In Oracle Solaris 11, an x86 system is installed with legacy GRUB, the following entries are added to the /pool-name/boot/grub/menu.lst file during the installation process or beadm activate operation to boot ZFS automatically:
title solaris bootfs rpool/ROOT/solaris kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/amd64/unix -B $ZFS-BOOTFS module$ /platform/i86pc/amd64/boot_archive title solaris-1 bootfs rpool/ROOT/solaris-1 kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/amd64/unix -B $ZFS-BOOTFS module$ /platform/i86pc/amd64/boot_archive
If the device identified by GRUB as the boot device contains a ZFS storage pool, the menu.lst file is used to create the GRUB menu.
On an x86 based system with multiple ZFS BEs, you can select a BE from the GRUB menu. If the root file system corresponding to this menu entry is a ZFS file system, the following option is added.
-B $ZFS-BOOTFS
Starting in Oracle Solaris 11.1, an x86 based system is installed with GRUB2. The menu.lst file is replaced by the /rpool/boot/grub/grub.cfg file, but this file should not be edited manually. Use the bootadm sub commands to add, change, and remove menu entries.
For more information about modifying the GRUB menu items, see Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.2 Systems .
Example 4-2 x86: Booting a ZFS File SystemWhen booting from a ZFS root file system on a GRUB2 system, the root device is specified as follows:
# bootadm list-menu the location of the boot loader configuration files is: /rpool/boot/grub default 0 console text timeout 30 0 Oracle Solaris 11.2
When booting from a ZFS root file system on a legacy GRUB system, the root device is specified by the boot –B $ZFS-BOOTFS parameter. For example:
title solaris bootfs rpool/ROOT/solaris kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/amd64/unix -B $ZFS-BOOTFS module$ /platform/i86pc/amd64/boot_archive title solaris-1 bootfs rpool/ROOT/solaris-1 kernel$ /platform/i86pc/kernel/amd64/unix -B $ZFS-BOOTFS module$ /platform/i86pc/amd64/boot_archiveExample 4-3 x86: Fast Rebooting a ZFS Root File System
The fast reboot feature provides the ability to reboot within seconds on x86 based systems. With the fast reboot feature, you can reboot to a new kernel without experiencing the long delays that can be imposed by the BIOS and boot loader. The ability to fast reboot a system drastically reduces down time and improves efficiency.
You must still use the init 6 command when transitioning between BEs with the beadm activate command. For other system operations where the reboot command is appropriate, you can use the reboot –f command. For example:
# reboot -f