Oracle Solaris is designed to run continuously so that the electronic mail and network software can work correctly. However, if required, you can shut these systems down to intermediate levels where only some system services are available, or to a level where you can safely turn the power off.
For information about using your system's power management features, see the poweradm(8) man page.
To shut a system down, one of two commands are typically used: shutdown or init. Both start processes that write all file system changes to disk and terminate all system services, processes, and the OS. System services managed by SMF are shutdown in reverse dependency order.
shutdown is typically used on systems running in the multiuser state. If used without options, the command brings the systems to run level S (single-user) by default.
init is best used on stand-alone systems where other users are not affected by any shutdown. It does not send out notifications about the pending shutdown and completes the shutdown process faster.
Other shutdown-related commands such as reboot, halt, or poweroff are also available. However, these are not the preferred commands to use under normal situations. Avoid using the system's Stop key sequence as well. These methods do not perform clean shutdowns and should be used only as a last resort. Refer to the commands' respective man pages for more information.
For information about shutting down a system for recovery purposes, including using the halt command, see How to Stop a System for Recovery Purposes.
You can choose the run level to which the system is shut down and from which you can perform additional actions. For more details, see How Run Levels Work.