This chapter summarizes new and enhanced features in the Solaris 9 9/02 Update release, the Solaris 9 12/02 Update release, and the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release. Prominent among these enhancements are SunTM Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) features. For a summary of all enhancements that are available in the Solaris 9 operating environment, see Chapter 2, Features in the Solaris 9 Operating Environment.
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Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) 6to4 Router IPv6 networks can now transfer packets over Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4) networks by configuring one or more routers to support a 6to4 tunnel. System administrators can use 6to4 tunnels as a transitional method for migrating their networks from IPv4 to IPv6. For further information on IPv6, see the IPv6 Administration Guide. |
4/03 |
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SPARC: Sun ONE Application Server Integration Sun ONE Application Server 7, Platform Edition (formerly iPlanetTM Application Server) is integrated in the Solaris operating environment. The Platform Edition of the Application Server provides the foundation for enterprise-class application services and web services. The server provides a high-performance, small-footprint JavaTM 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EETM). J2EE enables the development, deployment, and management of enterprise applications and web services to a broad range of servers, clients, and devices. The Sun ONE Application Server provides application portability and fast time to market for new Java and Extensible Markup Language (XML) applications with J2EE 1.3 platform compatibility. The Application Server enables developers to build applications that are based on JavaServer PagesTM (JSPTM), Java Servlet, and Enterprise JavaBeansTM (EJBTM) technology. This technology supports a broad range of business requirements from small departmental applications to enterprise-scale, mission-critical services. Some of the main feature highlights include the following:
The following name changes have been made:
For further information, see the Sun ONE Application Server 7 Getting Started Guide. See also http://wwws.sun.com/software/products/appsrvr/home_appsrvr.html. For specific licensing terms, refer to the binary code license. |
12/02 |
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SPARC: Sun ONE Message Queue The Solaris operating environment now supports Java Messaging Service (JMS) applications. This Solaris release uses Sun ONE Message Queue (formerly iPlanet Message Queue for Java) as a JMS provider. JMS messaging enables applications and application components to exchange messages asynchronously and reliably. Processes that run on different platforms and different operating systems can connect to a common message service to exchange information. In this Solaris release, Sun ONE Message Queue, Platform Edition provides a full implementation of the JMS specification. The message queue provides additional features such as the following:
For further information, see the Sun ONE Message Queue 3.0.1 Administrator's Guide and the Sun ONE Message Queue 3.0.1 Developer's Guide. For information on Sun ONE Message Queue editions and features, see also http://www.sun.com/software/products/message_queue/home_message_queue.html. |
12/02 |
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Hosting Multiple Web Sites on a Single Solaris Machine The Solaris Network Cache and Accelerator (NCA) kernel module now supports multiple instances of a web server. This support enables you to use a Solaris machine to perform Internet protocol (IP) address-based virtual web hosting. The Solaris software uses a single configuration file, /etc/nca/ncaport.conf, to map NCA sockets to IP addresses. For further information, see the ncaport.conf(4) man page. |
12/02 |
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IP Quality of Service IP Quality of Service (IPQoS) is a new feature in the Solaris operating environment. IPQoS enables system administrators to provide different levels of network service to customers and to critical applications. By using IPQoS, the administrator can set up service-level agreements. These agreements provide an Internet service provider's (ISP) clients with varying levels of service that are based on a price structure. A company could also use IPQoS to prioritize among applications so that critical applications get a higher quality of service than less critical applications. For further information, see the IPQoS Administration Guide. |
9/02 |
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Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2) Solaris system software now supports Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2). RIPv2 adds Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) and Variable-Length Subnet Mask (VLSM) extensions to the RIPv1 protocol. Message Digest 5 (MD5) extensions protect routers against intentional misdirection by malicious users. The new in.routed implementation also includes a built-in Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) Router Discovery (RFC 1256) mechanism. RIPv2 supports multicast, if the point-to-point links are enabled with multicast. RIPv2 also supports unicast. If you configure a broadcast address by using the /etc/gateways file, then RIPv2 supports broadcast. For information on how to configure RIPv2, see the in.rdisc(1M), in.routed(1M), and gateways(4) man pages. |
9/02 |
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Packet Tunneling Over IPv6 This feature enables tunneling over IPv6 for both IPv4 over IPv6 tunnels and IPv6 over IPv6 tunnels. IPv4 packets or IPv6 packets can be encapsulated in IPv6 packets. For more information, see the IPv6 Adminisration Guide. |
9/02 |
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Solaris Flash Differential Archives and Configuration Scripts The Solaris Flash installation feature enables you to use a single reference installation of the Solaris operating environment on a system, which is called the master system. Then, you can replicate that installation on a number of systems, which are called clone systems. The installation is an initial Solaris Flash installation that overwrites all files on the clone system. The Solaris Flash installation feature provides new enhancements for this Solaris release.
For further information, see the Solaris 9 Installation Guide. For information on using Solaris Live Upgrade to install a differential archive, see the Solaris 9 4/03 Release Notes at http://docs.sun.com. |
4/03 |
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Command-Line Interface Enhancements to the Solaris Product Registry The prodreg command has been updated to include functionality that is similar to the Solaris Product Registry graphical user interface. You can now use the following prodreg subcommands on the command line or in administration scripts to perform a variety of tasks.
For more information, see the prodreg(1M) man page and the System Administration Guide: Basic Administration. |
4/03 |
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Support for LDAP Version 2 Profiles The Solaris installation programs now support LDAP Version 2 profiles. These profiles enable you to configure your system to use a proxy credential level. During the Solaris Web Start or suninstall programs, you can specify the LDAP proxy-bind distinguished name and proxy-bind password. With any installation method, you can preconfigure LDAP before installation by using the proxy_dn and proxy_password keywords in the sysidcfg file. For information, see the Solaris 9 Installation Guide. |
12/02 |
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Excluding and Including Directories and Files From a Solaris Flash Archive The flarcreate command is used to create a Solaris Flash archive. The command has been updated with new options that increase your flexibility to define archive contents when creating an archive. You now can exclude more than one file or directory. From an excluded directory, you can add back a subdirectory or file. This feature is useful when you want to exclude large data files that you do not want cloned. For information on how to use these options, see the Solaris 9 Installation Guide. Note – In the Solaris 9 Update releases, note the following name change: Solaris Flash (formerly Web Start Flash) |
12/02 |
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Netscape 7.0 for the Solaris Operating Environment The NetscapeTM 7.0 cross-platform browser integrates features for navigating the Web, communicating with colleagues, participating in discussion groups, and creating dynamic Web pages. Netscape 7.0 provides the following:
Netscape 7.0 highlights include the following:
For more information on Netscape 7.0, see http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/netscape. |
4/03 |
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Netscape 6.2.3 for the Solaris Operating Environment In the Solaris 9 12/02 Update release, NetscapeTM 6.2.3 is included in the Solaris operating environment. In the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release, Netscape 7.0 is provided. See the “Netscape 7.0 for the Solaris Operating Envirnment” description. |
12/02 |
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IKE Hardware Acceleration Public-key operations in IKE can be accelerated by a Sun Crypto Accelerator 1000 card. The operations are offloaded to the card. The offloading accelerates encryption and reduces demands on operating system resources. For information about IKE, see the IPsec and IKE Administration Guide. |
4/03 |
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Enhanced crypt() Function Password encryption protects passwords from being read by intruders. Three strong password encryption modules are now available in the software:
For information on how to protect your user passwords with these new encryption modules, see the System Administration Guide: Security Services. For information on the strength of the modules, see the crypt_bsdbf(5), crypt_bsdmd5(5), and crypt_sunmd5(5) man pages. |
12/02 |
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Password Management Feature in pam_ldap The pam_ldap password management feature strengthens the overall security of the LDAP Naming Service when used in conjunction with the Sun ONE Directory Server (formerly iPlanet Directory Server). Specifically, the password management feature does the following:
For further information on Solaris naming and directory services, see the System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (DNS, NIS, and LDAP). For information about Solaris security features, see the System Administration Guide: Security Services. |
12/02 |
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Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) Enhancement The PAM framework was expanded by including a new control flag. The new control flag provides the ability to skip additional stack processing. This skipping is enabled if the current service module is successful and if no failure occurred on the previous mandatory modules. For more information about this change, see the System Administration Guide: Security Services. |
12/02 |
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Large Volume Support With EFI Disk Labels This Solaris release provides support for disks that are larger than 1 terabyte (Tbyte) on systems that run a 64-bit Solaris kernel. The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) label provides support for physical disks and virtual disk volumes. The UFS file system is compatible with the EFI disk label, but you cannot create a UFS file system greater than 1 Tbyte. This release also includes updated disk utilities for managing disks greater than 1 Tbyte. The EFI disk label differs from the VTOC disk label in the following ways:
For more information on using the EFI disk label, see the System Administration Guide: Basic Administration. This guide contains important information and restrictions that apply to using the EFI disk label with existing software products. The Solaris Volume Manager software can also be used to manage disks greater than 1 Tbyte in this Solaris release. See the “Large Volume Support in Solaris Volume Manager” description in System Administration Tools. |
4/03 |
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UFS Logging Performance Enhancements UFS logging enables faster system reboots. Because the file system transactions are already stored, checking the file system is not required if the file system is already consistent. In addition, the performance of UFS logging improves or exceeds the level of performance of nonlogging file systems in this Solaris release. Results of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation system file server (SPECsfs) benchmark show that the performance of NFS-mounted file systems that have logging enabled equals the level of non-UFS logging performance. In some I/O-bound configurations, logging UFS file systems exceed the performance of nonlogging UFS file systems by approximately 25 percent. In other tests, performance of logging UFS file systems is 12 times better than the performance of nonlogging UFS file systems. For information on how to enable logging on a UFS file system, see the System Administration Guide: Basic Administration or the mount_ufs(1M) man page. |
12/02 |
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Memory Placement Optimization (MPO) The Solaris dispatcher and the virtual memory subsystem have been enhanced to optimize the time that is required for an application to access memory. This enhancement can automatically improve the performance of many applications. This feature is currently implemented to support specific platforms such as the Sun FireTM 3800–6800, the Sun Fire 12K, and the Sun Fire 15K. |
9/02 |
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Dynamic Intimate Shared Memory (DISM) Large-Page Support Large-page support is now provided for Dynamic Intimate Shared Memory (DISM). This large-page support can increase the performance of applications that are capable of dynamically adjusting shared memory sizes. For further information on DISM, see System Performance Enhancements. |
9/02 |
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Large Volume Support in Solaris Volume Manager Large volume support enhances Solaris Volume Manager. With this support, the Solaris Volume Manager can create, manage, and delete large (>1Tbyte) RAID 0 (stripe), RAID 1 (mirror), RAID 5, and soft partition volumes. In addition, large volume support enables Solaris Volume Manager to construct volumes on large or EFI-labeled logical unit numbers (LUNs). Solaris Volume Manager large volume support is not available for systems that run a 32-bit Solaris kernel. For example, systems that run the Solaris operating environment (x86 Platform Edition) or the Solaris operating environment SPARC 32-bit kernel cannot use large volume support. For further information, see the Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide. See also the “Large Volume Support With EFI Disk Label” in File System Enhancements. |
4/03 |
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Reconfiguration Coordination Manager Support in Solaris Volume Manager Reconfiguration Coordination Manager (RCM) support adds to Solaris Volume Manager the ability to respond appropriately to dynamic reconfiguration (DR) requests. This addition ensures that removal of devices under Solaris Volume Manager control is blocked with an appropriate warning until the devices are no longer in use. This warning prevents system administrators from accidentally removing active volumes from a DR-configured system. For further information, see the Solaris Volume Manager Administration Guide. |
4/03 |
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Solaris Patch Update Feature You can use the Update option of the Solaris Management Console's Patches Tool or the smpatch update command to analyze, download, and install recommended patches from the SunSolve OnlineSM program. The update feature was previously only available for systems that run the Solaris 2.6, Solaris 7, or Solaris 8 releases. You must install the PatchPro 2.1 software on your system before running the update feature. Download the PatchPro 2.1 packages from http://www.sun.com/PatchPro and follow the instructions to install the software on your system. For more information, see the smpatch(1M) man page. |
4/03 |
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Combine Data Address and Test Address for Singleton IP Network Multipathing Group The use of a dedicated test IP address for failure detection on single-adapter IP network multipathing groups is no longer required. When failover is not possible because only one network information center (NIC) is in an IP network multipathing group, you can now combine the test address and the data address. The in.mpathd daemon uses a data address to detect failure when a test address is not specified. For further information on Solaris IP multipathing, see the IP Network Multipathing Administration Guide. |
12/02 |
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X Event Interception Extension (XEvIE) XEvIE is a low-level interface that intercepts all the keyboard and mouse events so that these events can be read, consumed, or modified as needed. This X extension enables better integration of assistive technologies, including those technologies that are planned for inclusion in the GNOME 2.0 Desktop. |
4/03 |
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FreeType 2.1.x FreeType 2.1.x is an open source library that provides a simple application programming interface (API) to access font content in a uniform way, independently of the file format. Additionally, some format-specific APIs can be used to access special data in the font file. |
4/03 |
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Xserver Virtual Screen Enhancement The Xserver Virtual Screen enhancement provides accessibility support for the upcoming release of the GNOME 2.0 Desktop for the Solaris operating environment. This capability enables support of magnification software on systems that have just one frame buffer. |
12/02 |
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Xrender Extension The new Xrender feature increases performance for applications, such as the StarOfficeTM software suite, that run on the Solaris operating environment. The Xrender feature provides a modern appearance for these applications. Xrender uses hardware processing for alpha-blending and transparency effects. |
12/02 |
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Extended Accounting Subsystem In the Solaris 9 9/02 Update release, you can now use extended accounting processes in conjunction with the flow accounting module for IPQoS. For information about IPQoS, see the IPQoS Administration Guide. For information about the extended accounting feature, see “Extended Accounting” in the System Administration Guide: Resource Management and Network Services. Perl Interface to libexacct A Perl interface to libexacct is available in the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release. This interface enables you to create Perl scripts that can read the accounting files which are produced by the exacct framework. You can also create Perl scripts that write exacct files. The new interface is functionally equivalent to the underlying C API. You can use the Perl interface to record system resource consumption on a task or process basis or on the basis of selectors provided by the IPQoS flowacct module. For information about the Perl interface to libexacct, see “Extended Accounting” in System Administration Guide: Resource Management and Network Services. |
9/02 Updated 4/03 |
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Additional Keyboard Support Software support for three additional keyboards has been added to the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release: Estonian keyboard Type 6, French Canadian keyboard Type 6, and Polish programmer's keyboard Type 5. This software support gives users in Canada, Estonia, and Poland greater flexibility for keyboard input by modifying standard U.S. keyboard layouts to their own language needs. Refer to the Solaris 9 4/03 Release Notes for instructions. |
4/03 |
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Wubi Input Method The Wubi input method (IM) is widely used in China. The encoding rule for Wubi IM is based on the radical or stroke shape of Chinese characters. Users can rapidly type Chinese characters through a standard keyboard rather than through slower, phonetic-based input methods. |
4/03 |
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Input Method Support for Indic Input support for Indian regional language keyboards has been added to the Solaris operating environment. Indic language users can type Indic language characters by using their preferred keyboard layouts in the Solaris operating environment. |
4/03 |
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Seven Additional Indic Scripts for Support in Unicode Locales In addition to the current support for Hindi, the following Indic scripts are supported in this Solaris release:
Speakers of these Indian regional languages have language support in the Solaris operating environment for any of the Unicode locale environments that Solaris supports. |
4/03 |
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New and Revised Documentation in the Solaris 9 4/03 Release The following revised documentation is available in the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release:
The following new documentation is available in the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release:
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4/03 |
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New and Revised Documentation in the Solaris 9 12/02 Release The following revised documentation is available in the Solaris 9 12/02 Update release:
The following new documentation is available in the Solaris 9 12/02 Update release:
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12/02 |
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NIS+ to LDAP Transition Documentation The “Transitioning From NIS+ to LDAP” appendix has been moved from the System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (FNS and NIS+) to the System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (DNS, NIS, and LDAP). Additionally, explanations and examples of various components have been added to the LDAP-related chapters in the System Administration Guide: Naming and Directory Services (DNS, NIS, and LDAP). No new features, however, are documented. |
9/02 |
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New and Revised Documentation in the Solaris 9 9/02 Release The following new documentation is available in the Solaris 9 9/02 Update release:
The following revised documentation is available in the Solaris 9 9/02 Update release:
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9/02 |
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Stack Check APIs Stack Check APIs allow for advanced interaction with stack-checking compiler support. Stack-checking compiler support is available in ForteTM 7.0. These APIs should be used in applications that are compiled with stack checking enabled. These are applications that manage their own stacks or attempt to detect their own stack overflows. Developers who maintain their own thread library need to use the setustack interface to enable consumers of their library to compile with stack checking enabled. See the stack_getbounds(3C), stack_setbounds(3C), stack_inbounds(3C), and stack_violation(3C) man pages. |
4/03 |
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Memory Allocation With libumem libumem is a user-mode (non-kernel mode) memory allocator library. libumem has features that enable you to debug memory leaks and other aberrations that involve memory usage. This feature is used in the same way that a standard application binary interface (ABI) allocator, such as malloc(), is used. A user-mode application requests an arbitrary number of bytes of memory. Then a pointer is returned that is loaded with the address of the allocated memory. For further information, see the libumem(3LIB) man page. |
4/03 |
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SPARC: Sun ONE Application Server Integration Sun ONE Application Server 7, Platform Edition (formerly iPlanet Application Server) is integrated in the Solaris 9 12/02 Update release. See Networking Enhancements. |
12/02 |
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SPARC: Sun ONE Message Queue The Solaris 9 12/02 Update release supports JMS messaging applications. These applications are based on Sun ONE Message Queue, a JMS provider. See Networking Enhancements. |
12/02 |
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Enhanced crypt() Function This Solaris release includes new extensions to the crypt() function and introduces the crypt_gensalt()function. These enhancements allow administrators to change the algorithm that is used to obscure users' UNIX® login passwords. Modules are included for MD5 and Blowfish. The MD5 modules are at crypt_sunmd5 and crypt_bsdmd5. The Blowfish module is at crypt_bsdbf. Developers can create new modules for alternate password-obscuring algorithms. Application developers must use the crypt_gensalt() function instead of manually generating the salt string for passing to the crypt() function. Modules for alternate algorithms are specified in the crypt.conf(4) file. The module_path field specifies the path to the shared library object that implements the two required functions:
For further information, see the crypt(3C) and the policy.conf(4) man pages. |
12/02 |
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New Flags for madvise() Function The madvise() function enables the kernel to optimize access to a user-defined region of memory. This Solaris release includes three new flags for the madvise() function:
For further information on the madvise() function, see the madvise(3C) man page. |
12/02 |
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Linkers and Libraries Updates This Solaris release includes new linker-editor features such as string table compression, unreferenced section elimination, and unreferenced dependency detection. For a complete list of these new features, see “New Linker and Libraries Features and Updates” in the Linker and Libraries Guide. |
12/02 |
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Smartcard Middleware APIs The Solaris Smartcard framework now provides low-level middleware APIs. These APIs can be used to exchange data with a smart card by using a smart card reader. The APIs can be used in platforms such as the Sun BladeTM and Sun RayTM systems. Applications that are written in the Java language or in C can use these interfaces. For more information, see the libsmartcard(3LIB) man page and the JavaDocs in /usr/share/javadoc/smartcard. |
9/02 |
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New Solaris WBEM Developer's Guide The new Solaris WBEM Developer's Guide is a combination of the two books on WBEM that were part of earlier Solaris 9 releases: the Solaris WBEM SDK Developer's Guide and the Solaris WBEM Services Administration Guide. This change was made to order sequentially the tasks that are associated with WBEM development and deployment. Other changes are listed here:
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4/03 |
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New and Revised Documentation in the Solaris 9 4/03 Release The following revised documentation is available in the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release: The following new documentation is available in the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release: Solaris WBEM Developer's Guide – See the “New Solaris WBEM Developer's Guide” description. |
4/03 |
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New and Revised Documentation in the Solaris 9 12/02 Release The following revised documentation is available in the Solaris 9 12/02 Update release: Linker and Libraries Guide – See the “Linkers and Libraries Updates” feature description in Development Tool Enhancements. The following new documentation is available in the Solaris 9 12/02 Update release: Sun ONE Application Server 7 Getting Started Guide – See “Sun ONE Application Server Integration” in Development Tool Enhancements. Sun ONE Message Queue 3.0.1 Developer's Guide – See “Sun ONE Message Queue” in Development Tool Enhancements. |
12/02 |
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Netscape 6.2.3 in CoBundled Directory In the Solaris 9 9/02 Update release, Netscape 6.2.3 is available in the CoBundled directory. In the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release, Netscape 7.0 is included in the Solaris operating environment. See Web Browser Enhancements. |
9/02 |
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libxml2 2.4.16 and libxslt 1.0.19 The following new freeware packages have been added or revised in the Solaris 9 4/03 Update release:
Note – To view license terms, attribution, and copyright statements for these packages, the license path is /usr/share/src/<freeware name></filename>. If the Solaris operating environment has been installed anywhere other than the default, modify the given path to access the file at the installed location. For a list of freeware in the Solaris 9 operating environment, see Freeware. |
4/03 |
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ANT 1.4.1 Freeware Package The following new freeware package is included in the Solaris operating environment: ANT 1.4.1 – The Jakarta ANT Java and XML-based build tool Note – To view license terms, attribution, and copyright statements for ANT, the license path is /usr/sfw/share/src/<freeware name>. If the Solaris operating environment has been installed anywhere other than the default, modify the given path to access the file at the installed location. For a list of freeware in the Solaris 9 operating environment, see Freeware. |
12/02 |