By default, the ZFS BE is named solaris. The pkg update command updates the ZFS BE by creating and automatically activating a new BE, provided that significant differences exist between the current and updated BEs.
The BE's Active field shows N to indicate that the BE is active, R to indicate that it becomes active after a system reboot, or both (NR).
# beadm list BE Active Mountpoint Space Policy Created -- ------ ---------- ----- ------ ------- solaris NR / 3.82G static 2012-07-19 13:44
# pkg update . DOWNLOAD PKGS FILES XFER (MB) Completed 707/707 10529/10529 194.9/194.9 .
A new BE, solaris-1, is created automatically and activated.
# init 6 . . # beadm list BE Active Mountpoint Space Policy Created -- ------ ---------- ----- ------ ------- solaris - - 46.95M static 2014-07-20 10:25 solaris-1 NR / 3.82G static 2014-07-19 14:45
# beadm activate solaris # init 6
You use the same beadm activate BE command syntax to activate an existing backup BE independent of any update operation.