Additional Configuration Tasks on Datalinks

This section describes other common configuration procedures that have become simplified by using the dladm command, such as performing dynamic reconfiguration (DR) and working with STREAMS modules.

How to Replace a Network Interface Card With Dynamic Reconfiguration

This procedure applies only to systems that support dynamic reconfiguration (DR). It shows how DR is now facilitated by the separation of the network link configuration from the network hardware configuration. You no longer need to reconfigure your network links after you complete DR. Instead, you just transfer the link configurations of the removed NIC to be inherited by the replacement NIC.

Before You Begin

Procedures to perform DR vary with the type of system. Make sure that you complete the following first:

• Ensure that your system supports DR.

• Ensure that your active network configuration profile is DefaultFixed. Refer to the section Dynamic Reconfiguration and Network Configuration Profiles in How NWAM Works With Other Oracle Solaris Networking Technologies for information about using DR if your system's active NCP is not DefaultFixed.

• Consult the appropriate manual that describes DR on your system.

  To locate current documentation about DR on Sun servers from Oracle, search for dynamic reconfiguration on http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html

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  Note - The following procedure refers only to aspects of DR that are specifically related to the use of flexible names for datalinks. The procedure does not contain the complete steps to perform DR. You must consult the appropriate DR documentation for your system.

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1. Become an administrator.

   For more information, see How to Obtain Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.

2. (Optional) Display information about physical attributes of datalinks and their respective locations on the system.

   # dladm show-phys -L

   For more information about the type of information that is displayed by dladm show-phys -L, refer to the dladm(1M) man page.

3. Perform the DR procedures as detailed in your system's documentation to remove a NIC and then insert a replacement NIC.

   Consult your system's DR documentation to perform this step.

   After you have installed the replacement NIC, proceed to the next step.

4. If you inserted the replacement NIC into the same slot as the old NIC, then skip to Step 6. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

   With the new NIC using the same location which the old NIC previously occupied, the new NIC inherits the link name and configuration of the old NIC.

5. Perform one of the following steps depending on which circumstance applies.

   • If the old NIC to be replaced remains in its slot in the system as an unused NIC, perform the following steps:

     1. Assign a different name to the NIC to be replaced.

        # dladm rename-link oldNIC new-name

        oldNIC

        Refers to the NIC that is replaced but which you keep in the system.

        new-name

        Refers to the new name you give to removedNIC. The name must not be shared by any other links in the system.

     2. Assign the name of the old NIC to the replacement NIC.

        # dladm rename-link replacementNIC oldNIC

        replacementNIC

        Refers to the new NIC that you have just installed. This NIC automatically receives the default link name depending on the slot that it occupies in the system.

        oldNIC

        Refers to the NIC that is replaced but which you keep in the system.

   • If you removed the old NIC and you install the replacement NIC in a different slot but want the NIC to inherit the configurations of the old NIC, assign the name of the old NIC to the new NIC.

     # dladm rename-link replacementNIC oldNIC

6. Complete the DR process by enabling the new NIC's resources to become available for use by Oracle Solaris.

   For example, you use the cfgadm command to configure the NIC. For more information see the cfgadm(1M) man page.

7. (Optional) Display link information.

   For example, you can use either dladm show-phys or dladm show-link to show information about the datalinks.

Example 8-10 Performing Dynamic Reconfiguration by Installing a New Network Card

This example shows how a bge card with link name net0 is replaced by a e1000g card. The link configurations of net0 are transferred from bge to e1000g after e1000g is connected to the system.

# dladm show-phys -L
LINK     DEVICE     LOCATION
net0     bge0       MB
net1     ibp0       MB/RISER0/PCIE0/PORT1
net2     ibp1       MB/RISER0/PCIE0/PORT2
net3     eoib2      MB/RISER0/PCIE0/PORT1/cloud-nm2gw-2/1A-ETH-2

You perform the DR-specific steps such as using cfgadm to remove bge and install e1000g in its place. After the card is installed, the datalink of e1000g0 automatically assumes the name net0 and inherits the link configurations.

# dladm show-phys -L
LINK     DEVICE     LOCATION
net0     e1000g0    MB
net1     ibp0       MB/RISER0/PCIE0/PORT1
net2     ibp1       MB/RISER0/PCIE0/PORT2
net3     eoib2      MB/RISER0/PCIE0/PORT1/cloud-nm2gw-2/1A-ETH-2

# dladm show-link
LINK     CLASS     MTU    STATE    OVER
net0     phys      9600   up       ---
net1     phys      1500   down     ---
net2     phys      1500   down     --
net3     phys      1500   down     ---

Configuring STREAMS Modules on Datalinks

If necessary, you can set up to eight STREAMS modules to be pushed on top of a datalink. These modules are typically used by third-party networking software such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and firewalls. Documentation about such networking software is provided by the software vendor.

The list of STREAMS modules to push on a specific datalink is controlled by the autopush link property. In turn, the value of the autopush link property is set by using the dladm set-linkprop subcommand.

A separate autopush command can also be used to set the STREAMS autopush modules on a per-driver basis. However, the driver is always bound to the NIC. If the datalink's underlying NIC is removed, then the link's autopush property information becomes lost as well.

To configure the STREAMS modules to be pushed on top of a datalink, use the dladm set-linkprop command in preference over the autopush command. If both per-driver and per-link types of autoputsh configuration exist for a specific datalink, the per-link information that is set with dladm set-linkprop is used and the per-driver information is ignored.

How to Set STREAMS Modules on Datalinks

The following procedure describes how to configure STREAMS modules with the dladm set-linkprop command.

1. Become an administrator.

   For more information, see How to Obtain Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.

2. Push the modules to the stream when the link is opened.

   # dladm set-linkprop -p autopush=modulelist link

   modulelist

   Specifies the list of modules that you want to be automatically pushed on to the stream. A maximum of eight modules can be pushed over a link. These modules are pushed in the order that they are listed in modulelist. Separate the modules in the list by using dots as delimiters.

   link

   Specifies the link on which the modules are pushed.

Example 8-11 Setting the autopush Link Property

In this example, you push the vpnmod and bufmod modules on top of the link net0. The link's underlying device is bge0.

# dladm set-linkprop -p autopush=vpnmod.bufmod net0

If you later replace the bge card with e1000g, you can switch to the new datalink without needing to reconfigure the autopush settings. The e1000g card automatically inherits bge's link name and configuration.

How to Obtain autopush Link Property Settings

1. Become an administrator.

   For more information, see How to Obtain Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.

2. Display autopush link property settings.

   # dladm show-linkprop -p autopush [link]

   If you do not specify link, then the information for all configured links is displayed.

How to Remove autopush Link Property Settings

1. Become an administrator.

   For more information, see How to Obtain Administrative Rights in Oracle Solaris Administration: Security Services.

2. Remove the autopush link property settings of a specific datalink.

   # dladm reset-linkprop [-t] -p autopush link

   Use the -t option to remove the property settings temporarily. The settings are restored when you reboot the system.