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System Administration Guide: Devices and File Systems Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 Information Library |
1. Managing Removable Media (Overview)
2. Managing Removable Media (Tasks)
3. Accessing Removable Media (Tasks)
Accessing Removable Media (Task Map)
Guidelines for Accessing Removable Media Data
How to Add a New Removable Media Drive
How to Disable or Enable Removable Media Services
How to Access Information on Removable Media
How to Copy Information From Removable Media
Accessing Removable Media on a Remote System (Task Map)
How to Make Local Media Available to Other Systems
How to Access Removable Media on Remote Systems
4. Writing CDs and DVDs (Tasks)
5. Managing Devices (Overview/Tasks)
6. Dynamically Configuring Devices (Tasks)
7. Using USB Devices (Overview)
9. Using InfiniBand Devices (Overview/Tasks)
11. Administering Disks (Tasks)
12. SPARC: Setting Up Disks (Tasks)
13. x86: Setting Up Disks (Tasks)
14. Configuring Oracle Solaris iSCSI Targets and Initiators (Tasks)
15. The format Utility (Reference)
16. Managing File Systems (Overview)
17. Creating and Mounting File Systems (Tasks)
18. Using The CacheFS File System (Tasks)
19. Configuring Additional Swap Space (Tasks)
20. Checking UFS File System Consistency (Tasks)
21. UFS File System (Reference)
22. Backing Up and Restoring UFS File Systems (Overview)
23. Backing Up UFS Files and File Systems (Tasks)
24. Using UFS Snapshots (Tasks)
25. Restoring UFS Files and File Systems (Tasks)
26. UFS Backup and Restore Commands (Reference)
27. Copying Files and File Systems (Tasks)
You can access information on removable media with or without using volume management. For information on accessing information on removable media with GNOME's File Manager, see the GNOME desktop documentation.
Volume management (vold) actively manages all removable media devices. So, any attempt to access removable media with device names such as /dev/rdsk/cntndnsn or /dev/dsk/cntndnsn will be unsuccessful.
You can access all removable media with different names. The following table describes the different media names that can be accessed with or without volume management.
Table 3-1 Removable Media Names
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Most CDs and DVDs are formatted to the ISO 9660 standard, which is portable. So, most CDs and DVDs can be mounted by volume management. However, CDs or DVDs with UFS file systems are not portable between architectures. So, they must be used on the architecture for which they were designed.
For example, a CD or DVD with a UFS file system for a SPARC platform cannot be recognized by an x86 platform. Likewise, an x86 UFS CD cannot be mounted by volume management on a SPARC platform. The same limitation generally applies to diskettes. However, some architectures share the same bit structure, so occasionally a UFS format specific to one architecture will be recognized by another architecture. Still, the UFS file system structure was not designed to guarantee this compatibility.
To accommodate the different formats, the CD or DVD is split into slices. Slices are similar in effect to partitions on hard disks. The 9660 portion is portable, but the UFS portion is architecture-specific. If you are having trouble mounting a CD or DVD, particularly if it is an installation CD or DVD, make sure that its UFS file system is appropriate for your system's architecture. For example, you can check the label on the CD or DVD.
Generally, most modern bus types support hot-plugging. This means you can insert a disk in an empty slot and the system recognizes it.
For more information about hot-plugging devices, see Chapter 6, Dynamically Configuring Devices (Tasks).
See your hardware handbook for specific instructions.
# rmformat Looking for devices...
Occasionally, you might want to manage media without using removable media services. This section describes how to disable and enable removable media services.
Disabling these services means that you would have to mount all media manually by using the mount command.
If you are not sure whether you have found all users of the media, use the fuser command, see How to Determine If Removable Media Is Still in Use.
Disable removable media services.
# svcadm disable volfs
Enable removable media services.
# svcadm enable volfs volume management starting.
% ls /media
Use the appropriate device name to access information by using the command-line interface. See Table 3-1 for an explanation of device names.
Example 3-1 Accessing Information on Removable Media
This example shows how to access information on a diskette.
$ ls /floppy myfile
This example shows how to access information on a USB memory stick.
$ ls /rmdisk rmdisk0/ rmdisk1/
This example shows how to access information on a DVD.
$ ls /cdrom cdrom0 sol_10_910_sparc
You can access files and directories on removable media as with any other file system. The only significant restrictions are related to ownership and permissions.
For instance, if you copy a file from a DVD into your file system, you are the owner. However, you won't have write permissions because the file on the DVD never had them. You must change the permissions yourself.
$ ls /media
The ls command displays the contents of a mounted media. If no contents are displayed, see How to Access Information on Removable Media.
For example, for a DVD, you would do the following:
$ cp /cdrom/sol_10_910_sparc/Solaris_10/Tools/add_install_client . $ ls -l -rwxr-xr-x 1 pmorph gelfs 64065 Jul 12 2010 add_install_client
# fuser -u /media
The -u displays the user of the media.
For more information, see fuser(1M).
# fuser -u -k /media
The -k kills the processes accessing the media.
Caution - Killing the processes that are accessing the media should only be used in emergency situations. |
# pgrep process-ID
Example 3-2 Determining If the Media Is Still in Use
The following example shows that the user pmorph, is accessing the /cdrom/sol_10_910_sparc/Solaris_10/Tools directory.
# fuser -u /cdrom/sol_10_910_sparc/Solaris_10/Tools /cdrom/sol_910_sparc/Solaris_10/Tools: 902c(pmorph) 339c(pmorph)
Remember, media is “being used” if a shell or an application is accessing any of its files or directories. If you are not sure whether you have found all users of a DVD (for example, a shell hidden behind a desktop tool might be accessing it), use the fuser command. See How to Determine If Removable Media Is Still in Use.
# eject media
For example, for a DVD, you would do the following:
# eject cdrom
For example, for a USB memory stick, you would do the following:
# eject rmdisk0
Tip - You can view the removable device name with the eject -l command.