Hi,

Matthew wrote:
>I wrote:
>> I've got a Sparc LX running Solaris 7 bloatware that I'd like 
>> to upgrade to NetBSD 1.5.1.  Is it possible to upgrade it without
>> having physical access to the box (It's about 250 miles away from
>> me)?  I can access to the console through the serial port and a
>> terminal server if necessary or I can ssh in so long as Solaris
>> is running.
> 
> if you have access to the (serial) console, there should be no reason to
> stop you upgrading remotely.  the only time this could be problematic is
> if the machine hung such that a power cycle was required or so.
> 
OK, so the install FAQ doesn't say much about how to do this other than
by netbooting.  I don't have enough bandwidth between me and the machine
to make this practical.  Can I do this:

(1)  FTP the Sparc binary sets to the existing Solaris filesystem.
(2)  Turn off swapping on the existing swap space (only about 100MB).
(3)  Install bootblocks for NetBSD on the swap partition, along with a
     generic kernel and just the core stuff I'll need for installation.
     (how would I do this?)
(4)  Halt Solaris.
(5)  From the PROM monitor, boot the swap partition.
(6)  Blow away everything in the Solaris filesystem except the Sparc
     binary sets.
(7)  Untar the Sparc binary sets into the correct places.
(8)  Install boot blocks on the root filesystem.
(9)  Reboot and enjoy a faster, more secure, more reliable machine...

Regards,

--
Bill Dorsey