How you configure the network in Oracle Solaris 11 differs from Oracle Solaris 10. For more detailed information about network administration changes in this release, see Highlights of Network Administration in Oracle Solaris in Strategies for Network Administration in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
The following network administration features (listed alphabetically) are new or have changed:
Datalink naming – Oracle Solaris 11 supports generic naming of datalinks. Generic names are automatically assigned to each datalink on a system by using the net0, net1, netN naming convention, depending on the total number of network devices that are on the system.
DHCP support – In addition to the legacy Sun DHCP product, Oracle Solaris 11 supports the Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) DHCP server. This software is not automatically installed on your system. See Administering DHCP.
ISC DHCP support includes new SMF services, new administrative commands, and new configuration files. For details, see ISC DHCP Server in Working With DHCP in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
IP interface and address configuration – You use the ipadm command to manage network configuration at the IP layer (L3) layer of the network protocol stack. The command configures IP interfaces and addresses, as well as other L3 entities, for example, IP network multipathing (IPMP). The ipadm command replaces the ifconfig command that is used in Oracle Solaris 10.
The ipadm command provides almost equivalent functionality to the ifconfig command for configuring IP interfaces and addresses, with the exception that in Oracle Solaris 11, the ipadm command is solely used for IP administration. Also, unlike the ifconfig command, changes that you make with the ipadm command persist across system reboots. Note that you can still use the ifconfig in some cases. See Comparing the ifconfig Command to the ipadm Command. See also the ifconfig(5) man page.
IPMP changes– IPMP has a new conceptual model and different commands for managing IPMP configuration. One significant change is that IP interfaces are grouped into a virtual IP interface, for example, ipmp0. The virtual IP interface serves all of the data IP addresses, while test addresses that are used for probe-based failure detection are assigned to an underlying interface such as net0. For more information about these changes, see How IPMP Works in Administering TCP/IP Networks, IPMP, and IP Tunnels in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Oracle Solaris 11 also uses different commands for managing IPMP configuration. As a result, some configuration tasks are also performed differently. See Chapter 3, Administering IPMP in Administering TCP/IP Networks, IPMP, and IP Tunnels in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
IP tunnel administration – IP tunnel administration has changed to be more consistent with datalink administration in Oracle Solaris 11. You create and configure IP tunnels by using the dladm command. Tunnels can also use other datalink features that are supported in this release, for example, the ability to assign tunnels more meaningful names. See Chapter 4, About IP Tunnel Administration in Administering TCP/IP Networks, IPMP, and IP Tunnels in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Naming and directory services configuration – This configuration is managed through SMF and not by editing various files within the /etc directory. See Configuring Naming and Directory Services.
Network configuration during an installation with AI – Starting with Oracle Solaris 11.2, the svc:/network/install:default SMF service includes two new property group types: ipv4_interface and ipv6_interface. You can create SC profiles that contain property groups with the type ipv4_interface and ipv6_interface. The svc:/network/install:default start method consumes properties of these types and then uses them to configure network interfaces upon the first system boot after an installation. SC profiles can include an unlimited number of property groups of these types, which enable an administrator to configure multiple network interfaces during installation.
Note that the existing install_ipv4_interface and install_ipv6_interface property groups for this service continue to be supported. For instructions, see Configuring Network Interfaces in Installing Oracle Solaris 11.3 Systems.
Network diagnostics tools – You can use the Fault Manager (fmd) transport module (network-monitor) to perform network diagnostics and monitor network resources. The utility reports conditions that might lead to degraded network functionality. See Chapter 5, Performing Network Diagnostics With the network-monitor Transport Module Utility in Troubleshooting Network Administration Issues in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Network modes implementation – Oracle Solaris 11 supports two modes for network configuration: fixed and reactive. See About Network Configuration Modes in Configuring and Managing Network Components in Oracle Solaris 11.3 for more details.
Network monitoring and observability tools – Oracle Solaris 11 provides several tools for observing network traffic usage, analyzing packet usage, and troubleshooting packet loss. The tool that you use might depend on the feature that you are observing and which layer of the network protocol stack that feature is configured. For more details and examples, see Chapter 2, Using Observability Tools to Monitor Network Traffic Usage in Troubleshooting Network Administration Issues in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Note the following information about when to use some of these tools:
Use the tcpstat and ipstat to obtain information about the network traffic on a server. See Observing Network Traffic With the ipstat and tcpstat Commands in Administering TCP/IP Networks, IPMP, and IP Tunnels in Oracle Solaris 11.3.
Similar to the snoop command, you can use the Wireshark GUI or its command line equivalent, TShark, to troubleshoot networking issues and perform packet analysis. See Analyzing Network Traffic With TShark and Wireshark in Administering TCP/IP Networks, IPMP, and IP Tunnels in Oracle Solaris 11.3
The My Traceroute utility (mtr) combines the functionality of the ping and traceroute commands into a single diagnostics tool that sends exploratory packets to a specified host at regular intervals, as well as tracks network hops between the current host and a target host. The utility also records and displays timing information on-screen and constantly updates this information as new packets are sent out and responses are returned.
To use the mtr utility on your Oracle Solaris 11 system, you must first install the network/mtr IPS package. See the mtr (1M) man page.
Profile-based network configuration – The use of profiles enables you to define multiple alternative configurations, each identified by a single profile (referred to as a network configuration profile (NCP)). For example, you could create a profile named office for a notebook PC that configures the system with static IP addresses and DNS server locations. An alternate home profile might use DHCP to acquire this information. Two additional commands are used for administering profiles in this release: netcfg and netadm. See Network Administration Command Changes for details.
Routing configuration – Use the route command to configure a persistent route for a system, default or otherwise. The route command replaces the prior method of managing routes through the /etc/defaultrouter file. This file is deprecated in Oracle Solaris 11.
Furthermore, after an installation you cannot determine a system's default route by checking the /etc/defaultrouter file. To determine a system's default route after an installation, use the route –p show command or the netstat –nr command. See Configuring Persistent Routes.
Tunables (network parameters) configuration – The ipadm and dladm commands also replace the ndd command for configuring certain network parameters in this release. See Comparing the ndd Command to the ipadm Command, Comparing the ndd Command and driver.conf Configuration to the dladm Command, and Chapter 5, Internet Protocol Suite Tunable Parameters in Oracle Solaris 11.3 Tunable Parameters Reference Manual.