System Configuration Changes and Migration of System Configuration to SMF

In Oracle Solaris 11, certain aspects of system configuration have migrated to SMF. For information about naming services that have migrated to SMF, see Table 7-1.

The following key changes are introduced in this release:

• DNS server setup – The process for setting up a DNS server has changed. For detailed instructions, see Administering DNS (Tasks) in Working With Naming and Directory Services in Oracle Solaris 11.1.

• /etc/default/init file is now read-only – Locale and time zone configuration have migrated to SMF. All changes to environment variables should be managed through the new svc:/system/environment:init SMF service.

  To use the svc:/system/environment:init SMF service, make sure the skip_init_upgrade property is set to true:

  # svccfg -s svc:/system/environment:init setprop \
  upgrade/skip_init_upgrade=true
  # svcadm refresh svc:/system/environment:init

  For more information, see Internationalization and Localization Changes.

• /etc/dfs/dfstab configuration – Publishing and unpublishing a file system share is now done with the zfs command. See Chapter 5, Managing File Systems.

• /etc/hostname.<if>, /etc/dhcp.<if>, and /etc/hostname.ip*.tun* configuration – Persistent network configuration by editing these files is no longer necessary. The ipadm and dladm commands are used to manage this type of network configuration. See Managing Network Configuration in Fixed Mode.

• Mapping a system's host name – Depending on the Oracle Solaris 11 release you are running, a system's host name is mapped as follows during an installation:

  • Oracle Solaris 11: In Oracle Solaris 10, during an installation, the /etc/hosts file is updated to map the system's host name to one of the its non-loopback IP addresses. In Oracle Solaris 11, the host name is mapped to a system's IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. For example:

    ::1 foobar localhost
    127.0.0.1 foobar loghost localhost

    If you prefer the previous behavior, where hostname maps to the IP address of a non-loopback interface, you must manually modify the /etc/hosts file to include this type of mapping, as shown in the following example:

    ::1 localhost
    127.0.0.1 loghost localhost
    129.148.174.232 foobar

  • Oracle Solaris 11.1: The host name is mapped to the primary interface at installation time. The system/identity:node SMF service includes a property that enables an administrator to disable the feature.

• Power management configuration – Power management is no longer configured by editing the /etc/power.conf file and by using the pmconfig command. Instead, the poweradm command is used. See Power Management Configuration Changes.

• Configuring a system's identity – Depending on the Oracle Solaris 11 release that you are running, configure a system's identity as follows:

  • Oracle Solaris 11: Configure a system's identify (nodename/hostname) by setting the config/nodename service property of the svc:/system/identity:node SMF service, as shown in this example:

    # svccfg -s svc:/system/identity:node setprop config/nodename = astring: nodename
    # svcadm refresh svc:/system/identity:node
    # svcadm restart svc:/system/identity:node

    ---

    Note - If the system is configured to use DHCP, which is always the case if the Automatic NCP is enabled, the SMF service property can only be set if the DHCP server does not provide a value for the nodename/hostname option (DHCP standard option code 12). See nodename(4).

    ---

  • Oracle Solaris 11.1: Use the hostname command to permanently set the system's host name. Initially, the hostname value is stored in config/nodename, but this value is overridden if the system is configured by DHCP, in which case, DHCP provides the hostname value. If the hostname command is used, then the hostname value is whatever is specified in config/nodename. If you set a system's identity by using the hostname command, this setting cannot be overridden by DHCP until you execute the hostname command with the -D option. The corresponding SMF properties and the associated SMF service are also automatically updated when you use the hostname command. See hostname(1).

• System console and terminal services configuration – The sac command and the Service Access Facility (SAF) program are no longer supported. The system console and locally connected terminal devices are represented as instances of the SMF console-login service, svc:/system/console. See System Console, Terminal Services, and Power Management Changes.

• System logging services – New in Oracle Solaris 11.1, rsyslog is a reliable and extended syslog daemon with a modular design implementation that supports several features, for example, filtering, TCP, encryption, high-precision timestamps, as well as output control.

  The status of the system-log services can be displayed by running the following command:

  # svcs -a | grep system-log
  disabled       Nov_21   svc:/system/system-log:rsyslog
  online         Nov_30   svc:/system/system-log:default

  ---

  Note - The syslog SMF service, svc:/system/system-log:default, continues to be the default logging service for in Oracle Solaris 11.

  ---

• Time zone configuration – In Oracle Solaris 10, the time zone is configured by editing the /etc/TIMEZONE (/etc/default/init) file. In Oracle Solaris 11, the svc:/system/timezone:default SMF service enables you set a system's time zone. See Locale and Time Zone Configuration Changes.

SMF Administrative Changes

Information for recording the source of properties, property groups, instances, and services has been added to the SMF repository. This information enables users to determine which settings are administrative customizations and those settings that are delivered with Oracle Solaris by a manifest.

The different settings by administrator, profile, or manifest are captured in layers. Use the svccfg listprop command with the new -l option to explore the values that are in each of the layers. The svccfg -s service:instance listprop -l all command lists all of the property groups and property values for the selected service:instance, with all of the layers that are available for each property group and the property value that is set. For example:

root@system1# svccfg -s mysvc:default listprop -l all
start                             method      manifest
start/exec                        astring     manifest              /var/tmp/testing/blah.ksh
start/timeout_seconds             count       manifest              600
start/type                        astring     manifest              method
stop                              method      manifest
stop/exec                         astring     manifest              /var/tmp/testing/blah.ksh
stop/timeout_seconds              count       manifest              600
stop/type                         astring     manifest              method
startd                            framework   manifest
startd/duration                   astring     manifest              transient
ifoo                              framework   site-profile
ifoo                              framework   manifest
ifoo/ibar                         astring     admin                 adminv
ifoo/ibar                         astring     manifest              imanifest_v
ifoo/ibar                         astring     site-profile          iprofile_v
general                           framework   site-profile
general                           framework   manifest
general/complete                  astring     manifest
general/enabled                   boolean     site-profile          true
general/enabled                   boolean     manifest              true 

In this example, the property group ifoo shows the type of information that is listed when the new -l option is used.

By comparison, running the same command without the new -l options lists the information, as follows:

# svccfg -s mysvc:default listprop
start                             method
start/exec                        astring     /var/tmp/testing/blah.ksh
start/timeout_seconds             count       600
start/type                        astring     method
stop                              method
stop/exec                         astring     /var/tmp/testing/blah.ksh
stop/timeout_seconds              count       600
stop/type                         astring     method
startd                            framework
startd/duration                   astring     transient
ifoo                              framework
ifoo/ibar                         astring     adminv
general                           framework
general/complete                  astring
general/enabled                   boolean     true 

In addition, the svccfg listcust command can be used to list customizations only.

Services and instances that are delivered in standard locations (/lib/svc/manifest, /var/svc/manifest, and /etc/svc/profile) are now managed by the manifest-import SMF service. To completely remove these services from the system, an administrator should uninstall the package that delivers the supporting files. This change triggers the removal of the service or instance from the system. If the delivering files are not managed by a package, then removing the file and restarting the manifest-import service removes the services or instances that are delivered from the system entirely.

If the files cannot be removed, or the administrator does not want the service or instance to run on the system, and disabling the service or instance is not an option, the svccfg delete command can be used. The svccfg delete command is considered an administrative customization to the way the system is currently installed when the delivering files that are still present in the standard locations.

To remove any administrative customizations, including customizations that were made by the svccfg delete command, and return to the configuration that is provided by the service manifest, use the delcust subcommand of the svccfg command with care. For example, you would list and delete all of the customization on sendmail-client:default, as follows:

# svccfg
  svc:> select svc:/network/sendmail-client:default
  svc:/network/sendmail-client:default> listcust
  config                        application admin           MASKED
  ...
  svc:/network/sendmail-client:default> delcust
   Deleting customizations for instance: default

For more information, see the svccfg(1M) man page..

SMF Manifest Creation Tool

New in Oracle Solaris 11.1, the svcbundle command enables you to generate SMF manifests. You can also use the command to generate profiles by specifying the bundle-type option. The generated bundle is entirely defined by the use of multiple -s options. Each NV pair is of the form, name=value. To generate a manifest, you must specify a service-name and start-method. When generating a manifest, the svcbundle command makes several basics assumptions, which can be modified after the manifest is generated. For detailed instructions on using the svcbundle command, see svcbundle(1M).

System Process Summary

Oracle Solaris 10 and Oracle Solaris 11 releases include system processes that perform a specific task, but typically do not require any administration.