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Oracle Solaris Administration: Common Tasks Oracle Solaris 11 Information Library |
1. Locating Information About Oracle Solaris Commands
Support for Full-Text Searching of Man Pages
About Oracle Solaris Man Pages
Locating Information in Man Pages
Creating Index Files to Enable the Searching of Man Pages for Specific Keywords
Searching for Information in Man Pages by Specifying Keywords
Format of the Man Page Sections
Description of the Man Page Sections
2. Managing User Accounts and Groups (Overview)
3. Managing User Accounts and Groups (Tasks)
4. Booting and Shutting Down an Oracle Solaris System
5. Working With Oracle Configuration Manager
6. Managing Services (Overview)
9. Managing System Information (Tasks)
10. Managing System Processes (Tasks)
11. Monitoring System Performance (Tasks)
12. Managing Software Packages (Tasks)
14. Scheduling System Tasks (Tasks)
15. Setting Up and Administering Printers by Using CUPS (Tasks)
16. Managing the System Console, Terminal Devices, and Power Services (Tasks)
17. Managing System Crash Information (Tasks)
18. Managing Core Files (Tasks)
19. Troubleshooting System and Software Problems (Tasks)
20. Troubleshooting Miscellaneous System and Software Problems (Tasks)
You can search for information about Oracle Solaris commands in man pages by using the man command. The new -K (uppercase) keywords option enables you search all sections of all of the man pages for the specified keywords. The -k option (lowercase) is limited to searching just the NAME subsection of all of the man page sections.
To search for information in man pages by specifying keywords, start by creating index files that can be queried by the man command. You can use the catman utility to create preformatted versions of the online reference manual. When used without any options, the catman utility generates index files of the man pages that are in the /usr/share/man and usr/gnu/share/man directories. Note that you must be the root user to use the catman utility.
The catman utility also includes a -w option. This option enables you to create an index file of man pages in the directories that are specified by the MANPATH variable or when the -M option is used. You can use the -M option of the catman utility to specify an alternate directory to create an index file of third-party man pages. By default, when used without any options, the catman utility creates an index file of the man pages that are located in the /usr/share/man and /usr/gnu/share/man directories.
To specify an alternate directory, type the following command:
# catman -M directory -w
For example, to create an index file for man pages that are located in the /usr/local/share/man directory, you would type the following command:
# catman -M /usr/local/share/man -w
Updates the man pages that are located in the specified directory, which is /usr/share/man by default. If the -M option is specified, the directory argument must not contain a comma (,) because a comma is used to delineate section numbers in man pages.
Creates an index file in the directories that are specified by the MANPATH variable or with the -M option. If the MANPATH variable or the -M option is not specified, index files are created for the both the /usr/share/man/ and /usr/gnu/share/man directories.
For a complete description of the catman utility, including all of the command-line options that you can specify, see the catman(1M) man page.
To search for information in man pages by specifying keywords, create an index file, or files, by using the catman utility. For instructions, see Creating Index Files to Enable the Searching of Man Pages for Specific Keywords.
To conduct a full-text search for information in all of the man page sections by specifying keywords, type the man command with the new -K keywords option, as follows:
$ man -K keywords
Conducts a full-text search of the specified keywords throughout all of the man page sections.
Is a user-defined string that is specified. To specify multiple keywords in single search, use double quotation marks. For example:
$ man -K "create zfs pool"
To search for information in just the NAME subsection of all of the man pages, type the man command with the -k keywords option, as follows:
$ man -k keywords
To search for information in a specific subsection of all of the man pages, include the SECTNAME in the man -K keywords command syntax, as follows:
$ man -K SECTNAME:keywords
where SECTNAME can be any of the following subsections in all of the man page sections:
ATTRIBUTES
DESCRIPTION
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
EXAMPLES
EXIT STATUS
FILES
LIST OF COMMANDS
NAME
NOTES
NULL
OPTIONS
OPERANDS
OUTPUT
SECURITY
SEE ALSO
SYNOPSIS
USAGE
To search a specific man page section, use the -s option with the man command and the -k or -K option.
$ man -s manpage-section -K "keywords"
For example, to search for the keywords “cpu usage” in the 1M man page section, you would type the following command:
$ man -s 1m -K "cpu usage"
Note - Keywords are contained within double quotation marks.
Note the following additional key information about the man command:
The command syntax that is used for searching man pages by using the man command with either the -k or -K option is not case-sensitive.
The man command normalizes keywords before conducting a search, which means a query for a specified keyword also generates results for all words that include part of that word. For example, if you query the word “searching,” the words “search,” “searches,” and “searched,” are also included in the search results.
Example 1-1 Searching for Commands in the NAME Subsection of All Man Pages by Specifying Keywords
In the following example, the man -k command is used to search for instances of the init command in the NAME section of all man pages only:
$ man -k init Searching in: /usr/man Searching in: /usr/dt/man Searching in: /usr/openwin/share/man Searching in: /usr/sfw/man 1. init(1m) "NAME" /usr/share/man/man1m/init.1m init, telinit - process control initialization 2. inittab(4) "NAME" /usr/share/man/man4/inittab.4 inittab - script for init 3. init.d(4) "NAME" /usr/share/man/man4/init.d.4 init.d - initialization and termination scripts for changing init states
In this example, the output of the man -k command displays the search results for the init command in the NAME subsection of all man page sections only. Note that any man page that contains init in its name is also included in the search results.
Example 1-2 Searching for Commands in All Man Page Sections by Specifying Keywords
In the following example, the man -K keywords command is used to search for instances of the dumpadm command in all of the sections of the man pages.
$ man -K dumpadm Searching in: /usr/man Searching in: /usr/dt/man Searching in: /usr/openwin/share/man Searching in: /usr/sfw/man 1. dumpadm(1m) NAME /usr/share/man/man1m/dumpadm.1m dumpadm - configure operating system crash dump 2. savecore(1m) DESCRIPTION /usr/share/man/man1m/savecore.1m The savecore utility saves a crash dump of the kernel (assuming that one was made) and writes a reboot message in the shutdown log. It is invoked by the dumpadm service each time the system boots. 3. svccfg(1m) EXAMPLES /usr/sh
In this example, the search returns three instances of the dumpadm command in the man pages:
The first instance was found in the NAME subsection of the dumpadm(1M) man page.
The second instance was found in the DESCRIPTION subsection of the savecore(1M) man page.
The third instance was found in the EXAMPLES subsection of the svccfg(1M) man page.
Based on the results of this query, the user knows where additional information about the dumpadm command can be found in all of the man pages.
Example 1-3 Searching for Commands in Specific Man Page Subsections by Specifying Keywords
In the following example, the man -K command is used with the SECTNAME:keywords argument to search for instances of the bootadm command in the DESCRIPTION subsection of all of the man page sections.
$ man -K description:bootadm Searching in: /usr/man Searching in: /usr/dt/man Searching in: /usr/openwin/share/man Searching in: /usr/sfw/man 1. bootadm(1m) DESCRIPTION /usr/share/man/man1m/bootadm.1m The bootadm command manages the boot archive and, with x86 boot environments, the GRUB (GRand Unified Bootloader) menu. The update-archive option provides a way for user to update the boot archive as a preventative measure or as part of a 2. boot(1m) DESCRIPTION /usr/share/man/man1m/boot.1m # bootadm update-archive
In this example, the search returns two instances of the bootadm command in the DESCRIPTION subsection of the following man page sections:
The first instance was found in the bootadm(1M) man page.
The second instance was found in the boot(1M) man page.
For more information about using the man command, see the man(1) man page.