How to Manage a Zone That Has Become Unavailable

For demonstration purposes, this procedure refers to the UUID of the zone instead of the zone name.

Become a zone administrator.

For more information, see Using Rights Profiles to Install and Manage Zones.

Display the UUIDs of the zones on the system.

global$ zoneadm list -cp
0:global:running:/::solaris:shared:-::
ID:zonename:status:zonepath:UUID

If necessary or possible, shut down the zone.
```
global$ zoneadm -u UUID shutdown
```
Verify that the zone is in the installed state.
```
global$ zoneadm list -cp
```
An installed status indicates that a zone is not booted.
Determine whether the zone's unavailability is temporary or permanent.

Your investigation and analysis might extend beyond just zone-specific issues.
Change the status of the zone.

The status depends on the nature of the problem.
- The problem is temporary.
  
  Temporary failures might be caused by dropped network connections, misconfiguration, and other resolvable issues. For this type of problem, do the following:
  1. Mark the zone's status as unavailable.
```
global$ zoneadm -u UUID mark unavailable
```
    The unavailable status indicates that an installed zone cannot be booted. This state is displayed by the zoneadm list -p command.
  2. Fix the problem that caused the zone to fail.
  3. After the problem is resolved, return the zone to the installed state.
```
global$ zoneadm -u UUID attach
```
  4. (Optional) Put the zone in a ready state.
```
global$ zoneadm -u UUID mark ready
```
    Perform this step if you do not want to use the zone at this time. Booting the zone in the next step automatically brings the zone to a ready state before booting.
  5. Boot the zone.
```
global$ zoneadm -u UUID boot
```
- The problem is permanent.
  
  Permanent problems might be in the form of corrupt ZFS file systems, for example. You cannot recover a zone that undergoes a permanent failure.
  1. Mark the zone's status as incomplete.
```
global$ zoneadm -u UUID mark incomplete
```
    Note:
    Marking a zone incomplete is irreversible.
  2. Uninstall and remove the zone.
    
    See How to Uninstall and Remove a Zone.