# Solaris > Solaris 9/10/11 administration on SPARC (UltraSPARC III/IV/T-series) and x86. Covers SMF (svcs/svcadm/svccfg), ZFS (pools/datasets/snapshots/send-receive/scrub), Zones (sparse/whole-root/branded/LDoms), DTrace, IPMP, LACP/dladm/ipadm, VxVM/VxFS, UFS, OpenBoot (OBP), Jumpstart/AI install, hardware diagnostics (prtdiag/prtconf/luxadm/cfgadm), Solaris RBAC, and process management. Use when working on production Solaris systems or migrating Solaris workloads. - Skill: `rloisell/solaris` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add rloisell/solaris` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/rloisell/solaris/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: rloisell (https://skillmd.com/u/rloisell) - Updated: 2026-09-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/rloisell/solaris --- # Solaris Skill Expert Solaris administration reference — SPARC production focus. **Ryan's context**: Expert-level Solaris 9/10/11 SPARC admin. UltraSPARC III/IV (`Sun Blade`, `Sun Fire`, `E6900`), T-series (`T1/T2/T4/T5`), M-series. Managed production systems including Jumpstart infrastructure, ZFS migrations, Solaris Zones, and VxVM storage stacks. --- ## SMF — Service Management Framework (Solaris 10/11) ```bash # View service states svcs -a # all services (online, offline, degraded, disabled) svcs -x # only those with explanation (failed/degraded) svcs -xv # verbose explanation with log path svcs -l apache22 # full property listing for a service # Service control svcadm enable # enable (persistent across reboots) svcadm disable svcadm restart svcadm refresh # re-read manifest properties (like reload) svcadm clear # clear maintenance state after fixing # Configuration svccfg import /var/svc/manifest/... # import manifest svccfg -s listprop # list all properties svccfg -s setprop /=: svccfg -s delprop / # Logs svcs -L # print log path tail -f $(svcs -L ) # follow service log # Instance vs FMRI svc:/network/http:apache22 # FMRI format: svc:/category/name:instance svcs http # partial match also works ``` ### Service States | State | Meaning | |-------|---------| | online | Running normally | | offline | Stopped; dependencies not yet met | | disabled | Administratively disabled | | maintenance | Failed; requires `svcadm clear` after fix | | degraded | Running but not fully functional | | uninitialized | Not yet evaluated | | legacy_run | Pre-SMF init.d service that is running | --- ## ZFS ### Pool Management ```bash # Create a mirror pool zpool create -f rpool mirror c1t0d0 c1t1d0 # Check pool status zpool status # health, errors, device list zpool status -v # verbose — includes I/O errors per device zpool list # capacity and allocation # Scrub (data integrity check) zpool scrub rpool zpool status rpool # monitor progress # Replace a failed disk zpool replace rpool c1t0d0 c1t2d0 # online replacement # Add log/cache devices (ARC/SLOG) zpool add rpool log c2t0d0 # SLOG (ZIL) device zpool add rpool cache c2t1d0 # L2ARC device # Import/Export (for moving pools) zpool export rpool zpool import rpool zpool import -d /dev/dsk # scan a directory for pools ``` ### Dataset Management ```bash # Create datasets zfs create rpool/data zfs create -o mountpoint=/var/www rpool/www # Properties zfs get all rpool/data # all properties zfs set compression=lz4 rpool/data zfs set quota=100G rpool/data zfs set reservation=10G rpool/data zfs set atime=off rpool/data # disable atime for performance zfs set recordsize=128k rpool/data # tune for DB (128k–1M) or files (128k default) # Snapshots zfs snapshot rpool/data@snap1 # create zfs list -t snapshot # list all snapshots zfs diff rpool/data@snap1 rpool/data # what changed since snapshot zfs rollback rpool/data@snap1 # roll back (destroys newer snapshots) zfs destroy rpool/data@snap1 # delete snapshot # Clone zfs clone rpool/data@snap1 rpool/data-clone # Send / Receive (replication/migration) zfs send rpool/data@snap1 | ssh backup-host zfs receive tank/data zfs send -R rpool/data@snap1 | gzip > /backup/data.zfs.gz # recursive + compress zfs send -i rpool/data@snap1 rpool/data@snap2 | ... # incremental send ``` --- ## Solaris Zones ```bash # List zones zoneadm list -cv # Zone states: configured → installed → ready → running # Configure a sparse-root zone (Solaris 10) zonecfg -z myzone create set zonepath=/zones/myzone set autoboot=true add net set address=10.0.0.50/24 set physical=e1000g0 set defrouter=10.0.0.1 end verify; commit; exit # Install zoneadm -z myzone install zoneadm -z myzone boot zlogin myzone # interactive login to zone zlogin -C myzone # console login # Solaris 11 — ipkg zone (IPS-aware) zonecfg -z myzone create -b # blank zone set brand=solaris ... # Halt / uninstall zoneadm -z myzone halt zoneadm -z myzone uninstall zonecfg -z myzone delete # Branded zones (BrandZ) — run Solaris 8/9 apps on Solaris 10 host zonecfg -z legacy8 set brand=solaris8 ... ``` --- ## IPMP — IP Network Multipathing ```bash # Solaris 10 style # Create interfaces in an IPMP group ifconfig e1000g0 plumb ifconfig e1000g0 10.0.0.10/24 group ipmp0 up ifconfig e1000g1 plumb ifconfig e1000g1 10.0.0.11/24 group ipmp0 standby up ifconfig ipmp0 # show IPMP group status ipmpstat -g # group summary ipmpstat -i # interface detail # Solaris 11 with dladm/ipadm dladm create-ipmp ipmp0 dladm add-ipmp -i net0 ipmp0 dladm add-ipmp -i net1 ipmp0 ipadm create-addr -T static -a 10.0.0.10/24 ipmp0/v4 ``` --- ## Network Administration (Solaris 11) ```bash # dladm — datalink management dladm show-link # all links and state dladm show-phys # physical interfaces dladm show-bridge # bridges dladm create-vlan -l net0 -v 100 net0.100 # VLAN interface dladm create-aggr -l net0 -l net1 aggr0 # LACP aggregation dladm show-aggr # aggregation status # ipadm — IP address management ipadm show-addr # all addresses ipadm create-addr -T dhcp net0/dhcp # DHCP ipadm create-addr -T static -a 10.0.0.5/24 net0/v4 # static ipadm delete-addr net0/v4 # snoop — Solaris packet capture (analogous to tcpdump) snoop -d net0 # capture on net0 snoop -o /tmp/cap.snoop # save to file snoop -i /tmp/cap.snoop # read file snoop host 10.0.0.1 and port 443 # filter snoop -v # verbose decode ``` --- ## DTrace ```bash # One-liners dtrace -n 'syscall:::entry { @[execname] = count(); }' # syscall counts per process dtrace -n 'io:::start { @[execname] = sum(args[0]->b_bcount); }' # I/O bytes per proc dtrace -n 'profile-997 /arg0/ { @[stack()] = count(); }' # CPU flame graph # Process-level tracing dtrace -n 'syscall::read:entry /pid == $1/ { trace(arg2); }' # ZFS I/O latency dtrace -n 'zfs::: { @lat[probename] = quantize(arg0); }' # Track slow disk I/Os (>10ms) dtrace -n 'io:::done /args[0]->b_flags & B_READ && (timestamp - self->start) > 10000000/ { printf("%s %s %d\n", execname, args[2]->fi_pathname, (timestamp - self->start)/1000000); } io:::start { self->start = timestamp; }' ``` --- ## Hardware Diagnostics (SPARC) ```bash # System hardware inventory prtconf # hardware tree and memory prtconf -v # verbose (device properties) prtdiag # system config + fault indicators prtdiag -v # verbose — component status psrinfo -v # CPU info psrinfo -p # physical processor count # Storage luxadm display /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s2 # Fibre Channel LUN detail luxadm probe # scan for FC devices cfgadm -al # all attachment points (slots, disks, SBus) cfgadm -c configure c1 # configure a device cfgadm -c unconfigure c1 # hot-remove preparation iostat -xnz 2 # per-disk I/O (extended, name, non-zero) # FRU / fault isolation fmadm faulty # active faults (Solaris 10/11 FMA) fmadm repaired # mark FRU repaired fmdump -e # error event log fmsconfig # fault management config ``` --- ## OpenBoot PROM (OBP) — SPARC ``` # Reach OBP: Halt system: init 0 → ok prompt Break from console: ~# (telnet), Break key, or Stop-A (keyboard) # Key OBP commands ok boot # boot default device ok boot disk1 # boot disk 1 ok boot disk1 -s # single-user mode ok boot cdrom # boot from CD/DVD ok boot net # net boot (RARP/TFTP/Jumpstart) ok boot -r # reconfigure boot (rescans devices) ok probe-scsi-all # scan all SCSI/FC buses ok probe-ide # scan IDE ok show-disks # list disk aliases ok show-devs # device tree ok devalias # list all device aliases ok setenv auto-boot? false # prevent auto-boot ok setenv boot-device disk1 net # set boot order ok printenv # show all NVRAM variables ok reset-all # hard reset (like power cycle) ``` --- ## LDoms — Logical Domains (Oracle VM Server for SPARC) LDoms virtualise T-series SPARC hardware (T1/T2/T4/T5/M-series) at the CPU/memory/IO level. Requires Solaris 10 Update 5+ or Solaris 11 on a CMT processor. The hypervisor runs in firmware; `ldm` is the management tool. ### Domain Roles | Domain | Role | Notes | |--------|------|-------| | Primary (control) | Boots first; owns hardware; runs `ldmd` | Cannot be suspended or migrated | | Service (I/O) | Hosts virtual disk/network switches | Usually `primary` also acts as service domain | | Guest | Standard Solaris instance with virtual resources | Can be live-migrated (T4/T5) | | Root | Has direct PCIe bus ownership | For physical I/O pass-through to a guest | ### Initial Setup (after enabling hypervisor) ```bash # On first boot after enabling LDoms: ldm set-core 4 primary # allocate cores to primary domain ldm set-memory 4G primary # allocate memory to primary ldm start-reconf primary # stage reconfiguration (takes effect after reboot) # Reboot system — hypervisor now active # Verify hypervisor is running virtinfo -a ldm ls # list all domains (primary shows as active) ``` ### Virtual Switch and VDS ```bash # Create a virtual switch (backed by physical NIC) ldm add-vswitch net-dev=net0 primary-vsw0 primary # Create a virtual disk service (backed by ZFS volume or disk) zfs create -V 80G rpool/vdisk-guest1 ldm add-vdsdev /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/vdisk-guest1 vol1@primary-vds0 # If VDS not yet created: ldm add-vds primary-vds0 primary ``` ### Creating a Guest Domain ```bash # Add core/memory/devices ldm add-domain guest1 ldm set-core 2 guest1 ldm set-memory 4G guest1 ldm add-vnet vnet0 primary-vsw0 guest1 # virtual NIC ldm add-vdisk vdisk0 vol1@primary-vds0 guest1 # virtual disk ldm set-variable boot-device=vdisk0 guest1 # boot order # Bind and start ldm bind-domain guest1 ldm start-domain guest1 ldm attach-console guest1 # attach to console (like serial) # Detach console: ~. (tilde-dot) ``` ### Guest Domain Lifecycle ```bash ldm ls # list all domains with status ldm ls -l guest1 # detailed info (cores, memory, devices) ldm stop-domain guest1 # graceful stop (calls init 5 inside guest) ldm stop-domain -f guest1 # forced stop (power off) ldm start-domain guest1 ldm destroy guest1 # remove domain (does not delete backing storage) # Save/restore domain config ldm add-spconfig saved-config # save running config to SP ldm list-spconfig # list saved configs on SP ldm remove-spconfig ``` ### Live Migration (T4/T5 — requires identical hardware generation) ```bash ldm migrate-domain guest1 root@target-host ldm migrate-domain -p guest1 root@target-host # dry-run (check only) ``` ### Resource Inspection ```bash ldm ls-devices # all hardware resources (cores, memory, IO) ldm ls-devices -a core # all CPU cores ldm ls-devices memory # memory blocks ldm ls-io # PCIe devices and assignment # From inside a guest — confirm virtualised virtinfo # shows LDom guest info prtconf | grep -i "virtual" ``` ### Console Access ```bash # From primary (service) domain ldm attach-console guest1 # direct attach # Escape: ~. # Via ILOM / XSCF Serial Console (T-series): # ssh to ILOM → start /SP/console → select domain ``` ### T-Series Hardware Notes ``` T1 (Niagara 1): 8 cores × 4 threads = 32 strands. Single CMT chip. T2 (Niagara 2): 8 cores × 8 threads = 64 strands. Integrated 10GbE. T4: 8 cores × 8 threads. Out-of-order exec; much stronger single-thread perf vs T1/T2. T5: 16 cores × 8 threads = 128 strands per socket. Up to 8 sockets (T5-8 = 1024 strands). Core allocation must be in whole cores (4 threads each on T1/T4; 8 on T2/T5). Memory allocation must be aligned to Memory Address Range boundary (typically 256MB granularity). LDom guests on T4/T5 support crypto acceleration (Camellia, AES, RSA) via virtual crypto service. ``` --- ## Jumpstart / AI Install ```bash # Solaris 10 Jumpstart # Server requirements: RARP/BOOTP, TFTP, NFS # Files: /etc/bootparams, /etc/ethers, /tftpboot/hostname add_install_client -d -e -s : # Solaris 11 AI (Automated Install) installadm create-service # create install service installadm create-client -e # register client installadm set-criteria -n # system criteria (cpu, mem, disk) # AI Manifest (XML specification of partitioning, packages, configuration) ai_manifest.xml ``` --- ## Solaris VxVM / VxFS ```bash # Veritas Volume Manager vxdisk list # disk inventory vxdg list # disk groups vxprint -htg rootdg # volume group structure vxassist make vol1 10g mirror diskgroup=datadg # create mirrored volume vxstat # I/O stats # VxFS fsck -F vxfs /dev/vx/dsk/datadg/vol1 # check filesystem vxtunefs /mountpoint # show tuning parameters ``` --- ## Key Solaris Log Locations | Log | Purpose | |-----|---------| | `/var/adm/messages` | Main system log (syslog output) | | `/var/svc/log/.log` | SMF service log | | `/var/log/syslog` | Alternative on some configs | | `/var/crash/` | Kernel crash dumps | | `/var/adm/sulog` | su attempts | | `/var/adm/wtmpx` | Login history (`last`) | | `/var/adm/lastlog` | Last login per user | | `fmdump -e` | FMA error events | --- ## SOLARIS_KNOWLEDGE > Append discoveries here. Format: `YYYY-MM-DD: `