For custom AI installations, one of the most difficult part is about manifests.
Derived manifests take into account client hardware specifics.
Essentially they are scripts that dynamically generate a "real" manifest.
They start by loading a base (static) manifest, a default or a customized one.
According to client-specific environment variables, other clauses are dynamically inserted.
An example of the overall strategy is as follows:
Copy an existing manifest as a starting point:
# cd /export/auto_install/solaris11-i386/auto_install
# cp -p manifest/{default,base}.xml
# ln -s {manifest/,}base.xml
Manually customize as much as needed and as much as possible:
# vi base.xml
# egrep 'ai_instance name|origin' base.xml
<ai_instance name="base" auto_reboot="true">
<origin name="http://s11-depot-01"/>
Within a derived manifest, address what couldn't be set by the previous steps:
# cd /export/auto_install/files
# vi derived.sh
# chmod a+x derived.sh
Associate the derived manifest with an installation service:
# installadm create-manifest
-n solaris11-i386
-m derived
-f /export/auto_install/files/derived.sh
-d
Verify:
# installadm list -m
Service Name Manifest Status
------------ -------- ------
default-i386 orig_default Default
solaris11-i386 derived Default
# installadm list -m -n solaris11-i386
Manifest Status Criteria
-------- ------ --------
derived Default None
orig_default Inactive None
