Solaris 9 JumpStart: using "filesys" keyword sets swap slice's starting cylinder to 0 (Doc ID 1003453.1)

Last updated on JUNE 13, 2023

Applies to:

Symptoms

When defining filesystems in a Solaris 9 JumpStart profile using the keyword "filesys" with a numerical size value for root and swap, the starting cylinder address for swap will be set to "0" (zero).

The root filesystem will then start on the next sequentially available cylinder (depending on
your filesystem layout).
NOTE:
This scenario assumes root is defined at slice 0 and swap is defined as
slice 1.
NOTE:
Prior to Solaris 9 the default behavior was slice 0 (root) would have a
starting cylinder of 0.
The example below, using Profile-1, will show the difference in partition
setup between Solars 9 and Solaris[TM] 8.
Profile-1:
install_type    initial_install
system_type     standalone
partitioning    explicit
cluster         SUNWCreq
filesys         c0t2d0s0 2000 /
filesys         c0t2d0s1 2000 swap
filesys         c0t2d0s7 free /export
In Solaris 9, the resulting partition will appear as:
Part      Tag    Flag     Cylinders         Size            Blocks
0       root    wm    1004 -  2007        1.95GB    (1004/0/0)   4096320
1       swap    wu       0 -  1003        1.95GB    (1004/0/0)   4096320
2     backup    wm       0 - 19155       37.27GB    (19156/0/0) 78156480
3 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
4 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
5 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
6 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
7 unassigned    wm    2008 - 19155       33.36GB    (17148/0/0) 69963840
In Solaris 8, the result would have been different:
Part      Tag    Flag     Cylinders         Size            Blocks
0       root    wm       0 -  1003        1.95GB    (1004/0/0)   4096320
1       swap    wu       1004 -  2007     1.95GB    (1004/0/0)   4096320
2     backup    wm       0 - 19155       37.27GB    (19156/0/0) 78156480
3 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
4 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
5 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
6 unassigned    wm       0                0         (0/0/0)            0
7 unassigned    wm    2008 - 19155       33.36GB    (17148/0/0) 69963840
As you notice, the partition order is still the same but starting and
ending cylinders of root and swap partitions are different.

Cause