choose one of the following options:

     * If you want to install to the device that is currently highlighted, select F2 and the installation continues to the next screen.

     * If you want to select a different device for the installation, use the arrow keys to highlight your preferred device. Partition or slice information will display for the device that you select. Then press F2 to continue. 

Note: The installer uses the selected disk or partition to create a ZFS storage pool. If a second disk is available, you can, after the installed system has been booted, add a second disk to the ZFS pool to create a mirrored configuration. This second disk would need to be as large or larger than the installation target. 

CAUTION: If there are no existing partitions or slices for a device, the screen displays proposed partition or slice setup. In this case, all existing data on the device would be destroyed during installation.

NAVIGATION

Use the function keys listed at the bottom of each screen to navigate between screens. Use the arrow keys to move through the text on each screen. If your keyboard does not have function keys, or the keys do not respond, press ESC to view the alternate ESC keys for navigation.