Solaris™ OS Guide for New

System Administrators

Rolf Kersten
Revised June 25, 2004
Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, Solaris, Solaris JumpStart, Solaris Volume Manager, Solstice DiskSuite,
StarOffice, Sun Blade, Sun BluePrints, Sun Enterprise, Sun Fire, Sun OpenGL for Solaris, SunSolve,
OpenWindows, PGX32, XIL, XGL, and Ultra are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
in the United States and other countries.

All SPARC trademarks are used under license and are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC
International, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an
architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Netscape Navigator is a trademark or registered trademark of Netscape Communications Corporation in the United
States and other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open Company,
Ltd.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators II Version 1.20e, June 2004
Change History

Date Version Comment

25.05.2002 V 1.8e First English release
12.06.2002 V 1.9e First feedback (thanks to Daniel Schmidberger!)
19.07.2002 V 1.10e Added iostat chapter
04.09.2002 V 1.11e Edits from Matt Ruetz
05.12.2002 V 1.12e Miscellaneous corrections and additions
17.01.2003 V 1.13e Additions and corrections from Halvard Halvorsen (www.sundot.com) and Sven Fink
11.04.2003 V 1.14e Shells and Environment Variables chapter, more from Sven and Andreas Fatum
16.04.2003 V 1.15e xcpustate, OGL&DGA
27.05.2003 V 1.16e Handling CD-Rs written on other platforms
02.07.2003 V 1.17e Mounting USB Memory Sticks
Lots of editorial changes, /var/sadm/install/contents file, cloning systems with FC-AL
30.10.2003 V 1.18e
boot disks
30.03.2004 V 1.19e Download link for xcpustate changed, pkgchk
25.06.2004 V 1.20e New chapter on Flash Installation, miscellaneous changes and additions

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators III Version 1.20e, June 2004
Table of Contents
1 System Booting and Testing.................................................................. ................................................................. 2
1.1 The OK-Prompt..............................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Testing at a Console.......................................................................................................................................2
1.3 Rebooting a Sun Workstation.........................................................................................................................2
1.4 Testing the System.........................................................................................................................................3
1.4.1 Banner...................................................................................................................................................3
1.4.2 probe......................................................................................................................................................3
1.4.3 test all....................................................................................................................................................3
1.4.4 printenv and devalias.............................................................................................................................4
1.4.5 Disabling the Network-Interface Error Message....................................................................................4
2 Administering Disks...............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Logical Device Names....................................................................................................................................5
2.2 Partitions........................................................................................................................................................5
2.3 Crash Dumps..................................................................................................................................................6
2.4 Example.........................................................................................................................................................7
2.5 Removable Devices........................................................................................................................................8
2.5.1 Volume Management............................................................................................................................ 8
2.5.2 Floppy....................................................................................................................................................8
2.5.3 CD-ROM...............................................................................................................................................8
2.5.4 CD-R and CD-RW................................................................................................................................9
2.5.5 USB Memory Sticks..............................................................................................................................9
2.5.6 Tapes.....................................................................................................................................................9
2.6 Cloning a Disk..............................................................................................................................................10
2.6.1 Cloning Using Internal Disks...............................................................................................................10
2.6.2 Cloning Using a Crossover Cable.........................................................................................................11
2.7 Mirroring the Boot Disk with SDS...............................................................................................................11
3 Swap Space...........................................................................................................................................................14
3.1 Persistent Configuration in /etc/vfstab..........................................................................................................14
3.2 "Raw Partition" Versus Plain File............................................................................................................... 14
3.3 Temporary Configuration.............................................................................................................................14
4 Installation and Maintenance................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Installation From CD....................................................................................................................................15
4.2 Network Installation With Webstart Flash...................................................................................................16
4.2.1 Step 1: Setting Up the Boot Server......................................................................................................16
4.2.2 Step 2: Definition of Client Profiles.................................................................................................... 16
4.2.3 Step 3: Modify Hosts, Ethers and Netmasks........................................................................................17
4.2.4 Step 4: Share /export/install.................................................................................................................17
4.2.5 Step 5: Add Clients..............................................................................................................................17
4.2.6 Step 6: Installation of the Master Host................................................................................................17
4.2.7 Step 7: Installation of the Other Hosts.................................................................................................17
4.3 Packages.......................................................................................................................................................18
4.4 Patches.........................................................................................................................................................19
5 X-Server and CDE User Interface........................................................................................................................20
5.1 General Observations...................................................................................................................................20
5.2 Customizing the Login Screen......................................................................................................................20
5.3 Startup With Multiple Screens, Xinerama, 24-Bit Color Depth..................................................................20
5.3.1 Multi-Screen........................................................................................................................................21
5.3.2 Xinerama.............................................................................................................................................21
5.3.3 24-Bit Color Depth..............................................................................................................................21
5.4 A User-Defined CDE Front Panel................................................................................................................21
5.4.1 Actions.................................................................................................................................................22
5.4.2 Icons....................................................................................................................................................22
5.4.3 Front Panels.........................................................................................................................................23
6 Frame Buffers and OpenGL.................................................................................................................................24
6.1 fbconfig........................................................................................................................................................24
6.2 OpenGL.......................................................................................................................................................25

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators I Version 1.20e, June 2004
 6.3 Patch Matrix for Graphics............................................................................................................................26
7 Administration......................................................................................................................................................27
7.1 Hosts.............................................................................................................................................................27
7.2 Serial Ports...................................................................................................................................................27
7.3 Printers.........................................................................................................................................................27
7.4 User Creation...............................................................................................................................................27
7.5 Shells and Environment Variables....................................................... ........................................................ 28
8 Network Connections............................................................................................................................................30
8.1 /etc-files........................................................................................................................................................30
8.2 Virtual Interfaces..........................................................................................................................................31
8.3 ifconfig.........................................................................................................................................................31
8.4 Routing.........................................................................................................................................................32
8.5 NIS-Client....................................................................................................................................................32
8.6 DNS-Client..................................................................................................................................................32
8.7 DHCP-Client................................................................................................................................................33
8.8 sys-unconfig.................................................................................................................................................33
8.9 10 or 100 Mbit, Half- or Full-Duplex?.........................................................................................................33
8.10 Network Settings: Temporary vs. Persistent ..............................................................................................34
9 Network File System.............................................................................................................................................35
9.1 NFS-Server..................................................................................................................................................35
9.2 NFS-Client...................................................................................................................................................35
9.3 Differences From Other Popular UNIX Systems.........................................................................................35
9.4 Automounter................................................................................................................................................36
10 Tools...................................................................................................................................................................37
10.1 Compiler.....................................................................................................................................................37
10.2 GNU-Tools.................................................................................................................................................37
10.3 SunPCi™ and SunPCi-II............................................................................................................................37
10.4 StarOffice Software....................................................................................................................................37
10.5 Netscape Navigator™ Browser ......................................................... ........................................................ 37
10.6 Miscellaneous.............................................................................................................................................38
11 Hint Collection....................................................................................................................................................39
11.1 Top Hints....................................................................................................................................................39
11.2 Analysis of the Hardware Configuration.................................................................................................... 39
11.2.1 prtdiag................................................................................................................................................39
11.2.2 prtconf / path_to_inst.........................................................................................................................39
11.2.3 Sun Explorer Software...................................................................................................................... 39
11.3 Analysis of Runtime Data.......................................................................................................................... 39
11.3.1 time/ptime..........................................................................................................................................39
11.3.2 top / prstat / ps....................................................................................................................................40
11.3.3 vmstat / mpstat...................................................................................................................................40
11.3.4 iostat..................................................................................................................................................40
11.3.5 sdtperfmeter, xcpustate, and sdtprocess.............................................................................................40
11.3.6 32-Bit or 64-Bit?................................................................ ............................................................... 41
11.4 Debugging..................................................................................................................................................41
11.4.1 Truss..................................................................................................................................................41
11.4.2 pstack, pmap, and so on.....................................................................................................................41
11.4.3 snoop..................................................................................................................................................41
11.5 Common Pitfalls.........................................................................................................................................41
12 Books and Web Sites..........................................................................................................................................42
12.1 Books.........................................................................................................................................................42
12.2 Web Sites...................................................................................................................................................42

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators II Version 1.20e, June 2004
Introduction

Introduction
Within this document you can find the most relevant 20 percent of technical information you will need to know
when working with the Solaris™ Operating System (OS) and Sun™ platforms. It should answer 80 percent of
your questions about the Solaris OS. The guide is primarily written for the Solaris OS, SPARC® Platform Edition,
but most of the information should be applicable for the x86 platform as well.

This document is not intended to replace detailed books or comprehensive FAQs written about the Solaris OS
(books and links are listed in the Appendix). Rather, this document is intended to serve as a "how to" collection for
those who are new to Solaris OS system administration or those who are not administering Solaris systems on a
daily basis. This content focuses on graphical workstations used for technical applications and should also be help-
ful to those who need to set up Sun systems for demonstrations or benchmarks.

Two special notes:

• Always keep track of changes made to your system by using a change log.
• Keep in mind that this document contains system-level procedures that can provoke system unavailability. Do
not apply these procedures to productive systems unless you have made a careful analysis of the consequences.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 1 Version 1.20e, June 2004
System Booting and Testing

1 System Booting and Testing

1.1 The OK-Prompt
Each Sun system has a Boot-PROM mode that can be accessed prior to starting the Solaris OS or while the OS is
running. You may enter this mode by pressing STOP-A (hold down the STOP-key while pressing "a"). If the
STOP-key is not available (PC keyboard), try Ctrl-BREAK.

Once you are in the Boot-PROM mode, an OK-Prompt is displayed. If the Solaris OS has been running, it is fro-
zen now, but can be "reanimated" immediately by typing the command "go" at the OK-Prompt.

1.2 Testing at a Console

The Boot-PROM mode can be used either by means of a directly connected keyboard and monitor or by using a
separately connected terminal.

If the system does not detect a keyboard while booting, input and output are automatically redirected to the first
serial interface (/dev/ttya, often named "A"). You may attach a terminal or another computer (using a cross-
over serial cable) to this port.

If this other computer happens to be a Sun workstation, you can use tip hardwire to monitor the boot con-
sole of the observed machine. After issuing the tip command, all boot messages will appear in the corresponding
terminal window. To issue a STOP-A command on the observed host, you have to change tip to telnet-mode first
with Strg-]. After that, enter a BREAK: telnet> send brk
If tip does not work, try cu: cu -b8 -l/dev/cua/a (STOP-A with ~%break, end session with ~.).
/etc/uucp/Devices has to embody these lines:
ACU cua/a - Any hayes
Direct cua/a - Any direct

1.3 Rebooting a Sun Workstation

Prior to rebooting, a Sun workstation should always be shut down in an appropriate manner. For this task, several
alternative commands exist.

The best and cleanest methods are:

- # init 5 Shut down all processes, switch off system afterwards.
- # init 6 Shut down all processes, reboot system afterwards.
- # init 0 Shut down all processes, display OK prompt afterwards.

In all three cases, the K* scripts in /etc/rc0.d are executed before the system shuts down or reboots. This is
important for databases that have to be shut down, for web servers that are cleaning process ID files, and so on.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 2 Version 1.20e, June 2004
System Booting and Testing

If there is no shell window available, try the preceding commands using a remote login. If that is not possible, the
next step should be:
- STOP-A
- OK sync Sync file systems. Panic the OS afterwards, then reboot.

Attention: Watch out for big OS core dumps in /var/crash/<hostname> afterwards.

If STOP-A is not possible anymore, the computer has to be switched off and on.

1.4 Testing the System

Boot the system. Press STOP-A while the memory is being tested.

The following paragraphs will describe the most important commands only.

A detailed description can be found in "Hardware Diagnostics for SunTM Systems: A Toolkit for System Adminis-
trators" (SunSolve Infodoc Number 23476 at http://sunsolve.sun.com/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=content/content9).

1.4.1 Banner

banner displays the following pieces of information:

• number, type, and frequency of CPUs
• memory
• MAC-Address and Host-ID
• Type of Console-Frame buffer
• Sun-Globe: Creator 3D
• Sun with face: Elite 3D
• Self-describing Logo: PGX, Raptor GFX (=PGX32), Expert3D(lite) XVR-500, XVR-1000, and so on.

1.4.2 probe

probe-scsi-all lists all internal and external SCSI-attached devices. For IDE disks, use:
probe-ide-all.

1.4.3 test all

test all runs all self-test procedures and can be used to find out details such as whether a network cable is
working properly.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 3 Version 1.20e, June 2004
System Booting and Testing

1.4.4 printenv and devalias

devalias lists all aliases, while printenv lists all variables. The variable boot-device, for example, de-
fines from which path a machine shall boot. In most cases the value of this variable is disk. disk itself is an
alias pointing to a particular device name.

Hint: To reset all variables to their default values, use set-defaults at the OK-prompt or press STOP-N
while powering-on the system. Warning: By setting all variables to their default values, you could lose your boot
device definition, and the system may not boot afterwards.

1.4.5 Disabling the Network-Interface Error Message

When network interfaces are present with no cable attached during boot time, "Interface: No link" error
messages are printed multiple times for each interface. These can be disabled by setting setenv tpe-link-
test? false at the OK prompt.

Note: This fix speeds up boot times when network cables are detached temporarily. For permanently unconnected
interfaces, shut down the interface with ifconfig unplumb <interface> (using a root shell).

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 4 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

2 Administering Disks
2.1 Logical Device Names
All disks are numbered following a common naming scheme. This system consists of four parts:

c Controller number
t Target-ID (for SCSI-devices this number corresponds to the SCSI-ID)
d Drive Number or LUN for RAID-devices (one ID, multiple disks)
s Slice, Partition number (see below)

These logical device names are stored as links in the directories /dev/dsk and /dev/rdsk. These links point
to physical device names, but they are only needed for tasks like changing the boot device. Typical Solaris OS
commands for administering drives expect logical device names as their parameters.

Example: c0t0d0s0 typically is the first drive in a workstation, c0t1d0s0 is the second one, c0t6d0s0 is
the internal CD-ROM-drive (often with SCSI-ID 6), and so on.

A refresh of the /dev/dsk and /dev/rdsk directories occurs either while booting (boot -r at the OK-
Prompt) or during Solaris OS operation with devfsadm (drvconfig;disks;devlinks prior to the
Solaris 8 OS). After this refresh, logical links should exist for all devices found upon boot time with probe-
scsi-all.

2.2 Partitions
On a workstation with two internal disk drives, the command format generates the following output:
c0t0d0
c0t1d0

This listing displays disks, not single slices or partitions. The purpose of format is to create and administer these
slices (or partitions). A disk may have up to eight slices. These may be displayed using the format subcommand
print – partition.

If a default installation was used, the Solaris installer tool divides the OS disk into several slices: / (root), /usr, /
var and /export/home. A Solaris 8 OS default installation creates three slices: (i) approximately 1 Gbyte
root, (ii) swap (depending on memory capacity), and (iii) the remaining disk space for /export/home.

For workstations, this partitioning scheme is not optimal. The capacity of a partition cannot be expanded without
data loss. In the case of a partition running out of space, symbolic links to other partitions have to be created. It is
useful, especially for servers, to reserve one partition for the /var directory, so that growing log files or big files
stored in /var/tmp by users cannot fill up the root partition, thus causing OS problems.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 5 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

A workstation OS disk should be partitioned this way:

slice 0: / root-Partition, incl. /usr, /var, /opt plus

/export/home
slice 1: swap swap-Partition, as large as physical memory
slice 2: backup Do not change this partition!
It is always as big as the whole disk
slice 7: sds A small space reserved for Solstice DiskSuite(TM)
metadata

To be prepared for the use of the Solstice DiskSuite logical volume manager (SDS), it is recommended to preserve
some space (30 Mbyte, approximately 60 cylinders) for copies of the "state replica databases." (More on that later.
See also the chapter on Mirroring the Boot Disk with SDS.)

Starting with the Solaris 8 02/02 OS, Solaris Live Upgrade software automatically will be installed. Using Solaris
Live Upgrade software, you can update a copy of the current root environment while the system is still running. To
use this feature (for example, for testing a new OS version without changing the currently running system), there
has to be enough space to create an alternate boot environment (ABE). Modern disks typically allow sufficient ca-
pacity for this partitioning:

slice 0: / root-partition, incl. /usr, /var, /opt

slice 1: swap swap-Partition, as large as physical memory
slice 2: backup Do not change this partition!
It is always the size of the whole disk
slice 3: /export OS-independent data, home-directories
slice 4: <not mounted>, to be used as ABE with Live Upgrade
( about 150% of the expected size of / )
slice 7: sds A small space reserved for Solstice Disksuite metadata

The important partitions in this example ("/" and "/export") should be mounted "logging." This avoids
lengthy and manual file system checks during reboot after a machine was not shut down properly. This option is
not enabled by default. After installation, you need to replace "-" with "logging" in the last column of
"/etc/vfstab" manually.

2.3 Crash Dumps

Starting with the Solaris 7 OS, crash dumps are written to the swap partition by default. This is another reason
why swap should have the size of the physical memory.

During the next reboot, this file is read back from swap, compressed, and written to /var/crash/<host-
name>, to allow for later analysis. Therefore, /var (or /, if no special partition for /var was defined) should
also not be too small.

If a system with lots of gigabytes uses the swap partition as a dump device, the boot process can take some time be-
cause of the copying procedure mentioned above. In these cases, it is best to define a dedicated dump partition us-
ing dumpadm. Copying from a dedicated dump device (rather than from swap) to /var/crash is performed in
the background.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 6 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

Hint: Check and clean up the content of /var/crash/<hostname> frequently, so you have enough space in
this directory for upcoming crash dumps.

2.4 Example

Suppose you have a Sun Enterprise™450 system and a bootable disk with a fully configured demo installed on it,
but you do not know two things:

1. Where to put the disk (the system has 20 slots, and the system only boots correctly when the disk is placed in
the same slot that it was in at installation time)
2. The root password

Start with putting the disk into an arbitrary slot, then follow this procedure:

Step 1: Insert a bootable CD (a Solaris Installation CD) and reboot the system. Interrupt with STOP-A , type
boot cdrom -s. cdrom is an alias to the internal CD-ROM drive. If you are using an external drive, find
out what the device path is (using probe-scsi-all)and boot from this path: boot <long, cryptic
device-path> -s

Once the system has booted, you have a root-shell without entering a password.

Step 2: Now we are going to mount the disk. First let the Solaris OS rebuild the device tree with devfsadm.
There should be eight new files in /dev/dsk afterwards.

Now use format subcommands disk-print-partition to verify that the new disk is correctly attached
and to find out on which slice the root partition has been defined. Normally, slice 0 holds the root partition. Let us
assume you inserted the disk into slot 2 of the system. Format should have recognized the disk as c1t2d0 (SCSI-
ID 2 attached to the first controller), with slice c1t2d0s0 as the root partition. So you should be able to mount
the disk: fsck -Y /dev/rdsk/c1t2d0s0; mkdir /tmp/disk; mount /
dev/dsk/c1t2d0s0 /tmp/dsk

Step 3: First, reset the root password to "empty" by deleting the crypted characters between the colons in /
tmp/dsk/etc/shadow. Then look into /tmp/dsk/etc/vfstab to find out if this disk was located in slot
2 in the original system. If that was the case, the root file system "/" should be mounted on /
dev/dsk/c1t2d0s0. If the mount point you find in /tmp/dsk/etc/vfstab is different, switch the slot
of the disk accordingly.

Step 4: Let's assume we really found /dev/dsk/c1t2d0s0 in /tmp/dsk/etc/vfstab. This means the
disk occupied slot 2 in the original system. Typically, a Sun Enterprise 450 system would boot from the first slot
(c1t0d0s0). Use the /dev/dsk directory to find out which physical device name c1t2d0s0 points to, and
write it down.

Step 5: Reboot, STOP-A and type: boot <this physical device-Name>

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 7 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

Step 6: You could define an alias nvalias mydisk <this physical device-Name> so you only
need to type boot mydisk from now on. If you then define setenv boot-device mydisk, the system
will always boot from mydisk.

2.5 Removable Devices

2.5.1 Volume Management

Removable devices are handled by Solaris Volume Manager software. This Volume Manager detects CD-ROMs
and automatically mounts them to /cdrom/cdrom0.

Solaris Volume Manager will stumble when manually circumvented, for example, when a
CD is removed using a paper clip instead of the appropriate command: eject cdrom.
In such a case the Volume Manager can be restarted with /etc/init.d/volmgt stop; /
etc/init.d/volmgt start.

2.5.2 Floppy

Insertion of a floppy disk (UNIX® or MS-DOS format) has to be communicated to the Volume Manager manu-
ally: volcheck

If volcheck was successful, the disk is mounted on /floppy/floppy0. Do not eject a floppy disk manually;
always use eject floppy.

2.5.3 CD-ROM

CD-ROMs do not need volcheck. They are automatically detected and mounted to /cdrom/cdrom0. Eject-
ing the CD using eject cdrom is only possible while no shell or command occupies the cdrom path. fuser
-c /cdrom/cdrom0 prints out the process ID of that shell or command (fuser -k kills that process imme-
diately).

Without volume management, CD-ROMs must be explicitly mounted and ejected (example for SCSI-ID 6):
- mkdir /tmp/cdrom
- mount -F hsfs /dev/dsk/c0t6d0s0 /tmp/cdrom
- (Work with CD mounted on /tmp/cdrom)
- umount /tmp/cdrom
- eject /dev/dsk/c0t6d0s0

Note: The Solaris OS detects file names with more than 8.3 characters on a CD only if that CD has been created
with Standard ISO-9660 Rock Ridge extensions. If only Microsoft Joliet extensions (default for most Microsoft

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 8 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

Windows CD Burning tools) are present, all file names are truncated to 8.3 (that is, "long~f.txt" instead of
"LongFilename.txt"). Always create both Rock Ridge and Joliet extensions when burning CDs to make sure they
are readable on all platforms.

Workaround: Create a zip file with a name no longer than 8.3 characters and burn that file onto the CD. Unzipping
the archive on the target platform will properly restore all long file names.

2.5.4 CD-R and CD-RW

Bundled with Solaris 8 OS software is a tool, cdrw, to burn CD-R or CD-RW media. This tool burns an ISO-
Image, which can be created from a Solaris OS file system or directory using mkisofs.

Look at this example for the exact parameters:

#! /bin/sh
# ./nfscd <PARAMETER1> <PARAMETER2>
# PARAMETER1 = Application ID
# PARAMETER2 = from where
#
# ./nfscd SunNetManager /net/center2000/export/pkg/SUNWsnm

# set Umask
umask 022

# Remove old image

rm /data/disk.img

# Create image
mkisofs -A $1 -d -l -L -o /data/disk.img -P "Sun Microsystems" -p
"Solaris SPARC" -r -R -J -V "$1" -v $2

# Burn
cdrw -i /data/disk.img

2.5.5 USB Memory Sticks

Most newer Sun systems have USB ports. So that the memory stick will be recognized and mounted by the Vol-
ume Manager, create a directory /rmdisk with the same ownership and permission attributes as /cdrom. After
a FAT file system memory stick is inserted into the USB slot, its content should be readable as /
rmdisk/<name>. If this is not the case, look at freshly created links in /dev/dsk/... pointing to usb paths
and try a manual mount:

mkdir /tmp/usbstick
mount -F pcfs /dev/dsk/c1t0d0s2:c /tmp/usbstick

2.5.6 Tapes

Tape drives are not under the control of Volume Management, and instead must be handled with commands like
tar. Typically tape drives are connected to the system as external SCSI devices. Connection and configuration

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 9 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

can be performed while the Solaris OS is running. After running devfsadm (Solaris 8 OS) or
drvconfig;tapes;devlinks with previous Solaris OS versions, you will find some logical links in the /
dev/rmt directory. 0 describes the first tape drive found, 1 describes the second tape drive, and so on.

After that, you may access a specific tape drive using tar tvf /dev/rmt/0.

Note: Tapes written with SGI systems often can only be read using a different blocksize:
tar tvfb 512 /dev/rmt/0
In some rare cases an additional byte swap has to be performed:
dd if=/dev/rmt/0 conv=swab | tar tvfb 512 -

2.6 Cloning a Disk

Using this recipe you may "clone" one system to another. Both systems must belong to the same hardware family.
For example, an Ultra™10 workstation can be cloned to another Ultra 10 machine, but it cannot be cloned to an
Ultra 60 workstation.

If the hardware configuration of the target system does have minor differences to the root machine (different frame
buffer, NICs), the target system should be reconfigured after the cloning process using boot -r.

2.6.1 Cloning Using Internal Disks

This method is appropriate for systems with easy-to-change internal disks:

• Ultra 30, Ultra 60, Ultra 80, or Sun Blade™100 workstations or E220R/E420R/E250/E450.
• Sun EnterpriseTM220R, 420R, 250, or 450 servers.

The following is an example using an Ultra 60 workstation:

• Put the target disk into the second internal disk bay.
• Boot with single-user mode (STOP-A; boot -s).
• Configure all disks using devfsadm.
• Type format to look up the names of the disks. In an Ultra 60 workstation, you will find c0t0d0 and
c0t1d0. c0t1d0 is the topmost internal disk.
• Determine which disk is the source disk and which one is the target disk (and do not forget to back up your
data!). In our case c0t0d0 (the bottom disk) acts as the source and c0t1d0 (the upper disk) is the target.
• dd if=/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2 of=/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s2 Bs=128k (This command does a 1:1
copy of the whole disk, including the partition table. If the source disk is a 9 Gbyte disk, while the target disk is
of 18 Gbyte capacity, 9 Gbyte would be wasted.) Warning: Double-check this step, so you do not accidentally
destroy your source disk!
• fsck -Y /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s0 (File system check of the root partition, typically slice 0.)
• Remove the source disk, and put the clone disk into the previous source slot. Reboot your newly created clone
system.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 10 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

• Systems with internal FC-AL disks (such as on Sun Blade 2000 workstations and Sun FireTM 280R or V880
servers) need additional work: Boot the system using a bootable Solaris CD-ROM, mount the root file system
and remove the files /etc/path_to_inst and /etc/path_to_inst.old. Then reboot the system
interactively with OK> boot -ar and select recreate /etc/path_to_inst during boot.

2.6.2 Cloning Using a Crossover Cable

This method is not as fast as the internal disk copying process described in the preceding section, but it is suitable
for systems where it is less easy to change the internal disks (as in an Ultra 10 or Ultra 5 workstation).

Warning: Remember to use the /.rhosts file only for this task. Delete it after completion to avoid a perma-
nent security risk.

Target Source
boot Insert target-IP in /.rhosts
use "Command line login" at login screen sync; sync
Stop as many processes causing disk I/O as possible
TERM=vt100
vi /etc/inet/hosts
-> Insert target and source
ifconfig hme0 plumb
ifconfig hme0 <target> netmask
255... up
-> Test with rsh source ls
rsh source "dd if=/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2
ibs=128k obs=8k" |
dd of=/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2
ibs=8k obs=128k
(For 9 Gbyte, wait about 40 minutes.)
STOP-A
boot cdrom -s (with bootable CD)
fsck -Y /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0

2.7 Mirroring the Boot Disk with SDS

Solaris Volume Manager (SVM), formerly known as Solstice DiskSuite (SDS) software, can configure disk sub-
systems for RAID 0, 1, 0+1 or 5. The most interesting feature for workstation installations is RAID 1, which al-
lows you to mirror the disk that holds the root file system to be prepared for disk failures.

SVM is part of the Solaris 9 OS. For the Solaris 8 OS, you can find the SDS software on the second CD in the di-
rectory "EA." For the Solaris 7 OS or 2.6 OS, Server Edition, look on the "Easy Access Server" CD.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 11 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

Let's assume a workstation has two internal disks, c0t0d0 and c0t1d0. Both disks should be partitioned in ex-
actly the same way: Slice 0 for / (root), slice 1 for swap and a small slice 7 for the State Replica Databases. Slice 2
is always defined as Backup-Partition (see chapter "Partitioning").

To copy the partition information from the first disk to the second disk, use this command:
# prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s2 | fmthard -s - /dev/rdsk/c0t1d0s2

State Replica Databases are small files holding state information about the mirror. Each disk in a two-way mirror
should hold at least three State Replica Databases:
# metadb -a -f -c 3 c0t0d0s3 c0t1d0s3

In the next step, create the first submirror on the first disk, holding the root file system:
# metainit -f d50 1 1 c0t0d0s0

Then create the second submirror on the second disk:

# metainit d52 1 1 c0t1d0s0

Build the first half of the mirror, using the first submirror:
# metainit d54 -m d50

Use metaroot to modify /etc/vfstab and /etc/system in a way that the system is able to boot from
the metadevice d54:
# metaroot d54

Now reboot the system, then attach the second submirror d54. This action forces a "Mirror resync," copying the
contents of the first disk onto the second one. This can impact system performance for a few minutes.
# metattach d54 d52

To avoid error messages during an "emergency boot" from the second disk, the swap partition should be mirrored
in the same fashion. Otherwise, the swap partition on the broken disk, c0t0d0s1, would still be referenced in /
etc/vfstab.

Now the system may be booted either from the first disk (boot disk) or from the second disk (boot disk1).

If one of the disks is broken, Solstice DiskSuite software stops the boot process. This reason for this is that, to suc-
cessfully boot after a failure, the majority of State Replica Databases must "survive." On our two-disk mirror only
three out of the six replicas would have survived.

Servers with more than two disks should always have a third disk configured with State Database Replicas. Two-
disk workstations have to be fixed manually, as described in the following example:

• State Database Replicas are configured on c0t0d0s7 and c0t1d0s7, disk c0t0d0 fails.
• The boot process stops with a Solstice DiskSuite error message and switches to Single User mode.
• Now the State Database Replicas on the failed disk have to be unconfigured:
metadb -d -f c0t0d0s7
• After the next reboot, partition the replacement disk exactly as in the surviving disk.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 12 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administering Disks

• Having done that, you now can create new State Database Replicas on the replacement disk:
metadb -a -c 3 c0t0d0s7
• Upon the next reboot, the mirror will be resynchronized.

Hint: If you have a two-disk system, create three State Database Replicas on one disk, and four on the other one.
Statistically there is a 50 percent chance to successfully reboot after a failure without manually using metadb. If
you can tolerate unattended reboots after a disk failure in a two-disk configuration, create the same number of
State Database Replicas on both disks and create this /etc/system entry: set
md:mirrored_root_flag=1. More information on this topic can be found in the Sun BluePrints™ publica-
tion "Configuring Boot Disks With Solaris Volume Manager Software," (see:
http://www.sun.com/blueprints/1002/817-0407-10.pdf).

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 13 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Swap Space

3 Swap Space
3.1 Persistent Configuration in /etc/vfstab
#device device mount FS fsck mount mount
#to mount to fsck point type pass at boot options
#
#/dev/dsk/c1d0s2 /dev/rdsk/c1d0s2 /usr ufs 1 yes -
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1 - - swap - no -
/usr/local/swapfile.1 - - swap - no -
...
swap - /tmp tmpfs - yes -

A swap file system can use a raw partition like /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1 or plain files like
/usr/local/swapfile.1.

You may define multiple swap file systems. All of these are logically combined by mounting them to the /tmp
mount point. This means as long as physical memory is available, writing files to /tmp will write to and use up
memory.

This example:

/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1 - - swap - no -
/dev/dsk/c0t1d0s1 - - swap - no -
/dev/dsk/c0t2d0s1 - - swap - no -
...
swap - /tmp tmpfs - yes -

creates an additional 6 Gbyte of virtual memory (given that all partitions have a size of 2 Gbyte). The Solaris OS
automatically stripes access to all disks.

3.2 "Raw Partition" Versus Plain File

The fastest swapping is no swapping at all. If physical swapping is unavoidable, use multiple partitions striped over
a set of disks. Only use plain files if you need memory and no extra partitions or disks are available.

3.3 Temporary Configuration

Plain files can be used to add swap space during standard Solaris OS operations:

# mkfile 100m /usr/local/swapfile.1

# swap -a /usr/local/swapfile.1
# swap -l

This addition is temporary until the next reboot. Until then, swap -d /usr/local/swapfile.1
unconfigures the additional swap space.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 14 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Installation and Maintenance

4 Installation and Maintenance

4.1 Installation From CD
During installation, you may follow all the instructions printed on the screen. There are only a few pitfalls possi-
ble:

– Name service: Choose NONE. If you choose something like NIS at this moment, and the network is not yet
properly set up and no NIS server is available, the system may "hang" waiting for a response from the NIS
server. It is better to configure NIS or DNS after completing the basic installation of the network (see one of
the following chapters).
– Installation cluster: For workstations, you should always choose the "Entire Plus OEM Software"-cluster to
make sure everything gets installed. For dedicated servers, unnecessary packages should be removed afterwards
to minimize security risks. The Sun BluePrints publication "Minimizing the Solaris Operating Environment for
Security: Updated for Solaris 9 Operating Environment" provides more information (see:
http://www.sun.com/blueprints/1102/816-5241.pdf).
– Disk partitioning: To obtain the chance to partition the disk according to the recommendations given in the
chapter "Partitioning" (root, swap and one small Solstice DiskSuite slice), choose "custom," not "default,"
when prompted for an installation method.

Starting with the Solaris 7 OS, the Installation CD comes with a pre-patched Solaris OS image. To upgrade previ-
ous quarterly updates to this image, use the "Maintenance Update."

For example: Installing the "Maintenance Update 7" (which comes with the Solaris OS 8 02/02 version) onto the
Solaris OS 8 07/01 version, will upgrade the Solaris OS patches (and only those -- that is, there are no functional-
ity enhancements) to the status found on the 02/02 image. The upgrade installation writes a mark into the /
etc/release file: "Solaris 8 07/01 Maintenance Update 7."

The "Recommended Patch Cluster" is a different mechanism, since you can have a different combination of
patches and patch versions in the "Recommended Patch Cluster" every month. This cluster can be downloaded
from the BigAdmin Portal (http://www.sun.com/bigadmin) and should be installed after every Solaris OS installa-
tion.

After an installation, root can only log in at the system console, that is, a terminal connected directly to the sys-
tem or a keyboard. To enable a Remote Login via telnet, rsh, and so on, one file has to be modified first:
Comment out the line CONSOLE=/dev/console in /etc/default/login. Warning: This is a security
risk!

Solaris OS 9 comes with ssh preinstalled. The default configuration does not allow root to log in via ssh, and
X forwarding is switched off. Modify /etc/ssh/sshd_config if you want to change these settings.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 15 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Installation and Maintenance

4.2 Network Installation With Webstart Flash

If you need to install many machines, it's often easier to configure a server for network installation, using Solaris
JumpStart™ software. This feature has been part of the Solaris OS for a long time. Beginning with the Solaris 8
OS, Webstart Flash can make it a lot easier to set up a network installation infrastructure to create a couple of hosts
that are clones of a fully installed, patched and configured "master host."
This chapter describes the steps for setting up a basic Webstart Flash infrastructure.

4.2.1 Step 1: Setting Up the Boot Server

Insert CD "Solaris 8 Software, 1 of 2" (Use Solaris OE 8 07/01 or newer)
cd /cdrom/cdrom0/s0/Solaris8/Tools
setup_install_server -b /export/install/boot

4.2.2 Step 2: Definition of Client Profiles

Edit the file /export/install/admin/sysidcfg. This file contains all the answers to the questions posed
during an interactive installation. Modify netmask and default_route to match your environment.

name_service=none
root_password=b6q5swye46cza
system_locale=en_US
timezone=MET
timeserver=localhost
network_interface=primary {netmask=255.255.255.0
default_route=192.168.0.1 protocol_ipv6=no}
security_policy=NONE

Now edit the file /export/install/admin/rules. Attention: This file has to be converted into a
rules.ok file using ./check -r rules. You can define a profile for a specific host name or "any"
machine. In this example, if the host name matches dumbledore, sb100_class is used as a profile. After the
installation is finished, the script sb100_end is executed.

hostname dumbledore - sb100_class sb100_end

any - - any_class any_end

sb100_class defines the installation method as flash_install. To determine which flash archive should
be used, modify the archive_location line with an NFS path to the archive. To avoid mount errors, use the
IP address, not the host name of the server:

install_type flash_install
archive_location nfs 192.168.0.200:/export/install/flash/sb100.flar
partitioning explicit
filesys rootdisk.s1 1024 swap
filesys rootdisk.s0 free /

The finish script sb100_end adds content to the /etc/inet/hosts and /etc/vfstab files. Webstart
Flash generates clones, but each one with a unique host name and IP address, so the /etc/inet/hosts from
the master host will not be installed. Additional host names other than localhost have to be added after
installation:

#!/bin/sh
#

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 16 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Installation and Maintenance

cat $SI_CONFIG_DIR/hosts.add >> /a/etc/inet/hosts

cat $SI_CONFIG_DIR/vfstab.add >> /a/etc/vfstab
$SI_CONFIG_DIR/set_root_pw

4.2.3 Step 3: Modify Hosts, Ethers and Netmasks

Before adding installation clients to the server, add the MAC addresses, IP addresses, and host names to the
appropriate files on the server. Attention: Use the same netmask in /etc/netmask that was defined in the
sysidcfg file. Otherwise the error message "rules.ok not found" will appear.

/etc/ethers
/etc/inet/hosts
/etc/inet/netmasks

4.2.4 Step 4: Share /export/install

Share the installation directory using the parameters "ro,anon=0".
share -F nfs -o ro,anon=0 /export/install

4.2.5 Step 5: Add Clients

Now all clients can be added:

cd /export/install/boot/Solaris8/Tools
add_install_client -c server:/export/install/admin \
-s server:/export/install/boot -p server:/export/install/admin \
dumbledore sun4u
add_install_client looks into /etc/ethers to find the host dumbledore. After that, the server lis-
tens for boot requests from dumbledore's MAC address. add_install_client needs three directories:
-c to look for the sysidcfg file
-s to look for a Solaris OS boot image
-p to look for rules.ok

4.2.6 Step 6: Installation of the Master Host

Install the Solaris OS on the master host, add patches, install software packages, configure, and so on. After that,
create the flash archive:

flar create -c -n sb100 -x /data ./sb100.flar

The archive sb100.flar will be compressed and named sb100. -x excludes the /data directory. In this ex-
ample, that directory should be mounted from a central file server (see finish script in step 2). After the
sb100.flar archive is created, copy it to the /export/install/flash directory of the server (compare
profile in step 2).

4.2.7 Step 7: Installation of the Other Hosts

Once the flash archive is available on the server, all other clients can be installed using boot net – install
at the OK-prompt.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 17 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Installation and Maintenance

The generation of a 1-Gbyte archive (with the Solaris OS, and some additional software) takes roughly 40 minutes
on a Sun Blade 100 workstation. The installation of this archive using a 100-Mbit network takes approximately 15
minutes.

Note: The master host and the clones do not have to belong to the same hardware series. It is possible to install a
Sun Blade 2000 workstation with an archive created on a Sun Blade 100 machine. The master host should be in-
stalled with a recent version of the Solaris OS and "full installation plus OEM support."

Disclaimer: Please note that these performance results are anecdotal and may vary. Sun does not promise or
guarantee that the same results will be achieved by others.

4.3 Packages
Basically, packages are subdirectories or tar/compress/zip compressed subdirectories, which follow a common
name scheme: The first four uppercase letters correspond to the U.S. stock ticker symbol (or a fantasy symbol) of
the origin company and the following lowercase letters describe the function of the package.

Example: The package containing the drivers for the SunPCi-card is named SUNWspci2. "SUNW" for the
ticker symbol, "spci2" for the function.

You will install a package by using pkgadd with the directory storing the package contents:
pkgadd -d /cdrom/cdrom0

pkginfo prints information on installed packages, and pkgrm <Package-Name> removes a package.

Example: You have just changed the frame buffer card in your workstation, removed Creator3D (ffb) and installed
Elite3D (afb). Now, you encounter an error message while booting, telling you that "no console
framebuffer" is available. This indicates that no Elite3D drivers are installed.

First, verify this speculation with: pkginfo | grep -i afb

This list would typically be empty if you had done a plain default Solaris OS installation when the Creator3D, not
the Elite3D, was present in the system. Drivers for the Elite3D can be found on the Solaris OS CD, subdirectory
s0/Solaris/Product.

Change to this directory, and enter the following command: pkgadd -d . *afb*
After a reboot, all Elite3D drivers are now installed and available.

To find out which files belong to which installed packages, consult the file
/var/sadm/install/contents.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 18 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Installation and Maintenance

To find out which files are present in packages on a Solaris CD-ROM, for example, look into the pkgmap files:
grep /cdrom/cdrom0/s0/Solaris_8/Product/*/pkgmap <file>

The command pkgchk -v <Package-name> lists all files and directories associated to the package given.

4.4 Patches
A patch number contains two parts: the six-digit patch number, followed by a two-digit version number, for
example: 123456-78.

Prior to the Solaris 8 OS, patches were supplied in *.tar.Z format. Solaris 8 OS patches are packaged as
*.zip archives. For installing a patch, copy the archives to /tmp and extract them. Do not forget to remove the
archives from /tmp after the installation has been completed:
zcat 123456-78.tar.Z | tar xvf -
unzip 123456-78.zip

After that, patchadd <directory (= Patch number)> installs the patch. In our example,
patchadd 123456-78.

If no special parameters are given, patchadd installs patches in a way that they always can be removed with
patchrm <patch number>. In order to be able to use this function, enough space in /var/sadm/patch
is mandatory.

With showrev -p | grep <patch number> you can find out if a patch has already been installed.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 19 Version 1.20e, June 2004
X-Server and CDE User Interface

5 X-Server and CDE User Interface

5.1 General Observations
The search sequence for X-Server or CDE-settings is always:
1. $HOME/.dt/...
2. /etc/dt/...
3. /usr/dt/...

System-wide configuration files should never be changed in /usr/dt. Always use /etc/dt to maintain a fall-
back position in case something goes wrong. User-specific settings like menu extensions or changes to the front
panel should always be stored in $HOME/.dt. In the following sections, <DT> will be used as a placeholder for
all of the above.

5.2 Customizing the Login Screen

File: <DT>/config/$LANG/Xresources

Logo (Pixmap xpm or Bitmap xbm, beware of 24-bit, extensive loading time!):

Dtlogin*logo*bitmapFile: /usr/local/lib/X11/dt/bitmaps/Mylogo.bm

General welcome:

Dtlogin*greeting*labelString: Here's %LocalHost%!

Welcome after user name is entered:

Dtlogin*greeting*persLabelString: Hello %s

5.3 Startup With Multiple Screens, Xinerama, 24-Bit Color

Depth
First look into /dev/fbs and find out how many frame buffers are available and how they are named. Let's as-
sume we found /dev/fbs/ifb0 and /dev/fbs/ifb1, two Expert3D frame buffers.

Now we copy the file Xservers from /usr/dt/config to /etc/dt/config and edit them. The last line
should now look like this:
:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -nobanner

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 20 Version 1.20e, June 2004
X-Server and CDE User Interface

5.3.1 Multi-Screen

Multi-Screen means that CDE runs on every screen with a dedicated front panel. The mouse pointer can be moved
between screens, but windows cannot. The display running on ifb0 is called :0.0, the display on ifb1 :0.1

:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -dev /

dev/fbs/ifb0 -dev /dev/fbs/ifb1 -nobanner

5.3.2 Xinerama

Xinerama (available since Solaris OS 7 11/99) is one virtual screen covering all physical screens. The mouse
pointer and windows can be moved among screens, and CDE draws only to one front panel. There is only one dis-
play number :0.0. Xinerama is only possible with frame buffers of the same type.

:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 +xinerama

-dev /dev/fbs/ifb0 -dev /dev/fbs/ifb1 -nobanner

Xinerama can define an overlap in X- and Y-direction. This can be used for edge blending with overlapping
projectors or to "double" an image on two monitors (xoverlap=<horizontal resolution>). Example for 20% Edge
Blending with 1280 pixel horizontal resolution:

:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 +xinerama

-xoverlap 256 -dev /dev/fbs/ifb0 -dev /dev/fbs/ifb1 -nobanner

5.3.3 24-Bit Color Depth

CDE itself uses 8-bit color depth (256 colors) by default. This is acceptable, as each window can define its own in-
dividual color depth. Some frame buffers only have one color table. This may cause color map flashing with some
applications. A workaround for this is to start CDE itself with 24-bit color depth. On PGX, you have to switch the
frame buffer to 24-bit with fbconfig -depth 24.

Note: Some legacy applications expect the default visual to be 8-bit, not 24-bit. This can cause problems.

:0 Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 -dev /

dev/fbs/ifb0 defdepth 24 -dev /dev/fbs/ifb1 defdepth 24 -nobanner

5.4 A User-Defined CDE Front Panel

The application start mechanism in CDE is based on so-called "actions." Their behavior defines what happens
when the user clicks on a CDE-Icon. Once defined, actions are referenced in various environments: menus, file
manager, MIME-types, and definition files for the front panel.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 21 Version 1.20e, June 2004
X-Server and CDE User Interface

5.4.1 Actions
CDE looks for *.dt-files in the following order:

$HOME/.dt/types
/etc/dt/types/$LANG/
/usr/dt/types/$LANG/

Example StarOffice52.dt (after installation of StarOffice™ software in $HOME/.dt/types):

ACTION StarOffice52
{
LABEL StarOffice 5.2
TYPE COMMAND
EXEC_STRING „/opt/Office52/program/soffice" „%(File)Args%"
ICON So52
WINDOW_TYPE NO_STDIO
DESCRIPTION StarOffice
}

5.4.2 Icons

The definition of an action also contains an icon name. An icon name is resolved in this order:

$HOME/.dt/icons
/etc/dt/icons/$LANG/
/usr/dt/icons/$LANG/
naming scheme: <name>.<size=m|t|l>.<format=bm|pm>

So52, for example, is the icon file in $HOME/.dt./icons/So52.m.bm

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 22 Version 1.20e, June 2004
X-Server and CDE User Interface

5.4.3 Front Panels

The front panel can be extended easily by adding *.fp-files into $HOME/.dt/types. The default definitions
are stored in:
• /etc/dt/types/$LANG/
• /usr/dt/types/$LANG/

Example ($HOME/.dt/types/tools.fp):

CONTROL Tools (Always define the main control before sub panel)
{
TYPE icon
CONTAINER_TYPE BOX
CONTAINER_NAME Top
POSITION_HINTS first
ICON Dtagen (This is a folder icon, Icon must
exist!)
LABEL Tools
}

SUBPANEL Toolspanel
{
CONTAINER_NAME Tools
TITLE My Tools
}

CONTROL StarOffice52
{
TYPE icon
CONTAINER_TYPE SUBPANEL
CONTAINER_NAME Toolpanel
ICON So52
LABEL Star Office 5.2
PUSH_ACTION StarOffice52 (compare ACTION StarOffice52)
DROP_ACTION StarOffice52
}
You may build a whole menu bar by adding additional CONTROLs in the SUBPANEL.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 23 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Frame Buffers and OpenGL

6 Frame Buffers and OpenGL

6.1 fbconfig
With the Solaris 8 OS, fbconfig is the unified interface for configuring frame buffers. Prior to the Solaris 8 OS
software, each frame buffer driver had its own configuration utility, with a naming scheme corresponding to the
logical device-names in /dev/fbs:
• ffbconfig Creator, Creator3D
• afbconfig Elite3D
• ifbconfig Expert3D, Expert3Dlite
• m64config PGX24 (onboard U5, U10), PGX64
• gfxconfig PGX32

Because the parameters are exactly the same, we will only mention fbconfig in the following paragraphs. If
you do not specify a device for the frame buffer, fbconfig operates on the default (console) frame buffer.

You can find out which frame buffers are installed in a system by using ls /dev/fbs.
Afterwards, they can be addressed directly using their device names:

fbconfig -dev /dev/fbs/afb1 -propt -prconf

This prints configuration information (which frame buffer model, which resolution, and so on) for the second
Elite3D frame buffer configured in the system. The first Elite3D would have the device name afb0.

fbconfig -res \?

shows a list with possible resolutions. A given resolution could be copied to the command:

fbconfig -res „1280x1024x86" -try -now

using "cut&paste".

-try and -now are options. -try changes the resolution for 10 seconds only. This way you can determine if the
monitor is able to synchronize to the video signal. -now switches the resolution immediately, without the need to
restart the X-Server. In some cases, however, the geometry of the X-Server may look distorted after -now. An X-
Server restart using Exit and Login solves this problem.

fbconfig -g 1.7

sets the gamma factor to 1.7. The default value is 2.2, which often is perceived as too bright. To be activated, the
new gamma factor does not need an X-Server restart. After a reboot, the newly set value is still valid.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 24 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Frame Buffers and OpenGL

6.2 OpenGL
OpenGL® will not be installed automatically during the Solaris OS installation process, although it has been
packaged with the Solaris OS CDs since Solaris 2.5.1 OS.

The command /usr/openwin/demo/GL/ogl_install_check checks if OpenGL is installed correctly

and which version it is. Note: The rotating ring also comes in handy when judging gamma correction values (see
above).

It is recommended to always use the latest version of OpenGL. Xinerama, for example, is only supported with
OpenGL 1.2.1 or later. OpenGL can be downloaded from http://www.sun.com/solaris/opengl.

Look at the ogl_install-check output: If it prints "GLX: context is direct", OpenGL uses DGA
and applications may run at full speed. If it prints "GLX: context is indirect", OpenGL does not use
DGA, probably because the application was called from a "su -" environment.

If you log into the window system using one user ID and then switch to another (using "su"), OpenGL will switch
to "indirect mode." Due to a security feature in the Solaris OS, "su"-ing to a user other than the one who started the
window system disables DGA (Direct Graphics Access) to the frame buffer, thus making OpenGL graphics slower
than necessary.

If you wish, you can remove this security feature and thus make graphics fast for all users by doing the following:
• Become root
• Edit the permission in /etc/logindevperm from 0600 to 0666:
• /dev/console 0666 /dev/fbs/* # frame buffers
• Reboot

Note that any user will now have read/write access to the contents of your screen.

DGA will also be switched off when the $DISPLAY variable is set to "hostname:display", e.g. "dumble-
dore:0.0" or "dumbledore.sun.com:0.0". It's better to stick with the default (":0.0") setting after lo-
cally logging into the machine.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 25 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Frame Buffers and OpenGL

6.3 Patch Matrix for Graphics

There is a small set of patches that are important for each installation where a frame buffer is involved. The collec-
tion depends on the Solaris OS version, OpenGL version, and type of frame buffer.

The following table only lists the patch numbers. Please download the most recent versions of the corresponding
patches from http://sunsolve.sun.com and install them in the following order:
1. Frame buffer patch
2. X-Server patch
3. OpenGL
4. OpenGL patches

Graphics Patch Matrix

GRAPHICS CARDS Solaris 9 OS Solaris 8 OS Solaris 7 OS
PGX32 /64 112622 109154 107716
XVR-100 114538 114537 not supported
Expert3D (lite) 112540 108576 108787
XVR-500 112540 108576 not supported
XVR-600 114555 114554 not supported
XVR-1000 112565 112564 not supported
XVR-1200 114555 114554 not supported
Elite3D 111620 108604 106144
- and XFB 106148
- and VIS 109872 106147
Creator3D 112621 108605 106145
- and XFB 106148
- and VIS 109872 106147
32 Bit: 112628 32 Bit: 112628 32 Bit: 112628
OpenGL 1.2.3
64 Bit: 112629 64 Bit: 112629 64 Bit: 112629
32 Bit: 113886 32 Bit: 113886 32 Bit: 113886
OpenGL 1.3
64 Bit: 113887 64 Bit: 113887 64 Bit: 113887
XSun 112785 108652 108376

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 26 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administration

7 Administration

7.1 Hosts
You may use admintool or smc to create hosts, but it is also convenient to directly edit the file /
etc/inet/hosts. Note: The file /etc/hosts is a link to /etc/inet/hosts.

A copy like cp /etc/hosts.old /etc/hosts would not overwrite the correct file.

A default Solaris OS installation starts the sendmail-daemon. This daemon writes error messages if no alias with a
dot in its name is defined for the primary host name. To suppress the error message, define the primary host in the
file /etc/inet/hosts like this:

192.168.0.2 myhost myhost.domain.com loghost

7.2 Serial Ports

Again, the best tool for infrequent use is admintool or, with the Solaris 9 OS, use the "Solaris Management
Console" smc.

7.3 Printers
Again, the best tool for infrequent use is admintool. The Solaris OS 9 comes with a "Printer Setup Wizard"
/usr/sadm/admin/bin/printmgr.

7.4 User Creation

The best tool for infrequent creation of user accounts is admintool. Beginning with the Solaris 9 OS, use the
"Solaris Management Console" smc. Please do not specify /home/<username> as the home directory when
you create a new user. It's better to use:
/export/home/<username>.

By default /home/<username> is a target of the Solaris automounter and is not writeable because of this.
Some third-party software tries to use /home/xyz. Change the defaults or shut down the automounter to avoid
any problems.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 27 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administration

7.5 Shells and Environment Variables

The correct setting of environment variables is one of the most error-prone tasks during system setup. Unfortu-
nately, the syntax for how to set those variables and how to set them permanently for one particular user differs
greatly depending on which shell is used (or is defined as default for the user).

The most common shells are sh, ksh and csh. Beginning with the Solaris 8 OS, the popular bash shell is also
available. sh is the default shell for root after installation. The default shell for a particular user is defined in
the /etc/passwd file, for example: demo:x:2003:10:Demo
User:/export/home/demo:/bin/csh

This table describes how to set variables using the different shells:
Shell Setting Appending Retrieving Comments
sh NAME=value1 NAME=value2:${value1} set (internal) Use "export" if subprocesses
export NAME env (exported) should see the value of NAME
ksh NAME=value1 NAME=value2:${value1} set (internal) Use "export" if subprocesses
export NAME env (exported) should see the value of NAME
csh setenv NAME setenv NAME value2:$ printenv No "export" needed
value1 {value1}
bash NAME=value1 NAME=value2:${value1} set|env|prin- No "export" needed
tenv

Every shell reads a set of files during startup. A login shell (typically started after the user has logged into a system
using telnet, ssh, and so on) reads a different set of files than a subshell. The following table describes which
files are read:
Command Shell ------------ Files Read in This Order ----------->
Subshell (calling sh
sh,ksh, csh or ksh
bash explicitly) csh ~/.cshrc
su
bash ~/.bashrc ~/.inputrc /etc/inputrc
su - sh /etc/profile ${HOME}/.pro-
file
ksh /etc/profile ~/.profile
csh ~/.cshrc ~/.login
bash ~/.bash_pro- ~/.bash_login /etc/profile ~/.profile
file

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 28 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Administration

Command Shell ------------ Files Read in This Order ----------->

telnet, ssh, sh /etc/profile ${HOME}/.pro-
rlogin file
ksh /etc/profile ~/.profile
csh ~/.cshrc ~/.login
bash ~/.bash_pro- ~/.bash_login /etc/profile ~/.profile
file

Hint: ksh, csh and bash use "~" as a shortcut to the user's home directory

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 29 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Network Connections

8 Network Connections
8.1 /etc-files
Solaris software stores network configuration files in the directory /etc. All configuration data, such as IP ad-
dresses, gateways, and so on, can be defined and changed at runtime level. However, only those definitions stored
in /etc files will survive the next reboot.

The host name can be found in these files:

- /etc/nodename
- /etc/hostname.<interface-name>
- /etc/inet/hosts
-/etc/net/{ticlts,ticots,ticotsord}/hosts

/etc/nodename defines the name of the system. Looking from a network perspective, a system with multiple
network interfaces and multiple IP addresses can have multiple names, each one defined in /
etc/inet/hosts. One of these names may be equal to the nodename, but this is not necessarily the case.

Certain files create the connection between IP-addresses and interface names. These are named /etc/host-
name.<interface-name><number>.

The most common interface names are:

le Ethernet on older SPARC® systems
hme FastEthernet on most UltraSPARC® systems
eri FastEthernet on most UltraSPARC-III systems
qfe FastEthernet on QuadFastEthernet-extension cards

Example: An Ultra 60 workstation with QFE (QuadFastEthernet) has five network interfaces: hme0 (on board),
qfe0, qfe1, qfe2 and qfe3 (on the QFE-card). Nodename is hermione, and the /etc/inet/hosts
looks like this:
127.0.0.1 localhost
157.168.34.12 hermione hermione.domain.com loghost
191.133.23.10 dumbledore

The identity of the system in the corporate LAN using the address 157.168.34.12 should be hermione.
Accordingly, the file hostname.hme0 must contain the name hermione.

dumbledore is an address assigned by an Internet Service Provider (ISP): 191.133.23.10. That cable is
connected to the first QFE port, qfe0. So the file hostname.qfe0 contains the string dumbledore.

qfe1-3 are currently not used. Do not create hostname.* files for unused interfaces to avoid Solaris OS error
messages complaining about interfaces with no network cables attached.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 30 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Network Connections

A system with more than one network interface will automatically route between the subnets (in our example
157.168... and 191.133...). During boot, the message "machine is a router" is printed. If this behavior is
not desired, create an empty file /etc/notrouter and reboot.

The netmasks for the IP-addresses are defined in the file /etc/netmasks.

Do not change the nodename while the X-Server is running! It is better to log out from the current session and log
in again using "Command Line Login" before changing the nodename or host name.

8.2 Virtual Interfaces

Occasionally, it may be useful to define two IP addresses for a system with only one physical network interface.
For example, a demo workstation for use at a trade show should keep its corporate IP address while getting an ad-
ditional address to communicate with the other hosts at the booth.

This can be done with "virtual interfaces." The procedure is exactly the same as it was described for two physical
interfaces in the last chapter. The only difference is that we do not use hme0 and qfe0 this time, but hme0 and
hme0:1. So if you write dumbledore into /etc/hostname.hme0:1, the cable provided by the ISP at the
trade show can be connected to hme0, and a QFE card will not be necessary.

8.3 ifconfig
ifconfig -a lists all interface definitions, physical as well as virtual ones, with IP-addresses and netmasks.
Additionally, you can use ifconfig to define IP addresses and netmasks during runtime. Let's go back to our
Ultra 60 workstation example again, but assume that this time dumbledore has not been defined in /
etc/inet/hosts so that qfe0 will be unused after reboot.

The first step now is to activate qfe0 (load the driver): ifconfig qfe0 plumb

To start up the interface, type:

ifconfig qfe0 191.133.23.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
ifconfig -a shows the new configuration.

It is the same procedure for a virtual interface:

ifconfig hme0:1 plumb
ifconfig hme0:1 191.133.23.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 31 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Network Connections

8.4 Routing
The default router (or standard-gateway) can be entered with its IP address into the file:
/etc/defaultrouter. If you specify a host name in that file, make sure the host name is defined in /
etc/inet/hosts.

The equivalent runtime commands are:

• Delete all current routes: route flush
• Define 1.2.3.4 as default router: route add default 1.2.3.4
• Check with netstat -r

If more than one network interface is available in your workstation, Solaris OS automatically turns on ip-forward-
ing.
• To check if ip-forwarding is switched on, use: ndd -get /dev/ip_forwarding
• To turn it on, use: ndd -set /dev/ip_forwarding 1
• To turn ip-forwarding off, use: ndd -set /dev/ip_forwarding 0

Another way of turning ip-forwarding off is to create the file /etc/notrouter, for example, by issuing the
command touch /etc/notrouter.

8.5 NIS-Client
1. First enter the name of the NIS domain into /etc/defaultdomain (case-sensitive)
2. Then define the NIS server in /etc/inet/hosts
3. Start ypinit -c and type in the name of the NIS server
4. /usr/lib/netsvc/yp/ypstart or reboot

Now you have to tell the Solaris OS the tables (host names, users, and so on) for which it should use NIS. This is
done with the file /etc/nsswitch.conf. To make Solaris software ask the NIS server if it cannot find a
host name in the local /etc/inet/hosts file, append nis after files in the line starting with hosts.

There is a predefined file called nsswitch.nis in the /etc-directory, which contains NIS definitions for all
available tables.

8.6 DNS-Client
1. Enter your DNS server into the file /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 192.168.0.1
Now test the DNS server using nslookup www.sun.com

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 32 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Network Connections

2. Tell Solaris OS software to use DNS when resolving host names. Edit /etc/nsswitch.conf,and add
dns after files in the line starting with hosts.

Now, not only nslookup www.sun.com, but also ping www.sun.com should be successful.

8.7 DHCP-Client
An interface can be configured to use DHCP if you create two empty files: /etc/hostname.<interface>
and /etc/dhcp.<interface>. The Solaris OS software waits 30 seconds for a DHCP server to answer. This
can be modified in /etc/dhcp.<interface>: WAIT <time in seconds>.

It is possible to start DHCP on an interface at runtime (in this example for interface qfe0):
ifconfig qfe0 plumb
ifconfig qfe0 dhcp start

8.8 sys-unconfig
If you want to change the network configuration and you are unsure which files are involved, there is an easy solu-
tion: sys-unconfig shuts down the machine. After the next reboot (enter boot at the OK prompt), all net-
work-related questions you know from the Solaris OS installation tool are asked again (IP address, gateway, net-
mask, and so on).

8.9 10 or 100 Mbit, Half- or Full-Duplex?

You can query the state of a network interface with the command ndd /dev/<interface-driver>. <in-
terface-driver> typically is le, hme, eri or qfe:
- ndd /dev/eri link_status: 0 = down, 1 = up
- ndd /dev/eri link_speed: 0 = 10 Mbit, 1 = 100 Mbit
- ndd /dev/eri link_mode: 0 = half-duplex, 1 = full-duplex

The Solaris OS default value for all network interface parameters is "autonegotiation." If the attached network
equipment is not capable of autonegotiation, all parameters can be set manually. This is done by setting all un-
wanted properties to zero.

An example for 10 Mbit half-duplex:

ndd -set /dev/eri adv_100fdx_cap 0
ndd -set /dev/eri adv_100hdx_cap 0
ndd -set /dev/eri adv_10fdx_cap 0
ndd -set /dev/eri adv_10hdx_cap 1
ndd -set /dev/eri adv_autoneg_cap 0

Shut down the interface with ifconfig unplumb and restart it with ifconfig plumb afterwards. The

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 33 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Network Connections

settings can also be defined in the /etc/system file (set eri:adv_10hdx_cap = 1).

8.10 Network Settings: Temporary vs. Persistent

What Valid Only for Runtime Persistent After Reboot

Hostname hostname <new name> /etc/nodename
Do not use within CDE! /etc/hostname.<Interface>
/etc/inet/hosts
IP-Address ifconfig <Interface> plumb /etc/inet/hosts
ifconfig <Interface> <IP> up
Netmask ifconfig <Interface> <netmask> up /etc/netmasks
Gateway route add default <IP Gateway> /etc/defaultrouter
DHCP-Client ifconfig <Interface> plumb touch /etc/hostname.<Inter-
ifconfig <Interface> dhcp start face>
touch /etc/dhcp.<Interface>

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 34 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Network File System

9 Network File System

9.1 NFS-Server
Solaris OS software stores information about directories, which are shared and can be mounted from other systems
in the network, in the file /etc/dfs/dfstab. This file is a script containing share commands.

If this file does not contain any share commands, the Solaris OS does not start the NFS server daemon during re-
boot. Even when explicitly called, /etc/init.d/nfs.server start does nothing as long as dfstab is
empty.

Example: Sharing /export/home

1. Insert share /export/home into /etc/dfs/dfstab.
2. If this has been the first entry, execute /etc/init.d/nfs.server start.
3. Enter shareall.
4. Check with share if /export/home has been correctly exported.

9.2 NFS-Client
A NFS client does not need any special daemons, but it is important that the NFS server is known by name. An IP-
address (mount 192.168.0.1:/export/home) is not enough. All NFS servers must be defined in /
etc/inet/hosts, NIS or DNS.

You can mount a network directory with mount server:/export/home /tmp/home. If this mount
should be reestablished automatically at the next reboot, insert the mount into the file /etc/vfstab.

Note: When copying files from network directories as user "root," keep in mind that the local "root" does not act as
"root" on the network directory, but as "nobody" (unless shared on the server with anon=0). Files in this directory
that do not have read permission for "other" are not copied. To copy all files from a network directory as "root", do
not use:
root# cd server:/data; tar cvf - | (cd data; tar xvf -)

Better use "rsh" to get root read permissions on the server:

root# rsh server "cd /data; tar cvf -" | (cd data; tar xvf -)

9.3 Differences From Other Popular UNIX Systems

The file /etc/dfs/dfstab is a Solaris OS specialty. Other popular UNIX systems (Linux, AIX, and so on)
use /etc/exports which has a different syntax. shareall is known there as exportfs -a.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 35 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Network File System

9.4 Automounter
The automounter allows automatic mounts of file systems when the user accesses the respective directory. In large
networks with lots of hosts and users, it will be very helpful to always have directory paths like /net/<host-
name> or /home/<username>.

Two files define the basic automounter operation: /etc/auto_master and /etc/auto_home.

auto_master comes predefined for the behavior described above. /net is automatically extended with the
proper host name when accessed. How /home should be handled is defined in auto_home.

/net -hosts -nosuid,nobrowse

/home auto_home -nobrowse

If auto_home contains the line

* /export/home/&

the automounter becomes active when somebody enters /home/joe and mounts /export/home/joe to this
mount point.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 36 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Tools

10 Tools
10.1 Compiler
The C, C++, and Fortran compilers typically are installed in the /opt/SUNWspro/bin directory, while com-
mon tools like make are in /usr/ccs/bin.

10.2 GNU-Tools
Almost all GNU-Tools are available as precompiled packages for the Solaris Operating System. They can be
downloaded from http://www.sunfreeware.com. Beginning with the Solaris 8 OS, some important tools like Perl,
gzip, and Apache are automatically installed. Most of the remaining GNU-Tools come as precompiled packages on
the Solaris OS Companion CD.

10.3 SunPCi™ and SunPCi-II

Most workstations can be equipped with a SunPCi card. This is a complete PC on a PCi card, running Windows
(98, ME, NT, 2000, XP). Here are some hints for the operation of this card:

• Encapsulate /opt/SUNWspci2/bin/sunpci into a small script that sets some environment variables:
setenv NVL_INTERFACE=hme0 (If SunPCi should use the hme0 network interface)
setenv LANG=C
setenv KBCP=850 (Example: German keyboard and codepage)
setenv KBTYPE=GR (Remember MS-DOS ?)

• Make the C: image writeable not only for root, but for each user on the workstation: chmod 666. When a
user starts sunpci for the first time, a subdirectory pc is created in the HOME directory of the user. To make
the user work with the global C: image, interrupt the following creation of a user-specific image and edit the
sunpci.ini file to point to the global image, as in /pc/C.diskimage,for example.

10.4 StarOffice Software

If StarOffice software is installed as "root" with setup /net, all users can choose a "workstation installation"
during their individual install. A workstation installation only copies 1 Mbyte of data into the home directory of
the user and otherwise uses the central installation. If StarOffice software is installed in /opt/Office60, a
user can start his or her workstation installation by calling /opt/Office60/program/soffice.

10.5 Netscape Navigator™ Browser

Beginning with Solaris 8 OS, Netscape Navigator V4.7 is used as the standard browser. It is installed in

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 37 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Tools

/usr/dt/bin/netscape. The Solaris 9 OS also offers the Mozilla-based version 7 of Netscape Navigator.
This version can be found in /usr/dt/appconfig/SUNWns/netscape.

10.6 Miscellaneous
Hint: The registration reminder when starting the desktop can be disabled with "More Information – Never Regis-
ter."

To disable the warning for all users, edit /etc/default/solregis and put in the following line: DIS-
ABLE=1

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 38 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Hint Collection

11 Hint Collection

11.1 Top Hints

• C-Shell: Define set filec and set history=100 savehist=50 in ~/.cshrc. The shell will
complete file names and directories once you hit the ESC key, and history lists the last 100 commands.
With !13 command #13 can be re-issued. !$ can be used as a variable for the last word of the former com-
mand, like in: mkdir /export/home/demo/test, then cd !$.
• Beginning with the Solaris 8 OS, tcsh is available, which allows editing the command line and browsing the
history using the cursor keys.
• Process control: ps -ef | grep <search text> and then kill <PID> to search and kill a process
can be replaced with pkill <search text> since the Solaris 8 OS kill -9 -1 terminates all proc-
esses belonging to the current user.
• File editing: Those who do not like vi can use the CDE-Editor dtpad.

11.2 Analysis of the Hardware Configuration

11.2.1 prtdiag
The command /usr/platform/`uname -i`/sbin/prtdiag -v prints information on the number and
type of CPUs, RAM, extension cards, and so on.

11.2.2 prtconf / path_to_inst

prtconf lists the hierarchical device tree. The mapping of physical devices (names in the /devices-directory)
with logical devices (drivers in the /dev-directory) is described in the file /etc/path_to_inst. This file is re-
written during a boot -r or devfsadm. Editing this file is necessary after having moved an adapter card from
one PCI slot to another one. /dev/hme1 is connected to a specific PCI-Slot in /etc/path_to_inst. A sim-
ple reboot would not redefine this relationship. Warning: Editing /etc/path_to_inst manually requires
high-level experience with device path handling. Editing errors can lead to unbootable systems!

11.2.3 Sun Explorer Software

This tool can be downloaded from SunSolve (http://sunsolve.Sun.COM/pub-
cgi/show.pl?target=explorer/explorer). It collects all important system information. It can be used to prepare serv-
ice calls, backup configuration data, snapshot configurations, and so on.

11.3 Analysis of Runtime Data

11.3.1 time/ptime
One of the simpler runtime analysis tools is time (0,1 sec. resolution) or ptime (1 msec resolution), which can
be added to a command line:

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 39 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Hint Collection

time gzip j2sdk.tar.gz

The result is divided into user (=application) time, system (=OS) time, and elapsed time.

11.3.2 top / prstat / ps

A tool known as top on other platforms is prstat for Solaris OS software. /usr/ucb/ps -aux shows simi-
lar results, but they are unsorted and without auto-update.
ps -L -p <process-ID> lists whether a process has threads and, if so, the number of threads.

11.3.3 vmstat / mpstat

vmstat -S <frequency in seconds> lists details of the system load. The following rows are the most
interesting ones:
free: Free memory (near zero through Solaris 7 OS, because of disk cache used. Beginning
with Solaris 8 OS, the correct size of free memory)
page pi/po: Paging activity, measured in memory pages/second. Moderate paging activity is
si/so: going on all the time and should not be considered harmful until combined with
swapping activity (si/so greater than zero), which causes I/O to the swap device
cpu us: User-time. This percentage is consumed by applications
cpu sy: System-time. This percentage is consumed by the Solaris OS itself
cpu id: Idle-time

mpstat prints similar information, one line per processor.

11.3.4 iostat
iostat -xtcP <frequency in seconds> lists the I/O load of a system. One line is printed for each
partition or NFS-mount. The rows kr/s and kw/s show read and write throughput as Kbyte/sec. A "svc_t"
bigger than 100 indicates that the disk is spending more time with head positioning than data transfer. Beginning
with the Solaris 9 OS, -txciP can be used to print the partition names in c0t0d0s0 format.

11.3.5 sdtperfmeter, xcpustate, and sdtprocess

sdtperfmeter is a graphical tool, which draws the vmstat-data as a bar or line chart. A minimized version
of this tool is displayed in the CDE front panel.

Unfortunately sdtperfmeter only prints the cumulated CPU and I/O load. To get a bar chart for every CPU
and disk installed in the system, download xcpustate from http://wwws.sun.com/software/so-
laris/freeware/. Start the tool with "xcpustate &" or "xpustate -disk &."

sdtprocess lists all processes in a sorted way. It is possible to look further into process properties, terminate
processes, and so on.

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 40 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Hint Collection

11.3.6 32-Bit or 64-Bit?

isainfo -kv displays if the kernel is a 32-bit or 64-bit kernel. The 64-bit kernel is used automatically, starting
with UltraSPARC II systems. With UltraSPARC II systems, the 32-bit kernel can be loaded explicitly with boot
kernel/unix instead of boot kernel/sparcv9/unix at the OK prompt. With UltraSPARC III systems,
only 64-bit kernels are available.

11.4 Debugging
11.4.1 Truss
The command truss <command> lists all system calls that an application calls during its execution. Because
all parameters of these system calls and the return values are listed, one can see, for example, where an application
looks for shared libraries or configuration files, and at which location they are finally found.

11.4.2 pstack, pmap, and so on

The "p*-command" prints out detailed information belonging to processes:
pstack <PID> Prints the last function calls of a process.
pldd <PID> Prints a list of shared libraries.
pmap -x <PID> Prints the memory usage of the process and its modules.

11.4.3 snoop
snoop prints all packets that are sent through a network interface.
Example: snoop -d eri0 host dumbledore monitors all traffic on network port "eri0" that is exchanged
with host "dumbledore".

11.5 Common Pitfalls

Observation Hint
Boot process takes very long OBP settings: Is diag-switch? = true ??
Cannot login with ftp (but telnet, ssh is fine) User disallowed to use ftp in /etc/ftpusers
vi does not display correctly Variable TERM defined? If not, set TERM=vt100

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 41 Version 1.20e, June 2004
Books and Web Sites

12 Books and Web Sites

12.1 Books
• A valuable collection of hints and tricks for UNIX:
Jerry Peek, Tim O'Reilly, Mike Loukides, UNIX Power Tools
(ISBN 1565922603)

• A detailed view on all UNIX variants, including Solaris OS and Linux.

Evi Nemeth, Garth Snyder, Scott Seebass, Trent R. Hein, UNIX System Administration Handbook
(ISBN 0130206016)

12.2 Web Sites

http://www.sun.com Home page of Sun Microsystems
http://www.sun.com/bigadmin Everything a system administrator may need
http://www.sun.com/blueprints Sun BluePrints publications on various topics, with monthly
additions
http://docs.sun.com All documentation for Sun products online
http://sunsolve.sun.com Technical FAQs, infodocs, symptom/resolution database,
patch downloads, and so on
http://www.sunfreeware.com Freeware tools for the Solaris OS, precompiled
http://www.sunhelp.org FAQ portal, other information
http://bhami.com/rosetta.html "A Sysadmin's Universal Translator (ROSETTA STONE)
OR What do they call that (command) in this world (Unix)?"

Solaris OS Guide for New System Administrators 42 Version 1.20e, June 2004