Solaris

Solaris 10 Boot Sequence

2013-03-16T21:45:00.002+05:30

Special File Permission (Setuid, Setgid and Sticky Bits)

2012-05-11T09:23:00.000+05:30

Special File Permission (Setuid, Setgid and Sticky Bits)

By setting special file permission on any executable file or directories, users who run those executable

files assumes the user ID of the owner or group of the executable file.

Hence A user can gain the superuser privileges by executing the programs that sets the user id to root.

Setuid Permission 

When set-user identification (setuid) permission is set on an 
executable file, a process that runs this file is granted access based 
on the owner of the file (usually root), rather than the user who is running the executable file. This special permission allows
a user to access files and directories that are normally only available to the owner. For example, the setuid permission on the passwd command makes it possible for a user to change passwords, assuming the permissions of the root ID

#ls -l /usr/bin/passwd 

-r-sr-sr-x   3 root     sys        96796 Jul 15 21:23 /usr/bin/passwd

Setuid  permissions can be set by using the chmod command to assign the octal value 4 as the first number in a series of four octal values.

#chmod 4555 file1

Setgid Permission

The set-group identification (setgid) permission is similar to setuid,
 except that the process's effective group ID (GID) is changed to the 
group owner of the file, and a user is granted access based on 
permissions granted to that group. ex /usr/bin/mail has setgid permission set.

When setgid permission is applied to a directory, files that 
were created in this directory belong to the group to which the 
directory belongs, not the group to which the creating process belongs. 
Any user who has write and execute permissions in the directory can 
create a file
there. However, the file belongs to the group that owns the directory, 
not to the user's group ownership.    

Setgid  permissions can be set by using the chmod command to assign the octal value 2 as the first number in a series of four octal values.

#chmod 2551 file1

#ls -ltr

-r-xr-s—x   1 dj  dj  26876 Jul 15 21:23 file1

Sticky Bit

The sticky bit is a permission bit that protects the files within a directory. If the directory has the sticky bit set, a file can be deleted only by the owner of the file, the owner of the directory, or by root. This special permission prevents a user from deleting other users' files from public directories such as `/tmp.`

sticky bits permissions can be set by using the chmod command to assign the octal value 1 as the first number in a series of four octal values.

# chmod 1777 file1
# ls -l file1
drwxrwxrwt   2 dj dj  512 Jul 15 21:23 file1

Inode, Hard Link and Softlink (Symlink)

2012-05-10T21:10:00.000+05:30

1. Inode, Hard Link and Softlink (Symlink)

Unix files consist of two parts: the data part and the filename part.

The data part is associated with something called an 'inode'. The inode
carries the map of where the data is, the file permissions, etc. for the
data.  

                               .---------------> ! data ! ! data ! etc
                              /                  +------+ !------+
        ! permbits, etc ! data addresses !
        +------------inode---------------+

The filename part carries a name and an associated inode number.

More than one filename can reference the same inode number; these files are
said to be 'hard linked' together.

On the other hand, there's a special file type whose data part carries
a path to another file. Since it is a special file, the OS recognizes the
data as a path, and redirects opens, reads, and writes so that, instead of
accessing the data within the special file, they access the data in the
file named by the data in the special file. This special file is
called a 'soft link' or a 'symbolic link' (aka a 'symlink').

If Two files contains the same inode number it indicates that both the files are

hard linked together. Also in this case both the file shows the link count as 2.

If any file permission starts with the l and has -> showing the location of another

file meaning that its a sof link. It could be understood with the following example:

# ls -ltr

9962464 -rw-r--r-- 2 deepak users 8 Mar  9  file1
9962464 -rw-r--r-- 2 deepak users 8 Mar  9  file2
9962471 lrwxrwxrwx 1 deepak users 5 Mar  9  file3 -> file1

 The file size of a soft linked file is the length of the filename of the

original file. In a soft linked file, the location where the file content is to be 
stored, the file name of the original file gets stored, and hence the 
file size is so.

In Case of Hard link, deleting a file will not cause any loss and still the file can

be accessed using the linked file. But in case of Soft link, Deleting the original file

, linked file cannot be accessed.

Hard link refers to its file using the inode number. Inode numbers are specific

within a file system. This means a file "f1" in filesystem "X" can have the same

inode number as of  a file "f2" in filesystem "Y". This is very much possible.

For this reason, hard links cannot be shared across file systems.

 
However, the same is not true for soft links. Soft links refer to the 
files using the file name  Hence, a soft 
links can be accessed across the file systems.

Hard links work only at the file 
level. However, soft links works at the directory level as well. This 
particular use of soft links, to create links at the directory level, 
serves us a shortcut for many frequently used directories. 

Soft Links:
     Soft Links can be created across file systems.
    Soft link has a different inode number than the original file.
   On deleting the original file, soft link cannot be accessed. 
    Soft link needs extra memory to store the original file name as its data.
     Source file need not exist for soft link creation.
     Can be created on a file or on a directory.
     Access to the file is slower due to the overhead to access file. 

Hard Links:
     Hard links can be created only within the file system.
    Hard links have the same inode number as the original file.
     On deleting the original file, hard linked file can still be accessed.
     Hard links do not need any extra data memory to save since it uses links
     Source file should exist.
     Can be created only on files, not on directories.
     Access  to the file is faster compared to soft link.

Solaris - Server Firmware Upgrade

2012-03-17T21:46:00.004+05:30

All Sun systems ship with firmware already installed on them from the 
factory. However, like any piece of software, OS vendors is constantly 
improving its firmware over time, even after a system has started 
shipping.System firmware upgrade is recommended for some of the following reason :

Support for new versions of hardware (or peripherals)
Expanded compatibility and enhancements
Better reliability and system availability
Better system performance
Additional system features
Security fixes
Other bug fixes

The another reason for upgrading the system firmware is to use the latest version and feature of LDOM.

Following are the steps you can follow to upgrade a system firmware of T series system.

1. Verify the current firmware version from SC command prompt. Take a note of current Hypervisor, OBP and integrated POST version using showhost command. Also collect ALOMand -vBSC version

sc> showhost

sc> showsc version -v

2. Download the latest available firmware version on your host local from oracle site.

NOTE:
 When upgrading the firmware make sure that the system is running a 
compatible OS version, otherwise you may have boot or other problems. 
Use the patch.

README to verify what is the supported (compatible) OS  for this firmware version, for example

Upgrading 
to Sun System Firmware X.X.X (or later) requires Solaris[TM] 10 Update X
 (or later) to be installed. The system may experience boot or other 
problems with earlier version of Solaris

3. Use sysfwdownload utility comes with the downloaded firmware package to install the firmware 

#./sysfwdownload [firmware].bin

4. Power off the server 

#shutdown -i5 -g0 -y

5. Upgrade the firmware using flashupdate command

sc>flashupdate -s 127.0.0.1

if the firmware file is available at ftp server which can be accessed from the sc then use following command to upgrade the firmware :

sc> flashupdate -s xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -f pathname  

This command will ask you the username and password for ftp server. once you provide all the credentials it will start firmware upgrade.

6.  reset the system controller and poweron the host

sc>resetsc -y

sc>poweron

sc>boot

Solaris - HBA Firmware Upgrade

2012-03-17T21:17:00.001+05:30

Before you start the HBA firmware version on Solaris host, its always better to take the backup of all your import configuration files and take the explorer out.

1. Create a directory and keep a backup copy of your important file :

#mkdir /home/backup

#cd /home/backup

# df -h > df.out
# cp -rp /etc/system system.date
# cp –rp /kernel/drv/sd.conf sd.conf.date
# cp -rp /kernel/drv/lpfc.conf lpfc.conf.date
# cp –rp /kernel/drv/fp.conf fp.conf.date
# cp –rp /kernel/drv/st.conf st.conf.date
# cp –rp /etc/name_to_major name_to_major.date
# cp –rp /kernel/drv/emcp.conf emcp.conf.date
# ls –l /devices/pseudo | grep -v root > pseudo_ownership
# modinfo | grep emcp > emp_modinfo
# /etc/emcpreg –list > emc_key 

# /etc/powermt version > powermt_version
# /etc/powermt display dev=all > powermt_display
# echo | format > format.out

2. Verify the installed firmware version of HBA using following command

 # fcinfo hba-port 

Note : fcinfo will work only with Solaris 10. If your server is having any other version than you could use lpfc or vendor specific utilities. 

3. Download latest recommended HBA firmware version from the Emulex/Qlogic site and copy it to server locally (for example /var/firmware). Make sure that you have untar/unzip the firmware file.

4. Firmware upgrade can be done using vendor specific utility(emlxadm) or lpfc. Make sure that when you upgrade the firmware using vendor specific utility, specific package for that utility should be installed on the host.

a. Upgrading Firmware using Emulex utility (emlxadm):

# cd /var/firmware

#/opt/EMLXemlxu/bin/emlxadm

Note : This command will give you list of available HBA on your host.Enter the HBA number when prompted for which you need to upgrade the firmware version. After entering the number it will display the list of commands and then you will get a prompt.

emlxadm> download_fw  /var/firmware/xxx.all (xxx.all is the firmware version you have downloaded earlier)

This command will give you the details of current firmware and the version it will get updated. Press Y when it will prompt for that.

After that It will start downloading the firmware and once done it will give the emlxadm prompt. you could check the the detail for the updated version using hba command. Once done with all the HBA firmware upgrade, exit from the utility and reboot the system with reconfigure reboot.

#reboot -- -r

b. Upgrading the firmware version using lpfc. 

To use this utilityyou should install lpfc/HBAanywhere package on your host.

#/usr/sbin/lpfc/lputil

This utility will display main menu option and then prompt. Choose option for Firmware maintenance. It will display the list of adapter. choose the adapter which you want to upgrade and then choose the load firmware image option. After that it will prompt for the firmware image file provide that and press enter. It will upgrade the firmware version. repeat the same step again for upgrading the other HBA.

 Once you are done with the firmware upgrade, exit from the prompt and reboot the server using reconfigure reboot.

# reboot -- -r 

Important Configuration File in Solaris

2012-01-15T22:40:00.003+05:30

v  /etc/inittab inittab is used by init to determine scripts  for different run levels as well as a default
run level.

v 
/etc/bootparams                contains information regarding network boot
clients.

v 
/etc/cron.d/cron.allow
& /etc/cron.d/cron.deny 
    Allow access to crontab for users
listed in this file. If the file does not exist, access is permitted for users
not in the /etc/cron.d/cron.deny file.

v 
/etc/defaultdomain  NIS domain set by /etc/init.d/inetinit

v 
/etc/default/cron Sets cron logging with the
CRONLOG variable.

v 
/etc/default/login Controls root logins via
specification of the CONSOLE variable, as well as variables for login logging
thresholds and password requirements.

v 
/etc/default/su  Determines logging
activity for su attempts via the SULOG and SYSLOG variables, sets some initial
environment variables for su sessions.

v 
/etc/dfs/dfstab  Determines which
directories will be NFS-shared at boot time. Each line is a share command.

v 
/etc/dfs/sharetab  Contains a table of resources that have
been shared via share.

v 
/etc/group  Provides
groupname translation information.

v 
/etc/hostname.interface Assigns a hostname to interface;
assigns an IP address by cross- referencing /etc/inet/hosts.

v 
/etc/hosts.allow
& /etc/hosts.deny  Determine which hosts will be allowed access to TCP
wrapper mediated services.

v 
/etc/hosts.equiv Determines which set of hosts will not
need to provide passwords when using the “r” remote access commands (eg rlogin,
rsh, rexec)

v 
/etc/inet/hosts
& /etc/hosts Associates hostnames and IP addresses.

v 
/etc/inet/inetd.conf
& /etc/inetd.conf 
Identifies the services that are started by inetd as well as the manner in
which they are started. inetd.conf may even specify that TCP wrappers be used
to protect a service.

v 
/etc/logindevperm  Contains information to
change permissions for devices upon console logins.

v 
/etc/magic  Database of magic numbers
that identify file types for file.

v 
/etc/mail/aliases

v 
/etc/aliases  Contains mail aliases
recognized by sendmail.

v 
/etc/mail/sendmail.cf

v 
/etc/sendmail.cf  Mail configuration file
for sendmail.

v 
/etc/minor_perm  Specifies permissions for device files;
used by drvconfig

v 
/etc/mnttab  Contains information about
currently mounted resources.

v 
/etc/name_to_major  List of currently
configured major device numbers; used by drvconfig.

v 
/etc/netconfig  Network configuration database read
during network initialization.

v 
/etc/netgroup  Defines groups of hosts and/or users.

v 
/etc/netmasks  Determines default netmask
settings.

v 
/etc/nsswitch.conf  Determines order in which
different information sources are accessed when performing lookups.

v 
/etc/path_to_inst  Contents of physical
device tree using physical device names and instance numbers.

v 
/etc/protocols Known protocols.

v 
/etc/remote  Attributes for tip
sessions.

v 
/etc/rmtab  Currently mounted
filesystems.

v 
/etc/rpc  Available RPC programs.

v 
/etc/services Well-known networking services and
associated port numbers.

v 
/etc/syslog.conf  Configures syslogd
logging.

v 
/etc/system  Can be used to force
kernel module loading or set kernel tuneable parameters.

v 
/etc/vfstab  Information for mounting
local and remote filesystems.

v 
/var/adm/messages  Main log file used by
syslogd.

v 
/var/adm/sulog  Default log for recording use of su
command.

v 
/var/adm/utmpx  User and accounting
information.

v 
/var/adm/wtmpx   User login and
accounting information.

v 
/var/local/etc/ftpaccess, /var/local/etc/ftpconversions
& /var/local/etc/ftpusers  wu-ftpd configuration files to set ftp access rights,
conversion/compression types, and a list of userids to exclude from ftp
operations.

v 
/var/lp/log   Print services
activity log.

v 
/var/sadm/install/contents  Database of installed
software packages.

Fautly HBA replacement in Solaris

2012-01-08T17:13:00.000+05:30

HBA replacement in a Sun Server is tricky task. Before replacing the HBA you should note down the WWN number as these are needed for the Zoning and masking to map the HBA paths from storage end.
Same is the case when you install new HBA into the server.

Without these, you would not be able to see the connectivity of new HBA to the storage.

Following are the set of steps which will help you to identify the faulty HBA and how to replace it :

1. Execute /etc/powermt command to find the failed HBA.

# /etc/powermt display

Symmetrix logical device count=39

CLARiiON logical device count=0

Ess logical device count=0

Hitachi logical device count=0

HP xp logical device count=0

HP HSx logical device count=0

==============================================================================

—– Host Bus Adapters ———  —— I/O Paths —–  —— Stats ——

### HW Path                        Summary   Total   Dead  IO/Sec Q-IOs Errors

==============================================================================

2304 pci@84/fibre-channel@1        optimal      39      0       -     1     38

2305 pci@8c/fibre-channel@1 failed 39 39 - 0 77

2. Find the WWN number of failed HBA. You can use any of the following command to get the WWW

a) Execute prtconf command.
b) If EMCsymmetrix package is installed on your system then you could use "syminq -fiber hba"
c) On Solaris 10 you could use command "fcinfo hba -port"
d) By lputil (LPFC driver) or by Emulex utility (Emulex driver)

# syminq -fiber hba

  Host Name : my-host

  HBA Type            : FibreChannel

  HBA Name            : Emulex-LP10000-1

  Vendor              : Emulex Corporation

  Model               : LP10000
  Serial Number       : MS54272387

  Firmware Version    : 1.91A1 (T2D1.91A1)

  Driver Version      : 6.02f; HBAAPI(I) v2.0.e, 11-07-03

  Node WWN            : 20000000c94f6a54

  Number of Ports     : 1

      Port WWN        : 10000000c94f5e32

      Port name       : /devices/pci@84,2000/fibre-channel@1

      Port type       : NPort

      Port FCID       : 1310773

      Port speed      : 2gbit

      Supported speed : 2gbit

      Port state      : Online

  HBA Type            : FibreChannel

  HBA Name            : Emulex-LP10000-2

  Vendor              : Emulex Corporation

  Model               : LP10000

  Serial Number       : MS54245678

  Firmware Version    : 1.91A1 (T1D1.91A1)

  Driver Version      : 6.02f; HBAAPI(I) v2.0.e, 11-07-03

  Node WWN            : 20000000c94f6a83

  Number of Ports     : 1

      Port WWN        : 10000000c94f7a67

      Port name       : /devices/pci@8c,2000/fibre-channel@1

      Port type       : NPort

      Port FCID       : 0

      Port speed      : 2gbit

      Supported speed : 2gbit

     Port state      : Diagnostics   ——–> Here the port status is not online and diagnostics reflects that its faulty HBA.

# /usr/sbin/lpfc/lputil listhbas
WWNN                           WWPN                           Board

===================================================================

20:00:00:00:c9:4f:5e:32        10:00:00:00:c9:4f:5e:32        0

20:00:00:00:c9:4f:7a:67        10:00:00:00:c9:4f:7a:67        1 

3. Now Shutdown the server using init5 command once it is down, power off it and replace the faulty HBA. 

4. After replacing the HBA, Power on the machine and take it to OK> prompt. From OK> give the command "boot -r" to boot it into reconfigure mode.

5. Now again find out the WWN for the new HBA for Zoning and masking for the storage.

# syminq -fiber hba

  Host Name : my-host

  HBA Type            : FibreChannel

  HBA Name            : Emulex-LP10000-1

  Vendor              : Emulex Corporation

  Model               : LP10000

  Serial Number       : MS54272387

  Firmware Version    : 1.91A1 (T2D1.91A1)

  Driver Version      : 6.02f; HBAAPI(I) v2.0.e, 11-07-03

  Node WWN            : 20000000c94f6a54

  Number of Ports     : 1

      Port WWN        : 10000000c94f5e32

      Port name       : /devices/pci@84,2000/fibre-channel@1

      Port type       : NPort

      Port FCID       : 1310773

      Port speed      : 2gbit

      Supported speed : 2gbit

      Port state      : Online

  HBA Type            : FibreChannel

  HBA Name            : Emulex-LP10000-2

  Vendor              : Emulex Corporation

  Model               : LP10000

  Serial Number       : MS54245678

  Firmware Version    : 1.91A1 (T1D1.91A1)

  Driver Version      : 6.02f; HBAAPI(I) v2.0.e, 11-07-03

  Node WWN            : 20000000c94f6a83

  Number of Ports     : 1

      Port WWN        : 10000000c94f4d54

      Port name       : /devices/pci@8c,2000/fibre-channel@1

      Port type       : NPort

      Port FCID       : 0

      Port speed      : 2gbit

      Supported speed : 2gbit

     Port state      : Online ---------> Now its in online state

6. You can change the storage configuration now to apply the Zoning for this WWN.

Solaris Zone/Container Creation

2011-12-24T20:28:00.000+05:30

Solaris Zone/Container Creation

1. Create a location where zone/container will resides :

#mkdir –p /export/zones

2. Configure the Zone using “zonecfg” command :

#zonecfg –z myzone

myzone: No such zone configured (normal message)
Use ‘create’ to begin configuring a new zone.

zonecfg:myzone> create

zonecfg:myzone> set zonepath=/export/zones/myzone

zonecfg:myzone> set autoboot=true

zonecfg:myzone> add net

zonecfg:myzone:net> set physical=bge0

zonecfg:myzone:net> set address=192.160.1.10 (use unique ip address!)

zonecfg:myzone:net> end

zonecfg:myzone> verify

zonecfg:myzone> exit

3. Install the Zone :

# zoneadm -z myzone install

Preparing to install zone .

Creating list of files to copy from the global zone.

Copying files to the zone.

Initializing zone product registry.

Determining zone package initialization order.

Preparing to initialize packages on the zone.

Initialized packages on zone.

Zone is initialized.

Installation of packages was skipped.

The file contains a log of the zone installation.

Note that zoneadm is located in /usr/sbin as well.

4. Boot the Zone :

# zoneadm -z myzone boot

5. Connect with the Zone Console :

# zlogin -C myzone

[Connected to zone 'myzone' console]
Press return. (can take several mins)

[Note: First time it will ask you for some additional configuration, answer some basic question of Solaris Installation. Once all answers are done, it will reboot the system final time]

o Define the Locale
o Define the Term
o Define the TZ
o Define the root password
o Define the Name Service

rebooting system due to change(s) in /etc/default/init
[NOTICE: Zone rebooting]
SunOS Release 5.10 Version Generic 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2005 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
Hostname: myzone
myzone console login:

6. Login into the container :

# zlogin -C myzone

If you want to add memory/cpu capping (resource allocation) then use zonecfg command to do this:

# zonecfg -z myzone

uzonecfg:myzone> add rctl

zonecfg:myzone> set name=zone.cpu-shares

zonecfg:myzone> add value (priv=privileged,limit=4,action=none)

zonecfg:myzone> end

zonecfg:myzone> exit

Solaris Sparc Jumpstart configuration

2011-11-13T22:04:00.001+05:30

The Jumpstart mechanism was developed by Sun in order to simplify installations

on large networks of mostly similar hardware. The basic idea is that system

configuration information is stored on a central server. When new clients are added

to the network, the client boots from the central configuration server and then runs

an automated install program which partitions the client's disk(s), installs the

operating system, and makes appropriate local configuration changes (setting

network parameters, hostname, etc.). Creating the configuration server requires a

fair amount of System Administration expertise, but adding clients can then be

accomplished by completely untrained technicians– this is called "leveraging key

employees".

The Jumpstart process also allows the local administrator to create custom scripts

that are run either before ("pre-install") or after ("post-install") the Jumpstart

process (or both). This allows sites to create even more finely customized install

routines for their particular site. More on pre- and post-install scripts in the last

section of this talk.

Note that Jumpstart works for both Sparc and Intel-based systems. However, Intel based

machines don't have the appropriate boot ROM code to do a network boot, so

the administrator must create a "boot floppy" to be used during the initial install. A

single Jumpstart server may support booting clients from multiple different

hardware platforms and/or operating system revisions.

For example, a single Jumpstart server is capable of booting machines on any OS release from 2.5.1 through Solaris 10.

In order to build your Jumpstart server, you will need a copy of the OS media for each of the OS platforms you wish to support.

Note that the Boot Server must run in.rarpd, rpc.bootparamd, and in.tftpd (via inetd).

The Install and Configuration servers will be needing to share file systems via NFS with the client machines.

Overview of State

1. Create install and configuration directories

Step 1: Create Install/Config Dirs

# mkdir /export/install /export/config

#share –F nfs –o ro,anon=0 /export/install

#share –F nfs –o ro,anon=0 /export/config

# shareall

2. Copy OS media to install directory

•In Case of Solaris 9

–# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_9/Tools

–# ./setup_install_server /export/install

–# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_9/Tools (Solaris CD2)

–# ./add_to_install_server /export/install

•In Case of Solaris 10

•# cd /cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_10/Tools

•#./setup_install_server /export/install

3. Copy scripts to configuration directory

Copy rules, profile and sysidcfg file to /export/config

•Interesting stuff is in /export/install/Solaris_10

•Misc/jumpstart_sample contains sample configs and scripts

•Tools contains scripts for adding clients

•Tools/Boot is boot image for clients

•Product directory contains Solaris packages which will be installed

•Patches subdirectory contains patches to install during jumpstart

•An MU directory may also exist which contains maintenance update patches

•Patches are installed in order based on when they were added to directory

The Misc/jumpstart_sample directory contains a sample configuration

directory which you can use to base your own client configurations on. The Sun

documentation recommends just copying the entire contents of the

Jumpstart directory to your configuration directory, but we are going to

be more selective. The Tools subdirectory contains the add_install_client

script which is necessary when adding client configuration information to a Boot

Server (more on this later).

Tools/Boot is a complete copy of the Solaris OS, and is the directory which the

clients use for NFS booting when they are first being booted off the network. Note

that this directory is the unpatched Solaris image off the CD-ROM, so you may want

to patch this version of the OS for security (use patchadd –C

to patch the

install directory image). The Product directory contains all of the Solaris OS

packages from the CD-ROM (thus, the install directory really contains two distinct

copies of the Solaris OS)– these are the packages which will be installed onto the

client machine by the Jumpstart process. You could add your own local packages to

the Product directory if desired (more on how to specify installed packages in the

next section).

The install directory also contains a Patches subdirectory– patches stored here

will be automatically installed by the Jumpstart process. However, the Jumpstart

process doesn't use the same patch_order file functionality that the Sun

Recommended Patch Clusters use to ensure patches get installed in the proper

dependency order. Instead, the Jumpstart process just installs patches based on the

time stamp on the patch subdirectory in the Patches directory (i.e, when the patch

was added to the Patches directory). This is just terrible behavior because it

means that patches are often installed in the incorrect order, which can actually

cause the patching process to abort.

Note that the install directory may (or may not) contain an MU directory. MU stands

for "Maintenance Update", and various releases of an operating system may include

Maintenance Updates which either add support for new hardware, add functionality,

and/or fix bugs in the original release (generally called the "First Customer Ship" or

"FCS release"). The MU directory contains lots of files and some READMEs about

the contents of the update, but ultimately the update is really just another collection

of Sun patches which will be installed by the Jumpstart process out of one of the

subdirectories of the MU directory.

4. Create sysidcfg file in install directory

The information in the sysidcfg file is used by clients to set various system

parameters during the Jumpstart process and when the client reboots for the first time.

The format of this file is (slightly) OS version-dependent but shouldn't vary from

client to client, so it's probably easiest to locate the file at the top of the install

Directory.

It is important to note that the sysidcfg file contains a copy of the client's encrypted

root password entry for /etc/shadow, so the file should certainly be mode 400 and

owned by root. Recall, however, that the install directory was exported with

anonymous root access, so anybody on another machine could mount the install

directory and read the file. Make sure that the client systems have a different root

password from all of your other machines! Note also that a copy of the sysidcfg

file is retained in the client's /etc directory– you probably want to delete this file

after the first reboot.

Other parameters in the file include the system's default locale and time zone (consult

the Advanced Installation Guide for more info). The netmask of the primary network

interface can be specified as well as name service parameters (NIS is supported as

well– see the Advanced Installation Guide

Create or modify the /export/config/sysidcfg file according to your environment

network_interface=primary {protocol_ipv6=no

netmask=255.255.252.0

default_route=192.168.1.1}

security_policy=none

name_service=DNS

{domain_name=deepak.ind.com

name_server=192.168.1.10,192.168.1.11

search=deepak.ind.com}

timezone=Asia/Calcutta

terminal=vt100

system_locale=en_US

timeserver=localhost

root_password=OwBHheafCTfa6

nfs4_domain=dynamic

keyboard=US-English

pointer=Unknown

5. Start system daemons

Once all directories are created and configured, the administrator needs to make

sure that all of the appropriate daemons are running. The Installation and

Configuration Servers require that the NFS server processes (mountd, nfsd,

statd, and lockd) all be running. The Boot Server must be running in.rarpd

and rpc.bootparamd and have TFTP properly configured in inetd.conf and

have the inetd process running.

•A bunch of daemons to (re)start:

– NFS daemons

• in.rarpd

• rpc.bootparamd

• inetd

• Rebooting the jumpstart server is probably easiest…

Adding Client

1. Create Client Profile

#vi /export/config/profile

–install_type initial_install

–system_type standalone

–partitioning explicit

–filesys c0t0d0s0 50000 /

–filesys c0t0d0s1 6000 swap

–filesys c0t0d0s5 10240 /oracle

–cluster SUNWCXall

2. Pre and Post install Script

The administrator may optionally create pre- and post-install scripts. The preinstall

script runs before the system profile file is read and executed (i.e., before the

system's disk drives are repartitioned and the new OS image loaded). This means

that pre-install scripts are an excellent place to back up various files from the

original system (e.g., configuration files under /etc, log files, SSH host keys, et

al). Note that the pre-install script will have to explicitly mount (and unmount) the

file systems from the system's local drives, because the local file systems won't be

mounted at the time the pre-install script runs.

By the time the post-install script runs, the new file local file systems will be

created and the OS will have been loaded. Note, however, that the new file system

created on the system's local drives will be mounted with the local root file system

at /a, so make sure the post-install script follows the proper indirection. Postinstall

script are a good place to do local system customization and restore files that

were backed up by the pre-install script.

The output of the pre- and post-install scripts can be found in the

/var/sadm/system/{begin,finish}.log files on the new system once

the Jumpstart is completed and the new system has rebooted.

3. The rules file

The purpose of the rules file is to associate profile file and pre- and post-install scripts

with a particular machine or group of machines. Entries are searched in order until the

match criteria in the first column fits the client being booted; that rule is then executed

("first match and exit" behavior).

Each rule is a single line, but lines may be continued using "\". Pre- and

post-install scripts may be omitted by putting a "-" in the appropriate column (actually,

as we'll see in the next section, even the profile can be omitted in some cases).

Comments are allowed if prefixed with "#". Script names and profile file names are

relative to the top of the Jumpstart configuration directory.

Match criteria cover a wide variety of different system parameters, and not just the

simple criteria shown above. For a complete list, see the Advanced Installation Guide.

Note that logical operations (and, or, not) are supported.

The first line above shows an example of a rule for a particular machine. Generally,

however, rules apply to a group of machines (a network or particular hardware type

which should all be configured identically) as we see in later rules The last

line is a catch-all or default entry for machines which don't match any of the previous

rules. It may be dangerous to allow any random machine which connects to your

network to Jumpstart from your server– you may not wish to include a default rule in

your file.

Format of rules file :

4. Run check Script

The check script that we copied from the jumpstart_sample directory is

used to validate and pre-process the rules file. The check script verifies the

syntax of the profile files that are listed in all rules, and checks that the listed preand

post-install scripts exist (but doesn't check script syntax). More importantly

perhaps, the check script creates the rules.ok file which is the file that is

actually consulted during the Jumpstart (the rules file itself is only used by the

administrator and the check script).

Again, if your Jumpstart server is providing configurations for several different OS

revisions, make sure to use the check script from the most recent Solaris version

(some profile entries in newer versions of Solaris are not backwards compatible

with older check scripts).

•Script should be run each time the rules file is updated

•Script checks the syntax of profiles and verifies that scripts exist

•As a side-effect, creates the rules.ok file for jumpstart process

5. Update Host information

Each time a new host is added to the Jumpstart network, the Boot Server needs to

be updated. The ethernet (MAC) address and hostname of the machine need to be

added to the Boot Server's /etc/ethers file. The machine's ethernet address is

displayed in the Sun banner when the system boots, and is also available on running

systems by running ifconfig (as root) and/or from the packing slip which comes

with each new machine.

The Boot Server also needs to be able to resolve the machine's IP address, either

from its own hosts file or from NIS/NIS+ or DNS, depending on how the Boot

Server is configured. This will mean updates on either the Boot Server machine

itself or on your name server.

Generally, it's good policy to use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) form for

all entries in the /etc/ethers, /etc/inet/hosts, and even in the rules

file in the Jumpstart configuration directory (for /etc/inet/hosts list the

FQDN first followed by the unqualified form). Being consistent throughout will

save a lot of headaches down the road.

•/etc/ethers should contain the MAC address and FQDN of the host

•/etc/hosts should contain the IP and hostname of the client.

•Also make sure the jumpstart server can resolve the name of the host

•If you're using hosts files or NIS/NIS+, list the FQDN first

6. add_install_client

Once all of the client information has been updated on the Boot Server, the

administrator needs to run the add_install_client script. This script is

found in the Tools directory in the appropriate install directory for the version of

Solaris that you want the client to run. Make sure you use the correct

add_install_client script! The add_install_client script is

responsible for placing the appropriate boot code and symbolic links in

/tftpboot to allow the client machine to boot. add_install_client also

updates the /etc/bootparams file used by rpc.bootparamd.

The –c flag specifies the server name and path for the Jumpstart configuration

directory (the server name here would be your Configuration Server). The –s flag

specifies the Install Server and pathname to the install directory. –p is the location

of the sysidcfg file (don't use this option for Solaris releases prior to 2.6), which

we've stored at the top of our install directory. You also need to specify the name of

the machine (again use the FQDN here) and the kernel architecture of the client

(this is the output uname –m on the client host).

# ./add_install_client -c jumpstart:/export/config –p \ jumpstart:/export/config clinet_1 sun4V

–saving original /etc/dfs/dfstab in /etc/dfs/dfstab.orig

–Adding "share -F nfs -o ro,anon=0 /export/install" to /etc/dfs/dfstab

–making /tftpboot

–enabling tftp in /etc/inetd.conf

–starting rarpd

–starting bootparamd

–starting nfsd's

–starting nfs mountd

–updating /etc/bootparams

–copying inetboot to /tftpboot

7. Reboot client

Once the Boot Server setup is completed, boot the client system as shown above.

Note that the boot line is "boot net - install".

The most common error is to type "-install" as a single final argument, but then

the Jumpstart won't proceed.

Ok > boot net – install

# reboot ‘net – install’

=======================================================================

How Jumpstart Works

=======================================================================

First Level Boot Process 

1. When a User execute "boot net - install" command at ok> prompt, the Jumpstart client looks for the Jumpstart boot Server.

2. The boot server responds to 
the rarp request via the “rarpd” daemon (in.rarpd). Using the 
information in the /etc/ethers file, the server can obtain the client’s 
IP address and communicate it to the client.

3. A Jumpstart server, receives the RARP request (Reverse Address Resolution 
Protocol), and maps it to an IP address, using its /etc/ethers and 
/etc/hosts files.

4. With the IP address known, the Jumpstart server generates a RARP reply to the Jumpstart client. The Jumpstart Server also maps the clients ethernet address to its IP address and host name, returning this data to the client.

Second Level Boot Process 

1. The Jumpstart client downloads
 a minimal kernel(miniroot) from the Jumpstart server, into the 
Jumpstart client’s memory. This comes by way of a TFTP request, issued 
by the Jumpstart client.

2. When the Jumpstart server 
receives the TFTP request, it searches for a matching IP address and 
architecture, in the “/tftpboot”  directory.

3. Once the Jumpstart client is 
booted from the miniroot, it locates the “rules.ok” file. The entry is 
checked, to make sure it matches that of the Jumpstart client.

4. When the match is found, the 
actions specified are executed. First, the “begin” scripts(if any) are 
executed. Then the specified profile is installed, and finally the 
“finish” scripts(if any) are executed. 

   Boot Server

 Jumpstart Server provides the boot program to boot the clients. Boot Server is need to boot the client over the network. A separate boot server is needed in case of the client are from different subnet from the install server. 

SPARC based technology 
install-clients, require a boot server when they exist on different 
subnet, because the network booting architecture uses the Reverse 
Address Resolution Protocol(RARP). 

When a client boots, it issues
 a RARP request in order to obtain its IP address. RARP, however does 
not acquire the netmask number, which is required to distribute 
information across a router on a  network. If the install/boot server 
exists across a router the  boot will fail because the network traffic 
cannot be routed  correctly without a netmask number. The result is, 
that you can install a client across a router, but  you cannot boot a 
client across a router. So you will have to setup  a separate boot 
server, on the same subnet as the client.   

Some useful Command - Solaris

2011-11-05T21:30:00.000+05:30

1. df -n (or fstyp device) show type of file system (ufs/vxfs)

2. fuser and pfiles open files

3. prtconf -V OBP level

4. pgrep, pkill, prstat -a process info and manipulation

5. logins -p|-d local users without passwords | duplicate uids

6. mpstat, prtdiag, psrinfo -v processor information and more

7. troff -man man.1 | dpost | lp print old style man pages

8. sgml2roff lpfilter.1m | troff -man | dpost | lp print sgml (new) man pages

9. fstyp -v list superblock including minfree %

10.tput nice screen output

11.what, ldd, strings information about binaries

12.ctrl-V in vi insert control character

13.ufsdump 0f - /filesystem | (cd /mnt; ufsrestore rf -); rm /mnt/restoresymtable dump restore pipe

14.echo \007 get bell to ring

15.comm common (non-common) lines from two files

16.pkgchk -lp /usr/bin/ls which package does ls belong to?

17.df -oi -F ufs free inodes icheck -b blockno filesystem block to file mapping

18.dircmp, rsync, filesync compare directories, sync utilities

19.nohup /var/tmp/myscript.ksh > /var/tmp/myscript.out & for things which have to complete (no risk of terminal being logged out)

20.netstat -pn arp like output when name services are down

21.pwdx, pldd, ptree and more in /usr/proc/bin

22.uname -X basic system information - one item on each line (useful for scripts)

23.read read a line

24.listusers another way of listing users

25.tcopy copy tape

26.nfsstat -m (or check /etc/rmtab) current nfs mount

27.clear_locks clear nfs locks

Some more useful commands.

1.       ps -efo vsz,pid,comm | sort –rn     (to see what processes are taking up the most memory)
2.       pfiles “pid”                                   ( prints all open files of a process )
3.       /usr/ucb/ps uax |head                  ( top CPU users )
4.       /usr/ucb/ps vax |head                  ( top memory users )
5.       prtconf -vp | grep bootpath       ( TO check the current physical path )
6.       prtconf -pv | grep banner-name |awk -F\' ' { print $2 } ' | head -1      (     To check actual Machine model)
7.       prtpicl -v | grep wwn                     (Command to find persistent storage binding)
8.       grep "\-root" /var/adm/sulog | grep -v \+ | tail -25       List most recent attempts to switch to super user
9.       stty sane            (reset terminal )
10.   stty erase ^H     ( Set the backspace to delete a character )
11.   find / -xdev -type f -ls|sort -nr -k 7,7      (Find largest file in a file system )
12.   find / -type f |xargs ls -s | sort -rn |more   (Find files with most system spaces )
13.   find . -mtime -1 -type f               (Find recently modified files )
14.   uuencode [filename] [filename] | mailx -s "Subject" [user to mail]        Mail to user with attachement
15.   prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2 | fmthard -s - /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s2     ( Cloning Partition )
16.   mkisofs -l -L -r -o [image-name].iso [directory]        (To create iso image of a directory )
17.   gzip -dc file1.tar.gz | tar xf - (Unpack .tar.gz file in place )

============================================================

Install RMCmem Package : Explaining memory in Solaris by reviewing the different types of memory and introducing a set of tools,

Download location : ftp://playground.sun.com/pub/memtool.

# cd /tmp
# zcat RMCmem3.8.2.tar.gz | tar xvf -
# pkgadd -d .

Virtual / Physical Memory Usage
Solaris is a virtual memory system. The total amount of memory that you can use is increased by adding swap space to the system. If you ever see "out of memory" messages, adding swap space is the usual fix. Performance of the system is very dependent on how much physical memory (RAM) you have. If you don't have enough RAM to run your workload, performance degrades rapidly.
Physical memory usage can be classified into four groups:

· Kernel memory mapped into kernel address space

· Process memory is mapped into a process address space

· Filesystem cache memory that is not mapped into any address space

· Free memory that is not mapped into any address space

RMCmem includes a simple command to summarize this:
# /opt/RMCmem/bin/prtmem
Total memory:             989 Megabytes
Kernel Memory:             60 Megabytes
Application:              110 Megabytes
Executable & libs:         42 Megabytes
File Cache:               757 Megabytes
Free, file cache:          11 Megabytes
Free, free:                 6 Megabytes
============================================================
============================================================

Determine the memory used by each Oracle background process on a Solaris

============================================================================

# ps -u oracle -f
   UID   PID PPID C    STIME TTY      TIME CMD
oracle   359     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:00 ora_pmon_DIA3
oracle   361     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:01 ora_dbw0_DIA3
oracle   363     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:01 ora_lgwr_DIA3
oracle   365     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:18 ora_ckpt_DIA3
oracle   367     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:01 ora_smon_DIA3
oracle   369     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:00 ora_reco_DIA3
oracle   371     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:00 ora_snp0_DIA3
oracle   373     1 0 12:26:17 ?       41:50 ora_s000_DIA3
oracle   375     1 0 12:26:17 ?        0:00 ora_d000_DIA3
oracle   377     1 0 12:26:18 ?        0:00 ora_d001_DIA3
Second, you then enter the following commands for the DB Writer process (ora_dbw0_DIA3) with process id = 361 as an example.
# /usr/proc/bin/pmap 361 | grep "shmid"
80000000 82992K read/write/exec/shared [ shmid=0x2 ]
# /usr/proc/bin/pmap 361 | grep "total"
total 124232K

Solaris 11 Express Publisher configuration

2011-11-05T21:25:00.001+05:30

1. Download Oracle Solaris Express 11 Express Repository Images

2. Copy Repository data from ISO locally

3. Configure the Solaris 11 IPS Repository Server

4. Configure Client(s) to use the Repository Server

The image repository iso may be downloaded from the Oracle Website. The repository image may be split and should be concatenated before the ISO is configured with lofiadm and mounted with mount respectively.

Download Oracle Solaris Express 11 Express Repository Images

The images are downloaded from the Oracle website and can be prepared for mounting by doing:

$ unzip sol-11-exp-201011-repo-full-iso-a.zip

$ unzip sol-11-exp-201011-repo-full-iso-b.zip

$ cat sol-*[ab] > sol-11-exp-201011-repo-full.iso

Copy Repository data from ISO locally

First create a location to store the repository data (i.e., /ips/sol11exp), then rsync the ISO contents. Provided the ISO has been mounted under /mnt/ copy the repo/ sub-folder under /ips/sol11exp/

# zfs create rpool/ips

# zfs set mountpoint=/ips rpool/ips

# mkdir /ips/sol11exp

# rsync -avz /mnt/repo /ips/sol11exp/

Configure the Solaris 11 IPS Repository Server

Once the full repository from ISO/DVD has been copied locally we need to configure the ‘pkg/server’ service which will listen on the default HTTP port (80) for client requests.

# svccfg -s application/pkg/server setprop pkg/inst_root=/ips/sol11exp/repo

# svccfg -s application/pkg/server setprop pkg/readonly=true

Refresh and start pkg.depotd

svcs -a | grep pkg/server

disabled 9:40:28 svc:/application/pkg/server:default

# svcadm refresh application/pkg/server

# svcadm enable application/pkg/server

# svcs -a | grep pkg/server

online 7:05:34 svc:/application/pkg/server:default

Configure Client(s) to use the Repository Server

Add our new publisher, using the ORIGIN, http://deepak.ind.com, and make it Preferred

# pkg set-publisher -P -g http://deepak.ind.com solaris

Our list of publishers should now like:

# pkg publisher

PUBLISHER TYPE STATUS URI

solaris (preferred) origin online http://deepak.ind.com

solaris (preferred) origin online http://pkg.oracle.com/solaris/release/

# pkg publisher solaris

Publisher: solaris

Alias:

Origin URI: http://blackice.goldcoast.com/

SSL Key: None

SSL Cert: None

Origin URI: http://pkg.oracle.com/solaris/release/

SSL Key: None

SSL Cert: None

Client UUID: 3h734564-80i4-11e0-bfb6-102219147c44

Catalog Updated: November 12, 2010 07:24:25 PM

Enabled: Yes

and rebuild the index!

# pkg rebuild-index

PHASE ITEMS

Indexing Packages 73/496

Solaris Express Network configuration

2011-11-05T21:14:00.000+05:30

1. Disable the auto-magic network daemon

# svcadm disable physical:nwam

Define in /etc/hosts, if not already, an entry for this host. For example:

192.168.1.1 solexpress

then, enable the default physical service with svcadm and configure the interface:

2. Enable manual mode for the default physical service via SMF

# svcadm enable physical:default

3. Configure interface with ipadm

# ipadm create-addr -T static -a local=192.168.1.1/24 bge0/v4static

You cannot just specify the interface ‘bge0′, but must also include a ‘user_specified_string’ like ‘/v4static’ or ‘/ipv4static’.

Note: According to Oracle, you should not manually start and stop the dhcpagent daemon directly. Instead, as superuser on the client system, you can use the ipadm command to affect dhcpagent’s management of the network interface, if necessary

Root Password Recovery - Solaris 10 without using CD/DVD

2011-11-01T16:21:00.001+05:30

1. Bring the server at OK prompt

# init 0

2. Boot the system using new boot mode called Failsafe mode which is used to boot your server from RAM without any need of CD/DVD.

{0} ok boot -F failsafe

Starting shell.

# uname –a

SunOS 5.10 Generic_142909-17 sun4u sparc SUNW,Sun-Fire-V245

# df –k

Filesystem kbytes used avail capacity Mounted on
/ramdisk-root:a 201463 178943 2374 99% / ————> Server booted from RAM.
/devices 0 0 0 0% /devices
ctfs 0 0 0 0% /system/contract
proc 0 0 0 0% /proc
mnttab 0 0 0 0% /etc/mnttab
swap 7725248 320 7724928 1% /etc/svc/volatile
objfs 0 0 0 0% /system/object
sharefs 0 0 0 0% /etc/dfs/sharetab
swap 7725504 576 7724928 1% /tmp
/tmp/dev 7725504 576 7724928 1% /dev
fd 0 0 0 0% /dev/fd
#

Note: Sometimes (always with X-86 servers) the Failsafe mode will ask you to mount the rootdisk before giving you the Shell prompt. Do not mount at that time, just say No everywhere and bring the failsafe mode at Shell Prompt and then do the mount and update archive manually.

3. Once your server will boot up in Failsafe, mount your rootdisk at /a. Here my rootdisk is c1t1d0s0.

# mount /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0 /a

# df -h /a

Filesystem size used avail capacity Mounted on
/dev/dsk/c1t1d0s0 7.9G 7.1G 714M 92% /a

4. Take a copy of /a/etc/passwd & /a/etc/shadow file.

# cp -p /a/etc/passwd /a/etc/passwd-orig
# cp -p /a/etc/shadow /a/etc/shadow-orig

5. Remove the encrypted password entry for root from /a/etc/shadow file

Before Modifications:

#grep root /a/etc/shadow
root:WP7grKsEFAgt.:15182::::::

After Modifications:

#grep root /a/etc/shadow
root::15182::::::

6. Update the boot archive as below before proceeding with the reboot.

# bootadm update-archive -R /a
Creating boot_archive for /a
updating /a/platform/sun4u/boot_archive

7. Reboot your system

# init 6

This time you are allowed to login into the server without password. Set the root password.
Note: The procedure for Solaris X-86 is also same, In X-86 select the Failsafe mode from GRUB Menu which is present in the GRUB menu bydefault. The GRUB is picking the entry from /boot/grub/menu.lst.

How to collect crash dump for solaris x-86 arch servers

2011-10-13T09:22:00.001+05:30

My assumption here is that I have dump devices (dumpadm) is configured and crash directory (/var/crash/) is present.

1. edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and add “kmdb” to multiboot line like as the following example.

Example:
title Solaris 10 10/08 s10x_u6wos_07 X86
findroot (rootfs0,0,a)
kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot kmdb -B console=ttya
module /platform/i86pc/boot_archive

2. edit /etc/system and enter the following line.

set pcplusmp:apic_kmdb_on_nmi=1

3. reboot the system.

4. When the problem happens, open console by the following command.

-> start /SP/console

5. After that, please run ipmitool command from remote system like as follows.

ipmitool -H-U root chassis power diag

6. Then the system console will show kmdb prompt like as follows.

NMI detected, entering kmdb.
Welcome to kmdb
kmdb: unable to determine terminal type: assuming `vt100′
Loaded modules: [ crypto cpc uppc neti ptm ufs unix mpt zfs krtld s1394 sppp ipc
nca uhci hook lofs genunix ip logindmux usba specfs pcplusmp nfs md random
cpu.generic sctp arp ]
[0]>

7. Then type the following on the prompt

[0]>$Then system crash dump will be saved to primary swap space.

nopanicdebug: 0 = 0×1
panic[cpu0]/thread=fffffe8000005c80: BAD TRAP: type=e (#pf Page fault) rp=fffffe80000059a0 addr=0 occurred in module “” due to a NULL pointer dereference
sched: #pf Page fault
Bad kernel fault at addr=0×0
pid=0, pc=0×0, sp=0xfffffe8000005a98, eflags=0×10002
cr0: 8005003b cr4: 6f0
cr2: 0 cr3: 10bd8000 cr8: c
rdi: fffffffffbc7ef30 rsi: 3f8 rdx: 3f8
rcx: a r8: 0 r9: fffffffffbc4f560
rax: fffffffffbce6500 rbx: ffffffffefc661f8 rbp: fffffe8000005aa0
r10: fffffe80000059e0 r11: 0 r12: fffffe8000005b10
r13: ffffffff8a537c80 r14: fffffffffbc54ca0 r15: 1
fsb: ffffffff80000000 gsb: fffffffffbc27fc0 ds: 43
es: 43 fs: 0 gs: 1c3
trp: e err: 10 rip: 0
cs: 28 rfl: 10002 rsp: fffffe8000005a98
ss: 30
fffffe80000058b0 unix:die+da ()
fffffe8000005990 unix:trap+5e6 ()
fffffe80000059a0 unix:_cmntrap+140 ()
fffffe8000005aa0 0 ()
fffffe8000005ab0 genunix:kdi_dvec_enter+d ()
fffffe8000005ad0 unix:debug_enter+66 ()
fffffe8000005ae0 pcplusmp:apic_nmi_intr+90 ()
fffffe8000005b00 unix:av_dispatch_nmivect+1f ()
fffffe8000005b10 unix:nmiint+17e ()
fffffe8000005c00 unix:i86_mwait+d ()
fffffe8000005c40 unix:cpu_halt_mwait+b4 ()
fffffe8000005c60 unix:idle+89 ()
fffffe8000005c70 unix:thread_start+8 ()
syncing file systems… done
dumping to /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1, offset 108593152, content: kernel
100% done: 121718 pages dumped, compression ratio 4.69, dump succeeded
rebooting…

8. vmcore.X/unix.X files will be saved after next solaris boot complete. The files will be located at /var/crash/’uname -n’.

Difference between LDOM and Zones

2010-10-18T18:17:00.000+05:30

Sun Logical Domains or LDoms is a full virtual machine that
runs an independent operating system instance and contains
virtualized CPU, memory, storage, console, and cryptographic
devices.
This technology allows you to allocate a system resources
into logical groupings and create multiple, discrete
systems, each with their own operating system, resources,
and identity within a single computer system.
We can run a variety of applications software in different
logical domains and keep them independent of performance and
security purposes.

A zone is a virtual operating system abstraction that
provides a protected environment in which applications run.
The applications are protected from each other to provide
software fault isolation. To ease the labor of managing
multiple applications and their environments, they co-exist
within one operating system instance, and are usually
managed as one entity.

LDOMs allow you to assign your hardware to different virtual hosts for exclusive use. Say you have a T5220 with an 8-core CPU. You could create 8 LDOMs and assign a core to each. Each core will be for the exclusive use of the domain you assigned it to, regardless of the load on the other domains. With zones/containers, all zones can use any CPU core/thread that they need when they need it. Limits can be set as far as how much CPU they use, but you cannot specify which CPU/core/thread they are to use.

With LDOMs you get an OBP per domain that can be configured independently from the others. Zones don't have OBPs.

You can "brand" a zone as a Solaris 8 or Solaris 9 zone (and I understand RHEL as well), running an instance of either OS on top of Solaris 10. This is useful in those cases when you are refreshing hardware but app vendors only support their apps on the older OSs. You can't "brand" an LDOM, but you can create a branded zone inside an LDOM.

Root on the global zone can see all of the file systems on each zone.
Root on the primary domain cannot see the files systens on the domains.

Solaris Containers
------------------
No special hardware required
Single OS image
Sub-CPU resource granularity
Shared kernel, memory, file systems (configuration, resources and
management)
Solaris only (excluding Linux branded zone on x86)
CPUs can be shared
Works on all systems
Virtually unlimited partitioning (max is 8191 non-global zones)
Single system patch level
Most admin operations can be applied to all containers in a single operation
Very little performance overhead for zone infrastructure

LDoms
-----
Sun4v systems only
Multiple OS images
Multiples of CPU granularity
Dedicated kernel, memory, file systems
Can support other OSes
CPUs can not be shared (CPUs here refers to a strand/thread)
Currently available on Tx000, T5xy0 only
Partitioning limited to number of CPUs
Multiple and different patch and release levels possible
Each LDom must be fully managed separately

Solaris x86_64 Jumpstart Installation

2010-09-02T18:27:00.000+05:30

Solaris JumpStart Procedure For x86_64

Introduction

This article presents step-by-step procedures for creating a JumpStart server using the Solaris 10 OS for x86/x64 platforms. The Jumpstart Server configured in this procedure is Sun-Fire-V210 Sparc based machine with Solaris 10 updated 8 Os. The OS used for Jumpstart clients are Solaris 10x86_64 update 8.
Instructions are provided to:

Create a JumpStart Installation Server
Create the Client Configuration Files
Share the Installation and Configuration Directories
Add the Install Client to the Install Server
Configure and Run the DHCP Server
Perform a Hands-Off JumpStart Installation

Pre-boot Execution Environment (PXE) must be enabled on the clients in order to allow them to boot from the network.

Solaris JumpStart Procedure

In this example the node name for Jumpstart Server is Jumpstart and IP address is 192.168.1.5. The network address for the Jumpstart Server is 192.168.1.0

1. Create a JumpStart Installation Server

v Create an installation directory on the server:

# mkdir –p /Sol10u8/install

v If you have DVD for Solaris 10 x86 image put it in the machine, else copy the iso image to the system and mount it using “lofiadm” commands. In this example we assume that the OS image is mounted on /mnt. Create the installation server by going to the Solaris_10/Tools directory on the DVD and running the setup_install_server command.

# cd /mnt/Solaris_10/Tools/

#./setup_install_server /Sol10u8/install

2. Create the Client Configuration Files

The client configuration files are used to control a custom JumpStart installation.

v Create a configuration directory where the files will reside:

# mkdir –p /Sol10u8/Config

v Create the “sysidcfg” file:

A JumpStart client looks for a file named sysidcfg before the OS installation begins.

# cd /Sol10u8/Config

# vi sysidcfg

network_interface=primary {protocol_ipv6=no

netmask=255.255.255.0

default_route=192.168.1.1}

security_policy=none

name_service=DNS

{domain_name=xyz.com

name_server=192.168.1.2

search=syz.com}

timezone=Asia/Calcutta

terminal=vt100

system_locale=en_US

timeserver=192.168.1.3

root_password=JPohLYnwWsbKM

nfs4_domain=dynamic

keyboard=US-English

pointer=Unknown

v Create the rules file:

This is a text file that contains a rule for each client or group of clients on which the Solaris OS will be installed. Each line of the rules file tells JumpStart which begin, profile, and finish files to use for each client or group of clients. There is only one rules file. It can contain multiple lines depending upon how many unique configurations are needed.

# cd /Sol10u8/Config

# vi rules

any - - profile1 finishwithsystem

v Create the begin file:

The begin file is a user-defined Bourne shell script that is used to perform tasks on the client before the installation of the Solaris OS begins. Typical tasks include creating derived profiles and the backing up of files before upgrading.

v Create the finish file:

The finish file is a user-defined Bourne shell script that is used to perform tasks on the client after the installation of the Solaris OS has completed. This script is typically used to add additional files, add packages and patches, customize the root environment, and install additional software.

v Create the profile file:

The profile file is a text file that defines how the Solaris OS is installed on a client.

# cd /Sol10u8/Config

# vi profile

install_type initial_install

system_type standalone

partitioning explicit

filesys c2t0d0s0 free /

filesys c2t0d0s1 9000 swap

cluster SUNWCXall

v Create the check script:

The check script is used to validate that the rules and profile files are correctly set up. First copy the check script to the local directory, that is, /export/config, as shown:

# cd /Sol10u8/Config

                    # cp /Sol10u8/install/Solaris_10/Misc/jumpstart_sample/check .

v Run the check script:

                     # ./check

                    Validating rules...

                     Validating profile profile1...

                    Validating profile profile2...

                     The custom JumpStart configuration is ok.

3. Share the Installation and Configuration Directories

v Edit the /etc/dfs/dfstab file and add the following entries:

share -F nfs -o ro,anon=0 /sol10u8/install

share -F nfs -o ro,anon=0 /sol10u8/Config

v Share the directories :

#shareall

#share

- /sol10u8/config ro,anon=0 ""

- /sol10u8/install ro,anon=0 ""

v Verify file sharing.

                    #showmount -e localhost

export list for localhost:

/sol10u8/config (everyone)

/sol10u8/install (everyone)

4. Add the Install Client to the Install Server

                    # cd /Sol10u8/install/Solaris_10/Tools

                    # ./add_install_client -d SUNW.i86pc i86pc

saving original /etc/dfs/dfstab in /etc/dfs/dfstab.orig

Adding "share -F nfs -o ro,anon=0 /sol10u8/install" to /etc/dfs/dfstab

enabling tftp in /etc/inetd.conf

Converting /etc/inetd.conf

enabling network/tftp/udp6 service

copying boot file to /tftpboot/pxegrub.I86PC.Solaris_10-1

If not already configured, enable PXE boot by creating a macro named PXEClient:Arch:00000:UNDI:002001 with:

Boot server IP (BootSrvA) : 192.168.1.5

Boot file (BootFile) : SUNW.i86pc

Verify the existence of the /tftpboot directory.

The following files should be located in the /tftpboot directory:

_ SUNW.i86pc

_ nbp.SUNW.i86pc

_ inetboot.I86PC.Solaris_9-1

_ rm.SUNW.i86pc

_ nbp.I86PC.Solaris_9-1

_ tftpboot

5. Configure and Run the DHCP Server

Execute following commands on the Jumpstart server to configure DHCP.

#dhcpconfig -D -r SUNWfiles -p /var/dhcp -a 192.168.1.2 -d xyz.com -l 84600 -h files

Created DHCP configuration file.

Created dhcptab.

Added "Locale" macro to dhcptab.

Added server macro to dhcptab - Jumpstart

DHCP server started.

#dhcpconfig -N 192.168.1.0 -t 192.168.1.1

Added network macro to dhcptab - 192.168.1.0

Created network table.

#dhtadm -A -m PXEClient:Arch:00000:UNDI:002001 -d ':BootSrvA=192.168.1.5:'

#pntadm -A 192.168.1.10 -c client_server -f DYNAMIC -m 192.168.1.0 192.168.1.0

#dhtadm -A -s SinstNM -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,11,ASCII,1,0'

#dhtadm -A -s SinstPTH -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,12,ASCII,1,0'

#dhtadm -A -s SinstIP4 -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,10,IP,1,1'

#dhtadm -A -s SrootNM -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,3,ASCII,1,0'

#dhtadm -A -s SrootPTH -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,4,ASCII,1,0'

#dhtadm -A -s SrootIP4 -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,2,IP,1,1'

#dhtadm -A -s SjumpsCF -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,14,ASCII,1,0'

#dhtadm -A -s SsysidCF -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,13,ASCII,1,0'

#dhtadm -A -s SbootURI -d 'Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,16,ASCII,1,0'

#dhtadm -M -m 192.168.1.0 -e 'SinstNM="Jumpstart"'

#dhtadm -M -m 192.168.1.0 -e 'SinstPTH="/sol10u8/install"'

#dhtadm -M -m 192.168.1.0 -e 'SinstIP4=192.168.1.5'

#dhtadm -M -m 192.168.1.0 -e 'SrootNM="Jumpstart"'

#dhtadm -M -m 192.168.1.0 -e 'SrootPTH="/sol10u8/install/Solaris_10/Tools/Boot"'

#dhtadm -M -m 192.168.1.0 -e 'SrootIP4=192.168.1.5'

#dhtadm -M -m 192.168.1.0 -e 'BootFile=nbp.SUNW.i86pc'

#dhtadm –P

Name Type Value

==================================================

192.168.1.0 Macro :Subnet=255.255.252.0:Router=192.168.1.1:Broadcst=10.209.83.255:SinstNM="Jumpstart":SinstPTH="/sol10u8/install":SinstIP4=192.168.1.5:SrootNM="Jumpstart":SrootPTH="/sol10u8/install/Solaris_10/Tools/Boot":SrootIP4=192.168.1.5:BootFile="nbp.SUNW.i86pc":

PXEClient:Arch:00000:UNDI:002001 Macro :BootSrvA=192.168.1.5:

Jumpstart Macro :Include=Locale:Timeserv=192.168.1.5:LeaseTim=84600:LeaseNeg:DNSdmain="xyz.com":DNSserv=192.168.1.2:

Locale Macro :UTCoffst=19800:

SbootURI Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,16,ASCII,1,0

SsysidCF Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,13,ASCII,1,0

SjumpsCF Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,14,ASCII,1,0

SrootIP4 Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,2,IP,1,1

SrootPTH Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,4,ASCII,1,0

SrootNM Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,3,ASCII,1,0

SinstIP4 Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,10,IP,1,1

SinstPTH Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,12,ASCII,1,0

SinstNM Symbol Vendor=SUNW.i86pc,11,ASCII,1,0

6. Perform a Hands-Off JumpStart Installation

Commands to configure client for JumpStart

# cd /sol10u8/install/Solaris_10/Tools

#./add_install_client -d -e 00:21:28:6f:d3:a6 -s Jumpstart:/sol10u8/install -c Jumpstart:/sol10u8/config -p Jumpstart:/sol10u8/config i86pc

If not already configured, enable PXE boot by creating a macro named 010021286FD3A6 with:

Boot server IP (BootSrvA) : 192.168.1.5

Boot file (BootFile) : 010021286FD3A6

# pntadm -A 192.168.1.10 -f 01 -e 12/31/2010 -i 010021286FD3A6 -m 010021286FD3A6 -s 192.168.1.5 192.168.1.0

# pntadm -P 192.168.1.0

Client ID Flags Client IP Server IP Lease Expiration Macro Comment

010021286FD3A6 01 10.209.82.144 192.168.1.5 12/31/2010 010021286FD3A6

# dhtadm -A -m 010021286FD3A6 -d ":BootSrvA=192.168.1.5:BootFile=010021286FD3A6:"

Modify /tfpboot/menu.lst. 010021286FD3A6 and add – install –dhcp

                    Befor modification:

                    default=0

                    timeout=30

                    min_mem64 1024

                    title Solaris_10 Jumpstart

kernel$ /I86PC.Solaris_10-1/multiboot kernel/$ISADIR/unix –B install_config=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/config,sysid_config=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/config,install_media=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/install,install_boot=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/install/boot         module$ /I86PC.Solaris_10-1/$ISADIR/x86.miniroot

After Modification:

default=0

timeout=30

min_mem64 1024

title Solaris_10 Jumpstart

   kernel$ /I86PC.Solaris_10-1/multiboot kernel/$ISADIR/unix - install dhcp –B        install_config=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/config,sysid_config=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/config,install_media=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/install,install_boot=192.168.1.5:/sol10u8/install/boot

                            module$ /I86PC.Solaris_10-1/$ISADIR/x86.miniroot

Once your Jumpstart Installation started, execute following command to remove the dhcp information for your client (IP 192.168.1.10) so that it won’t boot next time using DHCP.

# pntadm -D 192.168.1.10 192.168.1.0

Some useful Administration Tips

2010-08-24T13:06:00.000+05:30

1. If You are getting Terminal too Wide message
Some times when you open your some file to edit in vi editor, you may see the message like "Terminal too Wide"
If you See this message you need to modify your stty settings (Columns settings).
Usually by defaults your columns settings is 177, When You encountered this message, you could simply change the column setting by using following commands.

#stty -a (will show the current settings)
#stty columns 160 (will modify the column setting)

2. Mkdir to /home failed. /home is not writable

If you faced issue where you are unable to write anything inside /home directory or unable to create files in /home you could perform following steps to resolve that.
# mkdir /home/deepak
mkdir: Failed to make directory "/home/deepak"; Operation not applicable

a. Remove or comment the /home entry from /etc/auto_master
#vi /etc/auto_master
# Master map for automounter
#
+auto_master
/net -hosts -nosuid,nobrowse
/home auto_home -nobrowse
/xfn -xfn
b. Remove /home from the file.
c. kill the automountd processes running on the system.
# ps -ef |grep automountd
root 164 1 0 17:53:09 ? 0:00 /usr/lib/autofs/automountd
root 678 461 0 12:59:42 pts/1 0:00 grep automountd
#kill -9 164

Solaris Disk Geometry (Terminology)

2010-04-13T23:55:00.003+05:30

Disk Term	Description
Track	A concentric ring on a disk that passes under a single stationary disk head as the disk rotates.
Cylinder	The set of tracks with the same nominal distance from the axis about which the disk rotates.
Sector	Section of each disk platter. A sector holds 512 bytes.
Block	A data storage area on a disk. A disk block is 512 bytes.
Disk controller	A chip and its associated circuitry that control the disk drive.
Disk label	The first sector of a disk (block 0) that contains disk geometry and partition information. Also referred to as the Volume Table Of Contents (VTOC). To label a disk means to write slice information onto the disk. You usually label a disk after you change its slices using the format command.

Device Driver in Solaris

2010-04-09T13:28:00.000+05:30

A device driver is a low-level program that allows the kernel to communicate with a specific piece of hardware. The driver serves as the operating system’s “interpreter”for that piece of hardware. Before Solaris can communicate with a device, the device
must have a device driver.

When a system is started for the first time, the kernel creates a device hierarchy to representall the devices connected to the system. This is the auto configuration process. If a driver is not loaded for a particular peripheral, that device is not functional. In Solaris, each disk device is described in three ways, using three distinct naming conventions:

1. Physical device name : Represents the full device path name in the device information hierarchy.The physical device name and the full device name are the same. The difference is that the full device path name is simply a path to a particular device. The physical device is the actual driver used by Solaris to access that device from the operating system.
Physical device files are found in the /devices directory. The content of the /devices directory is controlled by the devfs file system. The entries in the /devices directory dynamically represent the current state of accessible devices in the kernel and require no administration. New device entries are added when the devices are detected and added to the kernel. The
physical device files for SCSI disks
/devices/pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@1,1/sd@3,0:<#> (For Block device)
/devices/pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@1,1/sd@3,0:<#>,raw (For Raw Device)

Command	Description
prtconf	Displays system configuration information, including the total amount of memory and thedevice configuration, as described by the system’s hierarchy. This useful tool verifies whether a device has been seen by the system
sysdef	Displays device configuration information, including system hardware, pseudo devices,loadable modules, and selected kernel parameters.
dmesg	Displays system diagnostic messages as well as a list of devices attached to the system since the most recent restart.
format	The format command displays both physical and logical device names for all available disks.

2. Instance name:— Represents the kernel’s abbreviation name for every possible device on the system.Instance names are mapped to a physical device name in the /etc/path_to_inst file.Although instance names can be displayed using the commands dmesg, sysdef, and prtconf,the only command that shows the mapping of the instance name to the physical device name is the dmesg command.A few examples of instance names are:
sd0: The instance name for a SCSI disk.
hme0: The instance name for a type of network interface.
After the instance name has been assigned to a device, it remains mapped to that device. To keep instance numbers consistent across restarts, the system records them in the /etc/path_to_inst file. This file is only read at startup, and it is updated by the devfsadmd daemon described later in this section.

Major and Minor Device number
Each device has a major and minor device number assigned to it. These numbers identify the proper device location and device driver to the kernel. This number is used by the operating system
to key into the proper device driver whenever a physical device file corresponding to one of the devices it manages is opened. The major device number maps to a device driver such as sd,
st, or hme. The minor device number indicates the specific member within that class of devices.
All devices managed by a given device driver contain a unique minor number. Some drivers of pseudo devices (software entities set up to look like devices) create new minor devices on demand. Together, the major and minor numbers uniquely define a device and its device driver.
Physical device files have a unique output when listed with the ls -l command, as shown in
the following example:
# cd /devices/pci@1f,0/pci@1,1/ide@3
# ls -l
brw-r----- 1 root sys 136, 8 Aug 5 11:31 dad@0,0:a

Here 136 is the major number and minor number is listed after the comma.

3. Logical device name:— Used by system administrators with most file system commands to refer to devices.
Logical device files in the /dev directory are symbolically linked to physical device files in the /devices directory. Logical device names are used to access disk devices if you do any of the following:
. Add a new disk to the system.
. Move a disk from one system to another.
. Access (or mount) a file system residing on a local disk.
. Back up a local file system.
. Repair a file system.

Device Auto-reconfiguration

Autoconfiguration offers many advantages over the manual configuration method used in earlier versions of Unix, in which device drivers were manually added to the kernel, the kernel
was recompiled, and the system had to be restarted. Now, with auto configuration, the administrator simply connects the new device to the system and performs a reconfiguration startup.
Performing a Reconfiguration Startup
1. Create the /reconfigure file with the following command:
# touch /reconfigure
The /reconfigure file causes the Solaris software to check for the presence of any newly installed devices the next time you turn on or start up your system.
2. Shut down the system using the shutdown procedure described in Chapter 3.If you need to connect the device, turn off power to the system and all peripherals after Solaris has been properly shut down.
After the new device is connected, restore power to the peripherals first and then to the system. Verify that the peripheral device has been added by attempting to access it.
An optional method of performing a reconfiguration startup is to type boot -r at the OpenBoot prompt.As root, you can also issue the reboot -- -r command from the Unix shell. The -- -r passes the -r to the boot command.

Solaris Software Packages and groups

2010-04-08T18:50:00.000+05:30

Software Packages

A software package is a collection of files and directories in a defined format. The Solaris 10 entire distribution contains approximately 900 software packages that require 6.8GB of disk space.
A Solaris software package is the standard way to deliver bundled and unbundled software.Packages are administered by using the package administration commands, and they are generally identified by a SUNWxxx naming convention when supplied by Sun Micro systems.

Software Groups

Software groups are logical collection of software packages referred as cluster. For SPARC systems, software groups are grouped into seven configuration groups to make the software installation process easier. During the installation process, you will be asked to install one of the seven configuration groups.

Following are the description of these groups :

1. Minimal core metacluster (SUNWCmreq): The metacluster is hidden. It allows you to create a minimal core metacluster by deselecting packages from the core metacluster.Therefore, the disk requirements depend on which packages have been selected.

2. Reduced networking support (SUNWCrnet): Sun recommends 2GB to support the software, swap, and disk overhead required to support this software group. This group contains the minimum software that is required to boot and run a Solaris system with limited network service support. The Reduced Networking software group provides a multi-user text-based console and system administration utilities. This software group also enables the system to recognize network interfaces, but does not activate network
services.

3. Core system support (SUNWcreq): Sun recommends 2GB to support the software,swap, and disk overhead required to support this software group. This software group contains the minimum software required to boot and run Solaris on a system.
4. End-user system support (SUNWcuser): Sun recommends 5.3GB to support the software, swap, and disk overhead required to support this software group. This group contains the core system support software plus end-user software, which includes OW compatibility and the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) software.

5.Developer system support (SUNWcprog): Sun recommends 6.6GB to support the software, swap, and disk overhead required to support this cluster. This software group contains the end-user software plus libraries, include files, man pages, and programming tools for developing software. Compilers and debuggers are purchased separately and are not included. However, you can use the open source GCC compiler supplied on the Solaris Companion CD.

6. Entire distribution (SUNWCall): Sun recommends 6.7GB to support the software, swap,and disk overhead required to support this software group. This software group contains the entire Solaris 10 release, which includes additional software needed for servers.
7. Entire distribution plus OEM system support (SUNWCXall): Sun recommends 6.8GB to support the software, swap, and disk overhead required to support this software group. This software group contains the entire Solaris 10 release software plus extended hardware support for non-Sun SPARC systems.

To determine which cluster configuration has been installed on your system, type
# cat /var/sadm/system/admin/CLUSTER
The system displays the following:
CLUSTER=SUNWCXall

Solaris Run Levels

2010-04-08T15:09:00.000+05:30

A Solaris system's run level (also known as an init state) defines what services and resources are available to users. A system can be in only one run level at a time.

The Solaris OS has eight run levels, which are described in the following table. The default run level is specified in the /etc/inittab file as run level 3.

Run Level	Init State	Type	Purpose
0	Power-down state	Power-down	To shut down the operating system or The system is taken down to PROM monitor or Security monitor state so that it is safe to turn off power to the system.
s or S	Single-user state	Single-user	To run as a single user with some file systems mounted and accessible.
1	Administrative state	Single-user	To access all available file systems. User logins are disabled.
2	Multiuser state	Multiuser	For normal operations. Multiple users can access the system and all file system. All daemons are running except for the NFS server daemons.
3	Multiuser level with NFS resources shared	Multiuser	For normal operations with NFS resources shared. This is the default run level for the Solaris OS.
4	Alternative multiuser state		Not configured by default, but available for customer use.
5	Power-down state	Power-down	To shut down the operating system so that it is safe to turn off power to the system. If possible, automatically turns off power on systems that support this feature.
6	Reboot state	Reboot	To shut down the system to run level 0, and then reboot to multiuser level with NFS resources shared (or whatever level is the default in the `inittab` file).

Solaris Boot Process

2010-04-08T15:03:00.000+05:30

Solaris Boot Process

Boot process in Solaris can be divided in to different phases for ease of study . First phase starts at the time of switching on the machine and is boot prom level , it displays a identification banner mentioning machine host id serial no , architecture type memory and Ethernet address This is followed by the self test of various systems in the machine.

This process looks for the default boot device and reads the boot program from the boot block which is located on the 1-15 blocks of boot device. The boot block contains the ufs file system reader which is required by the next boot processes.

The ufs file system reader opens the boot device and loads the secondary boot program from /usr/platform/`uname –i`/ufsboot ( uname –i expands to system architecture type)

The boot program above loads a platform specific kernel along with a generic solaris kernel

The kernel initialize itself and load modules which are required to mount the root partition for continuing the booting process.

The booting process undergoes the following phases afterwards :

1) init phase
2) inittab file
3) rc scripts & Run Level

1. INIT phase

Init phase is started by the execution of /sbin/init program and starts other processes after reading the /etc/inittab file as per the directives in the /etc/inittab file .

Two most important functions of init are
a) It runs the processes to bring the system to the default run level state ( Run level 3 in Solaris , defined by initdefault parameter in /etc/inittab )
b) It controls the transition between different run levels by executing appropriate rc scripts to start and the stop the processes for that run level.

2. /etc/inittab file

This file states the default run level and some actions to be performed while the system reaches up to that level. The fields and their explanation are as follows :

S3:3:wait:/sbin/rc3 > /dev/console 2>&1 < /dev/console

S3 denotes a identification if the line

3 is run level
wait is action to be performed

/sbin/rc3 is the command to be run.

So the fields in the inittab are

Identification : run level : action : process

The complete line thus means run the command /sbin/rc3 at run level 3 and wait until the rc3 process is complete.

The action field can have any of the following keywords :

Initdefault : default run level of the system

Respawn : start and restart the process if it stops.
Powerfail : stop on powerfail
Sysinit : start and wait till console in accessible .
Wait : wait till the process ends before going on to the next line.

3. RC scripts & Run Levels

Rc scripts performs the following functions :

a) They check and mount the file systems
b) Start and stop the various processes like network , nfs etc.
c) Perform some of the house keeping jobs.

System goes in to one of the following run level after booting depending on default run level and the commands issued for changing the run level to some other one.

0 Boot prom level ok> or > prompt in Sun.
1 Administrative run level . Single user mode
2 Multiuser mode with no resource sharing .
3 Multiuser level with nfs resource sharing
4 Not used
5 Shutdown & power off (Sun 4m and 4u architecture )
6 Reboot to default run level
S s Single user mode user logins are disabled.

Broadly speaking the running system can be in any of the folloing state

Single user – Minimum processes running , user logins disabled and root password is required to gain access to the shell .

Multiuser - All system processes are running and user logins are permitted

Run level of a desired state is achieved by a number of scripts executed by the rc program the rc scripts are located in /etc/rc0.d , /etc/rc1.d , /etc/rc2.d , /etc/rc3.d & /etc/rcS.d directories . All the files of a particular run level are executed in the alphanumeric order .Those files beginning with letter S starts the processes and those beginning with K stops the processes.

These files are hard linked to the files in /etc/init.d in order to provide a central location for all these files and eliminating the need to change the run level in case these scripts needs to be run separately . The files in /etc/init.d directory are without any S , K and numeric prefix instead a stop / start argument has to be supplied whenever these scripts are to be executed .

By default system has a number of rc scripts needed for run level transition but sometimes it becomes necessary to start some custom scripts at the booting time and turn them off at the shutdown . Custom scripts can be put in any of the required rc directory but following major considerations has to be kept in mind :

* The sequence number of the file should not conflict with other files.
* The sevices needed should be available by previously executed scripts.
* File should be hard linked to the /etc/init.d directory .
* The system looks for only those files beginning with letter K & S , any thing else is ignored , therefore, to make a file inactive simply changing uppercase K or S to lower case will cause system to ignore it .

Solaris 10 Installation using CD/DVD

2010-04-08T12:49:00.000+05:30

Solaris installation poses a challenges to the new Solaris sysadmins who have never done the installation of Solaris before . Though the installation itself is simple and straight forward but doing it the first time comes with its own anxiety associated with unexplored and unknown things .

The idea of this article is to introduce you with the procedure and sequence of event Solaris installation to build enough confidence to finish the installation on your own.

Table of contents
1. Preparing for Installation
2. Getting Started
3. Starting the installation
4. OS distributions & disk configuration
5. After Installation
6. Next Steps

1. Preparing for Installation
For Solaris installation on standalone Sun machine you need the following besides sun cpu :

A) Sun Monitor and Sun Keyboard
OR
For carrying the installation through the serial port A of Sun (ttya)
Dumb Terminal or PC with serial port communication software like HyperTerminal
AND
A null modem cable ( Pin 2 & 3 crossed 5 common ground in 9 Pin to 9 pin ; Pin 7 is common ground in 25 Pin connector ) connecting sun’s serial port A with PC serial port.

B) You will also require a IP address, netmask and a host name for your system.

2. Getting Started

Installation starts at OK> prompt & you can get to ok> using any of the following method :

A. by pressing Stop A key sequence on a Sun Keyboard.
B. typing #init 0 if your system boots up directly .
C. Pressing ctrl-break or shift-break on a pc keyboard if using pc as
console through serial port.
D. If auto-boot feature is enabled system directly boots up
and gives you a # prompt .You can disable auto-boot so next time it
stays at ok prompt for starting installation.
#/usr/platform/sun4u/bin/eeprom auto-boot?=false
reboot the system.

3. Starting the installation
Insert the installation media – OS CD in CD drive and type boot cdrom at ok> prompt .
Ok>boot cdrom

The first phase begins with system identification and gathers information about the system from the the user .System starts booting up and after initialization it asks for language and locale also terminal type in case of PC/terminal

Select your locale and DEC VT100 terminal type for terminal selection
Further installation through the terminal require response to the
selections through ESC and function keys and space bar which are
mentioned on the installation screen.

On the next screens, you are to identify the system as networked or non-networked, and set the default time zone and date/time. After this following host information is required :

A) A host name for the system
B) Whether the system is networked if yes you will have to
provide the IP address & netmask of this machine.

Next you will be asked to select the name services
Name services

[ ] NIS+
[ ] NIS
[ ] DNS
[X ] None

Select the service if you have complete details like domain names etc or select none to configure after installation.

You have to select a distribution type from among the choices choices

4. OS distribution & Disk configuration
After identification is complete the installation process proceeds on to the OS and disk configuration and need your input for these settings. Selection depends on role of your machine

Typical space requirement for Solaris 10 is given here.

[ ] Entire Distribution plus OEM support 64-bit 1242.00 MB (F4 to Customize
[X] Entire Distribution 64-bit .....…...….1215.00 MB
[ ] Developer System Support 64-bit.... 1154.00 MB
[ ] End User System Support 64-bit .….. 765.00 MB
[ ] Core System Support .............. .334.00 MB

* Entire distribution with OEM has all software with some third party software
* Entire distribution has all software without third party software .
* Developer system has run time libraries for C software etc.
* End user has X windows and CDE environment .
* Core system is without X windows softwares etc.

If you are not sure select entire distribution.

You will be presented with choice to select the boot disk among the disks present in the system ,unless you have reasons select the c0t0d0 at boot disk.

[ X ] c0t0d0 (68699 MB) boot disk 68699 MB

[ ] c0t1d0 (68699 MB) 68699 MB

overlap partition represents entire disk and is slice s2 of the disk.
If any of the disk contain a preexisting partition you will be given a choice to preserve the partition .
Next the current layout is given ( if existing ) and you are asked to select between Automatic and Custom layout of disk partitions.

* Automatic layout make a single partition of entire boot disk .
* Customize option gives and option to create the partitions and select the sizes .

Things to keep in mind while doing interactive or custom installation
- Additional space is required in /var & /home if server is to handle mail and printing as mail and print files are formed in /var & if the user home directories are to be located on /home partition

A sample partition table may look like following .

File system/Mount point Disk/Slice Size
---------------------------------------

/ c0t0d0s0 50000 MB

swap c0t0d0s1 6000 MB

overlap c0t0d0s2 68699 MB

/usr c0t0d0s3 5000 MB

/var c0t0d0s5 7000 MB

- The swap partition size depends on the size of RAM in the system if you are not sure of its size keep it double the RAM or more than RAM in the system.

- If you are not sure of individual partition sizes of / , /usr /opt & /var make one partition as / and keep its size sufficiently higher than the distribution size you have selected in earlier steps . Always keep in mind the future software that you might have to install like compilers applications etc and log files that will be generated and accumulate in /var directory or partition.

After you have specified the partition sizes it gives summary and error if any

Installation Option: Initial

Boot Device: c0t0d0s0
Client Services: None
Software: Solaris 2.10, Entire Distribution plus OEM support

File System and Disk Layout:
/ c0t0d0s0 50000 MB
swap c0t0d0s1 6000 MB
/usr c0t0d0s3 5000 MB
/var c0t0d0s5 7000 MB

one more question is asked about rebooting

[X] Auto Reboot
[ ] Manual Reboot

Afterwards it starts configuring disk making partitions and installing software indicating the progress in a table .

MBytes Installed: 700.66

MBytes Remaining: 0.00

Installing:
| | | | | |

0 20 40 60 80 100

After the installation is complete it customizes system files , devices ,logs , installs patches which are there in OS CD for that release. You can install recommended latest patches later

System then reboots or ask you to reboot depending upon the choice selected earlier .

5. After Installation
After rebooting it asks for new root passed and comes to console prompt where you can login as root install patches ,additional software , make user etc. etc.