Working with Files and Directories

Working with Files and Directories is very basic thing which we dont want to miss while learning Solaris 10. Lets
check few very basic commands.
To display the current working directory:
pwd command: It displays the current working directory.
example:
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
To display contents of a directory:
ls command (Listing Command):It displays all files and directories under the specified directory.
Syntax: ls -options <DirName>|<FileName>
The options are discussed as follows:

Optio
n

Description

It lists all the files & directories. The directory names are succeeded by the
symbol '/'

It lists all files along with their type. The symbols '/', '*', (None), '@' at the end of
file name represents directory, executable, Plain text or ASCII file & symbolic
link respectively

It lists all the files & directories name including hidden files

It lists detailed information about files & directories

It displays all the files & directories in descending order of their modified time.

It displays all the files & directories in reverse alphabetical order

It displays all the files & directories & sub-directories in recursive order

It displays the inode number of files & directories

tr

It displays all the files & directories in the ascending order of their last modified
date

Analysis of output of ls -l command:

ls -l It list all the files and directories long list with the permission and other information. The output looks as
follows:
FileType & Permissions LinkCount UID GID Size Last ModifiedDate & ModifiedTime <File/Directory Name>
Following table explains the output:

Entry
FileType

Description
'-' for file & 'd' for directory

Permissions

Permissions are in order of Owner, Group & Other

LinkCount

Number of links to the file

UID

Owner's User ID

GID

Group's ID

Size

Size of the file/directory

Last ModifiedDate & ModifiedTime Last Modified Date & Time of the file/directory
<File/Directory Name>

File/Directory name

Example:
# ls -l
total 6
-rw-r--r-- 1 root
-rw-r--r-- 1 root
-rw-r--r-- 1 root

root
root
root

136 May 6 2010 local.cshrc

167 May 6 2010 local.login
184 May 6 2010 local.profile

Understanding permissions:
Following table explains the permission entry:

Entry

Description

No permission/denied

read permission

write permission

execute permission

File Command: It is used to determine the file type. The output of file command can be "text", "data" or "binary".
Syntax: file <file name>
Example:
# file data
data: English text
Changing Directories: 'cd' commad is used to change directories.Syntax:cd <dir name>
If cd command is used without any option it changes the directory from current working directory to user's home
directory.

Example: Let the user be 'ravi' and current working directory is /var/adm/messages
#pwd
/var/adm/messages
#cd
#pwd

#/export/home/ravi
There is also a different way to navigate to the user's home directory :
#pwd
/var/adm/messages
#cd ~ravi
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#cd ~raju
#pwd
/export/home/raju
#cd ~ravi/dir1
#pwd
/export/home/ravi/dir1
In the above examples, the '~' character is the abbreviation that represents the absolute path of the user's home
directory. However this functionality is not available in all shells.
There are few other path name abbreviations which we can use as well. These are listed below :
. current working directory
.. Parent directory or directory above the current working directory.
So if we want to go to the parent directory of the current working directory following command is used:
#cd ..
We can also navigate multiple levels up in directory using cd, .. and /.
Example: If you want to move two levels up the current working directory, we will use the command :
#cd ../..
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#cd ../..
#pwd
/export
#cd ..
#pwd
/
Viewing the files:
cat command: It displays the entire content of the file without pausing.
Syntax: cat <file name>
Example:
#file data
data: English text
#cat data
This is an example for demonstrating the cat command.
#
Warning: The cat command should not be used to open a binary file as it will freeze the terminal window and it has
to be closed. So check the file type using 'file' command, if you are not sure about it.
more command: It is used to view the content of a long text file in the manner of one screen at a time.

Syntax: more <file name>

The few scrolling options used with more command are as follows :

Scrolling Keys

Action

Space Bar

Moves forward one screen

Return

Scrolls one line at a time

Moves back one screen

Displays a help menu of features

/string

searches forward for a pattern

finds the next occurrence of the pattern

quits and returns to shell prompt

head command: It displays the first 10 lines of a file by default. The number of lines to be displayed can be changed
using the option -n. The syntax for the head command is as follows:
Syntax: head -n <file name>
This displays the first n lines of the file.
tail command: It displays the last 10 lines of a file by default. The number of lines to be displayed can be changed
using the options -n or +n.
Syntax:
#tail -n <file name>
#tail +n <file name>
The -n option displays the n lines from the end of the file.
The +n option displays the file from line n to the end of the file.
Displaying line, word and character count:
wc command: It is used to display the number of lines, words and characters in a given file.
Syntax: wc -options <file name>
The following option can be used with wc command:

Option

Description

Counts number of lines

Counts number of words

Counts number of characters

Counts number of bytes

Example:
#cat data
This is an example for demonstrating the cat command.
#wc -w data
9
Copying Files:

cp command: It can be used to copy file/files.

Syntax:cp -option(s) surce(s) destination
The options for the cp command are discussed below :

Optio
n

Description

Prevents the accidental overwriting of existing files or directories

Includes the contents of a directory, including the contents of all subdirectories, when you copy a directory

Example:
#cp file1 file2 dir1
In the above example file1 and file2 are copies to dir1.
Moving & renaming files and directories:
mv command: It can be used to
1. Move files and directories within the directory hierarchy :
Example: We want to move file1 and file2 under the directory /export/home/ravi to /var
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#mv file1 file2 /var
2. Rename existing files and directories.
Example: we want to rename file1 under /export/home/ravi to file2.
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#mv file1 file2
The mv command does not affect the contents of the files or directories being moved or renamed.
We can use -i option with the mv command to prevent the accidental overwriting of the file.
Creating files and directories :
touch Command : It is used to create an empty file. We can create multiple file using this command.
Syntax: touch <files name>
Example: #touch file1 files2 file3
mkdir command : It is used to create directories.
Syntax: mkdir -option <dir name>
When the <dir name> includes a pah name, option -p is used to create all non-existing parent directory.
Example:
#mkdir -p /export/home/ravi/test/test1

Removing Files and Directories :

rm command: It is used permanently remove files/directories. TheSyntax:rm -option <file name>/<dir name>
The -i option is used to prompt user for confirmation before the deletion of files/directories.
Example: We want to remove file1 and file2 from the home directory of user ravi.
#pwd
/
#cd ~ravi
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#rm file1 file2
Note: The removal of a directory is slightly different. If the directory is not empty and you are trying to delete it, you
will not be able to do so. You need to use -r option to remove the directory with files and sub-directories.
Example: We want to delete a directory test under user ravi home directory and it contains file and sub-directories.
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#rm test
rm: test is a directory
#rm -r test
#
To remove an empty directory:
Syntax: rmdir <directory name>
Links (Soft Link and Hard Link) : This section has been covered under section :Solaris File System. Please refer
to it.
Searching Files, Directories & its contents:
Using the grep command : The grep is very useful and widely used command.
lets take an example where we want to see if the process statd is running of not. Following command is used :
#ps -ef | grep statd
# ps -ef | grep statd
daemon 2557 1 0 Jul 07 ?
0:00 /usr/lib/nfs/statd
root 10649 1795 0 05:29:39 pts/4
0:00 grep statd
#
Syntax: grep options filenames.
The options used are discussed below :

i Searches both uppercase and lowercase characters

l Lists the name of files with matching lines
n Precedes each line with the relative line number in the file
v Inverts the search to display lines that do not match pattern
c Counts the lines that contain pattern

Searches for the expression as acomplete word, ignoring those matches that are
sub strings of larger words

Lets see few examples:

Suppose we want to search for all lines that contain the keyword root in /etc/group file and view their line numbers,
we use following option :
# grep -n root /etc/group
1:root::0:
2:other::1:root
3:bin::2:root,daemon
4:sys::3:root,bin,adm
5:adm::4:root,daemon
6:uucp::5:root
7:mail::6:root
8:tty::7:root,adm
9:lp::8:root,adm
10:nuucp::9:root
12:daemon::12:root
To search for all the lines that does not contain the keyword root:
# grep -v root /etc/group
staff::10:
sysadmin::14:
smmsp::25:
gdm::50:
webservd::80:
postgres::90:
unknown::96:
nobody::60001:
noaccess::60002:
nogroup::65534:
cta::101:
rancid::102:
mysql::103:
torrus::104:
To search for the names of the files that contains the keyword root in /etc directory :
# cd /etc
# grep -l root group passwd hosts
group
passwd
To count the number of lines containing the pattern root in the /etc/group file:
# grep -c root group
11
Using regular expression Metacharacters with grep command:

Metacha
Purpose
r

Example Result

Begining of line Anchor

'^test'

Matches all lines begining with test

End of line anchor

'test$'

Matches all the lines ending with test

Matches one char

't..t'

Matches all the line starting and ending

with t and 2 char between them

Matches the preceding

'[a-s]*'

Matches all lines starting with

item 0 or more times

lowercase a-s

[]

Matches one character in

'[Tt]est'
the pattern

Matches lines containing test ot Test

[^]

Matches one character

not in pattern

Matches lines that do not contain "a"

though "s" and followed by est

'[^as]est'

Using egrep command :

With egrep we can search one or more files for a pattern using extended regular expression metacharacters.
Following table describes the Extended Regular Expression Metacharacters :

Metacha
r

Purpose

Example

Result

Matches one of
more preceding
chars

x|y

Matches either x
'printer|scanner' Matches for either expression
or y

(|)

Groups
characters

'[a-z]+est'

Matches one or more lowercase letters

followed by est(for example chest, pest,
best, test, crest etc

'(1|2)+' or 'test(s|
Matches for one or more occurrence.
ing)'

Syntax: egrep -options pattern filenames

Examples:
#egrep '[a-z]+day' /ravi/testdays
sunday
monday
friday
goodday
badday
In the above example, we searched for the letter ending with day in the file /ravi/testdays
#egrep '(vacation |sick)' leave' /ravi/leavedata
vacation leave on 7th march
sick leave on 8th march
In the above example we are displaying sick leave and vacation leave from file /ravi/leavedata
Using fgrep command :
It searches for all the character regardless of it being metacharacter as we have seen in case of grep and egrep
commands.
Syntax: fgrep options string filenames
Example:
#fgrep '$?*' /ravi/test
this is for testing fgrep command $?*
#
Using Find command :
This command is used to locate files and directories. You can relate it with windows search in terms of functionality.
Syntax: find pathnames expressions actions
Pathname: The absolute or relative path from where the search begins.

Expressions: The search criteria is mentioned here. We will discuss search criteria below in details.

Expression

Definition

-name
filename

Finds the file matching.

-size [+|-]n

Finds files that are larger than +n, smaller than -n, or exactly n.

-atime [+|-]n

Find files that have been accessed more than +n days, less than -n or
exactly n days ago.

-mtime [+|-]n

Find files that have been modified more than +n days, less than -n or
exactly n days ago.

-user loginID

Finds all files that are owned by the loginID name.

-type

Finds a file type : f for file, d for directory.

-perm

Find files that have certain access permission bits.

Action: Action required after all the files have been found. By default it displays all the matching pathnames

Action

Definition

-exec
Runs the specified command on each file located.
command {} \;
-ok commadn Requires confirmation before the find command applies the command
{} \:
to each file located.
-print

Prints the search result

-ls

Displays the current pathname and associated stats : inode number,

size in kb, protection mode, no. of hard links and the user.

-user loginID

Finds all files that are owned by the loginID name.

-type

Finds a file type : f for file, d for directory.

-perm

Find files that have certain access permission bits.

Examples:
#touch findtest
#cat >> findtest
This is for test.
#find ~ -name findtest -exec cat {} \;
This is for test.
#
The above examples searches for the file : findtest and displays its content. We can also use 'ok' option instead of
exec. This will prompt for confirmation before displaying the contents of file findtest.
If we want to find files larger than 10 blocks (1 block = 512bytes) starting from /ravi directory, following command is
used :
#find /ravi -size +10
If we want to see all files that have not been modified in the last two days in the directory /ravi, we use :
#find /ravi -mtime +2

Printing Files:
lp comand : This command is located in /usr/bin directory. It is used to submit the print request to the printer.
Syntax:
/usr/bin/lp <file name>
/usr/bin/lp -d <printer name > <file name>
The options for the lp command are discussed below :

Option

Description

It is used to specify the desired printer. It is not required if default printer is

used

It is used to specify that the banner page should not be printed

Print the number of copies specified

It send email after the print job is complete

lpstat command : It displays the status of the printer queue. The Syntax for this command is as follows:
lpstat -option <printer name>
The options for the lpstat command are discussed below :

Option

Description

Displays the status of all printers

Displays the status of all output printers

Displays the default system printer

Displays the complete status information of all printers

Display the status summary of all printers

Displays which printers are accepting request

The output of the lpstat command is in the following format :

<request ID> <user ID> <File Size> <Date & Time> <status>
Cancel command : It is used to cancel the print request. The Syntax:
cancel <request ID>
cancel -u <user name>
Note: We can use lpstat command to get the request ID.

VI Editor
VI Editor (Visual Editor)

Its an editor like notepad in windows which is used to edit a file in SOLARIS. Unlike notepad it is very difficult to use. I
wish the VI editor would have been developed by Bill gates rather than Bill Joy. Anways, guys we dont have any
other option rather than getting aware of all these commands so that we become proficient in working with the VI
Editor. Here are few commands that can be used while working with VI editor.
There are three command modes in VI editor and we will see the commands based on the modes.

Command Mode :
This is default mode of the VI editor. In this mode we can delete, change, copy and move text.
Navigation:

Key

Use

j(or down arrow)

To move the cursor to the next line (move down)

k(or up arrow)

To move the cursor to the previous line (move up)

h(or left arrow)

To move left one character

l(or right arrow)

To move right one character

To move the cursor to current page beginning of the first line.

To move the cursor to current page beginning of the last line.

To move the cursor previous word first character

To move the cursor next word last character

To move the cursor to next word first character

Go to beginning of line

Go to beginning of line

Go to the end of the line

CTRL+F

forward 1 screen

CTRL+B

backward 1 screen

CTRL+D

down (forward) 1/2 screen

CTRL+U

up (backward) 1/2 screen

Copy & Paste:

Key

Use

y+w

To copy rest of the word from current cursor position.

n+y+w

To copy n number of words from the current cursor position.

y+y

To copy a line

n+y+y

To copy n lines

p(lowerCase) To paste a copied words/lines after the current position of the cursor
P(uppercase) To paste a copied words/lines before the current position of the cursor
Deletion:

Key

Use

deletes a single character

n+X

To delete n number of characters from the cursor position in a line.

d+w

To delete rest of a word from current cursor position

n+d+w

To delete n number of words from the cursor position in a line

d$

Delete rest of line from current cursor position

Delete rest of line from current cursor position

d+d

To delete an entire line

n+d+d

To delete n lines from current cursor position

Few More Important Command Mode commands:

Key

Use

Undo changes (only one time)

Undo all changes to the current line

To change the case of the letter

ZZ

Saves the changes and quits the vi editor

Input or Insert Mode: In this mode we can insert text into the file. We can enter the insert mode by pressing
following keys in command mode:

Key

Use

Inserts the text before the cursor

Inserts the text at the beginning of the line

Opens a new blank line below the cursor

Opens a new blank line above the cursor

Appends text after the cursor

Appends the text after the line

replace the single character with another character

replace a entire line

Esc

To return to command mode

Last line mode or Collan Mode : This is used for advance editing commands. To access the last line mode enter ":"
while in command mode.

Key

Use

To get to collan mode(This need to be entered every

time a user wants to use collan mode command)

:+set nu

Shows line numbers

:+set nonu

Hides line numbers

:+enter+n

Moves the cursor to the n line

:+/keyword

To move the cursor to the line starting with the

specific keyword

:+n+d

Deletes nth line

:+5,10d

Delete line from 5th line to 10th line

:+7 co 32

Copies 7th line and paste in 32nd line

:+10,20 co 35

Copies lines from 10th line to 20th line and paste it

from 35th line

:+%s/old_text/new_text/g

Searches old string and replaces with the new string

:+q+!

Quits vi editor without saving

:+w

Saves the file with changes by writing to the disk

:+w+q

Saving and exit the vi editor

:+w+q+!

Saving and quitting the file forcefully

1,$s/$/"
-type=Text_to_be_appended

Append text at the end of the line

Using VI Command:
vi options <file name>
The options are discussed below:
-r : To recover a file from system crash while editing.
-R : To open a file in read only mode.
Viewing Files in Read Only Mode:
view <file name>
This is also used to open the file in read only mode. To exit type ':q' command.
Automatic Customization of a VI session:
1. Create a file in the user's home directory with the name .exrc
2. enter the set variables without preceding colon

3. Enter each command in one line.

VI reads the .exrc file each time the user opens the vi session.
Example:
#cd ~
#touch .exrc
#echo "set nu">.exrc
#cat .exrc
set nu
#
In the above example we have used set line number command. So whenever the user opens the vi session, line
number is displayed.
I know its nearly impossible to keep all the above commands in mind, even I don't have, but as we keep practicing,
we will be knowing most of them.

Working with Shell

In this section we will play with shell.
Shell is an interface between a user and the kernel. It is a command interpreter which interprets the commands
entered by user and sends to kernel.

The Solaris shell supports three primary shells:

Bourne Shell:
It is original UNIX system shell.
It is default shell for root user.
The default shell prompt for the regular user is $ and root is #.
C Shell:
It has several features which bourne shell do not have.
The features are:
It has command-line history, aliasing, and job control.

The shell prompt for regular user is hostname% and for root user hostname#.
Korn Shell:
It is a superset of Bourne Shell with C shell like enhancements and additional features like command history,
command line editing, aliasing & job control.
Alternative shells:
Bash(Bourne Again shell): It is Bourne compatible shell that incorporates useful features from Korn and C shells,
such as command line history and editing and aliasing.
Z Shell: It resembles Korn shell and includes several enhancements.
TC Shell: It is completely compatible version of C shell with additional enhancements.
Shell Metacharacters:
Lets understand Shell Metacharacters before we can proceed any further. These are the special characters,
generally symbols that has specific meaning to the shell.There are three types of metacharacters:
1. Pathname metacharacter
2. File name substitution metacharacter
3. Redirection metacharacter
Path Name Metacharacters:
Tilde (~) character: The '~' represents the home directory of the currently logged in user.It can be used instead of the
user's absolute home path.Example : Lets consider ravi is the currently logged in user.
#pwd
/
#cd ~
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#cd ~/dir1
#pwd
/export/home/ravi/dir1
#cd ~raju
#pwd
/export/home/raju
Note: '~' is available in all shells except Bourne shell.
Dash(-) character: The '-' character represents the previous working directory.It can be used to switch between the
previous and current working directory.
Example:
#pwd
/
#cd ~
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#cd #pwd
/
#cd #pwd
/export/home/ravi
File Name Substitution Metacharacters :

Asterisk (*) Character: It is a called wild card character and represents zero or more characters except for leading
period '.' of a hidden file.
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#ls dir*
dir1 dir2 directory1 directory2
#
Question Mark (?) Metacharacters: It is also a wild card character and represents any single character except the
leading period (.) of a hidden file.
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#ls dir?
dir1 dir2
#
Compare the examples of Asterisk and Question mark metacharacter and you will get to know the difference.

Square Bracket Metacharacters: It represents a set or range of characters for a single character position.
The range list can be anything like : [0-9], [a-z], [A-Z].
#ls [a-d]*
apple boy cat dog
#
The above example will list all the files/directories starting with either 'a' or 'b' or 'c' or 'd'.
#ls [di]*
dir1 dir2 india ice
#
The above example will list all the files starting with either 'd' or 'i'.
Few shell metacharacters are listed below:

Metacharacte
r

Description

The '~' represents the home directory of the currently logged in user

The '-' character represents the previous working directory

A wild card character that matches any group of characters of any

length

A wild card character that matches any single character

Indicates that the following text is the name of a shell (environment)

variable whose value is to be used

Separates command to form a pipe and redirects the o/p of one

command as the input to another

<

Redirect the standard input

>

Redirect the standard output to replace current contents

>>

Redirect the standard output to append to current contents

Separates sequences of commands (or pipes) that are on one line

Used to "quote" the following metacharacter so it is treated as a plain

character, as in \*

&

Place a process into the background

Korn Shell Variables: It is referred to as temporary storage area in memory.It enables us to store value into the
variable. These variables are of two types :
1. Variables that are exported to subprocesses.
2. Variables that are not exported to subprocesses.
Lets check few commands to work with these variables:
To set a variable :
#VAR=value
#export VAR
Note: There is no space on the either side of the '=' sign.
To unset a variable:
#unset VAR
To display all variables:
We can use 'set' or 'env' or 'export' command.
To display value of a variable:
echo $VAR or print $VAR
Note: When a shell variable follows $ sign, then the shell substitutes it by the value of the variable.
Default Korn Shell Variables :
EDITOR : The default editor for the shell.
FCEDIT : It defines the editor for the fc command.
HOME : Sets the directory to which cd command switches.
LOGNAME : Sets the login name of the user.
PATH : It specifies the paths where shell searches for a command to be executed.
PS1 :It specifies the primary korn shell ($)
PS2 : It specifies the secondary command prompt (>)
SHELL : It specifies the name of the shell.
Using quoting characters:
Quoting is the process that instructs the shell to mask/ignore the special meaning of the metacharacters. Following
are few use of the quoting characters:
Single quotation mark (''): It instructs the shell to ignore all enclosed metacharacters.
Example:
#echo $SHELL
/bin/ksh
#echo '$SHELL'
$SHELL
#
Double quotation mark (""): It instructs the shell to ignore all enclosed shell metacharacters, except for following :
1. The single backward quotation(`) mark : This executes the solaris command inside the single

quotation.Example:
# echo "Your current working directory is `pwd`"
Your current working directory is /export/home/ravi
In the above example the '`' is used to execute the 'pwd' command inside the quotation mark.
2. The blackslash(\) in the front of a metacharacter : This ignores the meaning of the metacharacter.Example:
#echo "$SHELL"
/bin/ksh
#echo "\$SHELL"
$SHELL
In the above example, the inclusion of '\' ignores the meaning of metacharacter '$'
3. The '$' sign followed by command inside parenthesis : This executes the command inside the
parenthesis.Example:
# echo "Your current working directory is $(pwd)"
Your current working directory is /export/home/ravi
In the above example enclosing the pwd command inside parenthesis and $ sign before parenthesis, executes the
pwd command.
Displaying the command history:
The shell keeps the history of all the commands entered. We can re-use this command in our ways. For a given user
this list of command used is shared among all the korn shells.
Syntax: history option
The output will somewhat like following :
...
125 pwd
126 date
127 uname -a
128 cd
The numbers displayed on the left of the command are command numbers and can be used to re-execute the
command corresponding to it.To view the history without command number -n option is used : #history -n
To display the last 5 commands used along with the current command :
#history -5
To display the list in reverse order:
#history -r
To display most recent pwd command to the most recent uptime command, enter the following:
#history pwd uptime
Note: The Korn shell stores the command history in file specified by the HISTFILE variable. The default is the
~/.sh_history file. By default shell stores most recent 128 commands.
Note: The history command is alias for the command "fc -l".
The 'r' command :
The r command is an alias in Korn Shell that enables us to repeat a command.
Example:
#pwd
/export/home/ravi
#r
/export/home/ravi

This can be used to re-execute the commands from history.

Example:
#history
...
126 pwd
127 cd
128 uname -a
#r 126
/export/home/ravi
The 'r' command can also be used to re-execute a command beginning with a particular character, or string of
characters. Example:
#rp
pwd
/export/home/ravi
#
In the above example the 'r' command is used to re-run the most recent occurrence of the command starting with p.
#r ps
ps -ef
o/p of ps -ef command
In the above example the 'r' command is used to re-run the most recent command starting with ps.
We can also edit the previously run command according to our use. The following example shows that :
#r c
cd ~/dir1
#r dir1=dir
cd ~/dir
In this example the cd command has re-run but the argument passed to it has been changed to dir from dir1.
Note: The r command is alias for the command " fc -e - ".
Editing the previously executed commands using vi-editor :
We can also edit the previously executed command under history using vi-editor. To do so, we need to enable shell
history editing by using any one of the following commands :
#set -o vi
or
#export EDITOR=/bin/vi
or
#export VISUAL=/bin/vi
To verify whether this feature is turned on, use the following command :
#set -o | grep -w vi
vi
on
Once it is on you can start editing the command history as follows :
1. Execute the history command: #history
2. Press Esc key and start using the vi editing options.
3. To run a modified command, press enter/return key.
File Name Completion :
Suppose you are trying to list files under the directory "/directoryforlisting". This is too big to type. There is a short
method to list this directory.

Type ls d and then press Esc and then \ (backslash) key. The shell completes the file name and will display :
#ls directoryforlisting/
We can also request to display all the file name beginning with 'd' by pressing Esc and = key sequentially.
Two points to be noted here :
1. The key sequence presented above works only in the vi mode of the command line editing.
2. The sequence in which the key is pressed is important.
Command Redirection:
There are two redirection commands:
1. The greater than (>) sign metacharacter
2. The less than (<) sign metacharacter
Both the above mentioned mentioned commands are implied by pipe (|) character.
The File Descriptors:
Each process works with shell descriptor. The file descriptor determines where the input to command originates and
where the output and error messages are sent.

File Descriptor Number File Description Abbreviation

Definition

stdin

Standard Command input

stdout

Standard Command output

stderr

Standard Command error

All command that process file content read from the standard input and write to standard output.
Redirecting the standard Input:
command < filename or command 0<filename
The above command the "command" takes the input from "filename" instead of keyboard.
Redirecting the standard Output:
command > filename or command 1>filename
#ls -l ~/dir1 > dirlist
The above command redirects the output to a file 'dirlist' instead of displaying it over the terminal.
command >> filename
#ls -l ~/dir1 >> dirlist
The above example appends the output to the file 'dirlist'.
Redirecting the Standard Error:
command > filename 2> <filename that will save error>
command> filename 2>&1
The first example will redirect the error to the file name specified at the end.
The second example will redirect the error to the input file itself.
The Pipe character :
The pipe character is used to redirect the output of a command as input to the another command.
Syntax: command | command
Example:

# ps -ef | grep nfsd

In the above example the output of ps -ef command is send as input to grep command.
#who | wc -l
User Initialization Files Administration :
In this section we will see initialization files of Bourne, Korn and C shell.
Initialization files at Login
/bin/ksh

Shell

System wide
Initialization
File

Primary
user Initialization File
Read at Login

Bourn
/etc/profile
e

$HOME/.profile

Korn

$HOME/.profile

/etc/profile

User Initialization
Shell
Files Read When a
Pathname
New Shell is Started
/bin/sh
$HOME/.kshrc

/bin/ksh

$HOME/.cshrc

/bin/csh

$HOME/.kshrc
C

/etc/.login

$HOME/.cshrc
$HOME/.login

Bourne Shell Initialization file:

The .profile file in the user home directory is an initialization file which which shell executes when the user logs in. It
can be used to a) customize the terminal settings & environment variables b)instruct system to initiate an application.
Korn Shell Initialization file: It has two initialization file :
1. The ~/.profile: The .profile file in the user home directory is an initialization file which which shell executes when
the user logs in. It can be used to a) customize the terminal settings & environment variables b)instruct system to
initiate an application.
2. The ~/.kshrc: It contains shell variables and aliases. The system executes it every time the user logs in and when
a ksh sub-shell is started. It is used to define Korn shell specific settings. To use this file ENV variable must be
defined in .profile file.
Following settings can be configured in /.kshrc file :
Shell prompt definations (PS1 & PS2)
Alias Definitions
Shell functions
History Variables
Shell option ( set -o option)
The changes made in these files are applicable only when the user logs in again. To make the changes effective
immediately, source the ~/.profile and ~/.kshrc file using the dot(.) command:
#. ~/.profile
#. ~/.kshrc
Note: The /etc/profile file is a separate system wide file that system administrator maintains to set up tasks for every
user who logs in.
C Shell Initialization file: It has two initialization file :
1. The ~/.cshrc file : The . cshrc file in the user home directory is an initialization file which which shell executes

when the user logs in. It can be used to a) customize the terminal settings & environment variables b)instruct system
to initiate an application.
Following settings can be configured in .cshrc file :
Shell prompt definations (PS1 & PS2)
Alias Definitions
Shell functions
History Variables
Shell option ( set -o option)
2. The ~/.login file: It has same functionality as .cshrc file and has been retained for legacy reasons.
Note: The /etc/.login file is a separate system wide file that system administrator maintains to set up tasks for every
user who logs in.
The changes made in these files are applicable only when the user logs in again. To make the changes effective
immediately, source the ~/.cshrc and ~/.login file using the source command:
#source ~/.cshrc
#source ~/.login
The ~/.dtprofile file : It resides in the user home directory and determines generic and customized settings for the
desktop environment.The variable setting in this file can overwrite the default desktop settings. This file is created
when the user first time logs into the desktop environment.
Important: When a user logins to the desktop environment, the shell reads .dtprofile, .profile and .kshrsc file
sequentially. If the DTSOURCEPROFILE variable under .dtprofle is not ture or does not exists, the .profile file is not
read by the shell.
The shell reads .profile and .kshrsc file when user opens console window.
The shell reads .kshrsc file when user opens terminal window.
Configuring the $HOME/.profile file:
It can be configured to instruct the login process to execute the initialization file referenced by ENV variable.
To configure that we need to add the following into the $HOME/.profile file:
ENV=$HOME/.kshrc
export ENV
Configuring the $HOME/.kshrc file :
This file contains korn shell specific setting.To configure PS1 variable, we need to add the following into the
$HOME/.kshrc file:
PS1="''hostname' $"
export PS1
Advanced Shell Functionality:
In this module we will learn four important aspects of Korn shell.

Managing Jobs in Korn Shell:

A job is a process that the shell can manage. Each job has a process id and it can be managed and controlled from
the shell.
The following table illustrates the job control commands:

Command

Value

jobs

List all jobs that are currently running or stopped in the background

bg %<jobID>

Runs the specified job in background

fg %<jobID>

Brings the specified job in foreground

Ctrl+Z

Stops the foreground job and places it in the background as a stopped

job

stop
%<jobID>

Stops a job running in background

Note: When a job is placed either in foreground or background, the job restarts.
Alias Utility in Korn Shell :
Aliases in Korn shell can be used to abbreviate the commands for the ease of usage.
Example:
we are frequently using the listing command: ls -ltr. We can create alias for this command as follows:
#alias list='ls -ltr'
Now when we type the 'list' over shell prompt and hit return, it replaces the 'list' with the command 'ls -ltr' and
executes it.
Syntax : alias <alias name>='command string'
Note:
1. There should not be any space on the either side of the '=' sign.
2. The command string mustbe quoted if it includes any options, metacharacters, or spaces.
3. Each command in a single alias must be separated with a semicolon.e.g.:#alias info='uname -a; date'
The Korn shell has predefines aliases as well which can be listed by using 'alias' command:
#alias
..
stop='kill -STOP'
suspend='kill -STOP $$'
..
Removing Aliases:
Syntax: unalias <alias name>
Example:
#unalias list
Korn Shell functions :
Function is a group of commands organized together as a separate routine. Using a function involves two steps :
1. Define the function:
function <function name> { command;...command; }
A space must appear after the first brace and before the
closing brace.
Example:
#function HighFS{ du -ak| sort -n| tail -10; }
The above example defines a function to check the top 10 files using most of the space under current working
directory.
2. Invoke the function :
If we want to run the above defined function, we just need to call it by its name.
Example:
#HighFS
6264 ./VRTSvcs/conf/config
6411 ./VRTSvcs/conf
6510 ./VRTSvcs
11312 ./gconf/schemas
14079 ./gconf/gconf.xml.defaults/schemas/apps
16740 ./gconf/gconf.xml.defaults/schemas

17534 ./gconf/gconf.xml.defaults
28851 ./gconf
40224 ./svc
87835 .
Note: If a function and an alias are defined by the same name, alias takes precedence.
To view the list of all functions :
#typeset -f -> This will display functions as well as their definitions.
#typeset +f -> This will display functions name only.
Configuring the Shell Environment variable:
The shell secondary prompt sting is stored in the PS2 shell variable, and it can be customized as follows:
#PS2="Secondary Shell Prompt"
#echo PS2
Secondary Shell Prompt
#
To display the secondary shell prompt in every shell, it must be included in the user's Korn Shell initialization
file(.kshrc file)
Setting Korn Shell options :
Korn Shell options are boolean (on or off). Following is the Syntax:
To turn on an option:
#set -o option_name
To turn off an option:
#set +o option_name
To display current options:
# set -o
Example:
#set -o noclobber
#set -o | grep noclobber
noclobber
on
The above example sets the noclobber option. When this option is set, shell refuses to redirect the standard output to
a file and displays error message on the screen.
#df -h > DiskUsage
#vmstat > DiskUsage
ksh: DiskUsage: file already exists
#
To deactivate the noclobber option :
#set +o noclobber

Shell Scripts:
It is a text file that has series of command executed one by one. There are different shell available in Solaris. To
ensure that the correct shell is used to run the script, it should begin with the characters #! followed immediately by
the absolute pathname of the shell.
#!/full_Pathname_of_Shell
Example:
#!/bin/sh
#!/bin/ksh
Comments: It provides information about the script files/commands. The text inside the comment is not executed.
The comment starts with character '#'.
lets write our first shell script :
#cat MyFirstScript

#!/bin/sh
ls -ltr #This is used to list the files/directories
Running a Shell Script :
The shell executes the script line by line. It does not compile the script and keep it in binary form. So, In order to run a
script, a user must have read and execute permission.
Example:
#./MyFirstScript
The above example runs the script in sub-shell. If we want to run the script as if the commands in it were ran in same
shell, the dot(.) command is used as follows:
#. ./MyFirstScript
Passing Value to the shell script:
We can pass value to the shell script using the pre-defined variables $1, $2 and so on. These variables are called
Positional Parameters. When the user run the shell script, the first word after the script name is stored in $1, second
in $2 and so on.
Example:
#cat welcome
#!/bin/sh
echo $1 $2
#welcome ravi ranjan
ravi ranjan
In the above example when we ran the script welcome, the two words after it ravi and ranjan was stored in $1 and $2
respectively.
Note: There is a limitation in Bourne shell. It accepts only a single number after $ sign. So if we are trying to access
the 10th argument $10, it will result in the value of $1 followed by (0).
In order to overcome this problem, shift command is used.
Shift Command:
It enables to shift the value of positional parameter values back by one position i.e. the value of $2 parameter is
assigned to $1, and $3 to $2, and so on.
Checking Exit status:
All commands under Solaris returns an exit status. The value '0' indicates success and non-zero value ranging from
1-255 represents failure. The exit status of the last command run under foreground is held in ? special shell variable.
# ps -ef | grep nfsd
root 6525 22601 0 05:55:01 pts/11
0:00 grep nfsd
# echo ?
1
#
In the above example there is no nfsd process running, hence 1 is returned.

Using the test Command:

It is used for testing conditions. It can be used to verify many conditions, including:
Variable contents
File Access permissions
File types
Syntax : #test expression or #[ expression ]
The test builtin command returns 0 (True) or 1 (False), depending on the evaluation of an expression, expr.
Syntax:test expr or [ expr ]
We can examine the return value by displaying $?;
We can use the return value with && and ||; or we can test it using the various conditional constructs.

We can compare arithmetic values using one of the following:

Option

Tests for Arithmetical Values

-eq

equal to

-ne

not equal to

-lt

less than

-le

less than or equal to

-gt

greater than

-ge

greater than or equal to

We can compare strings for equality, inequality etc. Following table lists the various options that can be used to
compare strings:

Option

Tests for strings

equal to.
e.g #test "string1" = "string2"

!=

not equal to.

e.g #test "string1" = "string2"

<

less than.
e.g #test "ab" \< "cd"

>

greater than.
e.g #test "ab" \> "cd" "

-z

for a null string.

e.g #test -z "string1"

-n

returns True if a string is not empty.

e.g. #test -n "string1"

Note: the < and > operators are also used by the shell for redirection, so we must escape them using \< or \>.
Example :
Lets test that the value of variable $LOGNAME is ravi.
#echo $LOGNAME
ravi
# test "LOGNAME" = "ravi"
#echo $?
0
#[ "LOGNAME" = "ravi" ]
#echo $?
0
Lets test if read permissions on the /ravi
#ls -l /ravi
-rw-r--r-- 1 root sys 290 Jan 10 01:10 /ravi
#test -r /ravi

#echo $?
0
#[ -r /ravi ]
#echo $?
0
Lets test if /var is a directory
#test -d /var
#echo $?
0
#[ -d /var ]
#echo $?
0

Executing Conditional Commands :

In this section we will see the following three conditional commands:
1. Using If command: It checks for the exit status of the command and if exist status is (0), then the statement are
run other wise statement under else is executed.
Syntax:
#if command1
>then
>execute command2
>else
>execute command3
>fi
The shell also provides two constructs that enable us to run the command based on the success or failure of the
preceding command.
The constructs are &&(and) and ||(or).
Example:
#mkdir /ravi && /raju
This command creates directory /raju only if /ravi is created.
#mkdir /ravi || /raju
This command creates directory /raju even if /ravi fails to create.
2. Using while command: It enables to repeat a command or group of command till the condition returns (0).
Syntax:
#while command1
>do
>command2
>done
3. Using case command: It compares a single value against other values and runs a command or commands when
a match is found.
Syntax:
#case value in
>pat1)command
>command
>..
>command
>;;
>pat2)command
>command
>..

>command
>;;
...
>patn)command
>command
>..
>command
The special shell variable :

? This contains the return value of the last command

# This contains the number of arguments passed to the script
*

It contains the value of all command line argument

Process Management
Process: Every program in Solaris runs as a process and there is a unique PID attached with each process. The
process started/run by OS is called Daemon. It runs in background and provides services.
Each process has a PID, UID and GID associated with it. UID indicates the user who owns the process and GID
denotes the group to which owner belongs to.
When a process creates another process, then the new process is calledChild Process and old one is called Parent
Process.
Viewing Process:
ps command: It is used to view process and is discussed below.
Syntax: ps options
Few options are discussed below:

Optio
n

Description

-e

Prints info about every process on the system including PID, TTY(terminal
identifier), TIme & CMD

-f

Full verbose listing which includes UIDm parent PID, process start
time(STIME)

Example:
#ps -ef | more
UID PID PPID C STIME TTY
root 0 0
0 Jun 02
?
root 1 0
0 Jun 02
?

TIME CMD
2:18 sched
1:47 /sbin/init

root 2 0
root 3 0
daemon 140
root 7 1
--More--

0
0
1 0
0

Jun 02
Jun 02
Jun 02
Jun 02

?
?
?
?

0:13 pageout
110:25 fsflush
0:15 /usr/lib/crypto/kcfd
0:28 /lib/svc/bin/svc.startd

Now let us understand the above output column wise :

Colum
n

Description

UID

User Name of the process owner

PID

Process ID

PPID

Parent Process ID

The CPU usage for scheduling

STIME

Process start time

TTY

The controlling terminal for process. For daemons '?' is displayed as it is

started without any terminal.

TIME

The cumulative execution time for the process.

CMD

The command name, options, arguments

We can also search specific process using ps and grep command. For Example, if we want to search for nfsd
process, we using the following command :
-sh-3.00$ ps -ef | grep nfsd
daemon 2127 1 0 Jul 06 ?
0:00 /usr/lib/nfs/nfsd
ravi 26073 23159 0 03:05:49 pts/175 0:00 grep nfsd
-sh-3.00$
pgrep command: It is used to search process by process name and displays PID of the process.
Syntax : pgrep options pattern
The options are described below:

Optio
n

Description

-x

Displays the PID that matches exactly

-n

Displays only the most recently created PID that matches the pattern

-U uid

Displays only the PIDs that belong to the specific user. This option uses either
a user name or a UID

-l

Displays the name of the process along with the PID

-t term

Displays only those processes that are associated with a terminal in the term
list

Examples:
-sh-3.00$ pgrep j
3440
1398
-sh-3.00$ pgrep -l j

3440 java
1398 java
-sh-3.00$ pgrep -x java
3440
1398
-sh-3.00$ pgrep -n java
1398
-sh-3.00$ pgrep -U ravi
28691
28688

Using the ptree command:

It displays a process tree based on the process ID passed as an argument.
An argument of all digits are taken to be a PID, otherwise it is assumed to be a user login name.
Sending a Signal to a process:
Signal is a messages that is send to a process. The process responds back by performing the action that the signal
requests. It is identified by a signal number and by a signal name. There is an action associated to each signal.

Signal Signal
No.
Name

Event

SIGHUP

It drops a telephone line or terminal

Hang Up connection. It also causes some program
to re-intialize itself without terminating

SIGINT

Interrupt

Its it generated from Key board. e.g. ctrl+C Exit

SIGKILL

Kill

It kills the process and a process cant

ignore this signal

15

It terminates the process in orderly

SIGTERM Terminate manner. This is the default signal that kill
& pkill send.

Definition

Default
Response
Exit

Exit
Exit

Using kill Command: It is used to send signal to one or more processes and terminates only those process that is
owned by the user. A root user can kill any process. This command sends signal 15 to the process.
Syntax: kill [-signals] PIDs
Examples:
# pgrep -l java
2441 java
#kill 2441
If the process does not terminates, issue signal 9 to forcefully terminate the process as below :
#kill -9 2441
Using pkill Command: It is used to terminate the process with signal 15. We can specify the process names(to be
terminated) also in this command.
Syntax: pkill [-options] pattern
The options are same as that of pgrep command.
Example:
#pkill java
We can force the process to terminate by using signal 9:
#pkill -9 -x java

Solaris File System

Understanding the SOLARIS file system is very important, before we discuss anything further. Its huge topic and I
suggest you really need to be patient while going through it. If you find anything difficult to understand, you can
comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
File is the basic unit in Solaris, similar to atom for an element in chemistry. For example commands are executable
files, documents are text file or file having code/script, directories are special files containing other files etc.
Blocks: A file occupies the space on disks in units. These units are called Blocks. The blocks are measured in two
sizes :
1. Physical Block size: Its the size of the smallest block that the disk controller can read or write. The physical block
size is usually 512B for UFS(Unix Files System). It may vary from file system to file system.
2. Logical Block size: Its the size of the block that UNIX uses to read or write files. It is set by default to the page
size of the system, which is 8KB for UFS.
Inodes: It is a data structure that contains all the file related information except the file name and data. It is 128 kb in
size and is stored in cylindrical information block. The inode contains following information about a file :
1. Type of File : e.g. regular file, block special, character special, directory, symbolic link, other inode etc.
2. The file modes : e.g. read, write, execute permissions.
3. The number of hard links to the file.
4. The group id to which the file belongs
5. The user ID that owns the file.
6. The number of bytes in the file.
7. An array of addresses for 15 disk blocks
8. The date and time when the file was created, last accessed and last modified.
So, an Inode contains almost all the information about a file. But what is more important is what an inode does not
contain. An inode does not contain the "file name" and data. The file name is stored inside a directory and data is
saved in blocks
There is an inode associated with each file. So, the number of inodes determines the maximum number of files in the
files system. The number of inodes depends upon the size of file system. For example : lets take a file system of size
2gb. The inode size will be 4kb each. So the number of inodes = 2gb /4kb = 524288. So the maximum number of files
that can be created is 524288.
File system: Its the way an operating system organizes files on a medium(storage device).

The different flavors of UNIX have different default file systems. Few of them are listed below:
SOLARIS - UFS (Unix File System)
AIX - JFS (journal FS)
JP - HFS (high performance FS)
LINUX - ext2 & ext3
Before getting into the UFS file system, lets discuss about the architecture of the file system in SOLARIS and other
file systems used in SOLARIS.
SOLARIS uses VFS (Virtual File System architecture). It provides standard interface for different file system types.
The VFS architecture enables kernel to perform basic file operation such as reading, writting and listing. Its is called
virtual because the user can issue same command to work regardless of the file system. SOLARIS also
uses memory based file system and disk based file system.
Lets discuss some memory based file systems:
Memory based File Systems:
It use the physical memory rather than disk and hence also called Virtual File System or pseudo file
system. Following are the Memory based file system supported by SOLARIS:
1. Cache File System(CacheFS): It uses the local disk to cache the data from the slow file systems like CD - ROM.
2. Loopback File System(LOFS): If we want to make a file system e.g: /example to look like /ex, we can do that by
creating a new virtual file system known as Loopback File System.
3. Process File System(PROOFS): It is used to contains the list of active process in SOLARISby their process ID, in
the /proc directory. It is used by the ps command.
4. Temporary File System(TEMPFS): It is the temporary file system used by SOLARIS to perform the operation on
file systems. It is default file system for /tmp directory in SOLARIS.
5. FIFOFS: First in first out file system contains named pipe to give processes access to data
6. MNTFS: It contains information about all the mounted file system in SOLARIS.
7. SWAPFS: This file system is used by kernel for swapping.
Disk Based File System:
The disk based file systems resides on disks such as hard disk, cd-rom etc. Following are the disk based file system
supported by SOLARIS:
1. High Sierra File System(HSFS): It is the file system for CD-ROMs. It is read only file system.
2. PC File System(PCFS): It is used to gain read/write access to the disks formatted for DOS.
3. Universal Disk Format(UDF): It is used to store information on DVDs.
4. Unix File System(UFS): It is default File system used in SOLARIS. We will discuss in details below.
Device File System (devfs)
The device file system (devfs) manages devices in Solaris 10 and is mounted to the mount point/devices.
The files in the /dev directory are symbolic links to the files in the /devices directory.
Features of UFS File System:
1. Extended Fundamental Types (EFTs). Provides a 32-bit user ID (UID), a group ID (GID), and device numbers.
2. Large file systems. This file system can be up to 1 terabyte in size, and the largest file size on a 32-bit system
can be about 2 gigabytes.
3. Logging. Offers logging that is enabled by default in Solaris 10. This feature can be very useful for auditing,
troubleshooting, and security purposes.
4. Multiterabyte file systems. Solaris 10 provides support for mutiterabyte file systems on machines that run a 64bit Solaris kernel. In the previous versions, the support was limited to approximately 1 terabyte for both 32-bit and

64-bit kernels. You can create a UFS up to 16 terabytes in size with an individual file size of up to 1 terabyte.
5. State flags. Indicate the state of the file system such as active, clean, or stable.
6. Directory contents: table
7. Max file size: 273 bytes (8 ZB)
8. Max filename length: 255 bytes
9. Max volume size: 273 bytes (8 ZB)
10. Supported operating systems: AIX, DragonFlyBSD, FreeBSD, FreeNAS, HP-UX, NetBSD, Linux, OpenBSD,
Solaris, SunOS, Tru64 UNIX, UNIX System V, and others
Now, that we have some basic idea of the SOLARIS file system, lets explore some important file systems
in SOLARIS.
Windows guys must be aware of important directories in windows like sytem32, program files etc., like wise below we
will discuss some important file systems in Solaris:
/ root directory
/usr man pages information
/opt 3rd party packages
/etc system configuration files
/dev logical drive info
/devices physical devices info
/home default user home directory
/ kernel Info abt kernel(genunix for Solaris)
lost+found unsaved data info
/proc all active PID's running
/tmp Temporary files system
/lib library file information(debuggers, compilers)
/var It contains logs for troubleshooting
/bin Symbolic link to the /usr/bin directory (Symbolic link is same as shortcut in windows)
/export It commonly holds user's home directory but can customized according the requirement
/mnt Default mount point used to temporarily mount file systems
/sbin Contains system administration commands and utilities. Used during booting when /usr/bin is not
mounted.
Important: / is the root directory and as the name suggests, other directories spawn from it.
File Handling
Lets us now get started with managing file i.e. creating, editing and deleting files.I have mentioned few commands
below and their usage in managing/handling file & directories.
pwd Displays current working directory
touch filename Creates a file
touch file1 file2 file3 Creates multiple files(space is used as separator)
file filename Displays the type of a file/directory
cat filename Displays the content of the file
cat > filename Writes/over-writes the file(ctrl + D save and exit)
cat >> filename Used to append the content to the file(ctrl + D save and exit)

mkdir /directoryname Creates a directory

mkdir -p /directory1/directory2 Creates a child directory under the parent directory(-p option to specify the parent
directory)

cd Changes the current working directory to root

cd directoryname Changes the current working directory to the directory specified
cd .. Changes the current working directory to the previous directory
cd ../.. Changes the current working directory to the previous directory of the previous directory
Link is a pointer to the file. There are two type of links in SOLARIS OS:
Hard Link: The two files which are having hard links will be having the same inode number. In other terms, when we
create hard link to a file, then a redundant copy of the file is created, however the content of both files remains the
same. So, if any of the file is updated, the other also gets updated. So any point of time, both the files will have same
content.
Command to create Hard Link:
#ln <SourceFile> <DestinationFile>
Following are few features of Hard Link:
It is applicable only for files
The source and destination file system should be in same file system
There is no way to differentiate between (or find out) Hard Link and soft file.
If the source/destination file is updated the other files get updated too.
It the source/destination file is deleted the other file is still accessible.
Soft Link/Symbolic Link: The two files which are having soft links will be having different inode number.This one is
just like the shortcut in windows.
Command to create Soft Link:
#ln s <SourceFile> <DestinationFile>
Following are few features of Soft Link:
It is applicable for files & directories
The source and destination file system need not be in same file system
The soft link can be differentiated from the original/source file.If the source/destination file is updated the other files
get updated too.
It the source file is deleted the destination file is inaccessible.
Removing Hard and Soft Link:
Important points to remember before removing the links:
1. To remove a file, all hard links that points to the file must be removed, including the name by which it was originally
created.
2. Only after removing the file itself and all of its hard links, will the inode associated with the file be released.
3. In both cases, hard and soft links, if you remove the original file, the link will still exist.
A link can be removed just as can a file:

rm <linkName>
Important: We should not delete a file without deleting the symbolic links. However, you cannot delete the file (its
content) unless you delete all the hard links pointing to it.
Few commands to check disk and file system usage
df command (Disk free command)
df -h It is used to display the file system information in human readable format

df -k It is used to display the file system information in KB format

df -b It is used to display the file system information in blocks(1 block = 512 bytes)
df -e It is used to display the file system free inode information
df -n It is used to display the type of file system information(whether the file system is a file or a directory)
df -a It is used to display the complete information about the file system information(which include above all
information)
df -t <file system> It displays total number of free blocks & inodes and total blocks & inodes. The example of
output is as follows:
# df -t /
/ (/dev/dsk/c1t0d0s0 ): 62683504 blocks 7241984 files total: 124632118 blocks 7501312 files
7241984 Free inodes
7501312 Total inodes
259328 Used inodes (7501312-7241984=259328)
ls command (Listing Command)
It displays all files and directories under present working directory
ls -p It list all the files and directories with the o/p which can differentiate between a file and a directory
ls -F It does the same thing as above mentioned
ls -a It list all the files and directories along with the hidden files
ls -ap It list all the files and directories including the hidden ones and the o/p which can differentiate between a file
and a directory
ls -l It list all the files and directories long with the permission and other informations
Output of ls -l
<FileName> -rw-r-r-- 2 root root 10 ModifiedDate ModifiedTime <FileName>
Explanation of the above o/p:
'-' at the beginning denotes that it is a file. For a directory it is 'd'.
'-rw' Denotes the owner's permission which is read and write
'-r' Denotes the group's permission which is read only
'-r' Denotes the other user's permission which is read only
'2' Denotes the number of hard links to the file
'root' Denotes the owner of a file
'root' Denotes the group of a file
'10' File Size
Output of ls -ld
<DirectoryName> -rw-r-r-- 2 root root 10 ModifiedDate ModifiedTime <DirectoryName>
Explanation of the above o/p:
'd' Denotes that it is a directory. For a file it is '-'.
'-rw' Denotes the owner's permission which is read and write
'-r' Denotes the group's permission which is read only
'-r' Denotes the other user's permission which is read only
'2' Denotes the number of hard links to the directory
'root' Denotes the owner of a directory
'root' Denotes the group of a directory
'10' Directory Size

ls -lt It displays all the files and directories in the descending order of their last modified date(first last)
ls -ltr It displays all the files and directories in the ascending order of their last modified date(last first)
ls -R It displays all the files and directories and sub-directories
ls -r It displays all the files and directories in the revese alphabetical order
ls -i <FileName> Displays the inode number of the file

Identifying file types from the output of ls command:

- regular files
d directories
l Symbolic Link
b Block special device files
c Character special device files
Using Basic File Permissions:
Every file in Solaris has access permission control. We can use ls -l (as discussed above) to view the permission
given to the file or directory. The Solaris OS uses two basic measures to prevent unauthorized access to a system
and to protect data:
1. Authenticate user's login.
2. To protect the file/directory automatically by assigning a standard set of access at the time of creation.
Types of User: Lets see the different types of user in Solaris who access the files/directories.

Field

Description

Owne
Permission used by the assigned owner of the file or directory
r
Group Permission used by the members of the group that owns the file or directory
Other

Permission used by all user other than owner, and members of group that owns
the file or directory

Each of the these user has three permission, called permission set. Each permission set contains read, write and
execute permissions.
Each file or directory has three permission sets for three type of users. The first permission set is for owner, the
second permission set is for group and the third and last is for other user's permission.
For Example:
#ls -l
-rw-r--r-- 2 root root 10 Jan 31 06:37 file1
In the above example the first permission set is rw mean read and write. The first permission set is for owner so
owner has read and write permissions.
The second permission set for the group is r i.e. read only.
The third permission set for the other user is r i.e. read only.
The '-' symbol denotes denied permission.
Permission characters and sets:

Permissio Characte
Access for a file
n
r

Octal
Value

Read

User can display the file content & copy the file

Write

User can modify the content of the file

Execute

User can execute the file if it has execute permission

1
and file is executable

Note : For a directory to be in general use it must have read and execute permission.
When we create a new file or directory in Solaris, OS assigns initial permission automatically. The initial permission of
a file or a directory are modified based on default umask value.
UMASK(User Mask Value)
It is used to provide security to files and directories.It is three digit octal value that is associated with the read, write,
and execute permissions. The default UMASK value is [022]. It is stored under /etc/profile.
The Various Permission and their Values are listed below:
r (read only) = 4
w (write) = 2
x (execute) = 1
rwx (read+write+execute) 4+2+1 = 7
rw (read + write) 4+2 =6
Computation of Default permission for a directory:
The directory has a default UMASK value of [777]. When a user creates a directory the user's umask value is
subtracted from the Directory's UMASK value.
The UMASK Value of a directory created[755](rwx-rw-rw) = [777](Directory's UMASK value) - [022](Default user's
UMASK Value)
Computation of Default permission for a file:
The file has a UMASK value of [666]. When a user creates a file the user's umask value is subtracted from the File's
UMASK value.
The UMASK Value of a file created[644](rw-r-r) = [666](File's UMASK value) - [022](Default user's UMASK Value)
#umask Displays the user's UMASK Value
#umask 000 Changes the user's UMASK Value to 000
Note: It is strictly not recommended to change the UMASK value.
chmod(Change Mode):
This command is used to change the file's or directory's pemission.There are two ways of doing it.
1. Absolute or Octal Mode:
e.g. chmod 464 <FileName>/<DirectoryName>
The above command gives the permission r-rw-r.
2. Symbolic Mode:
First we need to understand the below mentioned symbols:
'+' It is used to add a permission
'-' It is used to remove a permission
'u' It er
'g' It is uis used to assign/remove the permission of the ussed to assign/remove the permission of the group
'o' It is used to assign/remove the permission of other user
'a' Permission for all.
e.g. chmod u-wx,g-x,g+w,o-x

ACL (Access Control LIst) :

We have seen above how permission for owner, group and other users are set by default. However, if we want to
customize the permission of files, we need to use ACL. There are two ACL commands used and we will discuss these
one by one :
1. getfacl : It displays ACL entries for files.
Syntax : getfacl [-a] file1] [file2] ........
-a : Displays the file name, file owner, file group and ACL entries for the specified file or directory.
Example:
#getfacl acltest
#file: acltest
#owner: root
#group: root
user::rwgroup::r-#effective:r-mask::r-other:r-ACL Entry Types:

u[ser]::perm

The permissions for the file owner

The permissions for the file owner's group

o[ther]:perm

The permissions for users other than owner and owner's

group

u[ser]:UID:perm or

The permissions for a specific user. The username must exist

in the /etc/passwd file

u[ser]:username:perm

The permissions for a specific user. The username must exist

in the /etc/group file

g[roup]:GID:perm or

The permissions for a specific group. The groupname must

exist in the /etc/passwd file

g[roup]:groupname:per
m

The permissions for a specific group. The groupname must

exist in the /etc/passwd file

m[ask]

It indicates the maximum effective permissions allowed for all

specified users and groups except for user owner or others.

Determining if a file have an ACL : The files having ACL entry are called Non-Trivial ACL entry and if file do not
have any ACL entry except the default one it is called Trivial-ACL entry. When we do ls -l, the file having Non-Trivial
ACL entry is having +sign at the end of permission. For example :
#ls -l ravi
-rw-r--r--+ 1 root root 0 April 07 09:00 acltest
#getfacl acltest
#file: acltest
#owner: root
#group: root
user::rwuser:acluser:rwx
group::r--

#effective: r-- as mask is set to r-#effective:r--

mask::r-other:r-The + sign at the end indicates the presence of non-trivial ACL entries.
2. setfacl : It is used to configure ACL entries on files.
Configuring or modifying an ACL :
Syntax : setfacl -m acl_entry filename
-m : Modifies the existing ACL entry.
acl_entry : It is a list of modifications to apply to ACLs for one or more files/directories.
Example:
#getfacl acltest
#file: acltest
#owner: root
#group: root
user::rwgroup::r-mask::r-other:r-#setfacl -m u:acluser:7 acltest

#effective:r--

#getfacl acltest
#file: acltest
#owner: root
#group: root
user::rwuser:acluser:rwx
#effective: r-- as mask is set to r-group::r-#effective:r-mask::r-other:r-In the above example, we saw how we assigned rwx permission to the user acluser, however the effective permission
remains r-- as the mask value is r-- which is the maximum effective permission for the user except owner and others.
Recalculating an ACL Mask:
In the above example, we saw that even after making an acl entry of rwx for the user acluser, the effective permission
remains r--. In order to overcome that we use -r option to recalculate the ACL mask to provide the full set of
requested permissions for that entry. The below example shows the same :
#setfacl -r -m u:acluser:7 acltest
#getfacl acltest
#file: acltest
#owner: root
#group: root
user::rwuser:acluser:rwx
group::r-mask::r-other:r--

#effective: rwx
#effective:r--

We have seen above how chmod is used to change permissions too. However we should be careful while using this
command if ACL entry exists for the file/directory as it recalculates the mask and changes the effective permission.
Lets proceed with the above example. We have changed the effective permission of user acluser to rwx. Now, lets
change the group permission to rw- using chmod command:
#chmod 664 acltest
#getacl acltest
#file: acltest
#owner: root
#group: root
user::rwuser:acluser:rwx
#effective: rwgroup::rw#effective:rwmask::rwother:r-So we saw that the effective permission changes to rw from rwx for the user acluser.
Substituting an ACL:
This is used to replace the entire set of ACL entry with the specified one. So, we should not miss the basic set of an
ACL entries : user, group, other and ACL mask permissions.
Syntax: setfacl -s u::perm, g::perm, o::perm, [u:UID:perm], [g:GID:perm] filename
-s : for the substitution of an acl entry
Deleting an ACL :
It is used to delete and ACL entry.
Syntax :setfacl -d acl_entry filename
Lets go with the last example of file acltest. Now we want to remove the entry for the user acluser. This is done as
follows :
#setfacl -d u:acluser acltest
#getfacl acltest
#file: acltest
#owner: root
#group: root
user::rwgroup::rwmask::rwother:r--

#effective:rw-

Drilling Down the File System

Hey guys, this part of Solaris was a very difficult concept for me to digest initially, however slowly I mastered it. I
would suggest everybody going through this concept to read each and everything very carefully. Few concepts might
be repeated from previous posts, however it worth reviewing them.

File System
A file system is a structure of directories that you can use to organize and store files.
A file system refers to each of the following:
- A particular type of file system : disk based, network based or virtual file system
- An entire file tree, beginning with the / directory
- The data structure of a disk slice or other media storage device
- A portion of a file tree structure that is attached to a mount point on the main file tree so that files are accessible.
Solaris uses VFS(Virtual File system) architecture which provides a standard interface for different file system types
and enables basic operations such as reading, writing and listing files.
UFS(Unix File System) is the default file system for Solaris. It starts with the root directory. Solaris OS also includes
ZFS(Zeta File System) which can be used with UFS or as primary file system.

Important system directories

/

The root of overall file system namespace

/bin

Symbolic link to /usr/bin & location for binary files of standard system
commands

/dev

The primary directory for logical drive names

/etc

Host specific configuration files and databases for system administration

/export

the default directory for commonly shared file system such as user's home
directory, application software or other shared file system

/home

the default mount point for the user's hoe directory

/kernel

The directory of platform independent loadable kernel modules

/lib

It contains shared exe and SMF exe

/mnt

temporary mount point for file systems

/opt

Default directory for add-on application packages

/
/platform The directory of platform dependent loadable kernel modules
platform
/sbin

The single user bin directory that contains essential exe that are used during
booting process and in manual system-failure recovery

/usr

The directory that contains program, scripts & libraries that are used by all
system users

/var

It includes temporary logging and log files

Important In-memory directories:

/dev/fd

It contains special files related to current file descriptors in use by

system

/devices

Primary directory for physical device name

/etc/mnttab

memory-based file that contains details of the current file system

mounts

/etc/svc/volatile

It contains log files & references related to current state of system

system services

/proc

Stores current process related information. Every process has its set
of sub directories below /proc directory

/tmp

It contains temporary files and is cleared upon system boot

/var/run

It contains lock files, special files & reference file for a variety of
system processes & services.

Primary sub directories under /dev directory:

/dev/dsk

Block disk devices

/dev/fd

File descriptors

/dev/md

Logical volume-management meta disk devices

/dev/pts

Pseudo terminal devices

/dev/rdsk

Raw disk devices

/dev/rmt

Raw magnetic tape devices

/dev/term

serial devices

Primary Sub directories under /etc directory:

/etc/acct

Configuration information for the accounting system

/etc/cron.d

Configuration information for the cron utility

/etc/default Default information for various programs

/etc/inet

Configuration files for network services

/etc/init.d

Script for starting and stopping services

/etc/lib

dlls needed when /usr file system is not available

/etc/lp

Configuration information about printer subsystem

/etc/mail

Configuration information about mail subsystem

/etc/nfs

configuration information for NFS server logging

/etc/opt

Configuration information for optional packages

/etc/rc.d#

Legacy script which is executed while entering or leaving a specific run

level

/
Control files for role based access and security privileges
etc/security
/etc/skel

Default shell initialization file for new user accounts

/etc/svc

SMF database & log files

Primary Sub directories under /usr directory:

/usr/bin

Standard system commands

/usr/ccs

C-compilation programs & libraries

/usr/demo

Demonstration programs & data

/usr/dt

Directory or mount point for Java desktop system software

/
Header files (for C program)
usr/include
/usr/jdk

Directory that contains java program & directories

/usr/kernel

Platform independent loadable kernel modules that are not required during
boot process

/usr/sbin

System administrator commands

/usr/lib

Architecture dependent database, various program libraries & binaries that

are not directly involed by the user

/usr/opt

Configuration information for optional packages

/usr/spool

Symbolic link to /var/spool

Primary Sub directories under /var directory:

/var/adm

log files

/var/crash

For storing crash files

/var/spool

Spooled files

/var/svc

SMF control files & logs

/var/tmp

Long-term storage temporary files across a system reboot

Note: In-memory directories are created & maintained by Kernel & system services. A user should never create or
alter these directories.

Physical Disk Structure

A disk device has physical and logical components.

Physical component: disk platters, read write head.
Logical component: disk slices, cylinders, tracks, sectors
Data Organization on the Disk Platters:
A disk platter is divided into sectors, tracks, cylinders.

Disk Terms

Description

Track

A concentric ring on a disk that passes under a single stationary disk

head as the disk rotates.

Cylinder

The set of tracks with the same nominal distance from the axis about
which the disk rotates.

Sector

Section of each disk platter.

Block

A data storage area on a disk.

Disk
controller

A chip and its associated circuitry that controls the disk drive.

Disk label

Part of the disk, usually starting from first sector, that contains disk
geometry and partition information.

Device driver A kernel module that controls a physical (hardware) or virtual device

Disk slices are the group of cylinders that are commonly used to organize the data by function. A starting cylinder
and ending cylinder defines each slice and determine the size of the slice.
To label a disk means writing the slice information on the disk. The disk is labeled after the changes has been made
to the slice.

For SPARC Systems

SPARC based systems maintain one partition table on each disk.
The SPARC VTOC also known as SMI disk label occupy the first sector of the disk. It includes partition table in which
you can define upto eight(0-7) disk partitions(slices)

The disk partition and slices in SPARC system:

Slice

Name

Function

Root directory File System

Swap

Swap area

Entire Disk

3
4
5

/opt

Optional Software

/usr

System executables & programs

/export/home

User files & directory

For x86/x64 systems

The SMI label scheme maintains two partition tables on each disk.
The first sector contains a fixed fdisk partition table.
The second sector holds the partition tables that defines slices in the Solaris fdisk partition. This table is labeled
as VTOC
It includes a partition table in which we can define upto 10 (0-9) disk partitions(slices).
Provision has been made for maximum of 16 disk partition can be defined
System boots from the fdisk partition table which has been designated as the active fdisk partition.
Only one fdisk partition on a disk can be used for Solaris.

The EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) disk label includes a partition table in which you can define upto 10 (0 9)
disk partitions (slices). Provision is made upto 16 slices but only 10 of these are used ( 8, plus 2 used for platform
specific purposes). The Solaris OS currently do not boot from the disk containing EFI labels.

X86/x64 Partitions & Slices

Slice

Name

Function

Root directory File System

Swap

Swap area

Entire Disk

3
4
5

/opt

Optional Software

/usr

System executables & programs

/export/home

User files & directory

boot

Alternative disk

Slices 0-7 are used same as the slices in SPARC systems.

Slices 8 and 9 are used for purpose specific to x84/x64 hadware
By default the slice 8 is the boot slice and contains :
GRUB stage1 program in sector0.
The Solaris disk partition VTOC in sectors 1 & 2.
The GRUB stage2 program beginning at sector 50
Slice 9 by the convention of IDE & SATA is tagged as alternate slice. It occupies 2nd & 3rd Cylinders(Cylinder 1 & 2)
of Solaris fdisk partition.
Naming conventions for Disks:
The Solaris disk name contains following components :
Controller Number(cn): Identifies the HBA (Host Bus Adapter) which controls communication between system and
disk unit.
Target Number(tn): It identifies a unique hardware address assigned to SCSI target controller of a disk, tape, or CDROM.
Fibre channel attached disks may use World Wide Name(WWN) instead of target number.
It is assigned in sequential manner as t0, t1, t2, t3.....
Disk Number(dn): It is also known as LUN (logical Unit Number). It varies from d0 if more than one disk is attached.
Slice Number(sn): It ranges 0-7 in SPARC systems and 0-9 in x86/x64 systems.
IDE & SATA disks do not use target controllers.
Ultra 10 systems uses a target (tn) to represent the identity of disks on primary and secondary IDE buses.
t0 Master Device on primary IDE Bus
t1 Slave Devie on primary IDE BUS
t2 Master Device on seconday IDE BUS
t3 Slave Device on seconday IDE BUS

In Solaris OS each devices are represented by three different names: Physical, logical and Instance name.
Logical Device Name:
It is symbolic link to the physical device name.
It is kept under /dev directory
Every disk devices has entry in /dev/dsk & /dev/rdsk
It contains controller number, target number(if req.), disk number and slice number
Physical Device Name:
It uniquely defines the physical location of the hardware devices on the system and are maintained in /devices
directory.
It contains the hardware information represented as a series of node names(separated by slashes) that indicate path
through the system's physical device tree to device.
Instance Names:
It is the abbreviated name assigned by kernel for each device on system. It is shortened name for physical device
name :
sdn: SCSI Disk
cmdkn: Common Disk Driver is disk name for SATA Disks
dadn: Direct Access Device is the name for the first IDE Disk device
atan: Advanced Technology Attachment is the disk name for the first IDE Disk device
The instance names are recorded in file /etc/path_to_inst.
Few commands viewing/managing devices:
prtconf command:
It displays system configuration information, including total memory. It list all possible instances of a device. To list
instance name of devices attached with the system:
prtconf | grep -v not
format utility:
It displays the physical and logical device names of all the disks.
prtdiag command:
It displays system configuration and diagnostic information.
Performing device reconfiguration:
If a new device is added to the system and in order to recognize that device reconfiguration need to be done. This
can be done in two ways:
First way:
1. Create a /reconfigure file.
2. Shut down the system using init 5 command.
3. Install the peripheral device.
4. Power on & boot the system.
5. Use format and prtconf command to verify the peripheral device.
Second Way:
Go to OBP and give the command:
ok>boot -r
and reboot the system.
devfsadm:
It performs the device reconfiguration process & updates the /etc/path_to_inst file and the /dev & /devices directories.
This command does not require system re-boot, hence its convenient to use.
To restrict the devfsadm to specific device use the following command:
#devfsadm -c device_class
Examples:
#devfsadm
#devfsadm -c disk
#devfsadm -c disk -c tape

To remove the symbolic link and device files for devices that are no longer attached to the system use following
command:
#devfsadm -C
It is also said to run in Cleanup mode. Prompts devfsadm to invoke cleanup routines that are not normally invoked to
remove dangling logical links. If -c is also used, devfsadm only cleans up for the listed devices' classes.

Disk Partition Tables

The format utility enables to modify two types of partition on disk:
1. fdisk partition tables
2. Solaris OS partition tables (SPARC VTOC and x86/x64 VTOC)
The fdisk partition tables defines up to four partition on disk, however only one Solaris OS fdisk partition can exist on
a disk. Only x86/x4 systems use fdisk partition tables.
We can use fdisk menu in the format utility to view & modify fdisk partition tables.
Solaris OS Partition Tables or Slices:
The SPARC VTOC & x86/x64 VTOC defines the slices that the Solaris OS uses on a disk.
We can use the partition menu from the format utility to view & modify these partition tables.
The SPARC system read VTOC from the first sector of the disk (Sector 0).
The x86/x64 systems read the VTOC from the second sector(sector 1) of the Solaris fdisk partition.
Few Terminologies:

Part

The slice number. We can only modify slice 0 through 7 only.

Cylinders

The starting & ending cylinders for the slice

Size

The slice size in MG, GB, b(blocks) or c(cylinders)

Blocks

The space assigned to the slice

It is no longer used in Solaris.

Flag

tag

00 wm = write & mountable

01 wu = write & un-mountable
10 rm = read-only & mountable
11 ru = read-only & unmountable
A value that indicates how the Slice is used.
0=unassigned
1=boot
2=root
3=swap
4=usr
5=backup
6=stand
8=home
9=alternates
Veritas Volume Manager array tags:
14=public region

15=private region
Defining a Slice on SPARC systems:
1. Run the format utility and select a disk: Type format and select a disk.
2. Display the partition menu: Type partition at the format prompt.
3. Print the partition table: Type print at the partition prompt to display the VTOC
4. Select a slice: Select a slice by entering the slice number.
5. Set tag & flag values:
When prompted for ID tag, type question mark(?) and press enter to lsit tha available choices. Enter the tag name
and press return.
When prompted for perission flags, type a question mark(?) and press enter to llist the available choices.
wm = write & mountable
wu = write & un-mountable
rm = read-only & mountable
ru = read-only & unmountable
The default flag is wm, press return to accept it.
6. Set the partition size: Enter the starting cylinder and size of the partition.
7. label the disk: label the disk by typing label at partition prompt.
8 Enter q or quit to exit out partition or format utility.
Creating fdisk partition using format utility(Only for x86/64 systems):
1.run the format utility and select a disk: Type format and select a disk.
2. Enter the fdisk command at format menu: If there is no fdisk partition defined, the fdisk presents the option to
create a single fdisk partition that uses the entire disk.
type n to edit the fdisk partition table.
3. To create a fdisk partition select option 1.
4.Enter the number that selects the type of partition. Select option 1 to create SOLARIS2 fdisk partition.
5.Enter the percentage of the disk which you want to use.
6.fdisk menu then prompts if this should be active fdisk partition. Only the fdisk partition that is being used to boot the
system be marked as active fdisk partition. Because this is going to be non-bootable, enter no.
Defining a Slice on x86/64 systems:
1. run the format utility and select a disk: Type format and select a disk.
2. Display the partiition menu: Type partition at the format prompt.
3. Print the partition table: Type print at the partition prompt to display the VTOC
4. Select a slice: Select a slice by entering the slice number.
5. Set tag & flag values:
When prompted for ID tag, type question mark(?) and press enter to lsit tha available choices. Enter the tag name
and press return.
When prompted for perission flags, type a question mark(?) and press enter to list the available choices.
wm = write & mountable
wu = write & un-mountable
rm = read-only & mountable
ru = read-only & unmountable
The default flag is wm, press return to accept it.
6. Set the partition size: Enter the starting cylinder and size of the partition.
7. label the disk: label the disk by typing label at partition prompt.
8 Enter q or quit to exit out partition or format utility.
Note: For removing a slice, the steps are same as creating the slice. The only difference is at the point where specify
the size of partition as 0MB.
Viewing the disk VTOC:
There are two methods to view a SPARC or x86/x64 VTOC on a disk:
1. Use the verify command in the format utility:
#format
#format> verify
2. Run prtvtoc command from the command line
#prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s3

The VTOC on SPARC systems is the first sector on the disk

The VTOC on X86/x64 systems is in the second sector of the Solaris fdisk parition on the disk.
Replacing VTOC on a disk:
1. Save the VTOC information to a file as follows:
# prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/cotodos2 > /var/tmp/cotodos2.vtoc
2. Restore the VTOC using fmthard command:
#fmthard -s /var/tmp/cotodos2.vtoc /dev/rdsk/cotodos2
If we want to replace the current VTOC with the previously saved VTOC :
1. Run the format utility, select a disk, label it with default partition table or define slices & label the disk
2. use fmthard command as follows:
#fmthard -s /dev/null /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s1
Viewing & replacing fdisk Partition table(Only for x86/x64 systems):
To view fdisk partition table:
#fdisk -W - /dev/rdsk/c1d0p0
To save fdisk partition table information to a file:
#fdisk -W /var/tmp/c1dopo.fdisk /dev/rdsk/c1dop0
To replace the fdisk partition table :
#fdisk -F /var/tmp/c1dopo.fdisk /dev/rdsk/c1dop0

Raw Device:The device which is not formatted and not mounted is called Raw Device. It is same as the unformatted
drive in windows. Its information is stored in /dev/rdsk/SliceName(c0t0d0s3)
Block Device: The device which is formatted and mounted is called Block Device.
Working with Raw device: In the previous section we saw how to create a slice or partition. In order to use that
partition, it need to be formatted using newfs and mounted on a mount point. Going forward we are going to discuss
these concepts .
1. Formatting the raw device using newfs command:
The newfs command should always be applied to raw device. It formats the file system and also creates new
lost+found directory for storing the unsaved data information.
Lets consider we have a raw device c0t0d0s3, which we want to mount.
#newfs /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s3
To verify the created file system following command is used:
# fsck /dev/rdsk/<deviceName>
Once the file system is created, mount the file system.
2. Mounting the device:
It is the process of attaching the file system to the directory under root. The main reason we are going for mounting is
to make the file system available to the user for storing the data. If we dont mount the file system it cannot be
accessed. It is always used for block devices.
Lets consider we want to mount raw device /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s3 on the file system /oracle. Following step shows how
to mount:
#newfs /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s3
#mkdir /oracle
#mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s3 /oracle

Note: This is temporary and the file system /oracle is un-mounted upon the end of the session. To make it
permanent, we need to update information to /etc/vfstab.
The vfstab is also called Virtual File System Table:
The /etc/vfstab(Virtual File system table) lists all the file systems to be mounted during system boot time with
exception of the /etc/mnttab & /var/run. The vfstable contains following seven fields:
1. device to mount: This is the block device that needs to be mounted. E.g: /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s3
2. device to fsck: This is the raw device that needs to be mounted. E.g: /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s3
3. mount point: The file system on which the block device need to be mounted. E.g: /oracle
4. FS type: ufs by default
5. fsck pass:
1- for serial fsck scanning and
2- for parallel scanning of the device during boot process.
6. mount at boot: 'yes' to auto-mount the device on system boot
7. mount options: There are two mount options
'-' for large files: This is default option for solaris 7,8,9,10. The files will have by default 'rw' permission and they can
be more the 2gb in size.
'ro' for no large files : This option was default option in SOLARIS versions earlier than 7. The default permission for
the files created is 'ro'. The files cannot be more than 2gb in size.

The tab or white space is used as a separator The dash(-) character is used as place holder for the fields when text
arguments are not appropriate.
Note: When we are trying to create, modify or delete a slice, the complete information about the slice is updated
under /etc/format.dat.
/etc/mnttab:
It is an mntfs file system that provides read-only information directly from kernel about the mounted file system on
local host. The mount command creates entry in this file. The fields in /etc/mnttab are as follows:
Device Name: This is the block device where the file system is mounted.
Mount Point: The mount point or directory name where the file system is attached.
File System Type: The type of file system e.g UFS.
Mount options(includes a dev=number): The list of mount option.
Time & date mounted: The time at which the file system was mounted.
Whenever a file is mounted an entry is created in this table and whenever a file is removed an entry is removed from
the table. When the mount command is used without any argument, it lists all the mounted file system under
/etc/mnttab.

Hiding a file system:

It is a process of mounting the file system without updating the information under /etc/mnttab. The Command to do so
is :
#mount -m <Block Device> <Mount Point>
e.g.#mount -m /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s3 /oracle
If we do not update /etc/mnttab file, the df -h will not be able to show the file.
Un-mounting the file system:
It is a process of detaching the file system from the directory under root. If the file system is unmounted, we cannot
access the data from it. The main reason to unmount the file system is for deleting a slice and troubleshooting
activities.
Syntax:
unmount <File System Name>
unmount -f <File System Name> (forcibly unmounting the file system)
Steps for Unmounting a normal file system:1. #unmount <File System Name>
2. Remove entry for the file system from /etc/vfstab
Steps for Unmounting a busy file system:
1. Check all the open process Ids running in file system. To do so following is the command:
#fuser -cu <FileSystemName>
It displays all the open Process Ids running on the file system.
2. Kill all the open process. To do so the command is:
#fuser -ck <FileSystemName>
3. Unmount the file system:
#unmount <FileSystemName>
4. Remove entry for the file system from /etc/vfstab
How to mount the file system with 'no large file' option?
1. Use mount command with appropriate parameters:
#mount -o ro, nolargefiles <Block Device> <FileSystemName>
2. Edit /etc/vfstab with given parameters
<Block Device Name> | <RawDeviceName> | <FileSystemName> | <FileSystemType(UFS)> |<FSCK Pass>| <Mount
at boot> | <Mount Option>
How to converting no large files to large files?
1. mount -o remount, rw, largefiles <Block Device> <File System Name>
2. vi /etc/vfstab. Change the mount option for the device from 'ro' to '-'

newfs(Explore more!!!):
When we are creating a file system using newfs command on a raw device, it creates lots of data structure such as
logical block size, fragmentation size, minimum disk free space.
1. Logical Block Size:
- SOLARIS supports logical block size in between 4096b to 8192b.
- It is recommended to create UFS file system with more logical block size because more block size will store more
data.
- Customizing the block size:
#newfs -b 8192 <raw device>
2. Fragmentation Size
- The main purpose of it is to increase the performance of the hard disk by organizing the data continuously and
which helps in providing fast read/write requests.
- The default fragmentation size is 1kb.
- By default fragmentation is enabled in SOLARIS OS.
3. Minimum Disk Free Space
- It is the % of free space reserved for lost+found directory for storing the unsaved data information.
- The default minimum disk free space before SOLARIS 7 is 8%, whereas from SOLARIS 7 onwards it is auto defined
between 6% to 10%.

- Customizing the minimum disk free space:

#newfs -m <Value B/W 6-10%> <raw Device>

Tuning File System:

It is process of increasing the minimum disk free space without loosing the existing data and disturbing the users
(unmounting the file system). Following command is used to tune file system?
#tunefs -m 10 <raw device>
Managing File System Inconsistencies and Disk Space:
What is File Inconsistencies? What are the reason for File Inconsistencies?
The information about the files are stored in inodes and data are stored in blocks. To keep track of the inodes and
available blocks UFS maintains set of tables. Inconsistency will arise if these tables are not properly synchronized
with the data on disks. This situation is File Inconsistencies.
Following can be one of the possible reason for the File Inconsistencies:
1. Improper shutdown of the system or abrupt power down.
2. Defective disks.
3. A software error in the kernel.
How to fix disk Inconsistencies in Solaris 10?
In Solaris we have fsck utility to fix the disk or file system inconsistencies. We will discuss now in detail, how to use
the fsck utility to manage the disks/file system.
File System Check(fsck) (Always runs on raw device):
The main purpose of fsck is to bring the file system inconsistency to consistent. FSCK should be applied to
unmounted file system. There are two modes of it:
1. Interactive Mode: If we are running fsck in interactive mode we need to give yes option every time to continue to
next step.
#fsck /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s7
2. Non-Interactive Mode: If we are running fsck in non-interactive mode by default it takes yes option to continue to
next step.
#fsck -y /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s7
Other fsck command options:
fsck -m [Displays all file system along with states]
fsck -m <raw device> [States of specific device/file system]
State Flag: The Solaris fsck command uses a state flag, which is stored in the superblock, to record the condition of
the file system. Following are the possible state values:

State Flag Value

FSACTIVE

The mounted file system is active and the data will be lost if system is
interrupted

FSBAD

The File System contains inconsistent data

FSCLEAN

The File System is unmounted properly and don't need to be checked for
in consistency.

FSLOG

Logging is enabled for the File System.

FSSTABLE

The file system do not have any inconsistency and therefore no need to
runfsck command before mounting the file system.

fsck is a multipass file system check program that performs successive passes over each file system, checking
blocks and sizes, pathnames, connectivity, reference counts, and the map of free blocks (possibly rebuilding it). fsck
also performs cleanup. fsck command fixes the file system in multiple passes as listed below :
Phase 1 : Checks blocks and sizes.
Phase 2 : Checks path names.
Phase 3 : Checks connectivity.
Phase 4 : Checks reference counts.
Phase 5 : Checks cylinder groups.
Note: The File System to be repaired must be inactive before it can be fixed. So it is always advisable to un-mount
the file system before running the fsck command on that file system.
Identifying issues on file systems using fsck:
Type fsck -m /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s7 and press Enter. The state flag in the superblock of the file system specified is
checked to see whether the file system is clean or requires checking. If we omit the device argument, all the UFS file
systems listed in /etc/vfstab with an fsck pass value of greater than 0 are checked.
In the following example, the first file system needs checking, but the second file system does not:
#fsck -m /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s7
** /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s7
ufs fsck: sanity check: /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s7 needs checking
#fsck -m /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s8
** /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s8
ufs fsck: sanity check: /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s8 okay
Recover Super block(when fsck fails to fix):
1. #newfs -N /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s7
2. fsck -F ufs -o b=32 /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s7
The syntax for the fsck command is as follows:
#fsck [<options>] [<rawDevice>]
The <rawDevice> is the device interface in /dev/rdsk. If no <rawDevice> is specified,fsck checks the /etc/vfstab file.
The file systems are checked which are represented by the entries in the /etc/vfstab with :
1. The value of the fsckdev field is a character-special device.
2. The value of the fsckpass field is a non-zero numeral.
The options for the fsck command are as follows:
-F <FSType>. Limit the check to the file systems specified by <FSType>.
-m. Check but do not repairuseful for checking whether the file system is suitable for mounting.
-n | -N. Assume a "no" response to all questions that will be asked during the fsck run.
-y | - Y. Assume a "yes" response to all questions that will be asked during the fsck run.
Steps to run fsck command :
1. Become superuser.
2. Unmount the file system that need to check for the file system inconsistency.
3. Use the fsck command by specifying the mount point directory or the/dev/dsk/<deviceName> as an argument to
the command.
4. The inconsistency messages will be displayed.
5. fsck command will not necessarily fix all the error. You may have to run twice or thrice until you see following
message:
"FILE SYSTEM STATE NOT SET TO OKAY or FILE SYSTEM MODIFIED"
6. Mount the repaired file system.
7. Move the files and directories of lost+found directories to their corresponding location. If you are unable to locate
the files/directories in lost+found directories, remove the files/directories.
Repairing files if boot fails on a SPARC system:
1. Insert the Solaris DVD

2. Execute a single user boot from DVD

ok boot cdrom -s
3. use fsck command on faulty / (root) partition to check and repair any potential problems in the file system and
make the device writable.
#fsck /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0
4. If the fsck command is success, mount the /(root) file system on the /a directory.
#mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 /a
5. Set and export the TERM variable, which enables vi editor to work properly.
#TERM=vt100
#export TERM
6. Edit /etc/vfstab file & correct any problems.
#vi /a/etc/vfstab
:wq!
7.Unmount the file system.
#cd /
#unmount /a
8. Reboot the system
#init 6

Solaris Disk Architecture Summary:

1. VTOC (Volume Table of Content) [0-sector]:
It contains information about the disk geometry and hard drive information. The default location is in '0' sector. The
command to display VTOC is as follows:
#prtvtoc <Device/Slice Name>
2. Boot Sector [sector 1-15]:
It contain boot traps program information.
3. Super Block [sector 16-31]:
It contains following information:
1. Hardware manufacturer
2. Cylinders
3. Inodes
4. Data Block
4. Backup Super Block:
Super block maintains identical copy of its data in Backup Super Block. If Super Block is corrupted we can recover it
using backup server super block number.
The command to display the backup super block number of a slice is:
newfs -N <SliceName>
5. Data Block:
It contains complete information about the data. Each block is divided into 8KBs. For every 8KB there are addresses
called block address for kernel reference
6. Inode Block:
Inode block contains information about all inodes.
Note: Backup Super bock, data block, inode block are available in any part of the hard drive starting from 32 sectors
of hard drive.

Swap Management:
The anonymous memory pages used by process are placed in swap area but unchanged file system pages are not
placed in swap area. In the primary Solaris 10 OS, the default location for the primary swap is slice 1 of the boot disk,
which, by default, starts at cylinder 0.
Swap files:

It is used to provide additional swap space. This is useful when re-slicing of disk is difficult. Swap files reside on files
system and are created using mkfile command.
swapfs file system:
The swapfs file system consists of Swap Slice, Swap files & physical memory(RAM).
Paging:
The transfer of selected memory pages between RAM & swap areas is termed as paging. The default page size in
Solaris 10 SPARC machine is 8192bytes and in X86 machine is 4096bytes.
Command to display size of a memory page in bytes:
# pagesize
Command to display all supported page sizes:
# pagesize -a
Swapping is the movement of all modified data memory pages associated with a process, between RAM and a disk.
The available swap space must satisfy two criteria:
1. Swap space must be sufficient to supplement physical RAM to meet the needs of concurrently running processes.
2. Swap space must be sufficient to hold crash dump(in a single slice), unless dumpadm(1m) has been used to
specify a dump device outside of swap space.
Configuring Swap space:
The swap are changes made at command line is not permanent and are lost after a reboot. To permanently add swap
space, create an entry in the /etc/vfstab file. The entry in /etc/vfstab file is added to swap space at each reboot.
Displaying the current swap configuration:
#swap -s
The swap -s output does not take into account the preallocated swap space that has not yet been used by a process.
It displays the output in Kbytes.
Displaying the details of the system's physical swap areas:
#swap -l
It reports the values in 512byte blocks.

Adding a swap space:

Method 1: Creating a swap slice.
1. #swap -a /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s1
2. Edit the /etc/vfstab file and add following entry to it:
/dev/dsk/c1t1d0s1 - - swap - no Note: When the system is rebooted the new swap slice is automatically included as the part of the swap space. If an
entry is not made in the /etc/vfstab file the changes made in swap configuration is lost after the reboot.
Method2: Adding swap files.
1. Create a directory to hold the swap files:
#mkdir -p /usr/local/swap
2. Create swap file using mkfile command:
#mkfile 20m /usr/local/swap/swapfile
3. Add the swap file to the system's swap space:
#swap -a /usr/local/swap/swapfile
4. Add following entry for the swap file to the /etc/vfstab file:
/usr/local/swap/swapfile - - swap - no Removing a swap space:
Method1: Removing the swap slice
1. Remove the swap slice:
#swap -d /dev/dsk/c1t1d0s1
2. Delete the following entry from /etc/vfstab file:
/dev/dsk/c1t1d0s1 - - swap - no -

Method2: Removing swap files.

1. Delete the swap file from current configuration:
#swap -d /usr/local/swap/swapfile
2. Remove the swap file to free the disk space:
#rm /usr/local/swap/swapfile
3. Remove following entry for the swap file to the /etc/vfstab file:
/usr/local/swap/swapfile - - swap - no -

Boot PROM Basics

Boot PROM(programmable read only memory):
It is a firmware (also known as the monitor program) provides:
1. basic hardware testing & initialization before booting.
2. contains a user interface that provide access to many important functions.
3. enables the system to boot from wide range of devices.
It controls the system operation before the kernel becomes available. It provides a user interface and firmware utility
commands known as FORTH command set. These commands include the boot commands, the diagnostic
commands & the commands for modifying the default configuration.
Command to determine the version of the Open Boot PROM on the system:# /usr/platform/'uname
-m'/sbin/prtdiag -v
(output omitted)
System PROM revisions:
---------------------OBP 4.16.4 2004/12/18 05:21 Sun Blade 1500 (Silver)
OBDIAG 4.16.4.2004/12/18 05:21
# prtconf -v
OBP 4.16.4 2004/12/18 05:21
Open Boot Architectures Standards:
It is based on IEEE standard #1275, according to which the open boot architecture should provide capabilities of
several system tasks including:
1. Testing and initializing system hardware
2. Determining the system's hardware configuration
3. Enabling the use of third-party devices booting the OS
4. Providing an interactive interface for configuration, testing and debugging
Boot PROM chip:
It is available in Sun SPARC system.
It is located on the same board as the CPU.
FPROM(Flash PROM):
It is a re-programmable boot PROM used by Ultra workstations.

It enables to load new boot program data into PROM using software.
System configuration Information:
Each Sun system has another important element known as System Configuration Information.
This information includes the Ethernet or MAC address, the system host identification number(ID), and the user
configurable parameters.
The user configurable parameters in System Information is called NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access)
Variables or EEPROM (Electronically Erasable PROM) parameters.
Using these parameters we can control :
1. POST(Power on self Test)
2. Specify the default boot device
3. perform other configuration settings
Note: Depending on the system these system configuration information is stored in NVRAM chip, a
SEEPROM(Serially Electronically Erasable PROM) or a System Configuration Card(SCC).
The older systems used NVRAM chip which is located on the main system board and is removable. It contains
Lithium Battery to provide the battery backup for configuration information. The battery also provides the system's
time of day(TOD) function.
New systems uses a non-removable SEEPROM chip to store the system configuration information. The chip is
located on the main board and doesn't requires battery.
In addition to NVRAM and SEEPROM chip, some systems uses a removable SCC(System Configuration Card) to
store system configuration information. An SCC is inserted into the SCC reader.
Working of Boot PROM Firmware:
The Boot PROM firmware booting proceeds in following stages:
1. When a system is turned on, It initiates low-level POST. The low level post code is stored in system's boot PROM.
The POST code tests the most elementary functions of the system.
2. After the low level post completes successfully, the Boot PROM firmware takes control. It probes memory and
CPU.
3. Next, Boot PROM probes bus devices and interprets their drivers to build a device tree.
4. After the device tree is built, the boot PROM firmware installs the console.
5. The Boot PROM displays the banner once the system initialization is complete.
Note: The system determines how to Boot the the OS by checking the parameter stored in the Boot PROM and
NVRAM.
Stop key sequences:
It can be used to enable various diagnostics mode. The Stop Key sequences affect the OpenBoot PROM and help to
define how POST runs when the system is powered on.
Using Stop Key Sequences:
When the system is powered on use :
1. STOP+D to switch the boot PROM to the diagnostic mode. In this mode the variable "diag-switch?" is set true.
2. STOP+N to set NVRAM parameters to the default value. You can release the key when the LED starts flashing on
the key board.
Abort Sequences:
STOP+A puts the system into command entry mode for the OpenBoot PROM & interrupts any running program.
When the OK prompt is displayed, the system is ready to accept OpenBoot PROM commandds.
Disabling the Abort Sequences:
1. Edit /etc/default/kbd and comment out the statement "KEYBOARD_ABORT=disable".
2. Run the command: #kbd -i
Once the abort sequence is disabled, it can only be used during the boot process.

Commonly used Open Boot Prompt (OBP) commands

ok>banner: It displays the system information such as the model name, the boot PROM version, the memory, the
Ethernet addresses, and the host identification number (ID).
ok>boot: It is used to boot the system
It can be used with follwoing options:
-s : for single user mode. Here only root user is allowed to log in.
cdrom -s : for booting into single user mode using cdrom
-a: To boot the system in interactive mdoe
-r: To perform reconfiguration boot. This is used to detect and create entry for a newly attached device.
-v: To display the detailed information on the console during the boot process.
ok>help: It is used to list the main help categories of OpenBoot firmware. the help command can be used with
specific keyword to get the corresponding help. For example:
ok> help boot
ok> help diag
ok>printenv: To display the all the NVRAM parameters. This command displays the default and current values of
parameter. It can be used with single parameters to display the corresponding value.
e.g. printenv auto-boot? : This command displays the value of auto-boot variable.
e.g. printenv oem-banner? : This command displays the status of variable oem-banner.
e.g. printenv oem-banner : This command displays customized OEM banner information.
e.g. printenv oem-logo? : This displays the status of the variable oem-logo.
e.g. printenv oem-logo : This displays the oem-logo.
e.g. printenv boot-device : It displays the default boot device.setenv : It is use to assign the value to the environment
variable.
e.g. setenv auto-boot? false : This command sets the value of variable auto-boot to false.
e.g. setenv oem-banner? true : This command sets the value of variable oem-banner to true. By default its value is
false.
e.g. setenv oem-banner <customized message> : This command sets the customized message for the OEM banner.
e.g. setenv oem-log? true : It sets value of oem-logo? to true/false.
e.g. setenv oem-logo <logo name> : It sets customized logo name.
e.g. setenv boot-device cdrom/disk/net : It sets the default boot device.Emergency Open
ok>setenv: It is used for setting NVRAM parameters.
e.g. setenv autoboot? false: This command sets the autoboot? parameter to false.
ok>reset-all: It functions similar to power cycle, and rclears all buffers & registers, and execute a powered off/power
on command.
ok>set-defaults: It is used to reset all parameter values to factory defalut. To restore a particular parameter to its
default setting use set-default command followed by parameter name.
e.g. set-default auto-boot?
Note: The set-default command can only be used with those parameters for which the default value is defined.
The probe commands are used to display all the peripheral devices connected to the system.
ok> probe-ide : It displays all the disks & CD-ROMS attached to the on-board IDE Controller.
ok> probe-scsi : It displays all peripheral devices connected to the primary on-board SCSI controller.
ok> probe-scsi-all : It displays all peripheral devices connected to the primary on-board SCSI controller & additional
SBUS or PCI SCSI controllers.
ok>sifting <OpenBoot PROM command>: Shifting command with an OpenBoot PROM command as an parameter
displays the the syntax of OpenBoot PROM command.
ok>.registers: It displays the content of the OBP registers.
To ensure the system is not hung when probe command is used :
1. set the parameter auto-boot? to false.
ok> setenv auto-boot? false
2.Use reset-all command to clear all the buffers & registers.

3. Confirm all the values of OBP registers are set to zero using .registers command.
Now we are ready to use any probe command without any problem.
ok>.speed: It displays the speed of the processor.
ok>.enet-addr: It displays the MAC address of the NIC
ok>.version: It displays the release and version information of PROM chip.
ok> show-disks: It displays all the connected disks/CD-ROM
ok> page : To clear the screen
ok> watch-net: It displays the NIC status.ok> test-all : It is nothing but performing POST i.e. self testing all the
connected devices.
ok>sync: It manually attempts to flush memory and synchronize the file system.
ok>test: It is used to perform self test on the device specified.
Device Tree:
It is used to organize the devices attached to the system.
It is built by the OpenBoot Firmware by using the information collected at the POST.
Node of the device tree:
1. The top most node of the device tree is the root device node.
2. Bus nexus node follows the root device node.
3. A leaf node(acts as a controller for the an attached device) is connected to the bus nexus node.
Examples:
1. The disk device path of an Ultra workstation with a PCI IDE Bus:
/pci@1f,0/pci@,1/ide@3/dad@0,0
/ -> Root device
pci@1f,0/pci@,1/ide@3 -> Bus devices & controllers
dad@ -> Device type(IDE disk)
0 -> IDE Target address
0 -> Disk number (LUN logical Unit Number)
2. The disk device path of an Ultra workstation with a PCI SCSI Bus:
/pci@1f,0/pci@,1/SUNW,isptwo@4/sd@3,0
/ -> Root device
pci@1f,0/pci@,1/SUNW,isptwo@4 -> Bus devices & controllers
sd -> Device type(SCSI Device)
3 -> SCSI Target address
0 -> Disk number (LUN logical Unit Number)
ok> show-devs: Displays the list of all the devices in the OpenBoot device tree.
ok>devalias: It is used to display the list of defined device aliases on a system.
Device aliases provides shot names for longer physical device paths. The alias names are stored under
NVRAMRC(contains registes to store the parameters). It is part of NVRAM.
Creating an alias name for device in Solaris
1. Use the show-disks command to list all the disks connected. Select and copy the location of the disk for which the
alias need to be created. The partial path provided in show-disks command is completed by entering right targer &
disk values.
2. Use the following command to create the alias :
nvalias <alias name> <physical path>
The physical path is the location copied in step 1. The alias name can be anything of user choice.
ok> devalias boot-device : It displays current boot devices alias for the system.
ok> nvunalias <alias name>: It removes device alias name.
The /usr/sbin/eeprom command:

It is used to display & change the NVRAM parameters while Solaris OS is running.
Note: It can be only used by root user.
e.g. #eeprom -> list all the NVRAM parameters.
e.g. #eeprom boot-device -> It lists the value of parameter boot-device
e.g. #eeprom boot-device=disk2 -> Changes the boot-device parameter
e.g. #eeprom auto-boot?=true -> Sets the parameter auto-boot? parameter to true
e.g. #eeprom auto-boot? -> It lists the value of auto-boot? parameter
Interrupting an Unresponsive System:
1. Kill the unresponsive process & then try to reboot unresponsive system gracefully.
2. If the above step fails, press STOP+A.
3. use sync command at Open Boot prompt. This command creates panic situation in the system & synchronizes the
file systems. Additionally, it creates a crash dump of memory and reboots system.

GRUB (Grand Unified Loader for x86 systems only):

1. It loads the boot archive(contains kernel modules & configuration files) into the system's memory.
2. It has been implemented on x86 systems that are running the Solaris OS.
Some Important Terms:
1. Boot Archive: Collection of important system file required to boot the Solaris OS. The system maintains two boot
archive:
2. Primary boot archive: It is used to boot Solaris OS on a system.
3. Secondary boot archive: Failsafe Archive is used for system recovery in case of failure of primary boot archive. It
is referred as Solaris failsafe in the GRUB menu.
4. Boot loader: First software program executed after the system is powered on.
5. GRUB edit Menu: Submenu of the GRUB menu.
Additional GRUB Terms:
1. GRUB main menu: It lists the OS installed on a system.
menu.lst file: It contains the OS installed on the system. The OS displayed on the GRUB main menu is determined
by menu.lst file.
2. Miniroot: It is a minimal bootable root(/) file system that is present on the Solaris installation media. It is also used
as failsafe boot archive.
GRUB-Based Booting:
1. Power on system.
2. The BIOS intializes the CPU, the memory & the platform hardware.
3. BIOS loads the boot loader from the configured boot device. The BIOS then gives the control of system to the boot
loader.
The GRUB implementation on x86 systems in the Solaris OS is compliant with the multiboot specification. This
enables to :
1. Boot x86 systems with GRUB.
2. individually boot different OS from GRUB.
Installing OS instances:
1. The GRUB main menu is based on a configuration file.
2. The GRUB menu is automatically updated if you install or upgrade the Solaris OS.
3. If another OS is installed, the /boot/grub/menu.lst need to be modified.
GRUB Main Menu:
It can be used to :
1. Select a boot entry.
2. modify a boot entry.
3. load an OS kernel from the command line.
Editing the GRUB Main menu:
1. Highlight a boot entry in GRUB Main menu.

2. Press 'e' to display the GRUB edit menu.

3. Select a boot entry and press 'c'.
Working of GRUB-Based Booting:
1. When a system is booted, GRUB loads the primary boot archive & multiboot program. The primary boot archive,
called /platform/i86pc/boot_archive, is a RAM image of the file system that contains the Solaris kernel modules &
data.
2. The GRUB transfers the primary boot archive and the multiboot program to the memory without any
interpretations.
3. System Control is transferred to the multiboot program. In this situation, GRUB is inactive & system memory is
restored.
The multiboot program is now responsible for assembling core kernel modules into memory by reading the boot
archive modules and passing boot-related information to the kernel.
GRUB device naming conventions:
(fd0), (fd1) : First diskete, second diskette
(nd): Network device
(hd0,0),(hd0,1): First & second fdisk partition of the first bios disk
(hd0,0,a),(hd0,0,b): SOLARIS/BSD slice 0 & 1 (a & b) on the first fdisk partition on the first bios disk.
Functional Component of GRUB:
It has three functional components:
1. stage 1: It is installed on first sector of SOLARIS fdisk partition
2. stage 2: It is installed in a reserved areal in SOLARIS fdisk partition. It is the core image of GRUB.
3. menu.lst: It is a file located in /boot/grub directory. It is read by GRUB stage2 functional component.
The GRUB Menu
1. It contains the list of all OS instances installed on the system.
2. It contains important boot directives.
3. It requires modification of the active GRUB menu.lst file for any change in its menu options.
Locating the GRUB Menu:
#bootadm list-menu
The location for the active GRUB menus is : /boot/grub/menu.lst
Edit the menu.lst file to add new OS entries & GRUB console redirection information.
Edit the menu.lst file to modify system behavior.
GRUB Main Menu Entries:
On installing the Solaris OS, by default two GRUB menu entries are installed on the system:
1. Solaris OS entry: It is used to boot Solaris OS on a system.
2. miniroot(failsafe) archieve: Failsafe Archive is used for system recovery in case of failure of primary boot archive.
It is referred as Solaris failsafe in the GRUB menu.
Modifying menu.lst:
When the system boots, the GRUb menu is displayed for a specific period of time. If the user do not select during this
period, the system boots automatically using the default boot entry.
The timeout value in the menu.lst file:
1. determines if the system will boot automatically
2. prevents the system from booting automatically if the value specified as -1.
Modifying X86 System Boot Behavior
1. eeprom command: It assigsn a different value to a standard set of properties. These values are equivalent to the
SPARC OpenBoot PROM NVRAM variables and are saved in /boot/solaris/bootenv.rc
2. kernel command: It is used to modify the boot behavior of a system.
3. GRUB menu.lst:
Note:
1.The kernel command settings override the changes done by using the eeprom command. However, these changes
are only effective until you boot the system again.
2. GRUB menu.lst is not preferred option because entries in menu.lst file can be modified during a software upgrade
& changes made are lost.

Verifying the kernel in use:

After specifying the kernel to boot using the eeprom or kernel commands, verify the kernel in use by following
command:
#prtconf -v | grep /platform/i86pc/kernel
GRUB Boot Archives
The GRUB menu in Solaris OS uses two boot archive:
1. Primary boot archive: It shadows a root(/) file system. It contains all the kernel modules, driver.conf files & some
configuration files. All these configuration files are placed in /etc directory. Before mounting the root file system the
kernel reads the files from the boot archive. After the root file system is mounted, the kernel removes the boot archive
from the memory.
2. failsafe boot archieve: It is self-sufficient and can boot without user intervention. It does not require any
maintenance. By default, the failsafe boot archive is created during installation and stored in /boot/x86.minor-safe.
Default Location of primary boot archive: /platform/i86pc/boot_archive
Managing the primary boot archive:
The boot archive :
1. needs to be rebuilt, whenever any file in the boot archive is modified.
2. Should be build on system reboot.
3. Can be built using bootadm command
#bootadm update-archive -f -R /a
Options of the bootadm command:
-f: forces the boot archive to be updated
-R: enables to provide an alternative root where the boot archive is located.
-n: enables to check the archive content in an update-archive operation, without updating the content.
The boot archive can be rebuild by booting the system using the failsafe archive.
Booting a system in GRUB-Based boot environment:
Booting a System to Run Level 3(Multiuser Level):
To boot a system functioning at run level 0 to 3:
1. reboot the system.
2. press the Enter key when the GRUB menu appears.
3. log in as the root & verify that the system is running at run level 3 using :
#who -r
Booting a system to run level S (Single-User level):
1. reboot the system
2. type e at the GRUB menu prompt.
3. from the command list select the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot" boot entry and type e to edit the entry.
4. add a space and -s option at the end of the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot -s" to boot at run level S.
5. Press enter to return the control to the GRUB Main Menu.
6. Type b to boot the system to single user level.
7. Verify the system is running at run level S:
#who -r
8. Bring the system back to muliuser state by using the Ctrl+D key combination.
Booting a system interactively:
1. reboot the system
2. type e at the GRUB menu prompt.
3. from the command list select the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot" boot entry and type e to edit the entry.
4. add a space and -a option at the end of the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot -a" .
5. Press enter to return the control to the GRUB Main Menu.
6. Type b to boot the system interactively.
Stopping an X86 system:
1. init 0
2. init 6
3. Use reset button or power button.

Booting the failsafe archive for recovery purpose:

1. reboot the system.
2. Press space bar while while GRUB menu is displayed.
3. Select Solaris failsafe entry and press b.
4. Type y to automatically update an out-of-date boot archive.
5. Select the OS instance on which the read write mount can happen.
6. Type y to mount the selected OS instance on /a.
7. Update the primary archive using following command:
#bootadm update-archive -f -R /a
8. Change directory to root(/): #cd /
9. Reboot the system.
Interrupting an unresponsive system
1. Kill the offending process.
2. Try rebooting system gracefully.
3. Reboot the system by holding down the ctrl+alt+del key sequence on the keyboard.
4. Press the reset button.
5. Power off the system & then power it back on.

Solaris 10 Boot Process & Phases

Legacy boot vs SMF:
In earlier versions of Solaris(9 & earlier), system uses series of scripts to start and and stop process linked with the
run levels(located in /sbin directory). The init daemon is responsible for starting and stopping the service.

Solaris 10 uses SMF(Service Management Facility) which begins service in parallel based on dependencies. This
allows faster system boot and minimizes dependencies conflicts.
SMF contains:
A service configuration on repository
A process restarter
Administrative Command Line Interpreter(CLI) utilities
Supporting kernel functionality
These features enables Solaris services to:
1. specify requirement for prerequisite services and system facilities and services.
2. identity and privilege requirements for tasks.
3. specify the configuration settings for each service instance.
Phases of the boot process:
The very first boot phase of any system is Hardware and memory test done by POST (Power on Self Test)
instruction.
In SPARC machines, this is done by PROM monitor and in X86/x64 machines it is done by BIOS.
In SPARC machines, if no errors are found during POST and if auto-boot? parameter is set to true, the system
automatically starts the boot process.
In X86/x64 machines, if no errors are found during POST and if /boot/grub/menu.lst file is set to positive value, the
system automatically starts the boot process.
The boot process is divided into five phases:
Boot PROM Phase
Boot programs Phase
Kernel intialization phase
init phase
svc.startd phase
Note: The fist two phases, boot PROM & boot programs, differ between SPARC & X86/64 systems.
SPARC Boot PROM Phase:
The boot PROM phase on a SPARC system involves following steps:
1. PROM firmware runs POST
2. PROM displays the system identification banner which includes:
Model Type
Keyboard status
PROM revision number
Processor type & speed
Ethernet address
Host ID
Available RAM
NVRAM Serial Number
3. The boot PROM identifies the boot-device PROM parameter.
4. The PROM reads the disk label located at sector 0 of the default boot device.
5. The PROM locates the boot program on the default boot device.
6. The PROM loads the bootblk program into memory.
x86/x64 Boot PROM Phase:
The boot PROM phase on a x86/x64 system involves following steps:
1. BIOS ROM runs POST & BIOS extensions in ROMs, and invokes the software interrupt INT 19h, bootstrap.
2. The handler for the interrupt begins the boot sequence
3. The processor moves the first byte of the sector image in memory. The first sector on on a hard disk contains the
master boot block. This block contains the master boot(mboot) program & FDISK table.
SPARC Boot Program Phase:
The boot Program phase involves following steps:
1. The bootblk program loads the secondary boot program, ufsboot from boot device into memory.
2. The ufsboot program locates & loads the kernel.

x86/x64 Boot Program Phase:

The boot Program phase involves following steps:
1. The master boot program searches the FDISK table to find the active partition and loads GRUB stage1. It moves
the first byte of GRUB into memory.
2. If the GRUB stage1 is installed on the master boot block, stage2 is loaded directly from FDISK partition.
3. The GRUB stage2 finds the GRUB menu configuration file (/boot/grub/menu.lst) and displays the GRUB menu.
This menu selects the options to boot from a different partition, a different disk or from the network.
4. GRUB executes commands from /boot/grub/menu.lst to load an already constructed boot archive.
5. The multiboot program is loaded.
6. The multiboot program collects the core kernel module, connects the important modules from the boot archive, and
mounts the root file system on the device.
Kernel initialization phase:
The Kernel initialization phase involves following steps:
1. The kernel reads /etc/system configuration file.
2. The kernel initializes itself and uses ufsboot command to load modules.When sufficient modules are loaded, kernel
loads the / file system & unmaps the ufsboot program.
3. The kernel begins the /etc/init daemon
Note: The kernel's core is divided into two pieces of static codes: genunix & unix. The genunix is platform
independent generic kernel file & the unix file is platform specific kernel file.
init phase:
The process is initiated when the init daemon initiates the svc.startd daemon that starts & stops service when
requested. This phase uses information residing in the /etc/inittab file. Fields in inittab file are:
id: A two character identifier for the entry.
rstate: Run levels to which the entry applies.
action: Defines how the process filed defines the command to execute process.
svc.startd phase:
It is the master of all services and is started automatically during start up. It starts, stops & restarts all services. It also
takes care of all dependencies for each service.
The /etc/system file:
It enables the user to modify the kernel configuration, including the modules and parameters that need to be loaded
during th system boot.
Legacy Run Levels
Run levels: Its nothing but the system's state. We are having 8 different run levels:

Run
levels

Description

This run level ensures that the system is running the PROM monitor.

s or S

This run level runs in single user mode with critical file systems mounted &
accessible.

This run level ensures that the system running in a single user administrative,
and it has access to all available file systems.

In this run level system supports multiuser operations. At this run level, all
system daemons, except the Network File System(NFS) server & some other
network resource server related daemons, are running.

At this run level, the system supports multiuser operations. All system
daemons including the NFS resource sharing & other network resource

servers are available.

4

Not yet implemented.

This is intermediate run level between the OS shutdown /powered off.

This is a transitional run level when the OS shuts down & the system reboots
to the default run level.

Determining the systems current run level:

#who -r
Changing the current run level using init command:
init s: Single user mode
init 1: Maintenance mode
init 2: Multi-user mode
init 3: Multi-user server mode
init 4: Not implemented
init 5: Shutdown/power off
init 6: shutdown & reboot
init 0: Shutdown & skips the maintenance to OBP
init s: When we are booting the machine to single user mode all the user logins, terminal logins, file system including
all servers are disabled. The reason we are booting the server to the single user mode is for troubleshooting.
init 1: When the server is booting to maintenance mode the existing user logins will stay active & terminal logins get
disconnected. Later on the new user & terminal logins both get disconnected. File Systems are mounted but all
services are disabled.
init 2: It is the run levels where all the user logins, terminal logins, file systems including all services are enabled
except NFS (Network File System) service.
init 3: It is default run level in SOLARIS. In this run level all the use logins, terminal logins, file system and all services
are enabled including NFS.
Note: In SOLARIS 9 we can change the default run level by editing /etc/inittab file. But from SOLARIS 10 it is not
possible, because this file acts as a script which is under control of SMF.
The /sbin directory:
This directory contains:
1. contains a script associated with each run level.
2. contains some scripts that are also hard linked to each other.
3. is executed by the svc.startd daemon to set up variables, test conditions, and call other scripts.
To display the hard links for rc(run control) scripts :
#ls -li /sbin/rc*
These scripts are present under /etc directory for backward compatibility and are symbolic link to the scripts under
/sbin directory. To see the these scripts use the following command:
#ls -l /etc/rc?

Functions of /sbin/rcn scripts:

/sbin/rc0

Stops system services & daemons by running the /etc/rc0.d/K* and

/etc/rc0.d/S* scripts. This should be only use to perform fast cleanup
functions.

/sbin/rc1

It stops system services & daemons, terminating running application

processes, and unmounting all remote file systems by running the
/etc/rc1.d/S* scripts

/sbin/rc2

Starts certain application daemons by running the /etc/rc3.d/k* &

/etc/rc2.d/S*

/sbin/rc3

Starts certain application daemon by running the /etc/rc3.d/K* &

/etc/rc2.d/S*

/sbin/rc5
& /sbin/rc6

Peforms function such as stopping system services & daemons & starting
scripts that perform fast system cleanup functions by running the
/etc/rc0.d/K* scripts first & then /etc/rc0.d/S* scripts

/sbin/rcS

Establishes a minimum network & brings the system to run levels S by

running the /etc/rcS.d scripts

Start Run Control Scripts:

1. The start scripts in the /etc/rc#.d directories run in the sequence displayed by the ls command.
2. File start with letter S is used to start a system process.
3. These scripts are called by appropriate rc# script in the /sbin directory to pass the argument 'start' to them in case
the names do not end in .sh scripts do not take any arguments. These are generally names as S##name-of-script.
4. To start a script: #/etc/rc3.d/<script name> start
Stop Run control scripts:
1. The stop/kill scripts in the /etc/rc#.d directories run in the sequence displayed by the ls command.
2. File start with letter K is used to stop a system process.
3. These scripts are called by appropriate rc# script in the /sbin directory to pass the argument 'stop' to them in case
the names do not end in .sh scripts do not take any arguments. These are generally names as K##name-of-script.
4. To stop/kill a script: #/etc/rc3.d/<script name> stop

The /etc/init.d directory:

This directory also contains rc scripts. These scripts can be used to start/stop services without changing the run
levels.
#/etc/init.d/mysql start
#/etc/init.d/mysql stop
Adding a script in /etc/init.d directory to start/stop a service:
For the services not managed by SMF, we can be added in rc scripts to start & stop services as follows:
1. Create the script:
#cat > /etc/init.d/mysql
#chmod 744 /etc/init.d/mysql
#chgrp sys /etc/init.d/mysql
2. Create Hard Link to required /etc/rc#.d directory
#ln /etc/init.d/mysql /etc/rc2.d/S90mysql
#ln /etc/init.d/mysql /etc/rc2.d/K90mysql

SMF(Service Management Facility):

SMF has simplified the management of system services. It provides a centralized configuration structure to help
manage services & interaction between them. Following are few features of SMF:
1. Establish dependency relationships between the system services.
2. Provides a structured mechanism for Fault Management of system services.
3. Provides information about startup behavior and service status.
4. Provides information related to starting, stopping & restarting a service.
5. Identifies the reasons for misconfigured services.
6. Creates individual log files for each service.
Service Identifier:
1. Each service within SMF is referred by an identifier called Service Identifier.
2. This service identifier is in the form of a Fault Management Resource Identifier(FMRI), which indicates the
service or category type, along with the service name & instance.
Example:

The FMRI for the rlogin service is svc:/network/login:rlogin

network/login: identifies the service
rlogin: identifies the service instance
svc: The prefix svc indicates that the service is managed by SMF.
Legacy init.d scripts are also represented with FMRIs that start with lrc instead of svc.
Example:
lrc:/etc/rc2_d/S47pppd
The legacy service's initial start times during system boot are displayed by using the svcs command. However, you
cannot administer these services by using SMF.
3. The services within SMF are divided into various categories or states:

degraded

The service instance is enabled, but is running at a limited capacity.

disabled

The service instance is not enabled and is not running.

legacy_run

The legacy service is not managed by SMF, but the service can be
observed. This state is only used by legacy services.

maintenanc The service instance has encountered an error that must be resolved by
e
the administrator.
offline

The service instance is enabled, but the service is not yet running or
available to run.

online

The service instance is enabled and has successfully started.

uninitialized

This state is the initial state for all services before their configuration has
been read.

Listing Service Information:

The svcs command is used to list the information about a service.
Example:
# svcs svc:/network/http:cswapache2
STATE STIME FMRI
disabled May_31 svc:/network/http:cswapache2
STATE: The state of service.
STIME: Service's start/stop date & time.
FMRI: FMRI of the service.
#svcs -a
The above command provides status of all the services.
SMF Milestones:
SMF Milestones are services that aggregate multiple service dependencies and describe a specific state of system
readiness on which other services can depend. Administrators can see the list of milestones that are defined by using
the svcs command, as shown in below:

With milestones you can group certain services. Thus you dont have to define each service when configuring the
dependencies, you can use a matching milestones containing all the needed services.
Furthermore you can force the system to boot to a certain milestone. For example: Booting a system into the single
user mode is implemented by defining a single user milestone. When booting into single user mode, the system just
starts the services of this milestone.
The milestone itself is implemented as a special kind of service. It's an anchor point for dependencies and a
simplification for the admin.
Types of the milestones:
single-user
multi-user
multi-user-server
network
name-services
sysconfig

devices
SMF Dependencies:Dependencies define the relationships between services. These relationships provide precise
fault containment by restarting only those services that are directly affected by a fault, rather than restarting all of the
services. The dependencies can be services or file systems.
The SMF dependencies refer to the milestones & requirements needed to reach various levels.
The svc.startd daemon:
1. It maintains system services & ensures that the system boots to the milestone specified at boot time.
2. It chooses built in milestone "all", if no milestone is specified at boot time. At present, five milestone can be used at
boot time:
none
single-user
Multi-user
multi-user-server
all
To boot the system to a specific milestone use following command at OBP:
ok> boot -m milestone=single-user
3. It ensures the proper running, starting & restarting of system services.
4. It retrieves information about services from the repository.
5. It starts the processes for the run level attained.
6. It identifies the required milestone and processes the manifests in the /var/svc/manifest directory.
Service Configuration Repository:
The service configuration repository :
1. stores persistent configuration information as well as SMF runtime data for services.
2. The repository is distributed among local memory and local files.
3. Can only be manipulated or queried by using SMF interfaces.
The svccfg command offers a raw view of properties, and is precise about whether the properties are set on the
service or the instance. If you view a service by using the svccfg command, you cannot see instance properties. If
you view the instance instead, you cannot see service properties.
The svcprop command offers a composed view of the instance, where both instance properties and service
properties are combined into a single property namespace. When service instances are started, the composed view
of their properties is used.
All SMF configuration changes can be logged by using the Oracle Solaris auditing framework.

SMF Repository Backups:

SMF automatically takes the following backups of the repository:
The boot backup: It is taken immediately before the first change to the repository is made during each system
startup.
The manifest_import backups: It occur after svc:/system/early-manifest-import:default or svc:/system/manifestimport:default completes, if the service imported any new manifests or ran any upgrade scripts.
Four backups of each type are maintained by the system. The system deletes the oldest backup, when necessary.
The backups are stored as /etc/svc/repository-type-YYYYMMDD_HHMMSWS, where YYYYMMDD (year, month,
day) and HHMMSS (hour, minute, second), are the date and time when the backup was taken. Note that the hour
format is based on a 24hour clock.
You can restore the repository from these backups by using the/lib/svc/bin/restore_repository command.

SMF Snapshots:
The data in the service configuration repository includes snapshots, as well as a configuration that can be edited.
Data about each service instance is stored in the snapshots. The standard snapshots are as follows:
initial Taken on the first import of the manifest
running Taken when svcadm refresh is run.
start Taken at the last successful start
The SMF service always executes with the running snapshot. This snapshot is automatically created if it does not
exist.
The svccfg command is used to change current property values. Those values become visible to the service when
the svcadm command is run to integrate those values into the running snapshot. The svccfg command can also be
used to, view or revert to instance configurations in another snapshot.
svcs command:
1. Listing service:
#svcs <service name>/<Service FMRI>
2. Listing service dependencies:
a. svcs -d <service name>/<Service FMRI>: Displays services on which named service depends.
b. svcs -D <service name>/<Service FMRI>: Displays services that depend on the named service.
3. svcs -x FMRI: Determining why services are not running.

svcadm command:
The svcadm command can be used to change the state of service(disable/enable/clear).
Example:

Other uses of svcadm command:

1. svcadm clear FMRI: Clear faults for FMRI.
2. svcadm refresh FMRI: Force FMRI to read config file.
3. svcadm restart FMRI: Restarts FMRI.
4. svcadm -v milestone -d <milestone name>:default : Specify the milestone the svc.startd daemon achives on the
system boot.
Creating new service scripts:
1. Determine the process to start & stop the service.
2. Specify the name & category of the service.
3. Determine if the service runs multiple instances.
4. Identify the dependency relationships between this service & other services.
5. Create a script to start & stop the process and save it in/usr/local/svc/method/<my service>.
#chmod 755 /usr/local/svc/method/<my service>
6. Create a service manifest file & use svccfg to incorporat the script into SMF. Create your xml file and save it in:
/var/svc/manifest/site/myservice.xml
Incorporate the script into the SMF using svccfg utility
#svccfg import /var/svc/manifest/site/<my service>.xml
Manipulating Legacy Services Not Managed by SMF:
We can modify the legacy services not managed by SMF by using the svcs command & it will be stored in the
/etc/init.d directory.
#svcs | grep legacy
#ls /etc/init.d/mysql
/etc/init.d/mysql
#/etc/init.d/mysql start
#/etc/init.d/mysql stop

Commands for booting system:

Stop : Bypass POST.
Stop + A : Abort.
Stop + D : Enter diagnostic mode. Enter this command if your system bypasses POST by default and you don't want
it to.
Stop + N : Reset NVRAM content to default values.
Note: The above commands are applicable for SPARC systems only.
Performing system shutdown and reboot in Solaris 10:
There are two commands used to perform the shutdown in Solaris 10: The commands are init and shutdown.
It is preferred to use shutdown command as it notifies the logged in users and systems using mounted resource of
the server.
Syntax:
/usr/sbin/shutdown [-i<initState>] [-g<gracePeriod>] [-y] [<message>]
-y: Pre-answers the confirmation questions so that the command continues without asking for your intervention.
-g<grace Period>: Specifies the number of seconds before the shutdown begins. The default value is 60.
-i<init State>: Specifies the run level to which the system will be shut down. Default is the single-user level: S.
<message>: It specifies the message to be appended to the standard warning message. If the <message> contains
multiple words, it should be enclosed in single or double quotes.
Examples:
#shutdown -i0 -g120 "!!!! System Maintenance is going to happen, plz save your work ASAP!!!"
If the -y option is used in the command, you will not be prompted to confirm.
If you are asked for confirmation, type y.
Do you want to continue? (y or n): y

#shutdown : Its shuts down the system to single user mode

#shutdown -i0: It stops the Solaris OS & displays the ok or Press any key to reboot prompt.
#shutdown -i5: To shut down the & automatically power it off.
#shutdown -i6: Reboots the system to state or run level defined in /etc/inittab.
Note: Run levels 0 and 5 are states reserved for shutting the system down. Run level 6 reboots the system. Run
level 2 is available as a multiuser operating state.
Note: The shutdown command invokes init daemon & executes rc0 kill scripts to properly shut down a system.
Some shutdown scenarios and commands to be used:
1. Bring down the server for anticipated outage:
shutdown -i5 -g300 -y "System going down in 5 minutes."
2. You have changed the kernel parameters and apply those changes:
shutdown -i6 -y
3. Shutdown stand alone server:
init 0
Ungraceful shutdown: These commands should be used with extreme caution and to be used only when you are
left with no option.
#halt
#poweroff
#reboot
These commands do not use rc0 kill scripts just like init command. Unlike shutdown command they do not warn
logged in user about the shut down.

Understanding GRUB
GRUB (Grand Unified Loader for x86 systems only)

It loads the boot archive(contains kernel modules & configuration files) into the system's memory.

It has been implemented on x86 systems that are running the Solaris OS.
Some Important Terms before we proceed ahead:
Boot Archive: Collection of important system file required to boot the Solaris OS. The system maintains two boot
archive:
1. Primary boot archive: It is used to boot Solaris OS on a system.
2. Secondary boot archive: Failsafe Archive is used for system recovery in case of failure of primary boot archive. It
is referred as Solaris failsafe in the GRUB menu.
Boot loader: First software program executed after the system is powered on.

GRUB edit Menu: Submenu of the GRUB menu.

GRUB main menu: It lists the OS installed on a system.
menu.lst file: It contains the OS installed on the system. The OS displayed on the GRUB main menu is determined by
menu.lst file.
Miniroot: It is a minimal bootable root(/) file system that is present on the Solaris installation media. It is also used as
failsafe boot archive.
GRUB-Based Booting:
1. Power on system.
2. The BIOS initializes the CPU, the memory & the platform hardware.
3. BIOS loads the boot loader from the configured boot device. The BIOS then gives the control of system to the boot
loader.
The GRUB implementation on x86 systems in the Solaris OS is compliant with the multiboot specification. This
enables to :
1. Boot x86 systems with GRUB.
2. individually boot different OS from GRUB.
Installing OS instances:
1. The GRUB main menu is based on a configuration file.
2. The GRUB menu is automatically updated if you install or upgrade the Solaris OS.
3. If another OS is installed, the /boot/grub/menu.lst need to be modified.
GRUB Main Menu:
It can be used to :
1. Select a boot entry.
2. modify a boot entry.
3. load an OS kernel from the command line.
Editing the GRUB Maine menu:
1. Highlight a boot entry in GRUB Main menu.
2. Press 'e' to display the GRUB edit menu.
3. Select a boot entry and press 'c'.
Working of GRUB-Based Booting:
1. When a system is booted, GRUB loads the primary boot archive & multiboot program. The primary boot archive,
called /platform/i86pc/boot_archive, is a RAM image of the file system that contains the Solaris kernel modules &
data.
2. The GRUB transfers the primary boot archive and the multiboot program to the memory without any
interpretations.
3. System Control is transferred to the multiboot program. In this situation, GRUB is inactive & system memory is
restored.
The multiboot program is now responsible for assembling core kernel modules into memory by reading the boot
archive modules and passing boot-related information to the kernel.
GRUB device naming conventions:
(fd0), (fd1) : First diskete, second diskette
(nd): Network device
(hd0,0),(hd0,1): First & second fdisk partition of the first bios disk
(hd0,0,a),(hd0,0,b): SOLARIS/BSD slice 0 & 1 (a & b) on the first fdisk partition on the first bios disk.
Functional Component of GRUB
It has three functional components:
1. stage 1: It is installed on first sector of SOLARIS fdisk partition
2. stage 2: It is installed in a reserved areal in SOLARIS fdisk partition. It is te core image of GRUB.
3. menu.lst: It is a file located in /boot/grub directory. It is read by GRUB stage2 functional component.
The GRUB Menu
1. It contains the list of all OS instances installed on the system.
2. It contains important boot directives.

3. It requires modification of the active GRUB menu.lst file for any change in its menu options.
Locating the GRUB Menu:
#bootadm list-menu
The locatiofor the active GRUB menus is : /boot/grub/menu.lst
Edit the menu.lst file to add new OS entries & GRUB console redirection information.
Edit the menu.lst file to modify system behaviour.
GRUB Main Menu Entries:
On installing the Solaris OS, by default two GRUB menu entries are installed on the system:
1. Solaris OS entry: It is used to boot Solaris OS on a system.
2. miniroot(failsafe) archieve: Failsafe Archive is used for system recovery in case of failure of primary boot archive. It
is referred as Solaris failsafe in the GRUB menu.
Modifying menu.lst:
When the system boots, the GRUb menu is displayed for a specific period of time. If the user do not select during this
period, the system boots automatically using the default boot entry.
The timeout value in the menu.lst file:
1. determines if the system will boot automatically
2. prevents the system from booting automatically if the value specified as -1.
Modifying X86 System Boot Behavior
1. eeprom command: It assigsn a different value to a standard set of properties. These values are equivalent to the
SPARC OpenBoot PROM NVRAM variables and are saved in /boot/solaris/bootenv.rc
2. kernel command: It is used to modify the boot behavior of a system.
3. GRUB menu.lst:
Note:
1.The kernel command settings override the changes done by using the eeprom command. However, these changes
are only effective until you boot the system again.
2. GRUB menu.lst is not preferred option because entries in menu.lst file can be modified during a software upgrade
& changes made are lost.
Verifying the kernel in use:
After specifying the kernel to boot using the eeprom or kernel commands, verify the kernel in use by following
command:
#prtconf -v | grep /platform/i86pc/kernel
GRUB Boot Archives
The GRUB menu in Solaris OS uses two boot archive:
1. Primary boot archive: It shadows a root(/) file system. It contains all the kernel modules, driver.conf files & some
configuration files. All these configuration files are placed in /etc directory. Before mounting the root file system the
kernel reads the files from the boot archive. After the root file system is mounted, the kernel removes the boot archive
from the memory.
2. failsafe boot archive: It is self-sufficient and can boot without user intervention. It does not require any
maintenance. By default, the failsafe boot archive is created during installation and stored in /boot/x86.minor-safe.
Default Location of primary boot archive: /platform/i86pc/boot_archive
Managing the primary boot archive:
The boot archive :
1. needs to be rebuilt, whenever any file in the boot archive is modified.
2. Should be build on system reboot.
3. Can be built using bootadm command
#bootadm update-archive -f -R /a
Options of the bootadm command:
-f: forces the boot archive to be updated
-R: enables to provide an alternative root where the boot archive is located.
-n: enables to check the archive content in an update-archive operation, without updating the content.

The boot archive can be rebuild by booting the system using the failsafe archive.
Booting a system in GRUB-Based boot environment
Booting a System to Run Level 3(Multiuser Level):
To boot a system functioning at run level 0 to 3:
1. reboot the system.
2. press the Enter key when the GRUB menu appears.
3. log in as the root & verify that the system is running at run level 3 using :
#who -r
Booting a system to run level S (Single-User level):
1. reboot the system
2. type e at the GRUB menu prompt.
3. from the command list select the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot" boot entry and type e to edit the entry.
4. add a space and -s option at the end of the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot -s" to boot at run level S.
5. Press enter to return the control to the GRUB Main Menu.
6. Type b to boot the system to single user level.
7. Verify the system is running at run level S:
#who -r
8. Bring the system back to muliuser state by using the Ctrl+D key combination.
Booting a system interactively:
1. reboot the system
2. type e at the GRUB menu prompt.
3. from the command list select the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot" boot entry and type e to edit the entry.
4. add a space and -a option at the end of the "kernel /platform/i86pc/multiboot -a" .
5. Press enter to return the control to the GRUB Main Menu.
6. Type b to boot the system interactively.
Stopping an X86 system:
1. init 0
2. init 6
3. Use reset button or power button.
Booting the failsafe archive for recovery purpose:
1. reboot the system.
2. Press space bar while while GRUB menu is displayed.
3. Select Solaris failsafe entry and press b.
4. Type y to automatically update an out-of-date boot archive.
5. Select the OS instance on which the read write mount can happen.
6. Type y to mount the selected OS instance on /a.
7. Update the primary archive using following command:
#bootadm update-archive -f -R /a
8. Change directory to root(/): #cd /
9. Reboot the system.
Interrupting an unresponsive system
1. Kill the offending process.
2. Try rebooting system gracefully.
3. Reboot the system by holding down the ctrl+alt+del key sequence on the keyboard.
4. Press the reset button.
5. Power off the system & then power it back on.

lnstallation of Solaris 10, Packages & Patching

In this section we will go through :
1. Solaris 10 installation basics
2. Installing and managing packages.
There can be different way in which we may need to install Solaris 10. If we install from scratch, it is called Initial
installation, or we can Upgrade Solaris 7 or higher version toSolaris 10.

Hardware Requirement for Installation of Solaris 10

Item

Requirement

Platform

SPARC or X86 based systems

Memory for installation or upgrade

Minimum: 64mb
Recommended: 256mb
For GUI Installation: 384mb or higher

SWAP area

Default: 512mb

Processor

SPARC: 200MHz or faster

X86: 120MHz or faster
H/W support for floating points is required

Disk Space

Minimum: 12gb

Types of Installation:
1.
Interactive Installation (Interactive Installation)
1.
2.
3.

Press STOP +A at system boot to go to OBP (open Boot prompt)

OK> printenv boot-device (Gives the first boot device)
The o/p will be: disk (Here the first boot device is hard drive)
4.
OK> setenv boot-device cdrom (Setting the first boot device as cdrom)
5.
OK> boot (rebooting the system)
2.
Jumpstart Installation (Network Based Installation)

1.

Feed the following information into the server where we are going to save the image of the SOLARIS installation
disk.
HostName
Client Machine IP address
Client Machine MAC address
STOP + A (Go to OBP)
3.
OK> boot net -install(It boots from the n/w and takes the image from the server where the client machine
information was added in the step 1.) We will discuss this method of Installation in details in later section.
3.
Flash Achieve Installation (Replicate the same s/w & configuration on multiple systems)

1.
2.
3.
2.

1.
2.
3.

Copy the image of the machine which need to be installed. Save the image on a server.
Boot the client machine with the SOLARIS disk and follow the normal interactive installation process.
At the stage of installation where it asks for specify media, select NFS. NFS stands for network file system.

4.

Mention the server name and the image name in the format mentioned below:
200:100:0:1 :/imagename
4.
Live Upgrade (Upgrade a system while it is running)
5.

WAN boot (Install multiple systems over the wide area network or internet)

6.
SOLARIS 10 Zones(Create isolated application environment on the same machine after
original SOLARIS 10 OS installation)
Modes of Installation of Solaris 10
1. Text Installer ModeThe Solaris text installer enables you to install interactively by typing information in a terminal
or a console window.
2. Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode
The Solaris GUI installer enables you to interact with the installation program by using graphic elements such as
windows, pull-down menus, buttons, scrollbars, and icons.
Different display options

Memory

Display Option

64-127MB

Console-based text only

128-383MB

Console-based windows-no other graphics

384MB or greater GUI-based:windows, pull-down menus, buttons, scroll bars, icons

Note: If you choose nowin boot option or install remotely through the tip command, you are using consolebased text option. If you choose the text boot option and have enough memory, you will be installing with
the console-based windows option.

Solaris Software Terminology

As we know there are different flavors of an Operating System. In Solaris terminology,
this flavor is called a software group, which contains software clusters and packages
and are below:
1. Package. As we have installer .exe in windows for installing various other software, Sun and its third-party vendors
deliver software products in the form of components called packages. A package is the smallest installable modular
unit of Solaris software. It is a collection of softwarethat is, a set of files and directories grouped into a single entity
for modular installation and functionality. For example, SUNWadmap is the name of the package that contains the
software used to perform system administration, and SUNWapchr contains the root components of the Apache HTTP
server.
2. Cluster. It is a logical collection of packages (software modules) that are related to each other by their functionality.
3. Software group. A software group is a grouping of software packages and clusters. During initial installation, you
select a software group to install based on the functions you want your system to perform. For an upgrade, you
upgrade the software group installed on your system.
4. Patch. It is similar to windows update. It is a software component that offers a small upgrade to an existing system
such as an additional feature, a bug fix, a driver for a hardware device, or a solution to address issues such as
security or stability problems. A narrower definition of a patch is that it is a collection of files and directories that
replaces or updates existing files and directories that are preventing proper execution of the existing software.
Patches are issued to address problems between two releases of a product.
As shown in table below, the disk space requirement to install Solaris 10 depends on the software group that you
choose to install.

Table : Disk space requirements for installing different Solaris 10 software groups

Software Group

Description

Required Disk
Space

Reduced Network Support

Software Group

Contains the packages that provide the

minimum support required to boot and run
a Solaris system with limited network
service support. This group provides a
multiuser text-based console and system
administration utilities and enables the
system to recognize network interfaces.
However, it does not activate the network
services.

2.0GB

Contains the packages that provide the

Core System Support Software
minimum support required to boot and
Group
run a networked Solaris system.

2.0GB

End User Solaris Software

Group

Contains the packages that provide the

minimum support required to boot and run
5.0GB
a networked Solaris system and
the Common Desktop Environment (CDE).

Developer Software Group

Contains the packages for the End User

Solaris Software Group plus additional
support for software development which
includes libraries, man pages, and
programming tools. Compilers are not
included.

Entire Solaris Software Group

Contains the packages for the Developer

Solaris Software Group and additional
6.5GB
software to support the server functionality.

Entire Solaris Software Group

plus Original Equipment
Manufacturer(OEM)support

Contains the packages for the Entire

Solaris Software Group plus additional
hardware drivers, including drivers for
6.7GB
hardware that may not be on the system at
the installation time.

6.0GB

Package Naming Convention: The name for a Sun package always begins with the prefixSUNW such as
in SUNWaccr, SUNWadmap, and SUNWcsu. However, the name of a third-party package usually begins with a prefix
that identifies the company in some way, such as the company's stock symbol.
When you install Solaris, you install a Solaris software group that contains packages and clusters.
Few take away points:
If you want to use the Solaris 10 installation GUI, boot from the local CD or DVD by issuing the following command at
the ok prompt:

ok boot cdrom
If you want to use the text installer in a desktop session, boot from the local CD or DVD by issuing the following
command at the ok prompt:
ok boot cdrom -text
The -text option is used to override the default GUI installer with the text installer in a desktop session.
If you want to use the text installer in a console session, boot from the local CD or DVD by issuing the following
command at the ok prompt:
ok boot cdrom -nowin
Review the contents of the /a/var/sadm/system/data/upgrade_cleanup file to determine whether you need to make any
correction to the local modifications that the Solaris installation program could not preserve. This is used in upgrade
scenario and has to be checked before system reboot..
Installation logs are saved in the /var/sadm/system/logs and /var/sadm/install/logsdirectories
you can upgrade your Solaris 7 (or higher version) system to Solaris 10Installing and Managing PACKAGE in
Solaris 10
In Solaris 10 packages are available in two different formats:
File System format: It acts as a directory which contains sub directories and files.
Data Stream Format: It acts as a single compressed file.
Most of the packages downloaded from the internet will be in data stream format. We can convert the
package from one from to another using the command: pkgtrans command.
To display the installed software distributing group use following command:
#cat /var/sadm/system/admin/clusterCLUSTER = SUNWCall (EDSSG without OEM) or SUNWXall(With OEM)
To display all information about all the installed packages in the OS:#pkginfo
To display all the information about the specific package:#pkginfo SUNWzsh -> This is the package name.
To display all the complete information about the specific package:#pkginfo -l SUNWzsh ->This is the package
name.
To Install a package:#pkgadd -d /cdrom/cdrom0/SOLARIS10/product SUNWzsh
-d option specifies the absolute path to the software package.
Spooling a package : It is nothing but copying the package to the local hard drive instead of installing to.
The default location for the spool is /var/spool/pkg.
Command for Spooling a package to our customized locations
#pkgadd -d /cdrom/cdrom0/solaris10/product -s <spool dir> <Package Name>
-s option specifies the name of the spool directory where the software package will be spooled
Command for Installing the package from the default spool location
#pkgadd <Package Name>
Command for Installing package from customized spool location
#pkgadd -d <spool dir> <Package Name>
Command for Deleting the package from spool location
#pkgrm -s <spool dir> <Package Name>
Displaying the dependent files used for installing a package in OS

#pkgchk -v <Package Name>

If no errors occur, a list of installed files is returned. Otherwise, the pkgchk command reports the error.
To Check the Integrity of Installed Objects
# pkgchk -lp path-name
# pkgchk -lP partial-path-name
-p path: Checks the accuracy only of the path name or path names that are listed. Path can be one or more
path names separated by commas. Specifies to audit only the file attributes (the permissions), rather than the
file attributes and the contents, which is the default.
-P partial-path: Checks the accuracy of only the partial path name or path names that are listed. The partialpath can be one or more partial path names separated by commas. Matches any path name that contains the
string contained in the partial path. Specifies to audit only the file contents, rather than the file contents and
attributes, which is the default.
-l : Lists information about the selected files that make up a package. This option is not compatible with the a, -c, -f, -g, and -v options. Specifies verbose mode, which displays file names as they are processed.
Command for Uninstalling a package
#pkgrm SUNWzsh
Note:
The complete information about the packages are stored under/var/sadm/install/contents file.
All the installed packages are stored under /var/sadm/pkg directory.

Patch Administration
A patch is a collection of files and directories that may replace or update existing files and
directories of a software. A patch is identified by its unique patch ID, which is an alphanumeric
string that consists of a patch base code and a number that represents the patch revision number;
both separated by a hyphen (e.g., 107512-10)
If the patches you downloaded are in a compressed format, you will need to use the unzip or the tar
command to uncompress them before installing them.

Installing Patches : patchadd command is used to install patches and to find out which patches are
already installed on system.
patchadd [-d] [-G] [-u] [-B <backoutDir>] <source> [<destination>]

-d. Do not back up the files to be patched (changed or removed due to patch installation). When this option
is used, the patch cannot be removed once it has been added. The default is to save (back up) the copy of
all files being updated as a result of patch installation so that the patch can be removed if necessary.
-G. Adds patches to the packages in the current zone only
-u. Turns off file validation. That means that the patch is installed even if some of the files to be patched have
been modified since their original installation.
<source>. Specifies the source from which to retrieve the patch, such as a directory and a patch id.
<destination>. Specifies the destination to which the patch is to be applied. The default destination is the
current system.

The log for the patchadd command is saved into the file : /var/sadm/patch/<patch-ID>/log

Few practical scenarios :

Obtaining information about all the patches that have already been applied on your system.
#patchadd -p.
Finding out if a particular patch with the base number 102129 has been applied on your system.
#patchadd -p | grep 102129 .
Install a patch with patch id 107512-10 from the /var/sadm/spool directory on the current
standalone system.
#patchadd /var/sadm/spool/107512-10.
Verify that the patch has been installed.
#patchadd -p | 105754.

The showrev command is meant for displaying the machine, software revision, and patch revision
information. e.g : #showrev -p

Removing Patches : patchrm command can be used to remove (uninstall) a patch and restore the
previously saved files. The command has the following syntax:
patchrm [-f] [-G] -B <backoutDir>] <patchID>
The operand <patchID> specifies the patch ID such as 105754-03. The options are described here:
-f. Forces the patch removal even if the patch was superseded by another patch.
-G. Removes the patch from the packages in the current zone only.
-B <backoutDir>. Specifics the backout directory for a patch to be removed so that the saved files could be restored.
This option is needed only if the backout data has been moved from the directory where it was saved during the
execution of the patchadd command.
For example, the following command removes a patch with patch ID 107512-10 from a standalone system:
#patchrm 107512-10

File Archives, Compression and Transfer

Archiving Files:
The files are achieved to back them up to an external storage media such as tape drive or USB flash drive. The two
major archival techniques are discussed below :
The Tar command: It is used to create and extract files from a file archive or any removable media.
The tar command archoves files to and extracts files from a singles .tar file. Tthe default device for a tar file is a
magnetic tape.
Syntax: tar functions <archive file> <file names>

Functio
n

Definition

creates a new tar file

List the table of contents to the tar file

Extracts files from the tar file

Specifies archive file or tape device. The default tape device is /dev/rmt/0. If
the name of archve file is "-", the tar command reads from standard i/p when
reading from a tar archive or writes to the standard output if creating a tar
archive.

Executes in verbose mode, writes to the standard output

Follows symbolic links as standard files or directories

Example :
#tar cvf files.tar file1 file2
The above example archives file1 & file2 into files.tar.
To create an archive which bundles all the files in the current directory that end with .doc into the alldocs.tar file:
tar cvf alldocs.tar *.doc
Third example, to create a tar file named ravi.tar containing all the files from the /ravi directory (and any of its
subdirectories):
tar cvf ravi.tar ravi/
You can also create tar files on tape drives or floppy disks, like this:
tar cvfM /dev/fd0 panda Archive the files in the panda directory to floppy disk(s).
tar cvf /dev/rmt0 panda Archive the files in the panda directory to the tape drive.
In these examples, the c, v, and f flags mean create a new archive, be verbose (list files being archived), and write
the archive to a file.
To view an archive from a Tape:
#tar tf /dev/rmt/0
To view an archive from a Archive File:
#tar tf ravi.tar
To retrieve archive from a Tape :
#tar xvf /dev/rmt/0
To retrieve archive from a Flash Drive:
#volrmmount -i rmdisk0 #mounts the flash drive
#cd /rmdisk/rmdisk0
#ls
ravi.tar
#cp ravi.tar ~ravi #copies the tar file to user ravi's home dir
#cd ~ravi
#tar xvf ravi.tar #retrieving the archived files
Excluding a particular file from the restore:
Create a file and add the files to be excluded.
#vi excludelist
/moon/a
/moon/b
:wq!
Tar -Xxvf excludelist <destination folder>
X Excluding

Disadvantage:
By using TAR we cannot take the backup of file size more than 2GB
The Jar command: The Jar command is used to combine multiple files into a single archive file and compresses it.
Syntax : jar options destination <file names>

Functio
n

Definition

creates a new jar file

List the table of contents to the jar file

Extracts files from the jar file

Specifies the jar file to process. The jar command send data to screen if this
option is not specified.

Executes in verbose mode, writes to the standard output

Creating a jar archive

#jar cvf /tmp/ravi.jar ravi/
This example, creates a jar file named ravi.jar containing all the files from the /ravi directory(and any of its
subdirectories)
Viewing a jar archive
#jar tf ravi.jar
Retrieving a jar archive
#jar xvf ravi.jar
Compressing, viewing & Uncompressing files:
Compress & uncompress files using compress command:
Using compress command
compress [-v] <file name>
The compress command replaces the original file with a new file that has a .Z extension.
Using uncompress command
uncompress -v file1.tar.Z #replaces file1.tar.Z with file1.tar
uncompress -c file.tar.Z | tar tvf - #to view the contents
View compressed file's content:
#uncompress -c files.tar.tz | tar tvf View compressed file's content using zcat command:
zcat <file name>
zcat ravi.Z | more
zcat files.tar.Z | tar xvf The '-' at the end indicates that the tar command should read tar input from standard input.
Note: If a compressed file is compressed again, its file size increases.
Using 7za command:
For compressing:
7za a file1.7z file1
For decompressing:
7za x file1.7z
Using gzip command:
For compressing:
gzip [-v] <file name>
gzip file1 file2 # compresses file1 and file 2 and replaces the file with extension .gzip

For decompressing :
gunzip file1.gz #uncompress the file.gz
Note: It performs the same compression as compress command but generally produces smaller files.
'gzcat' command:
It is used to view compressed files using gzip or compress command:
gzcat <file name>
gzcat file.gz
Using zip command: To compress multiple files into a single archive file.
For compressing:
zip target_filename source_filenames
zip file.zip file1 file2 file3
For decompressing :
unzip <zipfile> # unzip the file
unzip -l <zipfile> #list the files in the zip archive.
It adds .zip extension of no name/extension is give for the zipped file.
Note: The jar command and zip command create files that are compatible with each other. The unzip command can
uncompress a jar file and the jar command can uncompress a zip file.
Following table summarizes the various compressing/archiving:

Utility

Compress

View

Uncompress

tar

tar -cvf Archivedfile.tar <file1

file2 ..>

tar -tf Archivedfile.tar

tar -xvf
Archivedfile.tar

jar

jar -cvf Archivedfile.tar <file1

file2 ..>

jar -tf Archivedfile.tar

jar -xvf
Archivedfile.tar

zcat filename.Z

uncompress
<filename>

compres
compress <filename>
s

uncompress -c
filename.Z
gzcat filename.Z
gzip

gzip file1 file2 ...

gzcat filename.gz

gunzip filename.gz

zip

zip file.zip file1 file2 .

unzip -l file.zip

unzip file.zip

jar -tf file.zip

jar -xvf file.zip

Performing Remote Connections and File Transfers:

When a user request for login to a remote host, the remote host searches for the local /etc/passwd file for the entry
for the remote user. If no entry exists, the remote user cannot access the system.

The ~/.rhosts:
It provides another authentication procedure to determine if a remote user can access the local host with the identity
of a local user. This procedure bypass the password authentication mechanism. Here the rhosts file refers to the
remote users rhosts file.
If a user's .rhosts file contain a plus(+) character, then the user is able to login from any known system without
providing password.
Using the rlogin command: To establish a remote login session.
rlogin <Host Name>
rlogin -l <user name> <host name>

rlogin starts a terminal session on the remote host specified as host. The remote host must be running
a rlogind service (or daemon) for rlogin to connect to. rlogin uses the standard rhosts authorization mechanism.
When no user name is specified either with the -l option or as part of username@hostname, rlogin connects as the
user you are currently logged in as (including either your domain name if you are a domain user or your machine
name if you are not a domain user).
Note: If the remote host contains ~/.rhosts file for the user, the password is not prompted.
Running a program on a remote system:
rsh <host name> command
The rsh command works only if a .rhosts file exists for the user because the rsh command does not prompt for a
password to authenticate new users. We can also provide the IP address instead of host name.
Example: #rsh host1 ls -l /var
Terminating a Process Remotely by Logging on to a another system:
rlogin <host name>
pkill shell
Using Secure Shell (SSH) remote login:
Syntax: ssh [-l <login name>] <host name> | username@hostname [command]
If the system that user logs in from is listed in /etc/hosts.equiv or /etc/shosts.equiv on the remote system and the user
name is same on both the systems, the user is immediately permitted to log in.
If .rhosts or .shosts exists in the user's home directory on remote system and contains entry with the client system
and user name on that system, the user is permitted to log in.
Note: The above two types of authentication is normally not allowed as they are not secure.
Using a telnet Command: To log on to a remote system and work in that environment.
telnet <Host Name>
Note: telnet command always prompts for password and does not uses ~/.rhosts file.
Using Virtual network Computing(VNC):
It provides remote desktop session over the Remote Frame Buffer (RFB). The VNC consists of two components:
1. X VNC server
2. VNC Client for X
Xvnc is an X VNC server that allows sharing a Solaris 10 X windows sessions with another Solaris, Linux or Windows
system. Use vncserver command to start or stop an Xvnc server:
vncserver options
Vncviewer is and X VNC Client that allows viewing an X windows session from another Solaris, Linux, or Windows
system on Solaris 10 system. Use vncviewer command to establish a connection to an Xvnc srver.
Vncviewer options host:display#

Copying Files or directories :

Th rcp command:
To copy files from one host to another.
rcp <sourcer file> <host name>:<destination file>
rcp <host name>:<source file> <destination file>
rcp <host name>:<source file> <host name>:<destination file>
The source file is the original files and the destination file is the copy of it.
It checks for the ~/.rhosts file for access permissions.
Examples:
#rcp /ravi1/test host2:/ravi
In the above example we are copying the files test into the directory /ravi of remote host host2.
#rcp host2:/ravi2/test /ravi1
In the above example we are copying file test from the remote host host2 to the directory /ravi1.
To copy directories from one host to another.
rcp -r <Source Directory> <Host Name>:<Destination Directory>
Example:
#rcp -r /ravi1 host2:/ravi2
In the above example we are copying the directory /ravi1 from the local host to the dir /ravi2 of the remote host.

The FTP Command:

ftp <host name>
User needs to authenticate for FTP session. For anonymous FTP a valid email address is needed. It does not uses
the .rhosts file for authentication. There are two ftp transfer mode:
1. ASCII: Enables to transfer plain files:
It was default mode of ftp in Solaris 8 and earlier version. This mode transfers the plain text files and therefore to
transfer binary, image or any non-test files, we have to use bin command to ensure complete data transfer.
Example:
#ftp host2
..
ftp>ascii
..
ftp>lcd ~ravi1
..
ftp>ls
..
test
ftp>get test
..
ftp>bye
For transferring multiple files we use mget and mput commands:
mget: To transfer multiple files from remote system to the current working directory.
mput: To transfer multiple files from local system to a directory in remote host.
prompt: To switch interactive prompting on or off.
Example:
#ftp host2
..
ftp> ls
..
test1
test2
..
ftp> prompt
Interactive mode off
ftp> mget test1 test2
ftp> mput test1 test2
ftp> bye
2. Binary: Enables to transfer binary, image or non-text files
It is default mode in Solaris 9 and later. It enables to transfer binary, image and non-text files. We dont have to use
bin command to ensure the complete data transfer.
Example:
#ftp host2
..
ftp> get binarytest.file
..
ftp> bye
The ls and cd command are available at the ftp prompt.
The 'lcd' command is used to change the current working directory on the local system.
To end and ftp session use exit for bye at ftp prompt.
The following table summarizes the remote commands discussed:

Remote
Command

Use

Requirement

Syntax

rlogin

The remote host must be

rlogin <Host Name>
To establish a running a rlogind(or daemon). If
remote login the remote host contains
rlogin -l <user name>
session
~/.rhosts file for the user, the
<host name>
password is not prompted

rsh

To run
commands
remotely

telnet

To establish a telnet command always prompts

remote login for password and does not uses telnet hostname
session
~/ .rhosts file

ssh

If the remote system is listed

in /etc/hosts.equiv or
/etc/shosts.equiv and user name
is same in local and remote
machine, the user is permitted to ssh [-l login_name]
To establish a
log in.
hostname
secure remote
login session
If ~/.rhosts or ~/.shosts exists
ssh user@hostname
on remote system and has entry
for client system and user name
on client system, the user is
permitted to log in.

The rsh command works only if

a .rhosts file exists for the user

rsh <host name>

command

rcp <sourcer file> <host

name>:<destination file>

rcp

ftp

rcp <host
To copy files
name>:<source file>
It checks for the ~/.rhosts file for
from one host
<destination file>
access permissions.
to another
rcp <host
name>:<source file>
<host
name>:<destination file>

Remote File
Transfer

User needs to authenticate for

FTP session. For anonymous
FTP a valid email address is
needed. It does not uses the
.rhosts file for authentication

ftp <host name>

get/put filename : For
single file transfer
mget/mput file1 file2
. : For multiple file
transfer

User Administration
User Administration:
In Solaris each user requires following details:
1. A unique user name
2. A user ID
3. home directory
4. login shell
5. Group to which the user belongs.
System files used for storing user account information are:
The /etc/passwd file:
It contains login information for authorized system user. It displays following seven fields in each entry:

loginID

A string maximum of 8 chars including numbers & lowercase and

uppercase letters. The first character should be a letter.

It is the password place holder which is stored under /etc/shadow file.

UID

Unique user ID. System reserves the values 0 to 99 for system accounts.
The UID 60001 is reserved for the nobody account & 60002 is reserved for
the noaccess account. The UID after 60000 should be avoided.

GID

Group ID. System reserves the values 0 to 99 for system accounts. The
GID numbers for users ranges from 100 to 60000.

comment

Generally contains user full name.

home
directory

Full path for user's home directory.

login shell

The user's default login shell. It can be anyone from the list : Bourne shell,
Korn shell, C shell, Z shell, BASH shell, TC shell.

Few default system account entries:

User
name

User
ID

Description

root

Root user account which has access to the entire system

daemon

The system daemon account associated with routine system tasks

bin

The Administrative daemon account that is associated with routine

system tasks

sys

The Administrative daemon account that is associated with system

logging or updating files in temporary directories.

adm

The Administrative daemon account that is associated with system

logging

lp

71

Printer daemon account

The /etc/shadow file:

It contains encrypted password.The encrypted password is 13 characters long and encrypted with 128 bit DESA
encryption.
The /etc/shadow file contains following fields:

loginID

It contains the user's login name

passwor
It contains the 13 letter encrypted password
d
lastchg

Number of days between 1st January & last password modification date.

min

Minimum number of days to pass before you can change the password.

max

Maximum number of days after which a password change is necessary.

warn

The number of days prior to password expiry that the user is warned.

inactive

The number of inactive days allowed for the user before the user account is
locked.

expire

The number of days after which the user account would expire. The number
of days are counted since 1st Jan 1970.

flag

It is used to track failed logins. It maintains count in low order.

The /etc/group file:

It contains default system group entries. This file is used to create/modify the groups.The /etc/shadow file contains
following fields:

groupname

It contains the name assigned to the group. Maximum 8 characters.

grouppassword

It is group password and is generally empty due to security reasons.

GID

Group's GID number.

usernamelist

It contains the list of secondary groups with which user is associated.

This list is separated by commas and by default maximum of 15
secondary groups can be associated to each user.

The /etc/default/passwd File:

It is used to control the properties for all user passwords on the system. The /etc/default/passwd contains following
fields:

MAXWEEKS

It is used to set the maximum time period in weeks for

which the password is valid.

MINWEEKS

It is the minimum time period after which the password

can be changed.

PASSLENGHT

Minimum number of characters for password length.

WARNWEEKS

It sets the time period prior to password's expiry that the

user should be warned.

NAMECHECK=NO

Sets the password controls to verify that the user is not

using the login name as a component of password.

HISTORY=0

Forces the passwd program to store the number of old

passwords. The maximum number of allowed is 26.

DICTIONLIST=

Causes the passwd program to perform dictionary word

lookups from comma-separated dictionary files.

DICTIONBDIR=/var/passw The location of the dictionary where the generated

d
dictionary database reside.
Values in /etc/default/passwd:

Password Management:
pam_unix_auth module is responsible for the password management in Solaris. To configure locking of user account
after specified number of attempts following parameters are modified:
1. LOCK_AFTER_RETRIES tunable parameter in the /etc/security/policy.conf file &
2. lock_after-retries key in the /etc/user_attr file is modified.
Note: The LOCK_AFTER_RETRIES parameter is used to specify the number of failed login attempts after which the
user account is locked. The number of attempts are defined by RETRIES parameter in the /etc/default/login file.
passwd command:
The passwd command is used to set the password for the user account.
syntax:
#passwd <options> <user name>
Various options used with the passwd command are described below:

-s

Shows password attributes for a particular user. When used with the -a option,
attributes for all user accounts are displayed.

-d

Deletes password for name and unlocks the account. The login name is not
prompted for a password.

-e Changes the login shell, in the /etc/passwd file, for a user.

-f

Forces the user to change passwords at the next login by expiring the password.

-h Changes the home directory, in the /etc/passwd file, for a user.

-l

Lock a user's account. Use the -d or -u option to unlock the account.

Makes the password entry for <name> a value that cannot be used for login but
-N does not lock the account. It is used to create password for non-login account(e.g
accounts for running cron jobs).
-u Unlocks a locked account.

Preventing user from using previously used password:

1. Edit the /etc/default/passwd file and uncomment the line HISTORY=0
2. Set the value of HISTORY=n, where n is the number of passwords to be logged and checked.

Managing User Accounts:

Adding a user account:
#useradd -u <User ID> -g <Primary Group> -S <secondary group> -d <user home dir> -m -c <user Desc> -s <User
login shell> <User Name>
The option -m forcibly creates the user home directory if it is not there.
Note: The default group id will be 1(group name is system).
useradd command options:

-c
A short description of the login, typically the user's name and phone
<comment> extension. This string can be up to 256 characters.
-d
<directory>

Specifies the home directory of the new user. This string is limited to
1,024 characters.

-g <group>

Specifies the user's primary group membership.

-G <group>

Specifies the user's secondary group membership.

-n <login>

Specifies the user's login name.

-s <shell>

Specifies the user's login shell.

-u <uid>

Specifies the user ID of the user you want to add. If you do not specify
this option, the system assigns the next available unique UID greater
than 100.

-m

SeCreates a new home directory if one does not already exist.

Default values for creating a user account:

There is a preset range of default values associated with the useraddcommand. These values can be displayed using
-D option. The useraddcommand with -D option creates a file /use/sadm/defadduser for the first time. The values
in /use/sadm/defadduser is used as default values for useradd command.

Example: Adding a new user account test.

Note: When a user account is created using useradd command it is locked and need to be unlocked & password is
set using passwd command.
Modifying a user account:
Modifying a user id: # usermod -u <New User ID> <User Name>
Modifying a primary group: #usermod -g <New Primary Group> <User Name>
Modifying a secondary group: #usermod -G <New Secondary Group> <User Name>
In similar manner we can modify other user related information.
Deleting a user account:
#userdel <user name> user's home directory is not deleted
#userdel -r <user name> user's home directory is deleted
Locking a User Account:
# passwd -l <user name>
Unlock a User Account:
#passwd -u <user name>
Note: uid=0 (Super user, administrator having all privileges). By default root is having uid = 0 which can be
duplicated. This is the only user id which can be duplicated.
For example:
1. #useradd -u 0 -o <user name>
2. #usermod -u 0 -o <user name>
Here option -o is used to duplicate the user id 0.
smuser command:
This command is used for remote management of user accounts.
Example: If you want to add a user raviranjan in nis domain office.com on system MainPC use smuser command as
follows:
# /usr/sadm/bin/ smuser add -D nis:/MainPC/office.com -- -u 111 -n raviranjan
The subcommands used with smuser command:

add

To add a new user account.

modify

To modify a user account.

delete

To delete a user account.

list

To list one or more user accounts.

smuser add options:

-c <comment>

A short description of the login, typically the user's name and phone
extension. This string can be up to 256 characters.

-d <directory>

Specifies the home directory of the new user. This string is limited to
1,024 characters.

-g <group>

Specifies the user's primary group membership.

-G <group>

Specifies the user's secondary group membership.

-n <login>

Specifies the user's login name.

-s <shell>

Specifies the user's login shell.

-u <uid>

Specifies the user ID of the user you want to add. If you do not specify
this option, the system assigns the next available unique UID greater
than 100.

-x autohome=Y|
Sets the home directory to automount if set to Y.
N
smgroup command:
This command is used for remote management of groups.
Example: If you want to add a group admin in nis domain office.com on system MainPC use smgroup command as
follows:
#/usr/sadm/bin/smgroup add -D nis:/MainPC/office.com -- -g 101 -n admin
The subcommands used with smgroup command:

add

To add a new group.

modify

To modify a group.

delete

To delete a group.

list

To list one or more group.

Note: The use of subcommands requires authorization with the Solaris Management Console server. Solaris
Management Console also need to be initialized.
Managing Groups:
There are two groups related to a user account:
1. Primary Group: The maximum and minimum number of primary group for a user is 1.
2. Secondary Group: A user can be member of maximum 15 secondary groups.
Adding a group
#groupadd <groupname>
#groupadd -g <groupid> <groupname>
The group id is updated under /etc/group.

#vi /etc/group
ss2::645
Note: Here ss2 is group name and 645 is group id.
Modifying a group
By group ID: #groupmod -g <New Group ID> <Old Group Name>
By group Name: #groupmod -n <New Group Name> <Old Group Name>
Note:
For every group we are having a group name and id(for kernel reference). By default 0-99 group ids are system
defined.
The complete information about the group is stored under /etc/group file.
Deleting a group
# groupdel <group name>
Variables for customizing a user session:

Variable

Set
By

Description

LOGNAM
E

login

Defines the user login name

HOME

login

used to set path of user's home directory and is the default

argument of the cd command

SHELL

login

Contains path to the default shell

PATH

login

Sets the default path where the command is searched

MAIL

login

Sets path to the mailbox of the user

TERM

login

Used to define the terminal

PWD

shell

Defines the current working directory

PS1

shell

Defines shell prompt for bourne or korn shell

prompt

shell

Contains the shell prompt for C shell

Setting login variables for the shell:

Shell

User's Initialization file

Bourne/Korn

VARIABLE=value;export VARIBLE
eg:#PS1="$HOSTNAME";export PS1

setenv variable value

Monitoring System Access:

who command :
This command displays the list of users currently logged in to the system.
It contains user's login name, device(eg. console or terminal), login date & time and the remote host IP address.
ruser command:
This command displays the list of users logged in to the local and remote host. The output is similar to the who
command.

Finger Command:
By default, the finger command displays in multi-column format the following information about each logged-in user:
user name
user's full name
terminal name(prepended with a '*' (asterisk) if write-permission is denied)
idle time
login time
host name, if logged in remotely
Syntax:
finger [ -bfhilmpqsw ] [ username... ]
finger [-l ] [ username@hostname1[@hostname2...@hostnamen]
finger [-l ] [ @hostname1[@hostname2...@hostnamen] ... ]

... ]

Options:
-b Suppress printing the user's home directory and shell in a long format printout.
-f Suppress printing the header that is normally printed in a non-long format printout.
-h Suppress printing of the .project file in a long format printout.
-i Force "idle" output format,which is similarto short format except that only the login name,terminal,login time,and
idle time are printed.
-l Force long output format.
-m Match arguments only on user name (not first or last name).
-p Suppress printing of the .plan file in a long format printout.
-q Force quick output format, which is similar to short format except that only the login name, terminal, and login
time are printed.
-s Force short output format.
-w Suppress printing the full name in a short format printout.
Note: The username@hostname form supports only the -l option.

last command:
The output of this command is very long and contains information about all the users. We can user the last command
in following ways:
1. To display the n lines from the o/p of last command:
#last -n 10
2. Login information specific to a user:
#last <user name>

3. last n reboot activities:

#last -10 reboot

Recording failed login attempts:

1. Create a file /var/adm/loginlog.
#touch /var/adm/loginlog
2. Root user should be the owner of this file and it should belog to group sys.
#chown root:sys /var/adm/loginlog
3. Assign read and write permission for the root user.
#chmod 600 /var/adm/loginlog
This will log all failed login attempts after five consecutive failed attempts. This can be changed by modifying the
RETRIES entry in /etc/default/login.
The loginlog file contains:
user's login name
user's login device
time of the failed attempt
su command:
The su (substitute user) command enables to change a login session's owner without the owner having to first log out
of that session.
Syntax:
#su [options] [commands] [-] [username]
Examples:
#su
The operating system assumes that, in the absence of a username, the user wants to change to a root session, and
thus the user is prompted for the root password as soon as the ENTER key is pressed. This produces the same
result as typing:
#su root
To transfer the ownership of a session to any other user, the name of that user is typed after su and a space.
#su ravi
The user will then be prompted for the password of the account with the username ravi.

The '-' option with su command:

1. Executes the shell initialization files of the switched user.
2. Modifies the work environment to change it to the work environment of the specified user.
3. Changes the user's home directory.
The whoami command:
This command displays the name of the currently logged in user.
Example:
#su ravi
$whoami
ravi
$
The 'who am i' command:
This displays the login name of the original user.
Example:
#whoami
root
#su ravi
$who am i
root
$
Monitoring su attempts:
You can monitor su attempts by monitoring the /var/adm/sulog file. This file logs each time the su command is used.
The su logging in this file is enabled by default through the following entry in the /etc/default/su file:

SULOG=/var/adm/sulog
The sulog file lists all uses of the su command, not only the su attempts that are used to switch from user to
superuser. The entries show the date and time the command was entered, whether or not the attempt was successful
(+ or -), the port from which the command was issued, and finally, the name of the user and the switched identity.
The console parameter in /etc/default/su file contains the device name to which all atempts to switch user should be
logged

CONSOLE=/dev/console
By default this option is commented.
Controlling system Access:
1. /etc/default/login: CONSOLE Variable: This parameter can be used to restrict the root user login. The
value /dev/console for CONSOLE variable enables the root user to login from system console only. The remote login
for root is user is not possible. However, if the parameter CONSOLE is commented or not defined, the root user can
login to the device from any other system on the networ.
PASSREQ: If set to YES, forces user to enter the password when they login for first time. This is applicable for the
user account with no password.
2. /etc/default/passwd:
It is centralized password aging file for all this normal users. If we update any information to this file, automatically all
users will be updated.
3. /etc/nologin:
It is the file which is responsible for restricting all the normal users not to access server. By default this file does not
exists.
To restrict all normal users from login:
#touch /etc/nologin
#vi /etc/nologin

Server is under maintenance. Please try after 6:00PM.

:wq!
4./etc/skel: It is the directory which contains all the users environmental files information. When we are creating the
user with useradd command along with -m attributes it starts copying all the environmental files from /etc/skel to
users home directory.
5. /etc/security/policy.conf
To lock the user after repeated failed logins#vi /etc/security/policy.conf
(go to last line)
LOCK_FAILED_LOGINS = NO (Change it to YES)
6. /var/adm/lastlog
7. /var/adm/wtmp
8. /etc/ntmp
Note: The following file systems are the binary files responsible for recording last users login & log out information:
1. /var/adm/lastlog
2. /var/adm/wtmp
3. /etc/ntmp
9. /etc/ftpd/ftpuser:
This contains the list of user not allowed to access the system using the ftp protocol.
chown command:Use the chown command to change file ownership. Only the owner of the file or superuser can
change the ownership of a file.
Syntax:
#chown -option <user name>|<user ID> <file name>
You can change ownership on groups of files or on all of the files in a directory by using metacharacters such as *
and ? in place of file names or in combination with them.
You can change ownership recursively by use the chown -R option. When you use the -R option, the chown
command descends through the directory and any sub directories setting the ownership ID. If a symbolic link is
encountered, the ownership is changed only on the target file itself.
chgrp command:
This command is used to change the ownership of the group owner of the file or directory.
Syntax:
#chgrp <group name>|<group ID> <file names>
setuid Permission:
When setuid (set-user identification) permission is set on an executable file, a process that runs this file is granted
access based on the owner of the file (usually root), rather than the user who created the process. This permission
enables a user to access files and directories that are normally available only to the owner.
The setuid permission is shown as an s in the file permissions. For example, the setuid permission on the passwd
command enables a user to change passwords, assuming the permissions of the root ID are the following:
# ls -l /usr/bin/passwd
-r-sr-sr-x 3 root sys

96796 Jul 15 21:23 /usr/bin/passwd

NOTE: Using setuid permissions with the reserved UIDs (0-99) from a program may not set the effective UID
correctly. Instead, use a shell script to avoid using the reserved UIDs with setuid permissions.
You setuid permissions by using the chmod command to assign the octal value 4 as the first number in a series of
four octal values. Use the following steps to setuid permissions:
1. If you are not the owner of the file or directory, become superuser.
2. Type chmod <4nnn> <filename> and press Return.
3. Type ls -l <filename> and press Return to verify that the permissions of the file have changed.

The following example sets setuid permission on the myprog file:

#chmod 4555 myfile
-r-sr-xr-x 1 ravi admin 12796 Jul 15 21:23 myfile
#
setgid Permission
The setgid (set-group identification) permission is similar to setuid, except that the effective group ID for the process
is changed to the group owner of the file and a user is granted access based on permissions granted to that group.
The /usr/bin/mail program has setgid permissions:
# ls -l /usr/bin/mail
-r-xsx 1 bin
#

mail

64376 Jul 15 21:27 /usr/bin/mail

When setgid permission is applied to a directory, files subsequently created in the directory belong to the group the
directory belongs to, not to the group the creating process belongs to. Any user who has write permission in the
directory can create a file there; however, the file does not belong to the group of the user, but instead belongs to the
group of the directory.
You can set setgid permissions by using the chmod command to assign the octal value 2 as the first number in a
series of four octal values. Use the following steps to set setgid permissions:
1. If you are not the owner of the file or directory, become superuser.
2. Type chmod <2nnn> <filename> and press Return.
3. Type ls -l <filename> and press Return to verify that the permissions of the file have changed.
The following example sets setuid permission on the myfile:
#chmod 2551 myfile
#ls -l myfile
-r-xr-sx 1 ravi admin 26876 Jul 15 21:23 myfile
#
Sticky Bit
The sticky bit on a directory is a permission bit that protects files within that directory. If the directory has the sticky bit
set, only the owner of the file, the owner of the directory, or root can delete the file. The sticky bit prevents a user from
deleting other users' files from public directories, such as uucppublic:
# ls -l /var/spool/uucppublic
drwxrwxrwt 2 uucp uucp

512 Sep 10 18:06 uucppublic

When you set up a public directory on a TMPFS temporary file system, make sure that you set the sticky bit manually.
You can set sticky bit permissions by using the chmod command to assign the octal value 1 as the first number in a
series of four octal values. Use the following steps to set the sticky bit on a directory:
1. If you are not the owner of the file or directory, become superuser.
2. Type chmod <1nnn> <filename> and press Return.
3. Type ls -l <filename> and press Return to verify that the permissions of the file have changed.
The following example sets the sticky bit permission on the pubdir directory:
# chmod 1777 pubdir
# ls -l pubdir
drwxrwxrwt 2 winsor

staff

512 Jul 15 21:23 pubdir

Networking Advance Concepts : part 1

Viewing & monitoring Network Interfaces:
Following are the three important commands used for viewing & monitoring network interfaces:
1. ifconfig:
This command shows OSI layer 2 related information. To display all the status of all interfaces use following
command:
# ifconfig -a
lo0: flags=2001000849<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL> mtu 8232 index 1
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000
The above command shows that the interface lo0 is up with IP address 127.0.0.1
ifconfig can be used to up or down the interface:
#ifconfig lo0 down
#ifconfig lo0 up
2. ping:
This command is used to communicate with another system over the network. The ping uses ICMP protocol to
communicate.
#ping computer1
computer1 is alive
#ping computer2
no answer
In the above example the computer1 is reachable but computer2 is not reachable.
3. snoop:
It is used to capture and inspect network packets to determine the kind of data transferred between systems.
#snoop system1 system2
system1 -> system2 ICMP Echo request (ID:710 Sequence number:0)
system2 -> system1 ICMP Echo reply (ID:710 Sequence number:0)
The above command is used to intercept the communication between system1 & system2. The system1 is trying to
ping system2 and the ping is success.
snoop -o <file name>: Saves captured packets in file name as they are captured
snoop -i <file name>: Displays packets previously captured in file name
snoop -d <device>: Receives packets from a network interface specified by device

The Network Interfaces in Solaris is controlled by files & services:

svcs:/network/physical:default Service
This service calls /lib/svcs/method/net-physical method script. This script is run every time the system is rebooted.
This script uses ifconfig utility to configure each interface. It searches for file /etc/hostname.xxn. For each
/etc/hostname.xxn file, the script uses ifconfig command with the plumb option to make kernel ready to communicate
to the interface. The script then configures the names interfaces by using other options of the ifconfig command.
Note: In Solaris 8 & 9, the /etc/rcS.d/S30network.sh file is used to perform the same function. Before Solaris 8 OS,
the /etc/rcS.d/S30rootusr.sh fiel was used.
/etc/hostname.xxn files
These file contains an entry that configures a corresponding interface. The variable component (xx) is replaced by an
interface type and a number that differentiates between multiple interface of the same type configured in the

system.The following table shows an example of file entries for Ethernet interfaces commonly found in Solaris
systems:
/etc/hostname.e1000g0 First e1000g (Intel PRO/1000 Gigabit family device driver) Ethernet interface in the system
/etc/hostname.bge0

First bge (Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet device driver) Ethernet interface in the system

/etc/hostname.bge1

Second bge Ethernet interface in the system

/etc/hostname.ce0

First ce (Cassini Gigabit Ethernet Device driver) Ethernet interface in the system

/etc/hostname.qfe0

First qfe(Quad Fast-Ethernet Device driver) Ethernet interface in the system

/etc/hostname.hme0

First hme (Fast-Ethernet Device driver) Ethernet interface in the system

/etc/hostname.eri0

First eri (eri Fast-Ethernet Device driver) Ethernet interface in the system

/etc/hostname.nge0

First nge (Nvidia Gigabit Ethernet Device driver) Ethernet interface in the system

The /etc/hostname.xxn files contain either the host name or the IP address of the system that contains the xxn
interface.
The host name must be there in the file /etc/inet/hosts file so that it can be resolved to an IP address at system boot.
Example:
# cat /etc/hostname.ce0
Computer1 netmask + broadcast + up
/etc/inet/hosts file:
It is the file which associates the IP addresses of hosts with their names.It can be used with, or instead of , other
hosts databases including DNS, NIS hosts map & NIS+ hosts table.
The /etc/inet/hosts file contains at least the loopback & host information. It has one entry for each IP address of each
host. The entries in the files are in following format:
<IP address> <Host name> [aliases]
127.0.0.1 localhost
/etc/inet/ipnodes file:
It is a local database or file that associates the names of nodes with their IP addresses. It is a symbolic link to the
/etc/inet/hosts file. It associates the names of nodes with their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The ipnodes file can
be used in conjuction with, instead of, other ipnodes databases, including the DNS, the NIS ipnodes map, and LDAP.
The fomat of each line is:
<IP address> <Host Name> [alias]
# internet host table
::1 localhost
127:0:0:1 localhost
10.21.108.254 system1
Changing the System Host Name:
The system host name is in four system files & we must modify these files and perform a reboot to change a system
host name:
/etc/nodename
/etc/hostname.xxn
/etc/inet/hosts
/etc/inet/ipnodes
sys-unconfig Command:
The /usr/sbin/sys-unconfig command is used to restore a system configuration to an unconfigured state. This
command does the following:
1. It saves the current /etc/inet/hosts files information in the /etc/inet/hosts.saved file.
2. It saves the /etc/vfstab files to the /etc/vfstab.orig file if the current /etc/vfstab file contains NFS mount entries.
3. It restores the default /etc/inet/hosts file.

NETSTAT:
It lists the connection for all protocols and address family to and from machine.
The address family (AF) includes:

INET ipv4
INET - ipv6
UNIX Unix Domain Sockets(Solaris/FreeBSD/Linux etc.)
Protocols supported in INET/INET6 are:
TCP, IP, ICMP(PING), IGMP, RAWIP, UDP(DHCP, TFTP)
NETSTAT also list:
1. routing tables,
2. any multi-cast entry for NIC,
3 .DHCP status for various interfaces,
4.net-to-media/MAC table.
Usage:
# netstat
UDP: Ipv4
Local Address Remote Address State
-------------------- -------------------- ---------System1.bge0.54844 10.95.8.202.domain Connected
System1.bge0.54845 10.95.8.213.domain Connected
TCP: Ipv4
Local Address Remote Address Swind Send-Q Rwind Recv-Q State
-------------------- -------------------- ----- ------ ----- ------ ----------localhost.41771 localhost.3306 49152 0 49152 0 ESTABLISHED
localhost.3306 localhost.41771 49152 0 49152 0 ESTABLISHED
localhost.50230 localhost.3306 49152 0 49152 0 CLOSE_WAIT
localhost.50231 localhost.3306 49152 0 49152 0 CLOSE_WAIT
Note: NETSTAT returns sockets by protocol using /etc/services lookup. Below example gives detailed information
about the /etc/services files.
# ls -ltr /etc/services
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 15 Apr 8 2009 /etc/services -> ./inet/services(its soft link to /etc/inet/services)
The below example shows the content of the /etc/services file. Its columns represents Network services, port number
and Protocol.
# less /etc/services
#
# Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
# Use is subject to license terms.
#
#ident "@(#)services 1.34 08/11/19 SMI"
#
# Network services, Internet style
#
tcpmux 1/tcp
echo 7/tcp
echo 7/udp
discard 9/tcp sink null
discard 9/udp sink null
systat 11/tcp users
daytime 13/tcp
daytime 13/udp
netstat 15/tcp
Note: The NETSTAT command resolves the host name with the help of local /etc/hosts file or DNS server. There is
an important file /etc/resolv.conf which tells resolver what look up facilities such as LDAP, DNS or files to use.
/etc/nssswitch.conf is consulted by netstat to resolve names for IP.
/etc/resolv.conf:
# cat /etc/resolv.conf
domain WorkDomain

nameserver 10.95.8.202
nameserver 10.95.8.213
/etc/hosts file:
# cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
172.30.228.58 mysystem.bge0 bge0
172.30.228.58 mysystem loghost
The command netstat -a will dump the connection including name lookup from /etc/services directly. It returns all
protocols for all address families (TCP/UDP/UNIX).
#netstat -a
UDP: Ipv4
Local Address Remote Address State
-------------------- -------------------- ---------*.snmpd Idle
*.55466 Idle
System1.bge0.55381 10.95.8.202.domain Connected
System1-prod.bge0.55382 10.95.8.213.domain Connected
*.32859 Idle
#netstat -an :
-n option disables the name resolution of hosts and ports and speed up the o/p time
#netstat -i:
returns state of configured interfaces.
# netstat -i
Name Mtu Net/Dest Address Ipkts Ierrs Opkts Oerrs Collis Queue
lo0 8232 loopback localhost 1498672734 0 1498672734 0 0 0
nge0 1500 System1.bge0 System1.bge0 1081897064 0 1114394170 6 0 0
#netstat -m :
It returns streams(TCP) statistics
streams allocation:
cumulative allocation
current maximum total failures
streams 408 4350 28881897 0
queues 841 4764 43912097 0
mblk 7062 40068 780613980 0
dblk 7062 45999 4815973363 0
linkblk 5 84 6 0
syncq 17 75 58511 0
qband 0 0 0 0
2469 Kbytes allocated for streams data
#netstat -p :
It returns net to media information(MAC/layer-2 information).
Net to Media Table: Ipv4
Device IP Address Mask Flags Phys Addr
------ -------------------- --------------- -------- --------------nge0 defaultrouter 255.255.255.255 00:50:5a:1e:e4:01
nge0 172.30.228.54 255.255.255.255 00:14:4f:6f:39:13
nge0 172.30.228.52 255.255.255.255 o 00:14:4f:7e:97:53
nge0 172.30.228.53 255.255.255.255 o 00:14:4f:6f:4f:75
nge0 172.30.228.49 255.255.255.255 00:1e:68:86:84:16
nge0 System1.bge0 255.255.255.255 SPLA 00:21:28:70:19:36
nge0 System2 255.255.255.255 o 00:21:28:6b:c6:7a
nge0 172.30.228.57 255.255.255.255 SPLA 00:21:28:70:19:36
nge0 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 SM 01:00:5e:00:00:00
#netstat -P <protocol> (ip|ipv6|icmp|icmpv6|tcp|udp|rawip|raw|igmp): returns active sockets for selected protocol.

#netstat -r : returns routing table

# netstat -r
Routing Table: Ipv4
Destination Gateway Flags Ref Use Interface
-------------------- -------------------- ----- ----- ---------- --------default defaultrouter UG 1 53637
172.30.228.0 System1.bge0 U 1 3295 nge0
172.30.228.0 172.30.228.57 U 1 0 nge0:1
224.0.0.0 System1.bge0 U 1 0 nge0
localhost localhost UH 201 15889818 lo0
#netstat -D :
It returns DHCP Configuration information (lease duration/renewal etc.)
#netstat -a -f <address_family>:
It returns result corresponding to the specified address family
netstat -a -f inet|inet6|unix
netstat -a -f inet : It returns ipv4 information only.

Network Configuration
There are two main configuration:
1. Local files : configuration is defined statically via key files
2. Network configuration : DHCP is used to auto-config interfaces
dladm command: It is used to determine the physical interfaces using following command:
dladm show-dev or show-link.
The another command to check the same is ifconfig -a. However there is a difference between O/Ps.
The dladm shows layer 1 related information whereas ifconfig command returns layer 2&3 related information.
# dladm show-dev
ce0
link: unknown speed: 1000 Mbps
duplex: full
ce1
link: unknown speed: 1000 Mbps
duplex: full
ge0
link: unknown speed: 1000 Mbps
duplex: unknown
eri0
link: unknown speed: 100 Mbps
duplex: full
# ifconfig -a
lo0: flags=2001000849<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4,VIRTUAL> mtu 8232 index 1
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000
ce0: flags=1000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 6
inet 10.22.213.80 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 10.22.213.255
ether 0:14:4f:67:90:c1
ce1: flags=1000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 3
inet 10.22.217.35 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 10.22.217.255
ether 0:14:4f:44:4:50
eri0: flags=1000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 4
inet 10.22.224.147 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 10.22.224.255
ether 0:14:4f:47:92:5e
ge0: flags=1000843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 5
inet 10.22.240.108 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 10.22.240.255
ether 0:14:4f:47:92:5f

Key network configuration files:svcs -a | grep physical : This command can be used to see the service responsible
for running/starting the physical interfaces.
svcs -a | grep loopback: This command can be used to see the service responsible for running/starting the local
loopback interface.
Configuring Network
1. IP Address( /etc/hostname.interface): We need to configure /etc/hostname.interface(e.g /etc/hostname.e1000g0,
/etc/hostname.iprb01) for each physical and virtual interface listed by the dladm command. The IP address must be
listed in this file. However this is not a requirement in DHCP or network configuration mode.
2. Domain name( /etc/defaultdomain): We need to configure /etc/defaultdomain. This is not a requirement in case
of DHCP mode of network configuration. This contains domain name information for the host.
3.Netmask(/etc/inet/netmasks): We need to create a files /etc/inet/netmasks if not there. This is also managed by
DHCP. The netmasks file associates Internet Protocol (IP) address masks with IP network numbers.
network-number netmask
The term network-number refers to a number obtained from the Internet Network Information Center. Both the
network-number and the netmasks are specified in "decimal dot" notation, e.g: 128.32.0.0 255.255.255.0
4. Hosts database(/etc/hosts): It is symbolically linked with /etc/inet/hosts, contains the entry for the loopback
adapter and for each IP address linked with the network adapter for name resolution. It gets auto configured by
DHCP.
5. Client DNS resolver file(/etc/resolv.conf): It reveals dns resolver related information. It gets auto configured by
DHCP.
6. Default gateway(/etc/defaultrouter): It is required for communicating with outside network. It is also managed by
DHCP under network configuration mode.
7. Node name(/etc/nodename): This file contains the host name and is not mandatory as the host name is resolved
by the /etc/hosts file. This is taken care by DHCP in network configuration.
Name service configuration file(/etc/nsswitch.conf): It will reveal resolution of various objects.
For manually configuring the network from DCP to local files(static) mode, the above mentioned files need to be
configured as stated. Once that is done, move/rename/delete the file dhcp.<interfacename>, so that the DHCP agent
is not invoked.
Plumb/enable the iprb0 100mbps interface(Plumbing interfaces is analogous to enable interfaces):
1. ifconfig iprb0 plumb up This will enable iprb0 interface.
2. ifconfig iprb0 172.16.20.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 This will enable layer 3 Ipv4 address.
3. Ensure that the newly plumbed persists across reboot:
1. Creating a file /etc/hostname.interface: echo 172.16.20.10 > /etc/hostname.<interfacename>
2. Create an entry in /etc/hosts file:
echo 172.16.20.10 NewHostName >> /etc/hosts
3. Create an entry in file /etc/inet/netmasks
echo 172.16.20.0 255.255.255.0 >> /etc/inet/netmasks

Unplumb(disable) an interface: ifconfig <interface name> unplumb down

Making an interface to go down without unplumb : ifconfig <interfacename> down
Removing an interface: ifconfig <interfacename> removeif <IP Address of interface>

Note: If you want the interface to be managed DHCP, create a file dhcp.<interfacename> under /etc directory.

Logical(Sub-interfaces) Network Interfaces:For each physical interface many logical interfaces can be created
connected to a switch port. This means adding additional IP address to a physical interface.
1. Use ifconfig <interfacename> addif <ip address> <net mask>:
ifconfig e100g0 addif 192.168.1.51 (RFC-1918 defaults /24)
This will automatically create e100g0:1 logical interface.
2.Making the interface to go up: ifconfig e100g0:1 up
Note:
1. This will automatically create an e100g0:1 logical interface.
2. Solaris places new logical interface in down mode by default.
3. Logical/sub-interface are contingent upon physical interface. It means if the physical interface is down the logical
interface will also be down.
4. Connections are sourced using the IP address of the physical interface.
Save logical/sub-interface for persistent across reboots:
1. Create file /etc/hostname.<interfacename> and make interface IP address as entry to it.
2. Optionally update/etc/hosts file.
3. Optionally update /etc/inet/netmasks file when subnetting.
NSSWITCH.CONF(/etc/nsswitch.conf)It saves primarily name service configuration information.
It functions as a policy/rules file for various resolution namely: DNS, passwd(/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow),
group(/etc/group), protocols(/etc/inet/protocols), ethers or mac-to-IP mappings, where to look for host resolution. The
figure below shows a sample nsswitch.conf file.

In the above nsswitch.conf file, the password and group informational resolution is set to files which means the
system check for the local files like /etc/shadow, /etc/passwd. For host name resolution which is set to files, first hosts
file(/etc/hosts) is checked and if it fails then it is send to appropriate DNS server.

NTP(Network Time Protocol):

It synchronizes the local system and can be configured to synchronize any NTP aware host.
Its hierarchical in design and supports from 1 to 16 strata(precision).
Stratum 1 servers are connected to external, more accurate time sources such as GPS. Less latency results in more
accurate time.
NTP Client configuration:
xntpd or ntp service searches for /etc/inet/ntp.conf for configuration file.
1. Copy ntp.client file as ntp.conf file: cp ntp.client ntp.conf
2. Edit ntp.conf and make an entry for the NTP server : server 192.168.1.100
3. Enable ntp service: svcadm enable ntp
4.execute date command to check synchronization. The synchronization can be done usingntpdate command as:
ntpdate <ServerName>
The command ntpq -p <ServerName>: This will query the remote system time table. If we just give the command
without mentioning the server name, it will list the peers or server for time sync. If we just run the ntpq command, it

will run in interactive mode and if we type help in that mode it will list various options that can be performed.
The command ntptrace: Traces path to the time source. If we run it without any option it will default to local system.
The command ntptrace <ServerName> gives the path and stratum details from the server mentioned to the local
system.
NTP Server configuration:
1. We need to find the NTP pool site such as: http://www.ntp.org/ . We will derive NTP public server from their lists.
2. Once the list is derived, we need to make the entry of that list in the file /etc/inet/ntp.conf as shown below:server
0.asia.pool.ntp.org
server 1.asia.pool.ntp.org
server 2.asia.pool.ntp.org
server 3.asia.pool.ntp.org3. Restart the NTP service: svcadm restart ntp.
4. Making out NTP client machine as NTP server:
1. Go to /etc/inet: cd /etc/inet
2. Disable the NTP service: svcadm disable ntp
3. Copy the file ntp.server to ntp.conf: cp ntp.server ntp.conf
4. Edit ntp.conf file: Make an entry into the file with the servers list obtained from the NTP pool site and local server.
5. Comment the crontab entry for the ntpdate command.
1. crontab -e
2. Comment the line where ntpdate command is run.
6. Enable the NTP service: svcadm enable ntp

NFS & AutoFS

Configuring NFS:
NFS(Network File System):
This file system is implemented by most unix type OS(SOLARIS/LINUX/FreeBSD). NFS seamlessly mounts remote
file systems locally.
NFS major versions:
2 Original
3 improved upon version 2
4 Current & default version
Note: NFS versions 3 & higher supports large files (>2GB)

NFS Benefits:
1. It enables file system sharing on network across different systems.
2. It can be implemented across different OS.
3. The working of the nfs file system is as easy as the locally mounted file system.
NFS component include:
1. NFS Client: It mounts the file resource shared across the network by the NFS server.
2. NFS Server: It contains the file system that has to be shared across the network.
3. Auto FS
Managing NFS Server:
We use NFS server files, NFS server daemons & NFS server commands to configure and manage an NFS server.
To support NFS server activities we need following files:

file

Description

/etc/dfs/dfstab

Lists the local resource to share at boot time. This file contains the
commands that share local directories. Each line of dfstab file
consists of a share command. E.g: share [-F fstype] [-o options] [-d
"test"] <file system to be shared>

/etc/dfs/sharetab

Lists the local resource currently being shared by the NFS server.
Do not edit this file.

/etc/dfs/fstypes

Lists the default file system types for the remote file systems.

/etc/rmtab

Lists the file systems remotely mounted by the NFS Client. Do not
edit this file. E.g:system1:/export/sharedir1

/
Lists the information defining the local configuration logs used for
etc/nfs/nfslog.conf NFS server logging.
/
Lists the configuration information describing the behavior of the
etc/default/nfslogd nfslogd daemon for NFSv2/3.
/etc/default/nfs

Contains parameter values for NFS protocols and NFS daemons.

Note: If the svc:/network/nfs/server service does not find any share command in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file, it does not
start the NFS server daemons.
NFS server Daemons:
To start NFS server daemon enable the daemon svc:/network/nfs/server :
#svcadm enable nfs/server
Note: The nfsd and mountd daemons are started if there is an uncommented share statement in the system's
/etc/dfs/dfstab file.
Following are the NFS server daemon required to provide NFS server service:
mountd:
- Handles file system mount request from remote systems & provide access control.
- It determines whether a particular directory is being shared and if the requesting client has permission to access it.
- It is only required for NFSv2 & 3.
nfsd:
Handles client file system requests to access remote file system request.

statd:
Works with lockd daemon to provide crash recovery function for lock manager.
lockd:
Supports record locking function for NFS files.
nfslogd:
Provides operational logging for NFSv2 & 3.
nfsmapid:
- It is implemented in NFSv4.
- The nfsmapid daemon maps owner & group identification that both the NFSv4 client and server use.
- It is started by: svc:/network/nfs/mapid service.
Note: The features provided by mountd & lockd daemons are integrated in NFSv4 protocol.
NFS Server Commands:
share:
Makes a local directory on an NFS server available for mounting. It also displays the contents of the /etc/dfs/sharetab
file. It writes information for all shared resource into /etc/dfs/sharetab file.
Syntax:
share [-F fstype] [-o options] [-d "text"] [Path Name]
-o options: Controls a client's access to an NFS shared resource.
The options lists are as follows:
ro: read only request
rw: read & write request
root=access-list: Informs client that the root user on the specified client systems cna perform superuser-privileged
requests on the shared resource.
ro=acess-list: Allows read requests from specified access list.
rw=acess-list: Allows read & write requests from specified access list.
anon=n: Sets n to be the effective user ID for anonymous users. By default it is 6001. If it is set to -1, the access is
denied.
access-list=client:client : Allows access based on a colon-separated list of one or more clients.
access-list=@network : Allows access based on a network name. The network name must be defined in the
/etc/networks file.
access-list=.domain : Allows access based on DNS domain. The (.) dot identifies the value as a DNS domain.
access-list=netgroup_name: Allows access based on a configured net group(NIS or NIS+ only)
-d description: Describes the shared file resource.
Path name: Absolute path of the resource for sharing.
Example:
#share -o ro /export/share1
The above command provides read only permission to /export/share1.
#share -F nfs -o ro,rw=client1 directory
This command restricts access to read only, but accept read and and write request from client1.
Note: If no argument is specified share command displays list of all shared file resource.
unshare:
Makes a previously available directory unavailable for the client side mount operations.
#unshare [ -F nfs ] pathname
#unshare <resource name>
shareall:
Reads and executes share statements in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file.
This shares all resources listed in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file.
shareall [-F nfs]
unshareall:
Makes previously share resource unavailable which is listed /etc/dfs/sharetab.

shareall [-F nfs]

dfshares:
Lists available shared resources from a remote or local server.
Displaying currently shared all resources when used without argument:
#dfshares
RESOURCE SERVER ACCESS TRANSPORT
dfshares command with host name as argument, lists the resources shared by the host.
#dfshares system1
dfmounts:
Displays a list of NFS server directories that are currently mounted.
#dfmounts
RESOURCE SERVER PATHNAME CLIENTS
Note: The dfmount command uses mountd daemon to display currently shared NFS resources, it will not display
NFSv4 shares.
Managing NFS client:
NFS client files, NFS client daemon and NFS client commands work together to manage NFS Client.
NFS client Files:
/etc/vfstab : Defines file system to be mounted. A sample entry in this file for nfs file system is shown below:
system1:/export/local_share1 - /export/remote_share1 nfs - yes soft,bg
Here the /export/remote_share1 is the file system at the NFS server and is shared by nfs client locally on
/export/local_share1.
/etc/mnttab : Lists currently mounted file system, including automounted directories. This file is maintained by kernel
and cannot be edited. It provides read only access to the mounted file system.
/etc/dfs/fstypes: Lists the default file system types for remote file systems.
#cat /etc/dfs/fstypes
nfs NFS Utilities
autofs AUTOFS Utilities
cachefs CACHEFS Utilities
/etc/default/nfs : Contains parameters used by NFS protocols & daemons.
NFS client Daemons:
The nfs daemons are started by using the svc:/network/nfs/clientservice. The nfs client daemons are:
statd : Works with lockd daemon to provide crash recovery functions for lock manager.
#svcadm -v enable nfs/status
svc:/network/nfs/status:default enabled
lockd : Supportd recording locks on nfs shared files.
#svcadm -v enable nfs/lockmgr
svcs:/network/nfs/nlockmgr:default enabled
nfs4cbd : It is an NFSv4 call back daemon. Following is the FMRI for the nfs4cbd service:
svc:/network/nfs/cbd:default
NFS client commands:
dfshares:
Lists available shared resources from a remote/local NFS server.
mount:
Attaches a file resource(local/remote) to a specified local mount point.
Syntax:

mount [ -F nfs] [-o options] server:pathname mount_point

where:
-F nfs: Specifies NFS as the file system type. It is default option and not necessary.
-o options: Specifies a comma-separated list of file system specific options such as rw, ro. The default is rw.
server:pathname: Specifies the name of the server and path name of the remote file resource. The name of the
server and the path name are separated by colon(:).
mount_point: Specifies the path name of the mount point on the local system.
Example:
#mount remotesystem1:/share1 /share1
#mount -o ro remotesystem1:/share1 /share1
unmount:
Unmounts a currently mounted file resource.
#unmount /server1
mountall:
Mounts all file resource or a specified group of file resource listed in /etc/vfstab file with a mount at boot value as yes.
To limit the action to remote files only use option r:
#mountall -r
unmountall:
Unmounts all noncritical local and remote file resource listed in client's /etc/vfstab file.To limit the action to remote files
only use option r:
#unmountall -r
/etc/vfstab file entries:
device to mount: This specifies the name of server and path name of the remote file resource. The server host
name and share name are separated by a colon(:).
device to fsck: NFS resource are not checked by the client as the file system is remote.
Mount point: Mount point for the resource.
FS type: Type of file system to be mounted.
fsck pass: The field is (-) for NFS file system.
mount at boot: This field is set to yes.
Mount options:
Various mount options are as follows:
rw|ro : Specifies resource to be mounted as read/write or read-only.
bg|fg: If the first mount attempt fails this option specifies to retry mount in background|foreground.
soft|hard: When the number of retransmission has reached the number specified in the retrans=n option, a file
system mounted with soft option reports an error on the request and stops trying. A file system mounted with the hard
option prints a warning message and continues to try to process the request. The default is hard mount.
intr|nointr: This enables or disables the use of keyboard interrupts to kill a process that hangs while waiting for a
response on a hard-mounted file system. The default is intr.
suid|nosuid: Indicated whether to enable setuid execution. The default enables setuid execution.
timeo=n: Sets timout to n-tenths of a second.
retry=n: Sets the number of retries to the mount operation. The default is 10,000.
retrans=n: Sets the number of NFS re-transmissions to n.
Configuring NFS log paths:
The /etc/nfs/nfslog.conf file defines the path, file names and type of logging that nfslogd daemon must use.
Configuring an NFS server:
Step1 :
Make following entry to /etc/default/nfs file on server machine:
NFS_SERVER_VERSMAX=n
NFS_SERVER_VERSMIN=n
Here n is the version of NFS and takes values:2,3 & 4. By default these values are unspecified. For client's machine
the default minimum is version 2 and maximum is version 4.

Step2:
If needed, make the following entry:
NFS_SERVER_DELEGATION=off
By default this variable is commented and nfs does not provides delegation to the clients.
Step3:
If needed, make the following entry:
NFSMAPID_DOMAIN=<domain name>
By default nfsmapid daemon uses DNS domain of the system.
Determine if NFS server is running:
#svcs network/nfs/server
To enable the service;
#svcadm enable network/nfs/server
Configuring an NFS Client:
Step1 :
Make following entry to /etc/default/nfs file on client machine:
NFS_SERVER_VERSMAX=n
NFS_SERVER_VERSMIN=n
Here n is the version of NFS and takes values:2,3 & 4. By default these values are unspecified. For client's machine
the default minimum is version 2 and maximum is version 4.
Step2:
Mount a file system:
#mount server_name:share_resource local_directory
server_name: Name of NFS server
share_resource: Path of the shared remote directory
local_directory: Path of local mount point
Enable the nfs service:
#svcadm enable network/nfs/client
NFS File Sharing:
At server side:
1. Create following entry in /etc/dfs/dfstab :
#share -F nfs <resource path name>
2. Share the file system:
#exportfs -a
-a: Exports all directories listed in the dfstab file.
3. List all shared file system:
#showmount -e
4. Export the shared file system to kernel:
To share all file system: #shareall
To share specific file system: #share <resource path name>
5. Start the nfs server daemon:
#svcadm enable nfs/server
At Client side:
1. Create a directory to mount the file system.
2. Mount the file system:
#mount -F nfs <Server Name/IP>:<Path name> <Local mount point>
3. Start the nfs client daemon:
#svcadm enable nfs/client

4. To make the file sharing permanent make an entry to vfstab.

Different File Sharing options:

Share to all clients

share -F nfs [path name]

Share to client1 & client2 with read only

permission

share -F nfs -o ro=client1:client2

[path name]

Share to client1 with read & write permission and

for others read only

share -F nfs -o ro,rw=client1[path

name]

Share to client1 with root permission

share -F nfs -o root=client1 [path

name]

Share with anonymous client with root user

privilege

share -F nfs anon=0 [path name]

Share to a domain

share -F nfs -o ro=DomainName

[path name]

The common NFS errors and troubleshooting:

The "rpcbind failure" error
Cause:
1. There is a combination of an incorrect Internet address and a correct host or node name in the hosts database file
that supports the client node.
2. The hosts database file that supports the client has the correct server node, but the server node temporarily stops
due to an overload.
Resolution:
Check if the server is out of critical resources as memory, swap, disk space etc.
The "server not responding" error
Cause: An accessible server is not running NFS daemon.
Resolution:
1. The network between the local system and server is down. To verify the network, ping the server.
2. The server is down.
The "NFS client fails a reboot" error
Cause: Client is requesting an NFS mount from a non-operational NFS srver.
Resolution:
1. Press stop+A
2. edit /etc/vfstab and comment out the entry for NFS mount.
3. Press Ctrl+D to continue normal boot.
4. Check if the NFS server is operational and functioning properly.
5. After resolving the issue, uncomment the entry in step 2.
The "service not responding" error
Cause: NFS server daemon is not running.
Resolution:
1. Check the run level on server and verify if it is 3:
#who -r
2. check the status of the nfs server daemon:
#svcs svc:/network/nfs/server
#svcadm enable svc:/network/nfs/server

The "program not registered" error

Cause: The server is not running the mountd daemon
Resolution:
1. Check the run level on server and verify if it is 3:
#who -r
2. Check the mountd daemon;
#pgre -fl mountd
If the mountd daemon is not running, start it using:
#svcadm enable svc:/network/nfs/server command.
3. Check the /etc/dfs/dfstab file entries.
The "stale file handle" error
Cause: The file resource on server is moved.
Resolution: Unmount and re-mount the resource again on client.
The "unkown host" error
Cause: The host name of the server on the client is missing from the hosts table.
Resolution: verify the host name in the hosts database that supports the client node.
The "mount point" error
Cause: Non existence of mount point on client.
Resolution:
1. Verify the mount point on client.
2. Check the entry in /etc/vfstab and ensure that the spelling for the directory is correct.
The "no such file" error
Cause: Unknown file resource on server.
Resolution:
1. Verify the directory on server.
2. Check the entry in /etc/vfstab and ensure that the spelling for the directory is correct.

AutoFS:
AutoFS is a file system mechanism that provides automatic mounting the NFS protocol. It is a client side
service. AutoFS service mounts and unmounts file systems as required without any user intervention.
AutoMount service: svc:/system/filesystem/autofs:default
Whenever a client machine running automountd daemon tries to access a remote file or directory, the daemon
mounts the remote file system to which that file or directory belongs. If the remote file system is not accessed for a
defined period of time, it is unmounted by automountd daemon.
If automount starts up and has nothing to mount or unmount, the following is reported when we use automount
command:
# automount
automount: no mounts
automount: no unmounts
The automount facility contains three components:
The AutoFS file system:
An AutoFS file system's mount points are defined in the automount maps on the client system.
The automountd daemon:
The script /lib/svc/method/svc-autofs script starts the automountd daemon. It mounts file system on demand and
unmount idle mount points.
The automount command:
This command is called at system startup and reads master map to create the intial sets of AutoFS mounts. These
AutoFS mounts are not automatically mounted at startup time and they are mounted on demand.
Automount Maps:

The behavior of the automount is determined by a set of files called automount maps. There are four types of maps:
Master Map: It contains the list of other maps that are used to establish AutoFS system.

-sh-3.00$ cat /etc/auto_master

#
# Copyright 2003 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
# Use is subject to license terms.
#
# ident "@(#)auto_master
1.8 03/04/28 SMI"
#
# Master map for automounter
#
+auto_master
/net
-hosts
-nosuid,nobrowse
/home
auto_home
-nobrowse
-sh-3.00$

An entry into /etc/auto_master contains:

mount point: The full path name of a directory.
map name: The direct or indirect map name. If a relative path name is mentioned, then AutoFS checks
/etc/nsswitch.conf for the location of map.
mount options: The general options for the map. The mount options are similar to those used to standard NFS
mounts.
-nobrowse option prevents all potential mount points from being visible. Only the mounted resources are visible.
-browse option allows all potential mount points to be visible. This is the default option if no option is specified.
Note: The '+' symbol at the beginning of the lines directs automountd to look for NIS, NIS+ or LDAP before it reads
rest of the map.

Direct map: It is used to mount file systems where each mount point does not share a common prefix with other
mount points in the map.
A /- entry in the master map(/etc/auto_master) defines a mount point for a direct map.
Sample entry: /- auto_direct -ro
The /etc/auto_direct file contains the absolute path name of the mount point, mount options & shared resource to
mount.
Sample entry:
/usr/share/man -ro,soft server1, server2:/usr/share/man
Here server1 and server2 are multiple location from where the resource can be shared depending upon proximity and
administrator defined weights
.
Indirect map: It is useful when we are mounting several file systems that will share a common pathname prefix.
Let us see how an indirect map can be used to manage the directory tree in /home?
We have seen before the following entry into /etc/auto_master:
/home
auto_home
-nobrowse
The /etc/auto_home lists only relative path names. Indirect maps obtain intial path of the mount point from the master
map (/etc/auto_master).
Here in our example, /home is the initial path of the mount point.
Lets see few few sample entries in /etc/auto_home file:
user1 server1:/export/home/user1

user2 server2:/export/home/user2
Here the mount points are /home/user1 & /home/user2. The server1 & server2 are the servers sharing
resource /export/home/user1 & /export/home/user2 respectively.
Reducing the auto_home map into single line:
Lets take a scenario where we want : for every login ID, the client remotely mounts the /export/home/loginID directory
from the NFS server server1 onto the local mount point /home/loginID.
* server1:/export/home/&
Special: It provides access to NFS server by using their host names. The two special maps listed in example for
/etc/auto_master file are:
The -hosts map: This provides access to all the resources shared by NFS server. The shared resources are
mounted below the /net/server_name or /net/server_ip_address directory.
The auto_home map: This provides mechanism to allow users to access their centrally located $HOME directories.
The /net directory:
The shared resources associated with the hosts map entry are mounted below the /net/server_name or
/net/server_ip_address directory. Lets say we have a shared resources Shared_Dir1 on Server1. This shared
resource can be found under /net/Server1/Shared_Dir1 directory. When we use cd command to this directory, the
resource is auto-mounted.
Updating Automount Maps:
After making changes to master map or creation of a direct map, execute the autmount command to make the
changes effective.
#automount [-t duration] [-v]
-t : Specifies time in seconds for which file system remains mounted when not in use. The default is 600s.
-v: Verbose mode
Note:
1. There is no need to restart automountd daemon after making the changes to existing entries in a direct map. The
new information is used when the automountd daemon next access the map entry to perform a mount.
2. If mount point(first field) of the direct map is changed, automountd should be restarted.
Following Table should be referred to run automount command:

Automount Map

Run if entry is added/deleted

Is Modified

Master Map

yes

Yes

Direct Map

yes

No

Indirect Map

No

No

Note: The mounted AutoFS file systems can also be verified from /etc/mnttab.
Enabling Automount system:
#svcadm enable svcs:/system/filesystem/autofs
Disabling Automount system:
#svcadm disable svcs:/system/filesystem/autofs

Solaris Volume Management

Basic RAID concepts:
RAID is a classification method to back up & store data on multiple disk drives. There are six levels of RAID.
The Solaris Volume Manager(SVM) software uses metadevices, which are product specific definition of logical
storage volumes to implement RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 1+0 & RAID 5.
RAID 0: Non.redundant disk array (concatenation & striping)
RAID 1: Mirrored disk array.
RAID 5: Block-interleaved striping with distributed-parity
Logical Volume:
Solaris uses virtual disks called logical volumes to manage physical disks and their associated data. It is functionally
identical to physical volume and can span multiple disk members. The logical volumes are located
under /dev/md directory.
Note: In earlier versions of Solaris, the SVM software was known as Solstice DiskSuite software and logical volumes
were known as metadevices.
Software Partition:
It provides mechanism for dividing large storage spaces into smaller & manageable sizes. It can be directly accessed
by applications, including file systems, as long as it is not included in another volume.

RAID-0 Volumes:
It consists of slices or soft partitions. These volumes lets us expand disk storage capacity. There are three kinds of
RAID-0 volumes:
1. Stripe volumes
2. Concatenation volumes
3. Concatenated stripe volumes
Note: A component refers to any devices, from slices to soft partitions, used in another logical volume.
Advantage: Allows us to quickly and simply expand disk storage capacity.
Disadvantages: They do not provide any data redundancy (unlike RAID-1 or RAID-5 volumes). If a single
component fails on a RAID-0 volume, data is lost.
We can use a RAID-0 volume that contains:
1. a single slice for any file system.
2. multiple components for any file system except for root (/), /usr, swap, /var, /opt, any file system that is accessed
during an operating system upgrade or installation
Note: While mirroring root (/), /usr, swap, /var, or /opt, we put the file system into a one-way concatenation or stripe
(a concatenation of a single slice) that acts as a submirror. This one-way concatenation is mirrored by another
submirror, which must also be a concatenation.
RAID-0 (Stripe) Volume:
It is a volume that arranges data across one or more components. Striping alternates equally-sized segments of data
across two or more components, forming one logical storage unit. These segments are interleaved round-robin so
that the combined space is made alternately from each component, in effect, shuffled like a deck of cards.
Striping enables multiple controllers to access data at the same time, which is also called parallel access. Parallel
access can increase I/O throughput because all disks in the volume are busy most of the time servicing I/O requests.
An existing file system cannot be converted directly to a stripe. To place an existing file system on a stripe volume ,
you must back up the file system, create the volume, then restore the file system to the stripe volume.

Interlace Values for a RAID0 (Stripe) Volume:

An interlace is the size, in Kbytes, Mbytes, or blocks, of the logical data segments on a stripe volume. Depending on
the application, different interlace values can increase performance for your configuration. The performance increase
comes from having several disk arms managing I/O requests. When the I/O request is larger than the interlace size,
you might get better performance.
When you create a stripe volume, you can set the interlace value or use the Solaris Volume Manager default interlace
value of 16 Kbytes. Once you have created the stripe volume, you cannot change the interlace value. However, you
could back up the data on it, delete the stripe volume, create a new stripe volume with a new interlace value, and
then restore the data.
RAID-0 (Concatenation) Volume:
It is a volume whose data is organized serially and adjacently across components, forming one logical storage
unit.The total capacity of a concatenation volume is equal to the total size of all the components in the volume. If a
concatenation volume contains a slice with a state database replica, the total capacity of the volume is the sum of the
components minus the space that is reserved for the replica.
Advantages:
1. It provides more storage capacity by combining the capacities of several components. You can add more
components to the concatenation volume as the demand for storage grows.
2. It allows to dynamically expand storage capacity and file system sizes online. A concatenation volume allows you
to add components even if the other components are currently active.
3. A concatenation volume can also expand any active and mounted UFS file system without having to bring down
the system.

Note: Use a concatenation volume to encapsulate root (/), swap, /usr, /opt, or /var when mirroring these file systems.
The data blocks are written sequentially across the components, beginning with Slice A. Let us consider Slice A
containing logical data blocks 1 through 4. Disk B would contain logical data blocks 5 through 8. Drive C would
contain logical data blocks 9 through 12. The total capacity of volume would be the combined capacities of the three
slices. If each slice were 10 Gbytes, the volume would have an overall capacity of 30 Gbytes.
RAID-1 (Mirror) Volumes:
It is a volume that maintains identical copies of the data in RAID-0 (stripe or concatenation) volumes.
We need at least twice as much disk space as the amount of data you have to mirror. Because Solaris Volume
Manager must write to all submirrors, mirroring can also increase the amount of time it takes for write requests to be
written to disk.
We can mirror any file system, including existing file systems. These file systems root (/), swap, and /usr. We can also
use a mirror for any application, such as a database.
A mirror is composed of one or more RAID-0 volumes (stripes or concatenations) called submirrors.
A mirror can consist of up to four submirrors. However, two-way mirrors usually provide sufficient data redundancy for
most applications and are less expensive in terms of disk drive costs. A third submirror enables you to make online
backups without losing data redundancy while one submirror is offline for the backup.
If you take a submirror "offline", the mirror stops reading and writing to the submirror. At this point, you could access
the submirror itself, for example, to perform a backup. However, the submirror is in a read-only state. While a
submirror is offline, Solaris Volume Manager keeps track of all writes to the mirror. When the submirror is brought
back online, only the portions of the mirror that were written while the submirror was offline (the resynchronization
regions) are resynchronized. Submirrors can also be taken offline to troubleshoot or repair physical devices that have
errors.
Submirrors can be attached or be detached from a mirror at any time, though at least one submirror must remain
attached at all times.
Normally, you create a mirror with only a single submirror. Then, you attach a second submirror after you create the
mirror.
The figure shows RAID-1 (Mirror) :

Diagram shows how two RAID-0 volumes are used together as a RAID-1 (mirror) volume to provide redundant
storage. It shows a mirror, d20. The mirror is made of two volumes (submirrors) d21 and d22.
Solaris Volume Manager makes duplicate copies of the data on multiple physical disks, and presents one virtual disk
to the application, d20 in the example. All disk writes are duplicated. Disk reads come from one of the underlying
submirrors. The total capacity of mirror d20 is the size of the smallest of the submirrors (if they are not of equal size).
Providing RAID-1+0 and RAID-0+1:
Solaris Volume Manager supports both RAID-1+0 and RAID-0+1 redundancy.
RAID-1+0 redundancy constitutes a configuration of mirrors that are then striped.
RAID-0+1 redundancy constitutes a configuration of stripes that are then mirrored.
Note: Solaris Volume Manager cannot always provide RAID-1+0 functionality. However, where both submirrors are
identical to each other and are composed of disk slices (and not soft partitions), RAID-1+0 is possible.
Let us consider a RAID-0+1 implementation with a two-way mirror that consists of three striped slices:
Without Solaris Volume Manager, a single slice failure could fail one side of the mirror. Assuming that no hot spares
are in use, a second slice failure would fail the mirror. Using Solaris Volume Manager, up to three slices could
potentially fail without failing the mirror. The mirror does not fail because each of the three striped slices are
individually mirrored to their counterparts on the other half of the mirror.
The diagram shows how three of six total slices in a RAID-1 volume can potentially fail without data loss because of
the RAID-1+0 implementation.

The RAID-1 volume consists of two submirrors. Each of the submirrors consist of three identical physical disks that
have the same interlace value. A failure of three disks, A, B, and F, is tolerated. The entire logical block range of the
mirror is still contained on at least one good disk. All of the volume's data is available.
However, if disks A and D fail, a portion of the mirror's data is no longer available on any disk. Access to these logical
blocks fail. However, access to portions of the mirror where data is available still succeed. Under this situation, the
mirror acts like a single disk that has developed bad blocks. The damaged portions are unavailable, but the remaining
portions are available.
Mirror resynchronization:
It ensures proper mirror operation by maintaining all submirrors with identical data, with the exception of writes in

progress.
Note: A mirror resynchronization should not be bypassed. You do not need to manually initiate a mirror
resynchronization. This process occurs automatically.
Full Resynchronization:
When a new submirror is attached (added) to a mirror, all the data from another submirror in the mirror is
automatically written to the newly attached submirror. Once the mirror resynchronization is done, the new submirror is
readable. A submirror remains attached to a mirror until it is detached.
If the system crashes while a resynchronization is in progress, the resynchronization is restarted when the system
finishes rebooting.
Optimized Resynchronization:
During a reboot following a system failure, or when a submirror that was offline is brought back online, Solaris Volume
Manager performs an optimized mirror resynchronization. The metadisk driver tracks submirror regions. This
functionality enables the metadisk driver to know which submirror regions might be out-of-sync after a failure. An
optimized mirror resynchronization is performed only on the out-of-sync regions. You can specify the order in which
mirrors are resynchronized during reboot. You can omit a mirror resynchronization by setting submirror pass numbers
to zero. For tasks associated with changing a pass number, see Example 11-16.
Caution
Note: A pass number of zero should only be used on mirrors that are mounted as read-only.
Partial Resynchronization:
After the replacement of a slice within a submirror, SVM performs a partial mirror resynchronization of data. SVM
copies the data from the remaining good slices of another submirror to the replaced slice.
RAID-5 Volumes:
RAID level 5 is similar to striping, but with parity data distributed across all components (disk or logical volume). If a
component fails, the data on the failed component can be rebuilt from the distributed data and parity information on
the other components.
A RAID-5 volume uses storage capacity equivalent to one component in the volume to store redundant information
(parity). This parity information contains information about user data stored on the remainder of the RAID-5 volume's
components. The parity information is distributed across all components in the volume.
Similar to a mirror, a RAID-5 volume increases data availability, but with a minimum of cost in terms of hardware and
only a moderate penalty for write operations.
Note: We cannot use a RAID-5 volume for the root (/), /usr, and swap file systems, or for other existing file systems.
SVM automatically resynchronizes a RAID-5 volume when you replace an existing component. SVM also
resynchronizes RAID-5 volumes during rebooting if a system failure or panic took place.
Example:
Following figure shows a RAID-5 volume that consists of four disks (components):

The first three data segments are written to Component A (interlace 1), Component B (interlace 2), and Component C
(interlace 3). The next data segment that is written is a parity segment. This parity segment is written to Component D
(P 13). This segment consists of an exclusive OR of the first three segments of data. The next three data segments
are written to Component A (interlace 4), Component B (interlace 5), and Component D (interlace 6). Then, another
parity segment is written to Component C (P 46).
This pattern of writing data and parity segments results in both data and parity being spread across all disks in the
RAID-5 volume. Each drive can be read independently. The parity protects against a single disk failure. If each disk in
this example were 10 Gbytes, the total capacity of the RAID-5 volume would be 60 Gbytes. One drive's worth of
space(10 GB) is allocated to parity.

State Database:
It stores information on disk about the state of Solaris Volume Manager software.

Multiple copies of the database are called replica, provides redundancy and should be distributed across
multiple disks.

The SVM uses a majority consensus algorithm to determine which state database replica contain valid data.
The algorithm requires that a majority (half+1) of the state database replicas are available before any of them are
considered valid.
Creating a state database:
#metadb -a -c n -l nnnn -f ctds-of-slice
-a specifies to add a state database replica.
-f specifies to force the operation, even if no replicas exist.
-c n specifies the number of replicas to add to the specified slice.
-l nnnn specifies the size of the new replicas, in blocks.
ctds-of-slice specifies the name of the component that will hold the replica.
Use the -f flag to force the addition of the initial replicas.
Example: Creating the First State Database Replica
# metadb -a -f c0t0d0s0 c0t0d0s1 c0t0d0s4 c0t0d0s5
# metadb
flags
first blk
block count
...
a
u
16
8192
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0
a
u
16
8192
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s1
a
u
16
8192
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s4
a
u
16
8192
/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s5

The -a option adds the additional state database replica to the system, and the -f option forces the creation of the first
replica (and may be omitted when you add supplemental replicas to the system).
#metadb -a -f -c 2 c1t1d0s1 c1t1d0s2
The above command creates two replica of the slices c1t1d0s1 & c1t1d0s2.
Deleting a State Database Replica:
# metadb -d c2t4d0s7
The -d deletes all replicas that are located on the specified slice. The /etc/system file is automatically updated with
the new information and the /etc/lvm/mddb.cf file is updated.
Metainit command:
This command is used to create metadevices. The syntax is as follows:
#metainit -f concat/stripe numstripes width component....
-f: Forces metainit command to continue, even if one of the slices contained a mounted file system or being used.
concat/stripe: Volume name of the concatenation/stripe being defined.
numstripes: Number of individual stripes in the metadevice. For a simple stripe, numstripes is always 1. For a
concatenation, numstripes is equal to the number of slices.
width: Number of slices that make up a stripe. When width is greater than 1, the slices are striped.
component: logical name for the physical slice(partition) on a disk drive.
Example:
# metainit d30 3 1 c0t0d0s7
d30: Concat/Stripe is setup

1 c0t2d0s7 1 c0t3d0s7

The above example creates concatenation volume consisting of three slices.

Creating RAID-0 striped volume:
1. Create a striped volume using 3 slices named /dev/md/rdsk/d30 using the metainit command. We will use slices
c1t0d0s7, c2t0d0s7, c1t1d0s7 as follows:
# metainit d30 1 3 c1t0d0s7 c2t0d0s7 c1t1d0s7 -i 32k
d30: Concat/Stripe is setup
2. Use the metastat command to query your new volume:
# metastat d30
d30: Concat/Stripe
Size: 52999569 blocks (25 GB)
Stripe 0: (interlace: 64 blocks)
Device Start Block Dbase Reloc
c1t0d0s7
10773 Yes Yes
c2t0d0s7
10773 Yes Yes
c1t1d0s7
10773 Yes Yes
The new striped volume, d30, consists of a single stripe (Stripe 0) made of three slices (c1t0d0s7, c2t0d0s7,
c1t1d0s7).
The -i option sets the interlace to 32KB. (The interlace cannot be less than 8KB, nor greater than 100MB.) If interlace
were not specified on the command line, the striped volume would use the default of 16KB.
When using the metastat command to verify our volume, we can see from all disks belonging to Stripe 0, that this is a
stripped volume. Also, that the interlace is 32k (512 * 64 blocks) as we defined it. The total size of the stripe is
27,135,779,328 bytes (512 * 52999569 blocks).
3. Create a UFS file system using the newfs command with 8KB block size:

# newfs -i 8192 /dev/md/rdsk/d30

newfs: /dev/md/rdsk/d30 last mounted as /oracle
newfs: construct a new file system /dev/md/rdsk/d30: (y/n)? y
Warning: 1 sector(s) in last cylinder unallocated
/dev/md/rdsk/d30:
52999568 sectors in 14759 cylinders of 27 tracks, 133 sectors
25878.7MB in 923 cyl groups (16 c/g, 28.05MB/g, 3392 i/g)
super-block backups (for fsck -F ufs -o b=#) at:
32, 57632, 115232, 172832, 230432, 288032, 345632, 403232, 460832, 518432,
Initializing cylinder groups:
..................
super-block backups for last 10 cylinder groups at:
52459808, 52517408, 52575008, 52632608, 52690208, 52747808, 52805408,
52863008, 52920608, 52978208,
4. Mount the file system on /oracle as follows:
# mkdir /oracle
# mount -F ufs /dev/md/dsk/d30 /oracle
5. To ensure that this new file system is mounted each time the machine is booted, add the following line into
you /etc/vfstab file:
/dev/md/dsk/d30
/dev/md/rdsk/d30
/oracle ufs 2
yes -

Creating RAID-0 Concatenated volume:

1. Create a concatenated volume using 3 slices named /dev/md/rdsk/d30 using the metainit command.We will be
using slices c2t1d0s7, c1t2d0s7, c2t2d0s7 as follows:
# metainit d30 3 1 c2t1d0s7 1 c1t2d0s7 1 c2t2d0s7
d30: Concat/Stripe is setup
2. Use the metastat command to query the new volume:
# metastat
d30: Concat/Stripe
Size: 53003160 blocks (25 GB)
Stripe 0:
Device Start Block Dbase Reloc
c2t1d0s7
10773 Yes Yes
Stripe 1:
Device Start Block Dbase Reloc
c1t2d0s7
10773 Yes Yes
Stripe 2:
Device Start Block Dbase Reloc
c2t2d0s7
10773 Yes Yes
The new concatenated volume, d30, consists of three stripes (Stripe 0, Stripe 1, Stripe 2,) each made from a single
slice (c2t1d0s7, c1t2d0s7, c2t2d0s7 respectively). When using the metastat command to verify our volumes, we can
see this is a concatenation from the fact of having multiple Stripes. The total size of the concatenation is
27,137,617,920 bytes (512 * 53003160 blocks).
3. Create a UFS file system using the newfs command with an 8KB block size:
# newfs -i 8192 /dev/md/rdsk/d30
newfs: construct a new file system /dev/md/rdsk/d1: (y/n)? y
/dev/md/rdsk/d30:
53003160 sectors in 14760 cylinders of 27 tracks, 133 sectors
25880.4MB in 923 cyl groups (16 c/g, 28.05MB/g, 3392 i/g)
super-block backups (for fsck -F ufs -o b=#) at:
32, 57632, 115232, 172832, 230432, 288032, 345632, 403232, 460832, 518432,

Initializing cylinder groups:

..................
super-block backups for last 10 cylinder groups at:
52459808, 52517408, 52575008, 52632608, 52690208, 52747808, 52805408,
52863008, 52920608, 52978208,
4. Mount the file system on /oracle as follows:
# mkdir /oracle
# mount -F ufs /dev/md/dsk/d30 /oracle
5. To ensure that this new file system is mounted each time the machine is booted, add the following line into
you /etc/vfstab file:
/dev/md/dsk/d30
/dev/md/rdsk/d30
/oracle ufs 2
yes

Unix Shell Scripting

Some Basic Command

Command
date

Description

Sample Output

Displays Current Date &

Fri Feb 6 22:13:16 PST 2015
Time

who

Info about all logged in

user

khushi pts/307
2015-02-05 13:35
(152.69.36.25)
rani pts/313
2015-02-03 10:49
(152.69.36.25)
raju pts/311
2015-02-06 15:24
(10.159.106.213)
ravi pts/324
2015-02-06 01:45
(144.20.169.171)

who am i

Info about the present

user

root pts/52
2015-02-06 22:13
(10.191.202.3)

echo

Prints at the terminal

$ echo "Shell Script"

Shell Script

ls

list files and directories

For more information visit the following

link:
http://solarisfacts.blogspot.in/p/solaris-file-

system.html
cat <file name>

Displays the content of

the file.

cat test.txt
This is a test file.

wc

$ wc -l test.txt
6 test.txt
Counts the number of
$ wc -c test.txt
Lines, characters, words
122 test.txt
from a file
$ wc -w test.txt
29 test.txt

Copies a files from

cp <Source File>
specified source to
<Destination File>
destination
Moves a files from
mv <Source File>
specified source to
<Destination File>
destination
rm

rm
removes file or directory rm -r # to remove a directory
rm -f# force remove

pwd

Displays current
working directory

$ pwd
/home/raviranjan

cd

Change directory

cd /var

mkdir

To create a directory

mkdir test