test

Solaris 10 What's New

Chapter 3 What's New in the Solaris 10 10/08 Release

This chapter summarizes new features in the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

Installation Enhancements

The following installation features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

Solaris Installation for ZFS Root Pools

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, you can install and boot a ZFS root pool.

The following installation programs perform an initial installation of a ZFS root pool:

You can use Solaris Live Upgrade to perform the following tasks:

After you have used the lucreate command to create a ZFS boot environment, you can use other Solaris Live Upgrade commands on the boot environment, such as the luupgrade and luactivate commands. For more information on using Solaris Live Upgrade for ZFS, see Chapter 12, Solaris Live Upgrade and ZFS (Overview), in Solaris 10 10/08 Installation Guide: Solaris Live Upgrade and Upgrade Planning.

System Administration Enhancements

The following system administration features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

Solaris Installation Tool Support of ZFS File Systems

The following Solaris installation tools have been enhanced in the Solaris 10 10/08 release to support ZFS file systems:

For more information, see the Solaris ZFS Administration Guide.

For previous Solaris 10 releases, see the following limited Solaris installation tool support for ZFS file systems:

SunVTS 7.0 Patch Set 3

SunVTSTM 7.0 Patch Set 3 follows a conventional three-tier architecture model that includes a browser-based user interface, a JavaTM technology-based middle server, and a diagnostic agent. SunVTS Patch Set 3 has the following enhancements:

For more information about SunVTS, see http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/test.validate.

lockstat Provider for DTrace

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, DTrace lockstat probes that displayed the spin count (spins) now returns spin time in nanoseconds. The lockstat provider interface and the lockstat command options have not changed.

System Resource Enhancements

The following system resource features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

New Solaris Zones Features

The following Solaris Zones enhancements are found in the Solaris 10 10/08 release:

x86: New GRUB findroot Command

All Solaris installation methods, including Solaris Live Upgrade, now use the findroot command for specifying which disk slice to boot on an x86 based system. Previously, the root command, root (hd0.0.a), was used to explicitly specify which disk slice to boot. This information is located in the menu.lst file that is used by GRUB. The most common form of the entry in the menu.lst file is:


findroot (rootfs0,0,a)
kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/$ISADIR/unix
module$ /platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/boot_archive

The findroot command has the ability to discover the targeted disk, irrespective of the boot device. In addition, the findroot command provides enhanced support for booting systems with ZFS roots, as well as those with UFS roots. In addition to the findroot command, the name of a signature file on the slice, (<mysign>, 0, a) is now provided. The boot signature is located in the /boot/grub/bootsign directory on the system. The name of the signature file varies, depending on the installation method that is used.

For more information, see Implementation of the findroot Command in System Administration Guide: Basic Administration.

x64: Support for 256 Processors

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the Solaris 64-bit operating system supports up to 256 processors on the x86 platform. Previous releases of the Solaris OS supported only up to 64 processors on x86 platforms in the 64-bit mode.

Support for 256 processors provides users the following benefits:

Users using this release of Solaris will be able to retain their entire software stack including the operating system, when they purchase larger machines.

System Performance Enhancements

The following system performance features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

SPARC: Solaris SPARC Boot Architecture Redesigned

The Solaris SPARC bootstrap process has been redesigned to increase commonality with the Solaris x86 boot architecture.

The improved Solaris boot architecture brings direct boot, ramdisk-based booting, and the ramdisk miniroot to the SPARC platform. These enabling technologies support the following functions:

Additional improvements include significantly faster boot times, increased flexibility, and reduced maintenance requirements.

As part of this architecture redesign, the Solaris boot archives and the bootadm command, previously only available on the Solaris x86 platform, are now an integral part of the Solaris SPARC boot architecture.

The primary difference between the SPARC and x86 boot architectures is how the boot device and file are selected at boot time. SPARC-based systems continue to use the OpenBoot PROM (OBP) as the primary administrative interface, with boot options selected by using OBP commands. On the x86 based platform, these options are selected through the BIOS and the GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) menu.

Note –

In the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the ability to directly load and boot the UNIX kernel is only available on the SPARC platform. The x86 platform continues to use the multiboot style of booting.

Although the implementation of the Solaris SPARC boot has changed, no administrative procedures for booting a SPARC-based system have been impacted. Boot tasks that are performed by the system administrator remain as they were prior the boot architecture redesign.

For more information, see the following:

x86: Kernel Support for Intel SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, and AMD SSE4A

The kernel now detects the presence of existing Intel SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, and AMD SSE4A instruction sets. This feature enables loading and executing programs that require these hardware capabilities. dis(1) now supports disassembly of instructions from these instruction set extensions.

For a list of hardware capability requirements for a given binary, see the file(1) command. For a list of hardware capabilities supported by the loader on a given machine, see isainfo(1).

Security Enhancements

The following networking features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

Separation of Duty Enforcement Through the Solaris Management Console

This feature enforces that two or more people are required to manage users through the Solaris Management Console (SMC). Separation of duty is enforced by rule. The System Administrator role creates users, but cannot assign passwords and rights. The Security Administrator role assigns passwords and rights, but cannot create users.

Separation of Duty is an accreditation requirement for government customers. SMC now supports this feature and makes it easier to achieve security-level certification.

For more information, see Create Rights Profiles That Enforce Separation of Duty in Solaris Trusted Extensions Configuration Guide.

SHA256/SHA512 crypt(3C) Plug-in

This feature provides an additional pair of crypt(3C) plug-ins based on the SHA256 and SHA512 digest algorithms. This plug-in provides a crypt(3C) hash that uses FIPS 140-2 approved algorithms and discontinues using MD5–based hashes.

pam_list Module

The pam_list module provides functions to validate the user's account on a specific host based on a list of users and netgroups. This module can be used as a quick replacement for account validation through the passwd_compat mode.

For more information, see the pam_list(5) man page.

Desktop Enhancements

The following desktop features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

SPARC: Adobe Reader 8.1.2

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, Adobe® Reader 8.1.2 is included with the Solaris OS. The new version of Adobe Reader includes many new features, including a much improved user interface, support for Shared Reviews, and several security fixes.

For more details, see http://blogs.adobe.com/acroread/2008/02/adobe_reader_812_for_linux_and.html.

Flash Player 9.0.124.0

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the Solaris OS includes Adobe Flash Player 9.0.124.0. New features in this version of the Flash Player include the following:

For more information, see http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/productinfo/features/.

Networking Enhancements

The following networking features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

Communication Protocol Parser Utilities

Session Description Protocol (SDP), RFC 4566, is used for describing multimedia sessions for session announcement, session invitation, and other forms of multimedia session initiation. SDP conveys media details such as type and encoding, transport protocol, session name, purpose, owner, and other session description metadata to the participants.

The libcommputil(3LIB) library provides public interfaces that parses the SDP description and checks for syntax conformance. This library also contains interfaces to generate SDP messages and convert the messages to byte-strings. SDP is used predominantly by the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). With the libcommputil(3LIB) library, Solaris SIP developers can leverage these interfaces in developing SIP applications on the Solaris platform.

For more information, see the libcommputil(3LIB) man page.

SIP End-to-end Traffic Measurements and Logging

The Solaris SIP stack now provides SIP application developers with the following two new features:

Device Management Enhancements

The following device management features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

Faulty Device Retirement Feature

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the Solaris OS includes a new device retirement mechanism to isolate a device as faulty by the fault management framework (FMA). This feature allows faulty devices to be safely and automatically inactivated to avoid data loss, data corruption, panics, and system down time. The retirement process is done safely, taking into account the stability of the system after the device has been retired.

Critical devices are never retired. If you need to manually replace a retired device, use the fmadm repair command after the device replacement so that system knows that the device is replaced, in addition to the manual replacement steps.

The fmadm repair process is as follows:

For more information, see fmadm(1M).

A general message regarding device retirement is displayed on the console and written to the /var/adm/messages file so that you aware of a retired device. For example:


Aug 9 18:14 starbug genunix: [ID 751201 kern.notice] 
NOTICE: One or more I/O devices have been retired

You can use the prtconf command to identify specific retired devices. For example:


# prtconf
.
.
.
pci, instance #2
        scsi, instance #0
            disk (driver not attached)
            tape (driver not attached)
            sd, instance #3
            sd, instance #0 (retired)
        scsi, instance #1 (retired)
            disk (retired)
            tape (retired)
    pci, instance #3
        network, instance #2 (driver not attached)
        network, instance #3 (driver not attached)
    os-io (driver not attached)
    iscsi, instance #0
    pseudo, instance #0
.
.
.

MPxIO Support for Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage Series Arrays

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage (AMS) and Hitachi Workgroup Modular Storage systems are integrated with MPxIO. Dual controller Adaptable Modular Storage and Workgroup Modular Storage models can fully utilize multiple paths in MPxIO environments. This support also enables the full functionality of MPxIO with the Hitachi storage systems in Sun Cluster environments.

Driver Enhancements

The following driver features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

x86: NVIDIA ck804/mcp55 SATA Controller Driver

nv_sata is a SATA HBA driver capable of hot-pluggable functions, for NVIDIA ck804/mcp55 and compatible SATA controllers.

For more information, see the nv_sata(7D) man page.

x86: LSI MegaRAID SAS Controllers Driver

The new LSI mega_sas driver supports the following controllers:

The mega_sas driver supports the following RAID features:

For more information about the LSI MegaRAID products, see http://www.lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/internal_raid/megaraid_sas/index.html website.

ixgbe Driver

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the ixgbe driver is integrated with the Solaris OS. The ixgbe is a 10 Gigabit PCI Express Ethernet driver that supports Intel 82598 10 Gigabit Ethernet controller.

SPARC: Support for aac Driver

Starting with the Solaris 10 10/08 release, the HBA driver for Adaptec Advanced RAID Controller, aac, now supports the SPARC platform.

For more information, see the aac(7D) man page.

Additional Software Enhancements

The following additional software features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

Perl Database Interface and Perl PostgreSQL Driver

Perl Database Interface (DBI) is a generic database interface to talk to specific database back-end. DBD::Pg is a PostgreSQL driver which enables Perl applications to interact with PostgreSQL database through DBI.

For more information, see the following:

PostgreSQL 8.3

PostgreSQL is an advanced, open-source Relational Database Management System (RDBMS). The important features of PostgreSQL 8.3 version are integrated text search, XML support, and performance improvements in many areas.

For more information, see the community web site, http://www.postgresql.org/.

Language Support Enhancements

The following language support feature has been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

IIIMF Hangul Language Engine

The Hangul LE (Language Engine) is a new Korean input method that enhances user experience. Hangul LE has the following features:

For more information, see the Hangul LE help.

Freeware Enhancements

The following freeware features and enhancements have been added to the Solaris 10 10/08 release.

C-URL - The C-URL Wrappers Library

C-URL is a utility library that provides programmatic access to the most common Internet protocols such as, HTTP, FTP, TFTP, SFTP, and TELNET. C-URL is also extensively used in various applications.

For more information, see http://curl.haxx.se/.

Libidn - Internationalized Domain Library

Libidn provides implementations of the Stringprep (RFC 3454), Nameprep (RFC 3491), Punycode (RFC 3492), and IDNA (RFC 3490) specifications. This library provides new functionality and facilities to the Solaris OS.

For more information, see the following resources:

LibGD - The Graphics Draw Library

LibGD is a graphics conversion and manipulation utility library. This library is used extensively in web-based application frameworks. The command-line utilities of LibGD provide easy-to-use graphics-conversion facilities.

For more information, see http://www.libgd.org/.

TIDY HTML Library

TIDY is an HTML parser. This parser is the HTML equivalent of lint(1). TIDY is useful in validating the accuracy of static and dynamic HTML pages.

For more information, see http://tidy.sourceforge.net/.