The following features are new or changed:
Naming services and system configuration migration to SMF – In this release, naming services are managed through the Service Management Facility (SMF). The previous behavior where you modified a certain file to configure naming services, for example, /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/resolv.conf, no longer works. Legacy configuration files are retained in this Oracle Solaris release only for the purpose of compatibility with previous Oracle Solaris releases. The contents of these files are generated by the SMF service that pertains to the specific naming service.
If no network configuration exists, naming services default to files only behavior, rather than nis files. The svc:/system/name-service/cache SMF service should be enabled at all times. Note also that if you make configuration changes to these services by using SMF commands, the services must be enabled, refreshed, or both for any changes to take effect. See the svccfg (1M) and svcadm (1M) man pages.
resolv.conf error-checking capabilities – Prior to the naming services migration to SMF, errors in the resolv.conf file configuration were processed silently and went undetected without producing any warnings. As a result, the resolv.conf file did not behave according to how it was configured. Oracle Solaris 11 introduces basic error checking through SMF templates so that error conditions are now properly reported. See the resolv.conf (4) man page.
Domain Name System (DNS) server setup – The process for setting up a DNS server has changed. For detailed instructions, see Administering DNS (Tasks) in Working With Oracle Solaris 11.2 Directory and Naming Services: DNS and NIS .