The commands that are described in the following sections are primarily used to administer network configuration in Oracle Solaris. For detailed descriptions of each these commands, see the relevant man pages.
Introduced in Oracle Solaris 10, the dladm is used to configure datalinks.
The dladm command is used to manage the following types of network configuration:
Physical interfaces – Ethernet, wireless, and InfiniBand
Virtual networking features – Etherstubs, VNICs, and IP tunnels
Switch features – Link aggregations, VLANs, and bridging technologies
Device characteristics – Speed, duplexing, priority, and feature negotiation
The dladm command creates persistent network configuration for the profile that is currently active on the system. Thus, net0 can have different MTU values in different profiles. For example, if a datalink named net0 is configured with a specific maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1200, that MTU value is persistent for net0 just for that profile. If you then activate another profile and set a different MTU value for that profile by using the dladm command, the new MTU value would be applied just to that profile.
The dladm command also replaces the ndd command that is used to configure protocol properties in Oracle Solaris 10. As a tool for setting Layer 2 driver properties, the dladm command provides several advantages over the ndd command. See Comparing the ndd Command to the ipadm Command in Transitioning From Oracle Solaris 10 to Oracle Solaris 11.3.
For more information, see Administering Datalink Configuration in Oracle Solaris.
The ipadm command replaces the ifconfig command for configuring IP interfaces and addresses in this release. The ipadm command manages IP interfaces and IP addresses more efficiently because the command is solely used for IP interface administration. Also, unlike the ifconfig command, the ipadm command implements persistent network configuration. See Comparing the ifconfig Command to the ipadm Command in Transitioning From Oracle Solaris 10 to Oracle Solaris 11.3. See the ifconfig(5) man page.
The ipadm command also replaces the ndd command that was used to configure protocol properties in Oracle Solaris 10. As a tool for setting protocol properties, the ipadm command provides several advantages over the ndd command. See Comparing the ndd Command to the ipadm Command in Transitioning From Oracle Solaris 10 to Oracle Solaris 11.3.
For more information, see Configuring and Administering IP Interfaces and Addresses in Oracle Solaris.
Because the /etc/defaultrouter file is deprecated in Oracle Solaris 11, you can no longer manage routes (default or otherwise) by using this file. Instead, use the route command to manually manipulate the network routing tables. The route command manipulates routes for the active profile only. The default route, as well as all other routes, could potentially be replaced if the active profile changes. This issue is of no concern if you do not switch profiles on your system.
For more information, see Creating Persistent (Static) Routes.
The netcfg and netadm commands are used to manage various types of profiles. Most of the features that are provided by these two commands are targeted at managing reactive profiles. The netcfg command is rarely used on corporate servers. These types of servers typically use the fixed mode.
The netadm command is used to enable and disable profiles and display information about profiles and their states. See Enabling and Disabling Profiles and Administering Profiles.
For more information, see Administering Profile-Based Network Configuration in Oracle Solaris.
Another option for reconfiguring your system's network settings is the sysconfig utility (also called the System Configuration Interactive (SCI) Tool). The SCI tool supports the configuration of freshly installed or unconfigured systems and is designed to provide system configuration for newly created non-global zones during text installations. You can use the SCI tool interactively or non-interactively.
There are three operations that you can perform with the sysconfig utility: unconfiguration, configuration, and profile creation. You use the unconfigure subcommand unconfigure an entire system. This command leaves the system in a completely unconfigured state.
Use the configure subcommand to reconfigure the existing settings for any of the following functional groupings:
date_time
identity
keyboard
location
naming_services
network
support
system
users
The two functional groupings that pertain specifically to a system's network configuration are network and naming_services.
When you use the SC tool to unconfigure the network grouping, the system switches to the DefaultFixed NCP and DefautFixed Location profile and removes the following network configuration:
IP interfaces and any IP addresses that are configured on those interfaces
Virtual network interfaces and any IP addresses that are configured on those interfaces
IPMP groups and any IP addresses that are configured on those interfaces
WIFI security objects
Routing table entries
For example, you would reconfigure all of the system's existing network settings as follows:
# sysconfig configure -g network
Use the following command to reconfigure a system's existing naming services:
# sysconfig configure -g network,naming_services
The –g option specifies which functional grouping to reconfigure.
For more information, see the sysconfig(1M) man page and Chapter 6, Unconfiguring or Reconfiguring an Oracle Solaris Instance in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.