Answers to Common Profile-Based Network Configuration Questions
Refer to the following troubleshooting information when using the reactive
mode for network administration. For information about troubleshooting network
administration issues when using the fixed mode, see Answers to Common Network Administration Questions. For further details, see About Network Configuration Modes in Configuring and Managing Network Components in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Question:
How do I determine which networking mode my system is using after an installation?
Answer:
The networking mode is determined by the profile that is activated during installation. If the
Automatic profile is activated, you are in the reactive mode. If the
DefaultFixed profile is activated, you are in the fixed mode. To determine which
mode is currently active on your system, use the netadm list command as
follows:
# netadm list
Question:
My system defaulted to the fixed mode after an installation and the
DefaultFixed profile is currently active. How do I switch to reactive
mode?
Answer:
To enable the reactive mode, you need to switch to either the Automatic
profile or another reactive profile by using the netadm enable command. For
example, you would enable the Automatic profile as follows:.
# netadm enable -p ncp Automatic
Question:
What profile must be referenced to not plumb IPv6 and how is this aspect of network
configuration managed when using the Automated Installer (AI) or at installation time?
Answer:
You can create any profile that does not have an IPv6 address configured. When the profile is
enabled, IPv6 is not plumbed. You cannot create new reactive profiles at installation time from an
AI manifest. If you want to create a reactive profile after an installation, use the
netcfg command. See Configuring Profiles in Configuring and Managing Network Components in Oracle Solaris 11.3. Note that an AI
manifest does enable you to choose which profile to activate after the installation after the system
reboots.
Question:
The naming services settings on my system are not set correctly after installing Oracle
Solaris. What should I do?
Answer:
For the reactive mode, naming services information and other system-wide settings are
specified in a Location profile, which is another primary profile type. See
Profile Type Descriptions in Configuring and Managing Network Components in Oracle Solaris 11.3 for more details.
The following example shows how to display all of the profiles that are on a system and their
states. Use this command to determine the currently active Location profile. The
second part of the example shows how to initiative an interactive netcfg session,
then select the currently active Location and list its configuration
information:
# netadm list
TYPE PROFILE STATE
ncp DefaultFixed disabled
ncp Automatic online
ncu:phys net0 offline
ncu:ip net0 offline
loc Automatic online
loc NoNet offline
loc DefaultFixed offline
# netcfg
netcfg> select loc myloc
netcfg:loc:myloc> list
loc:myloc
activation-mode manual
enabled false
nameservices dns
nameservices-config-file "/etc/nsswitch.dns"
dns-nameservice-configsrc dhcp
netcfg:loc:myloc>
In the previous example, DNS is used and the /etc/nsswitch.dns file is
referenced.
The following example shows how you would modify the existing naming services configuration
for a Location named myloc:
# netadm list
TYPE PROFILE STATE
ncp DefaultFixed disabled
ncp Automatic online
ncu:phys net0 offline
ncu:ip net0 offline
loc Automatic offline
loc NoNet offline
loc DefaultFixed offline
loc myloc online
# netcfg
netcfg> select loc myloc
netcfg:loc:myloc> list
loc:myloc
activation-mode manual
enabled false
nameservices nis
nameservices-config-file "/etc/nsswitch.nis"
dns-nameservice-configsrc dhcp
nfsv4-domain
netcfg:loc:myloc> set nameservices=dns
netcfg:loc:myloc> set nameservices-config-file="/etc/nsswitch.dns"
netcfg:loc:myloc> list
activation-mode system
enabled false
nameservices dns
nameservices-config-file "/etc/nsswitch.dns"
netcfg:loc:myloc> commit
Committed changes
netcfg:loc:myloc> exit
For more information about configuring Locations, see Creating Locations in Configuring and Managing Network Components in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Question:
I cannot start the network administration GUI (formerly NWAM) from the desktop. Can I start
the GUI from the command line?
Answer:
Use the following command to start the GUI from the command line:
% /usr/lib/nwam-manager
If the GUI still does not start, make sure that the network administration GUI icon is
displayed in the GNOME notification area of your desktop panel. If the icon is not displayed, press
the right mouse button to select the Add to Panel... option on the desktop panel, then add the
Notification Area to the panel.
Question:
I started the network administration GUI from the command line
(/usr/lib/nwam-manager) as a regular user and received the message, "Another
instance is running. This instance will exit now”. The GUI seemed to start, but the icon is
not displayed on the desktop. How can I access the GUI?
Answer:
If the icon is not displayed in the desktop panel, press the right mouse button to select the
Add to Panel... option on the desktop panel, then add the Notification Area to the panel.