Introduction to Server Software and Configuration

C H A P T E R 1

This manual describes initial system configuration of the SPARC Enterprise M3000/M4000/M5000/M8000/M9000 servers. This product line has entry-level (M3000), midrange (M4000 and M5000) and high-end (M8000 and M9000) servers.

Note - The midrange and high-end servers support the following features, while the entry-level server does not: Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR), multiple domains, PCI hotplug, Capacity on Demand (COD), and the optional External I/O Expansion Unit.

Once you have completed the initial configuration processes described here, see the SPARC Enterprise M3000/M4000/M5000/M8000/M9000 Servers XSCF User’s Guide for day-to-day system administration and management tasks.

This chapter provides an overview of server firmware, server software, and initial system configuration. It has these sections:

XSCF Firmware

Oracle Solaris OS Software

Software Services

Preparing for System Configuration

Related Information

XSCF Firmware

Your server provides system management capabilities through eXtended System Control Facility (XSCF) firmware, pre-installed at the factory on the Service Processor ^[1] boards.

The XSCF firmware consists of system management applications and two user interfaces to configure and control them:

XSCF Web, a browser-based graphical user interface

XSCF Shell, a terminal-based command-line interface

You can access the XSCF firmware by logging in to the XSCF command shell. This document includes instructions for using the XSCF interface as part of the initial system configuration. For more information about the XSCF firmware, see Chapter 2, and the SPARC Enterprise M3000/M4000/M5000/M8000/M9000 Servers XSCF User’s Guide.

XSCF firmware, OpenBoot PROM firmware, and power-on self-test (POST) firmware are known collectively as the XSCF Control Package (XCP).

XSCF firmware has two networks for internal communication. The Domain to Service Processor Communications Protocol (DSCP) network provides an internal communication link between the Service Processor and the Oracle Solaris domains. The Inter-SCF Network (ISN) provides an internal communication link between the two Service Processors in a high-end server.

On a high-end server with two Service Processors, one Service Processor is configured as active and the other is configured as standby. This redundancy of two Service Processors allows them to exchange system management information and, in case of failover, to change roles. All configuration information on the active Service Processor is available to the standby Service Processor.

Oracle Solaris OS Software

The Oracle Solaris OS is pre-installed at the factory on one domain by default. Within its domain, the Oracle Solaris OS includes features to manage Oracle Solaris OS system capabilities.

Note - The XSCF firmware requires that all domains have the SUNWsckmr and SUNWsckmu.u packages. Since the Core System, Reduced Network, and Minimal System versions of the Oracle Solaris OS do not automatically install these packages, you must do so on any such domains that do not already have them.

You can install applications on the domains. That process is managed through the Oracle Solaris OS tools. Likewise, any other software management applications that you prefer to use on the domains must be installed through the Oracle Solaris OS tools.

The DSCP network provides an internal communication link between the Service Processor and the Oracle Solaris domains.

Software Services

TABLE 1-1 contains an overview of XSCF firmware services and networks that are part of your server, and where they are documented.

TABLE 1-1 Software Services
Service	Description
Access control	Access control includes logging in to the system, user accounts, passwords, privileges, and XSCF firmware control. See Chapter 2.
Initial system configuration	Initial configuration of the services for the Service Processor and the domains, including DSCP network, XSCF network, DNS name service, LDAP service, NTP service, HTTPS service, Telnet service, SSH service, SNMP service, and SMTP service. See Chapter 3.
Domain configuration	Each domain runs its own copy of the Oracle Solaris OS. Domains are managed by the Service Processor XSCF firmware, and communicate with the Service Processor over the DSCP network. You can access a domain console from the Service Processor or, if your system is networked, log in to a domain directly. See Chapter 4.
Managing Disks	RAID technology enables the construction of a logical volume made up of several physical disks to provide data redundancy, improved performance, or both. The on-board SAS controller of M3000 servers with SPARC64 VII+ processors supports RAID 1 (mirroring) volumes using the Oracle Solaris OS raidctl utility. See Chapter 5.
Auditing	The auditing function logs all security-related events. See Chapter 6.
Log archiving	The log archiving function allows you to set up a remote host to automatically receive and store log data from your server. See Chapter 7.
Capacity on demand (COD)	The COD feature allows you to configure spare processing resources on your M4000/M5000 or M8000/M9000 server in the form of one or more COD CPUs which can be activated at a later date when additional processing power is needed. COD is not supported on the M3000 server To access each COD CPU, you must purchase a COD hardware activation permit. Under certain conditions, you can use COD resources before purchasing COD permits for them. See the SPARC Enterprise M4000/M5000/M8000/M9000 Servers Capacity on Demand (COD) User’s Guide.
Security	Security is provided through access control (user names, passwords, privileges), audit logs of security-related events, and various security protocols. Your server is secure by default. That is, other than setting up user accounts and privileges, no initial configuration has to be done related to security. For example, no insecure protocols, such as Telnet, are initially enabled. See Chapter 2 and Chapter 6.
Fault management	No initial configuration is needed. Domain fault management includes CPU, memory, and I/O (PCI/PCIe) nonfatal errors. All nonfatal errors are reported to the Oracle Solaris OS, which will attempt to take faulty CPUs offline or to retire faulty memory pages. Fatal errors are generally handled by the Service Processor. Service Processor fault management includes fatal CPU, memory, and I/O errors (the Service Processor will exclude the faulty components upon reboot), as well as environmental monitoring (power supplies, fan speeds, temperatures, currents) and the External I/O Expansion Unit. See the Oracle Solaris OS documentation collection at `http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/index.html`
Hot-replacement operations	No initial configuration is needed. PCI cards can be removed and inserted while your midrange or high-end (but not entry-level) server continues to operate. The Oracle Solaris OS `cfgadm` command is used to unconfigure and disconnect a PCI card. See the Service Manual, and the Oracle Solaris OS documentation collection at `http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/index.html`
External I/O Expansion Unit management	No initial configuration is needed. The External I/O Expansion Unit on midrange and high-end (but not entry-level) servers is a rack mountable PCI card chassis. See the External I/O Expansion Unit Installation and Service Manual.

Preparing for System Configuration

This section lists the information needed for initial system configuration and the initial configuration tasks.

Information Needed

Before you configure the software, have the following available:

Access to the Service Processor with the appropriate privileges for your tasks.

More information about access is contained in Chapter 2.

An unused range of IP addresses for the internal DSCP network between the Service Processor and the domains.

Network configuration information for the Service Processor, including IP addresses, netmask, DNS server, default route, NFS server.

The number of domains in your system. By default, there is one domain and its domain number is 0 (zero). The number of domains could be different from the default on midrange or high-end (but not entry-level) servers if you specified another number of domains when you ordered your system.

Firmware version information if you are upgrading the XSCF firmware.

Information for optional services that you are going to use, such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) information for authentication.

Initial Configuration Tasks

Initial configuration requires these tasks:

1. Logging in to the Service Processor with the default log-in name over a serial connection. You must have physical access to the system.

2. Adding at least one user account with a minimum of one privilege, useradm. This user with useradm privileges can then create the rest of the user accounts.

3. Configuring the DSCP network.

4. Configuring the XSCF network.

5. Setting the Service Processor time. The Service Processor can be an NTP client, or an NTP client and NTP server for the domains.

6. Configuring or enabling any optional services you want to use immediately.

These services include Telnet, SNMP, SMTP, LDAP, NTP, HTTPS, DNS, SSH, domains, log archiving, and COD. COD is not supported on the M3000 server.

Related Information

For additional information on this chapter’s topics, see:

Resource	Information
man pages Note -(see the Note following this table)	`fmdump`(8), `fmadm`(8), `fmstat`(8), `version`(8), `cfgadm`(1M)
Site Planning Guide	Site planning
SPARC Enterprise M3000/M4000/M5000/M8000/M9000 Servers XSCF User’s Guide	System configuration and administration
Oracle Solaris OS documentation collection at `http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/index.html`	Oracle Solaris OS, including fault management.
Service Manual	Hot-replacement operations, fault management
External I/O Expansion Unit Installation and Service Manual	PCI card chassis