Category: Solaris/HPUX/AIX

A quick and dirty diagram that illustrates the history of Sun (now Oracle) SPARC Server hardware that can be useful for ageing legacy hardware still lurking in your datacentre.

This post is a work-in-progress.  The initial content is taken directly from Oracle’s own knowledge base here.  In time, it is my intention to augment the fundamental steps laid out below with real-world observations, screenshots, modifications and additional steps.

The P2V (Physical Server to Virtual Machine Migration is effectively the technical process of decommissioning a physical SPARC server by relocating its workload to an isolated instance of Solaris, running in software (known as a non-global zone) on a more powerful server, like a T8 or M8 running Solaris 11 and Oracle VM Server for SPARC (known as the global zone).

COLLECT REQUIRED INFORMATION FROM THE SOURCE SYSTEM.

Obtain the hostname:
# hostname

Obtain the hostid:
# hostid

Also see Host ID Emulation.

Obtain the root password.

View the software being run on the system:
# ps -eaf

Check the networking configuration on the system:
# ifconfig -a

View the storage utilized, for example, by viewing the contents of /etc/vfstab.

View the amount of local disk storage in use, which determines the size of the archive:
# df -k

Determine the packages and patches that are on the system. See pkginfo(1) for more information.
Examine the contents of /etc/system.

USE THE FLARCREATE COMMAND TO CREATE THE SYSTEM IMAGE.

This example procedure uses NFS to place the flash archive on the target Solaris system, but you could use any method to move the file.

You must be the global administrator in the global zone to perform this procedure.

Become superuser, or assume the Primary Administrator role.

Log in to the source system to be archived.

Change directories to the root directory.
# cd /

Use flarcreate to create a flash archive image file named s10-system on the source system, and place the archive onto the target system:
source-system
# flarcreate -S -n s10-system -L cpio /net/target/export/s10-system.flar
Determining which filesystems will be included in the archive…
Creating the archive…
cpio: File size of “etc/mnttab” has
increased by 4352068650 blocks
1 error(s)
Archive creation complete.

The target machine will require root write access to the /export file system. Depending on the size of the file system on the host system, the archive might be several gigabytes in size, so enough space should be available in the target filesystem.

Tip –
In some cases, flarcreate can display errors from the cpio command. Most commonly, these are messages such as File size of etc/mnttab has increased by 435. When these messages pertain to log files or files that reflect system state, they can be ignored. Be sure to review all error messages thoroughly.

CONFIGURING THE ZONE

Note that the only required elements to create a native non-global zone are the zonename and zonepath properties.  Other resources and properties are optional.  Some optional resources also require choices between alternatives, such as the decision to use either the dedicated-cpu resource or the capped-cpu resource.  See Zone Configuration Data for information on available zonecfg properties and resources.

You must be the global administrator in the global zone to perform this procedure.

Become superuser, or assume the Primary Administrator role.

To create the role and assign the role to a user, see Using the Solaris Management Tools With RBAC (Task Map) in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

Set up a zone configuration with the zone name you have chosen.

The name my-zone is used in this example procedure.
global# zonecfg -z my-zone

If this is the first time you have configured this zone, you will see the following system message:
my-zone: No such zone configured

Use ‘create’ to begin configuring a new zone.
Create the new zone configuration.

This procedure uses the default settings.
zonecfg:my-zone> create

Set the zone path, /export/home/my-zone in this procedure.
zonecfg:my-zone> set zonepath=/export/home/my-zone

Do not place the zonepath on ZFS for releases prior to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.
Set the autoboot value.

If set to true, the zone is automatically booted when the global zone is booted. Note that for the zones to autoboot, the zones service svc:/system/zones:default must also be enabled. The default value is false.
zonecfg:my-zone> set autoboot=true

Set persistent boot arguments for a zone.
zonecfg:my-zone> set bootargs=”-m verbose”

Dedicate one CPU to this zone.
zonecfg:my-zone> add dedicated-cpu

Set the number of CPUs.
zonecfg:my-zone:dedicated-cpu> set ncpus=1-2
(Optional) Set the importance.
zonecfg:my-zone:dedicated-cpu> set importance=10
The default is 1.

End the specification.
zonecfg:my-zone:dedicated-cpu> end

Revise the default set of privileges.
zonecfg:my-zone> set limitpriv=”default,sys_time”

This line adds the ability to set the system clock to the default set of privileges.
Set the scheduling class to FSS.
zonecfg:my-zone> set scheduling-class=FSS

Add a memory cap.
zonecfg:my-zone> add capped-memory

Set the memory cap.
zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> set physical=50m

Set the swap memory cap.
zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> set swap=100m

Set the locked memory cap.
zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> set locked=30m

End the memory cap specification.
zonecfg:my-zone:capped-memory> end

Add a file system.
zonecfg:my-zone> add fs

Set the mount point for the file system, /usr/local in this procedure.
zonecfg:my-zone:fs> set dir=/usr/local

Specify that /opt/zones/my-zone/local in the global zone is to be mounted as /usr/local in the zone being configured.
zonecfg:my-zone:fs> set special=/opt/zones/my-zone/local

In the non-global zone, the /usr/local file system will be readable and writable.
Specify the file system type, lofs in this procedure.
zonecfg:my-zone:fs> set type=lofs

The type indicates how the kernel interacts with the file system.

End the file system specification.
zonecfg:my-zone:fs> end
This step can be performed more than once to add more than one file system.
(Optional) Set the hostid.
zonecfg:my-zone> set hostid=80f0c086

Add a ZFS dataset named sales in the storage pool tank.
zonecfg:my-zone> add dataset

Specify the path to the ZFS dataset sales.
zonecfg:my-zone> set name=tank/sales

End the dataset specification.
zonecfg:my-zone> end

(Sparse Root Zone Only) Add a shared file system that is loopback-mounted from the global zone.

Do not perform this step to create a whole root zone, which does not have any shared file systems. See the discussion for whole root zones in Disk Space Requirements.
zonecfg:my-zone> add inherit-pkg-dir

Specify that /opt/sfw in the global zone is to be mounted in read-only mode in the zone being configured.
zonecfg:my-zone:inherit-pkg-dir> set dir=/opt/sfw
Note – The zone’s packaging database is updated to reflect the packages. These resources cannot be modified or removed after the zone has been installed using zoneadm.

End the inherit-pkg-dir specification.
zonecfg:my-zone:inherit-pkg-dir> end

This step can be performed more than once to add more than one shared file system.

Note –If you want to create a whole root zone but default shared file systems resources have been added by using inherit-pkg-dir, you must remove these default inherit-pkg-dir resources using zonecfg before you install the zone:
zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/lib
zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/platform
zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/sbin
zonecfg:my-zone> remove inherit-pkg-dir dir=/usr
(Optional) If you are creating an exclusive-IP zone, set the ip-type.
zonecfg:my-zone> set ip-type=exclusive

Note –Only the physical device type will be specified in the add net step.

Add a network interface.
zonecfg:my-zone> add net

(shared-IP only) Set the IP address for the network interface, 192.168.0.1 in this procedure.
zonecfg:my-zone:net> set address=192.168.0.1

Set the physical device type for the network interface, the hme device in this procedure.
zonecfg:my-zone:net> set physical=hme0

Solaris 10 10/08: (Optional, shared-IP only) Set the default router for the network interface, 10.0.0.1 in this procedure.
zonecfg:my-zone:net> set defrouter=10.0.0.1

End the specification.
zonecfg:my-zone:net> end

This step can be performed more than once to add more than one network interface.

Add a device.
zonecfg:my-zone> add device
Set the device match, /dev/sound/* in this procedure.
zonecfg:my-zone:device> set match=/dev/sound/*
End the device specification.
zonecfg:my-zone:device> end
This step can be performed more than once to add more than one device.

Add a zone-wide resource control by using the property name.
zonecfg:my-zone> set max-sem-ids=10485200
This step can be performed more than once to add more than one resource control.

Add a comment by using the attr resource type.
zonecfg:my-zone> add attr
Set the name to comment.
zonecfg:my-zone:attr> set name=comment
Set the type to string.
zonecfg:my-zone:attr> set type=string
Set the value to a comment that describes the zone.
zonecfg:my-zone:attr> set value=”This is my work zone.”
End the attr resource type specification.
zonecfg:my-zone:attr> end

Verify the zone configuration for the zone.
zonecfg:my-zone> verify

Commit the zone configuration for the zone.
zonecfg:my-zone> commit
Exit the zonecfg command.
zonecfg:my-zone> exit
Note that even if you did not explicitly type commit at the prompt, a commit is automatically attempted when you type exit or an EOF occurs.

Using Multiple Subcommands From the Command Line
Tip –The zonecfg command also supports multiple subcommands, quoted and separated by semicolons, from the same shell invocation.
global# zonecfg -z my-zone “create ; set zonepath=/export/home/my-zone”

INSTALL THE ZONE

The zoneadm command described in Part II, Zones and in the zoneadm(1M) man page is the primary tool used to install and administer non-global zones. Operations using the zoneadm command must be run from the global zone on the target system.

In addition to unpacking files from the archive, the install process performs checks, required postprocessing, and other functions to ensure that the zone is optimized to run on the host.

You can use an image of a Solaris system that has been fully configured with all of the software that will be run in the zone. See Creating the Image Used to Directly Migrate A Solaris System Into a Zone.

If you created a Solaris system archive from an existing system and use the -p (preserve sysidcfg) option when you install the zone, the zone will have the same identity as the system used to create the image.

If you use the -u (sys-unconfig) option when you install the zone on the target, the zone produced will not have a hostname or name service configured.

Caution –
You must specify either the -p option or the -u option, or an error results.

Installer options and description

-a archive

Location of archive from which to copy system image. Full flash archive and  cpio, gzip compressed cpio, bzip compressed cpio, and level 0 ufsdump are    supported. Refer to the gzip man page available in the SUNWsfman              package.

-d path

Location of directory from which to copy system image.

-d —

Use the -d option with the dash parameter to direct that the existing directory layout be used in the zonepath. Thus, if the administrator manually sets up the zonepath directory before the installation, the -d — option can be used to indicate that the directory already exists.

-p Preserve system identity.

-s Install silently.

-u sys-unconfig the zone.

-v Verbose output.

-b patchid

One or more -b options can be used to specify a patch ID for a patch installed in the system image. These patches will be backed out during the installation process.

The -a and -d options are mutually exclusive. The -p, -s, -u and -v options are only allowed when either -a or -d is provided.

PROCEDURE HOW TO INSTALL THE ZONE
Become superuser, or assume the Primary Administrator role.

Install the configured zone s-zone by using the zoneadm command with the install -a option and the path to the archive.
global# zoneadm -z s-zone install -u -a /net/machine_name/s-system.flar

You will see various messages as the installation completes. This can take some time.

When the installation completes, use the list subcommand with the -i and -v options to list the installed zones and verify the status.

Troubleshooting
If an installation fails, review the log file. On success, the log file is in /var/log inside the zone. On failure, the log file is in /var/tmp in the global zone.

If a zone installation is interrupted or fails, the zone is left in the incomplete state. Use uninstall -F to reset the zone to the configured state.

BOOT THE ZONE
You must be the global administrator in the global zone to perform this procedure.

If the -u option was used, you must also zlogin to the zone console and perform system configuration as described in Performing the Initial Internal Zone Configuration.

Become superuser, or assume the Primary Administrator role.

Use the zoneadm command with the -z option, the name of the zone, which is s-zone, and the boot subcommand to boot the zone.
global# zoneadm -z s-zone boot

When the boot completes, use the list subcommand with the -v option to verify the status.
global# zoneadm list -v

This post covers connecting to the server console via the SER MGT port and using a terminal emulator to assign a static IP address to the NET MGT port on an Oracle Solaris SPARC Server.

It also covers the process of temporarily preventing automatic boot of the preinstalled OS so that you can boot from alternative installation media of your own choosing, to perform a fresh install for example.

Verify that Device Manager on Windows has the correct drivers loaded for your USB console cable if applicable, making a note of the COM port assigned.

Connect the console cable to the SER MGT port

Configure a terminal such as PuTTY or terminal emulator with these settings:

9600 baud
8 bits
No parity
1 Stop bit
No handshake

Oracle Solaris 11 installation options are covered here.

Default username and password

root/changeme 

To set the password on the ILOM console for the first time, use the following command… 

set /SP/users/root password

Assign a Static IP Address to the NET MGT Port

If you plan to connect to the SP through its NET MGT port, the SP must have a valid IP address.

By default, the server is configured to obtain an IP address from DHCP services in your network.  If the network your server is connected to does not support DHCP for IP addressing, perform this procedure.

Set the SP to accept a static IP address.
->set /SP/network pendingipdiscovery=static

Set the IP address for the SP gateway.
-> set /SP/network pendingipgateway=gateway-IPaddr

Set the netmask for the SP.
-> set /SP/network pendingipnetmask=255.255.255.0

This example uses 255.255.255.0 to set the netmask. Your network environment subnet might require a different netmask. Use a netmask number most appropriate to your environment.

Verify that the parameters were set correctly.
-> show /SP/network -display properties

Set the changes to the SP network parameters.
-> set /SP/network commitpending=true

Note – You can type the show /SP/network command again to verify that the parameters have been updated.

The Oracle Solaris SPARC Server comes with a pre-installed OS.  You will be prompted to boot it, or it’ll automatically boot.  If you wish to install a fresh OS via you’re own boot media then the following section, distilled from the official instructions here may be useful.

Reach a State to Install a Fresh OS (Oracle ILOM CLI)

-> set /HOST/bootmode script=”setenv auto-boot? false”
This setting prevents the server from booting from the preinstalled OS. When you use bootmode, the change applies only to a single boot and expires in 10 minutes if the power on the host is not reset.

When you are ready to initiate the OS installation, reset the host.
-> reset /System

Switch communication to the server host.
-> start /HOST/console
Are you sure you want to start /HOST/console (y/n)? y
Serial console started. To stop, type #.

The server might take several minutes to complete POST, and then the OpenBoot prompt (ok) is displayed.

Boot from the appropriate boot media for your installation method.

For a list of valid boot commands that you can enter at the OpenBoot prompt, type:

{0} ok help boot

Useful ILOM Console Commands

A link to the ILOM Console commands available here with some examples used regularly listed below.

You can also show all the CLI commands with

show /SP/cli/commands

cd     -e.g. cd /HOST/console

create     -create a target property and set a value

delete

dump

exit

help     -shows help commands, e.g. help or help targets, editing or legal

load

ls     -lists (sub)targets in target  e.g. /HOST/console/bootlog or history

reset   e.g. reset /System

set     e.g. set /HOST/bootmode script=”setnv auto-boot? false”

show     e.g. show /SP/network or show /HOST status

start     e.g. start /HOST/console or start /SP/console

stop

version     -shows firmware versions of SP

ILOM Targets

All HOST, SYSTEM and SP Targets can be listed using the following ILOM console command.

> help targets

Target Meaning

/ Hierarchy Root
/HOST Manage the Host
/HOST/bootmode Manage the Host Boot Method
/HOST/console Redirect Host Serial Console to SP
/HOST/console/bootlog View Host Console Output From Last Power On
/HOST/console/history View Host Console Output
/HOST/diag Manage Host Power On Self Test Diagnostics
/HOST/domain Manage Logical Domains
/HOST/domain/control Manage Host Control and Guest Boot Methods
/HOST/tpm Manage the Trusted Platform Module Device
/HOST/verified_boot Manage Verified Boot configuration
/HOST/verified_boot/system_certs Verified Boot system certificates
/HOST/verified_boot/system_certs/1 Verified Boot Certificate
/HOST/verified_boot/system_certs/2 Verified Boot Certificate
/HOST/verified_boot/user_certs Verified Boot user certificates
/HOST/verified_boot/user_certs/1 Verified Boot Certificate
/HOST/verified_boot/user_certs/2 Verified Boot Certificate
/HOST/verified_boot/user_certs/3 Verified Boot Certificate
/HOST/verified_boot/user_certs/4 Verified Boot Certificate
/HOST/verified_boot/user_certs/5 Verified Boot Certificate
/System View System Summary
/System/Open_Problems View Open Problems
/System/Processors View Processors Summary
/System/Processors/CPUs View List of CPUs
/System/Processors/CPUs/CPU_0 CPU Details
/System/Processors/CPUs/CPU_1 CPU Details
/System/Memory View Memory Summary
/System/Memory/DIMMs View List of DIMMs
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_0 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_2 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_4 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_6 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_8 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_10 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_12 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_14 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_16 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_18 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_20 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_22 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_24 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_26 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_28 DIMM Details
/System/Memory/DIMMs/DIMM_30 DIMM Details
/System/Power View Power Summary
/System/Power/Power_Supplies View List of Power Supplies
/System/Power/Power_Supplies/Power_Supply_0 Power Supply Details
/System/Power/Power_Supplies/Power_Supply_1 Power Supply Details
/System/Cooling View Cooling Summary
/System/Cooling/Fans View List of Fans
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_0 Fan Module Details
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_1 Fan Module Details
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_2 Fan Module Details
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_3 Fan Module Details
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_4 Fan Module Details
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_5 Fan Module Details
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_6 Fan Module Details
/System/Cooling/Fans/Fan_7 Fan Module Details
/System/Storage View Storage Summary
/System/Storage/Disks View List of Storage Disks
/System/Storage/Controllers View List of Storage Controllers
/System/Storage/Volumes View List of Storage Volumes
/System/Storage/Expanders View List of Storage Expanders
/System/Networking View Network Summary
/System/Networking/Ethernet_NICs View List of Ethernet NICs
/System/Networking/Ethernet_NICs/Ethernet_NIC_0 Ethernet NIC Details
/System/Networking/Ethernet_NICs/Ethernet_NIC_1 Ethernet NIC Details
/System/Networking/Ethernet_NICs/Ethernet_NIC_2 Ethernet NIC Details
/System/Networking/Ethernet_NICs/Ethernet_NIC_3 Ethernet NIC Details
/System/Networking/Infiniband_HCAs View List of Infiniband HCAs
/System/PCI_Devices View Devices Summary
/System/PCI_Devices/On-board View List of On-board Devices
/System/PCI_Devices/On-board/Device_0 On-board device details
/System/PCI_Devices/On-board/Device_1 On-board device details
/System/PCI_Devices/On-board/Device_2 On-board device details
/System/PCI_Devices/On-board/Device_3 On-board device details
/System/PCI_Devices/On-board/Device_4 On-board device details
/System/PCI_Devices/On-board/Device_5 On-board device details
/System/PCI_Devices/Add-on View List of Add-on Devices
/System/PCI_Devices/Add-on/Device_1 Add-on device details
/System/PCI_Devices/Add-on/Device_2 Add-on device details
/System/PCI_Devices/Add-on/Device_3 Add-on device details
/System/PCI_Devices/Add-on/Device_6 Add-on device details
/System/PCI_Devices/Add-on/Device_7 Add-on device details
/System/PCI_Devices/Add-on/Device_8 Add-on device details
/System/Firmware View Firmware Summary
/System/Firmware/Other_Firmware View List of Other Firmware
/System/Log Manage the System Log
/System/Log/list View System Log Entries
/SP Manage the Service Processor
/SP/alertmgmt Manage Alerts
/SP/alertmgmt/rules Manage Alert Rules (IPMI, SNMP, Email)
/SP/cli Manage Command Line Interface Sessions
/SP/clients Manage Client External Services
/SP/clients/activedirectory Manage Active Directory Authentication
/SP/clients/activedirectory/admingroups Manage Administrator Groups
/SP/clients/activedirectory/alternateservers Manage Alternate Servers
/SP/clients/activedirectory/cert Manage Certificates
/SP/clients/activedirectory/customgroups Manage Custom Groups
/SP/clients/activedirectory/dnslocatorqueries Manage DNS Locator Queries
/SP/clients/activedirectory/opergroups Manage Operator Groups
/SP/clients/activedirectory/userdomains Manage User Domains
/SP/clients/asr Manage Automatic Service Request.
/SP/clients/asr/cert Manage Certificate
/SP/clients/dns Manage Domain Name Service Resolution
/SP/clients/ldap Manage LDAP Authentication
/SP/clients/ldapssl Manage LDAP/SSL Authentication
/SP/clients/ldapssl/admingroups Manage Administrator Groups
/SP/clients/ldapssl/alternateservers Manage Alternate Servers
/SP/clients/ldapssl/cert Manage Certificates
/SP/clients/ldapssl/customgroups Manage Custom Groups
/SP/clients/ldapssl/opergroups Manage Operator Groups
/SP/clients/ldapssl/optionalUserMapping Manage Alternate User Mapping
/SP/clients/ldapssl/userdomains Manage User Domains
/SP/clients/ntp Manage the Network Time Protocol Service
/SP/clients/ntp/server Manage the NTP Servers
/SP/clients/oeshm OESHM status and state info
/SP/clients/oeshm/ssl HMN SSL configuration and status
/SP/clients/oeshm/ssl/agent_cert OESHM SSL Client certificate
/SP/clients/oeshm/ssl/agent_key OESHM SSL Client key
/SP/clients/oeshm/ssl/server_cert OESHM SSL Server certificate
/SP/clients/radius Manage RADIUS Authentication
/SP/clients/radius/alternateservers Alternate RADIUS servers configuration
/SP/clients/radius/alternateservers/1 Alternate RADIUS servers configuration
/SP/clients/radius/alternateservers/2 Alternate RADIUS servers configuration
/SP/clients/radius/alternateservers/3 Alternate RADIUS servers configuration
/SP/clients/radius/alternateservers/4 Alternate RADIUS servers configuration
/SP/clients/radius/alternateservers/5 Alternate RADIUS servers configuration
/SP/clients/smtp Manage the SMTP Server Service
/SP/clients/syslog Manage the Syslogd Remote Logging Server
/SP/clock Manage the SP Clock
/SP/config Manage SP Configuration (Backup/Restore)
/SP/diag Manage SP Diagnositics
/SP/diag/snapshot Save SP Snapshot for Diagnostic Purposes
/SP/faultmgmt Manage System FRU Faults
/SP/faultmgmt/shell Fault Management Shell
/SP/firmware Manage the SP Firmware
/SP/firmware/backupimage Manage Firmware Backup Image Information
/SP/firmware/host Manage Host-accessible SP firmware
/SP/firmware/host/miniroot Miniroot information
/SP/firmware/keys Image Signing Public Keys
/SP/firmware/keys/sun View Sun Keys
/SP/logs Manage Logs
/SP/logs/audit Manage the Audit Log
/SP/logs/audit/list View Audit Log Entries
/SP/logs/event Manage the Event Log
/SP/logs/event/list View Event Log Entries
/SP/network Manage Network Port Configuration
/SP/network/interconnect Manage Internal USB Ethernet Port Configu ration
/SP/network/ipv6 Manage IPv6 Network Configuration
/SP/policy Manage System Policies
/SP/preferences Manage SP Preferences
/SP/preferences/banner Manage SP Login Messages
/SP/preferences/banner/connect Manage SP Connect Message
/SP/preferences/banner/login Manage SP Login Message
/SP/preferences/password_policy Manage SP Password Policy
/SP/serial Manage Serial Interfaces
/SP/serial/external Manage the External Serial Port
/SP/services Manage SP Access Services
/SP/services/fips Manage the FIPS mode of ILOM (Federal Inf ormation Processing Standards,
publication 140-2, Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules)
/SP/services/http Manage the HTTP Service
/SP/services/https Manage the HTTPS Service
/SP/services/https/ssl Manage the HTTPS SSL Certificate
/SP/services/https/ssl/custom_cert Manage the Custom SSL Certificate
/SP/services/https/ssl/custom_key Manage the Custom SSL Private Key
/SP/services/https/ssl/default_cert View the Default SSL Certificate
/SP/services/ipmi Manage the IPMI Service
/SP/services/kvms Manage the Remote KVMS Service
/SP/services/kvms/host_storage_device Manage the KVMS Host Storage
/SP/services/kvms/host_storage_device/remote Manage the KVMS Remote Virtual Device
/SP/services/servicetag Manage Service Tags
/SP/services/snmp Manage the SNMP Agent Service
/SP/services/snmp/communities Manage SNMP Communities (v2)
/SP/services/snmp/users Manage SNMP Users (v3)
/SP/services/ssh Manage the Secure Shell Service
/SP/services/ssh/keys Manage Secure Shell Authentication
/SP/services/ssh/keys/dsa Manage the SSH DSA Key
/SP/services/ssh/keys/rsa Manage the SSH RSA key
/SP/services/sso Manage the Single Sign-on Service
/SP/sessions View User Sessions
/SP/users Manage Local SP User Accounts

 

 

The following concise post is intended as a reference to the networking commands used to satisfy basic networking requirements on a Solaris 11 host.

Using dladm and ipadm commands to modify the live configuration and also modify the config files in one go, means that networking changes made this way are persistent, i.e. survive a system reboot.

Show Network Links

dladm show-link

dladm show-phys

Show Network Addresses

ipadm show-addr

Create IP interface

ipadm create-ip net0 && dladm show-link && dladm show-phys net0

At this point although there is an IPv4 interface, there is no IP address bound to it (just the internal loopback address).

Configure IP interface to use DHCP

ipadm create-addr -T dhcp net0  && ipadm show-addr

Configure Static IP address on IP interface

ipadm create-addr -T static -a 192.168.1.200 net0 && ipadm show-addr

Delete IP interface

In our case, the IP interface that is configured to use DHCP.

ipadm delete-addr -r net0/v4

 

 

Download the requisite Solaris OS image from Oracle here.  You may need to create a free account first.

Note that if you are building a SPARC server e.g. T8-2, it comes with Solaris pre-installed.  You should start with this document here, connecting to the ILOM System Console via the SER MGT Port using the instructions here.

The instructions from Oracle are as follows, but I don’t like the way they say to use dmesg | tail to identify the USB device when lsusb to identify the make and model and df -h to identify the device name provide much clearer, humanly readable output.

 

• On Linux:
  1. Insert the flash drive and locate the appropriate device.

     # dmesg | tail

  2. Copy the image.

     # dd if=/path/image.usb of=/dev/diskN bs=16k

For other client operating systems such as Solaris itself or MacOSX, instructions from Oracle can be found here.

In my case, the USB stick was mounted to /dev/sdg1 automatically when plugged into Linux desktop, so I unmounted /dev/sdg1 then changed to the directory containing my Solaris 11 image, then used dd as shown in the screenshot below.

The commands are therefore,

df -h to Identify the USB device e.g. /dev/sdg

sudo umount /dev/sdg1 to unmount the filesystem on the USB device

cd ~/Downloads/Solaris11 to change to the location of your downloaded image file

sudo dd if=sol-11_3.usb of=/dev/sdg bs=16k to write it to the USB device

Since dd is a block level, not a file level copy, you don’t need to make the USB device bootable or anything like that.  That’s all contained in the blocks copied to the device.