B.2 IA: Making the Transition from Solaris 2.1 for IA

Some differences exist for users and administrators moving to a Solaris 2.5 system environment from the Solaris 2.1 release. For example, installation procedures follow a different order, there are changes in the way disks are formatted, and printing commands are different.

B.2.1 IA: Changes affecting Users

Keyboard mapping for IA-based keyboards has changed. For complete key-map table, see Appendix C, Modifying the Keyboard.

B.2.2 IA: Changes affecting System Administrators

There are differences in installation of Solaris 2.5 software on a networked IA-based system:

• kdmconfig is called by sysidconfig and replaces devconfig during installation.

• When bootparams database server is queried, if the ethernet and hosts maps are set correctly, installation proceeds without questions. If there are discrepancies, or the system is stand-alone, a series of screens appear asking you to define the keyboard, mouse, and display attached to the system. See kdmconfig(1M).

  There are differences in formatting SCSI and IDE disks for IA-based systems.

• The format(1M) utility is now available to format, label, analyze, and repair SCSI disks. This utility is included with the addbadsec(1M), diskscan(1M), fdisk(1M), and fmthard(1M) commands available in the Solaris 2.1 for IA-based release. To format IDE disks use the DOS format utility; however to label, analyze and repair IDE disks on IA-based systems use the Solaris format(1M) utility.

  There is a change in the support for parallel PostScript^TM printers on IA-based systems:

• The lp driver has been modified, so that setup for a parallel PostScript printer in IA-based systems is now identical to the setup of a serial printer. The only difference is when you need to specify the device name of the port.

• The following files are no longer part of Solaris 2.5:

  • /etc/lp/fd/ppostio.fd

  • /etc/lp/fd/ppostior.fd

  • /usr/share/lib/terminfo/P/PPS

  • /usr/share/lib/terminfo/P/PPSR

• The IA-based lp driver now takes advantage of added ioctls in postio.

B.2.3 IA: Solaris 2.5 System Administration Tools

System administration benefits of the Solaris 2.5 release are the result of enhancements to the Solaris system software and the ONC networking protocols and administration applications. For the benefit of IA users who may not have seen intervening releases, these enhancements are described in the following sections.

B.2.3.1 IA: Since the Solaris 2.3 Release

The following administration features have been enhanced since the release of Solaris 2.3:

• Keyboard, mouse, and display configurations are updated with kdmconfig

• Bootparams names the keyboard, display, and mouse

• Booting sequence is different on IA-based machines

B.2.3.2 IA: Since the Solaris 2.1 Release

The following administration features have been enhanced since the release of Solaris 2.1:

• Administration Tool is enhanced to simplify terminal and modem setup.

• Automated Security Enhancement Tool (ASET) enables administrators to easily increase a system`s security.

• Dynamic kernel and loadable modules simplify:

  • Kernel management for heterogeneous systems

  • Adding new devices to running systems

  • Adding device drivers without rebuilding the kernel

• NIS+ name service creates subdomains and assigns security to network resources.