OpenSolaris

Dwarf Caiman

Dwarf Caiman is the first in a series of projects that in the end will provide the full Caiman experience.  The goal of the Dwarf Caiman project is to deliver a subset of the overall Caiman installer suitable for use as the graphical installation path for the Solaris Express, Developer Release introduced in build 55.  It is not intended to replace the general GUI installer, nor does it modify the existing character and command-line interfaces. The project is expected to deliver in the 3rd quarter of 2007 (calendar).  

Dwarf Caiman Features  

Solaris Initial Installation targets supported:  
          -Whole disks only:  
  x86:  

• • • • • Disk chosen will be, by default, partitioned as 1 Solaris2  
                fdisk partition.  
        • If user chooses the non-default option of partitioning
              the disk chosen, the existing Solaris2 partition, if it
              exists will be used as the installation target.
        • Disk chosen can be repartitioned to include only 1 Solaris2
              partition
        • Non Solaris2 fdisk partitions will be preserved if there
              is adequate space in the Solaris2 partition for installation.
              And, if the user makes no changes that would change the  
              start block or length of these existing partitions.  
              Otherwise, all data on existing partitions will be lost.  
        • Solaris fdisk partition will be re-sliced with default filesystem layout. Default filesystem layout TBD.  

           -Existing User Data:

• • • • • Will not be preserved

Solaris upgrade targets supported:  
          -Solaris root in a VTOC labeled disk with the following attributes:
           For x86 only:  

• • • • • Possibly contained in fdisk partition  
                     In general:  
        • Possibly part of a Live Upgrade BE
        • Has /var directory, either under /, or as separate filesystem
             which can be upgraded
        • Within N-2 releases of Dwarf
        • With appropriate 'usr' packages
        • Contains a bootable Solaris instance
                     -A Solaris instance with non-global zones configured, modulo SVM as noted below.

Solaris upgrade targets not supported:  

• • • • • Target that is part of SVM mirrored root 
        • SVM Mirror root pair
        • Target has non-global zones configured that are on an SVM metadevice

General:

• • • • • UFS root support only
        • No extended partition support
        • Linux Swap partitions will be preserved and recognized correctly.
        • Sun Studio Tools will be upgraded
                              - Sun Studio 11
                              - Netbeans

Installation Media:
           -DVD only, x86 only

Dwarf project schedule

Dwarf Caiman Design Documents  

As we have design documentation for open review they will be posted here. 

GUI documentation:  

Dwarf Caiman GUI Flow Diagrams 

Dwarf Caiman GUI platform details

Engine documentation:

Dwarf Caiman Orchestrator Design Document

Dwarf Caiman Target Discovery Design Document