Solaris System Administrator's Guide

JANICE WINSOR, a permanent resident of Australia, is the author of the award-winning Advanced Solaris System Administrator's Guide and a recognized expert in Solaris system administration. Her most recent books include Solaris 7 Reference and Solaris 8 System Administrator's Reference. She is also the co-author of Jumping JavaScript, and More Jumping JavaScript and a noted artist whose work has been exhibited in the US and Australia.

1. Introducing Solaris System Administration.


Defining the System Administrator's Job. Understanding Superuser Status. Becoming Superuser (su). Exiting Superuser Status. Logging In as Root. Communicating with Users. Displaying System-Specific Messages at Login (motd). Sending a Message to an Individual User. Sending a Message to All Users on a System or Network (wall, rwall). Sending a Message by E-Mail. Starting Up and Shutting Down Systems. Choosing an Init State. Choosing Which Shutdown Command to Use. The Boot PROM (SPARC Platforms). The PC BIOS (IA Platforms). Booting a System. Shutting Down a System. Monitoring Processes. Commands for Monitoring Processes. The ps Command. What the ps Command Reports. Using the ps Report. Killing Processes. Using the /usr/proc/bin Commands. The Priority Control Command (priocntl). Setting the Priority of a Process (nice). Changing the Priority of a Running Process (renice). Finding or Signalling Processes (pgrep, pkill). Reviewing Essential Administration Tools. Frequently Used Commands. Using the PATH Variable. Using Admintool. Introducing the Solaris 8 Admin Pack. Introducing Tools in the Solaris Management Console. Accessing Solaris AdminSuite 3.0.



2. Using Basic OS Commands.


Finding User Information. Determining Who Is Logged In to a System (w, who, finger, rusers -l, whodo). Finding User UID and GID Settings (id). Creating and Editing Files (cat, touch, cp, mv, vi). Using the cat Command. Using the touch Command. Copying (cp) or Renaming (mv) an Existing File. Using Text Editor. Using vi. Combining Commands and Redirecting Output. Typing Several Commands on the Same Command Line (;). Redirecting Output (). Combining Commands (|). Using Manual Pages. Displaying a Manual Page (man). Finding the Section Number for a Manual Page (whatis, man). Finding Disk Information. Displaying Used Disk Space in Kilobytes and Percentage of Capacity (df -k). Determining Whether File Systems Are Local or NFS Mounted (df). Finding All Mounted File Systems of a Specific Type (df -F).



3. Understanding Shells.


Commands Common to All Shells. Setting a Default Shell. Changing Shells from a Command Line (csh, ksh, sh, bash, tcsh). Quitting from a Shell (exit). Clearing a Shell Window (clear). The Bourne Shell. Reviewing the Bourne Shell Initialization File. Defining Bourne Shell Environment Variables. Creating Aliases as Functions for the Bourne Shell. The C Shell. Reviewing C Shell Initialization Files. Defining C Shell Environment Variables. Creating Aliases for the C Shell. Setting history for the C Shell. Using history for the C Shell. Setting the Backspace Key for the C Shell (stty erase). Incorporating a New Command for the C Shell (rehash). Editing C Shell History Commands. The Korn Shell. Reviewing Korn Shell Initialization Files. Using Korn Shell Options. Creating Korn Shell Aliases. Editing Commands with the Korn Shell In-line Editor. Setting History for the Korn Shell. Displaying Korn Shell History Commands. Using Korn Shell History Commands. Editing Korn Shell History Commands. The Bourne-Again Shell. Reviewing Bourne-Again Shell Initialization Files. The TC Shell. Reviewing TC Shell Initialization Files. The Z Shell. Reviewing Z Shell Initialization Files.



4. Administering User Accounts and Groups.


Tools for Adding and Administering User Accounts. Adding User Accounts. Editing the /etc/passwd File. User ID Number. Creating a Home Directory. Defining the User's Environment. Creating a Password. Administering User Accounts with Admintool. Adding a User Account with Admintool. Modifying User Accounts with Admintool. Deleting User Accounts. Disabling User Accounts. Setting Up and Administering Groups. Setting Up Fields in the Group Database. Identifying Default UNIX User Groups. Creating New Groups with Admintool. Modifying or Deleting Groups with Admintool. Administering User Accounts with AdminSuite 3.0. Adding a Single User Account with AdminSuite. Adding Multiple User Accounts with AdminSuite. Modifying User Accounts with AdminSuite. Deleting User Accounts with the AdminSuite User Account Manager. Administering Groups with the AdminSuite Groups Tool. Creating New Groups with AdminSuite. Adding a Large Number of User Accounts to a Group with AdminSuite. Modifying Groups with AdminSuite. Deleting a Group with AdminSuite. Solaris User Registration. Accessing Solaris Solve. Error Conditions. Restarting Solaris User Registration. Disabling User Registration.



5. Administering Roles.


The RBAC Databases. Extended User Attributes Database (user_attr). Syntax of the user_attr Database. Authorizations Database (auth_attr). Execution Profiles (prof_attr). Execution Attributes (exec_attr). Commands for Managing Role-Based Access Control. How to Create a Role. Using AdminSuite 3.0 to Grant Access Rights to Users.



6. Administering File Systems.


What's New in File Systems in the Solaris 7 Release. What's New in File Systems in the Solaris 8 Release. Types of File Systems. Disk-Based File Systems. Network-Based File Systems. Virtual File Systems. The Default Solaris File System. The Virtual File-System Table ( /etc/vfstab). NFS Client Failover. Creation of an Entry in the File-System Table. File-System Administrative Commands. Syntax of Generic Commands. Manual Pages for Generic and Specific Commands. How File-System Commands Determine File-System Type. Types of File Systems. Making File Systems Available. Understanding Mounting and Unmounting. Automounting Directories. Sharing Files from a Server. Checking the Data Consistency of a File System (fsck). Backing Up and Restoring File Systems. Specifying Tape Characteristics. Backing Up a File System With QIC-150 Cartridge Tapes (ufsdump). Restoring a Backed-Up File System (ufsrestore). Cache File Systems. Understanding CacheFS. Maintaining Caches.



7. Administering Devices.


Automatic Configuration of Devices. Improved Device Configuration (defvsadm). Displaying Device Configuration Information. SCSI and PCI Hot-Plugging. Device-Naming Conventions. Using DVD-ROM Devices. Hardware and Software Requirements. UDF Compatibility Issues. Connecting a DVD-ROM Device. Accessing Files on a DVD-ROM Device. Displaying UDF File System Parameters. Creating a UDF File System. Determining Whether a File System Is a UDF File System. Checking a UDF File System. Mounting a UDF File System. Unmounting a UDF File System. Labeling a Device with a UDF File System and Volume Name. Using Tapes. Tape Device - Naming Conventions. Useful Commands for Streaming Tapes. The tar Command. The cpio Command. The pax Command. Volume Management. Volume Management Files. Volume Management Mount Points. Limitation on UFS Formats with Volume Management for CDs. CD-ROMs and Volume Management. Diskettes and Volume Management. Limitation on UFS Formats with Volume Management for Diskettes. Volume Management Troubleshooting. Volume Management and workman. Disabling Volume Management. Using Diskettes Without Volume Management. Diskette Device Names. Diskettes for UFS File Systems. Multiple Diskettes for Archiving Files (cpio). Diskettes for PCFS (DOS) File Systems. Administering Disks. Disk-Naming Conventions. Setting Up Disk Slices. Disk Use Check (du). Disk Information Check (prtvtoc). Bad-Disk Repair. Understanding the Service Access Facility. Admintool GUI for SAF Functionality. Starting Admintool. Port Monitors and Service Access. SAF Control of Port Monitors and Services. Setting Up Printer Port Monitors. Setting Up a Bidirectional Modem. Using a Modem.



8. Administering Systems.


Displaying System-Specific Information. Determining the Host ID Number (sysdef -h). Determining the Hardware Type (uname -m). Determining the Processor Type (uname -p). Determining the OS Release (uname -r). Displaying System Configuration Information (prtconf). Determining How Long a System Has Been Up (uptime). Determining the System Date and Time (date). Setting the System Date and Time (date). Changing the System Time Zone (/etc/TIMEZONE). Configuring Additional Swap Space (mkfile, swap). Creating a Local Mail Alias (/etc/mail/aliases).



9. Administering Network Services.


Checking on Remote System Status. Determining How Long a Remote System Has Been Up (rup). Determining Whether a Remote System Is Up (ping, rup, rpcinfo -p). Logging In to a Remote System (rlogin). Authentication for Remote Logins (rlogin). Logging Out From a Remote System. Transferring Files Between Systems (rcp, ftp). Using the rcp Command. Using the File Transfer Program (ftp). Administering NIS+ Databases. Using NIS+ Tables. NIS+ Security. Solstice Host Manager. Solaris AdminSuite 3.0 Computers/Networks Tools. Introducing the IPv6 Internet Protocol. Expanded Routing and Addressing Capabilities. Simplified Header Format. Improved Support for Options. Quality-of-Service Capabilities. Authentication and Privacy Capabilities. Showing Network Status (netstat). Displaying Status of Active TCP and UDP Ports. Displaying the Status of Network Interfaces. Displaying Kernel Routing Tables. Displaying Network Interface Parameters (ifconfig). Displaying Information About All Interfaces on a System. Displaying Information about Specific Interfaces.



10. Administering Printing.


What's New in Printing. Solaris Print Manager. Print Naming Enhancement to the Nameservice Switch File. Enabling or Disabling Global Banner Page Printing. Solaris Print Package Redesign. Redesign of Print Packages. Print Protocol Adaptor. SunSoft Print Client. Enhanced Network Printer Support. Print Administration Tools in the Solaris 2.6 Environment. Choosing a Method to Manage Printers. Introducing the LP Print Service. Administering Files and Scheduling Print Requests. Scheduling Network Print Requests. Filtering Print Files. Starting the Printer Interface Program. Tracking the Status of Print Jobs. Tracking Forms. Tracking Print Wheels. Receiving Printing Problem Alerts. Understanding the Structure of the LP Print Service. User Commands. LP Configuration Files. Printer Definitions. Daemons and LP Internal Files. LP Administrative Commands. Log Files. Spooling Directories. Using the SunSoft Print Client. Printer Configuration Resources. Print Naming Enhancement. Submitting Print Requests. Summary of the SunSoft Print Client Process. Setting Up Printing Services. Introducing Solaris Print Manager. Starting Solaris Print Manager. Adding Access to a Printer with the Print Manager. Adding a New Attached Printer with Print Manager. Adding a New Network Printer with Print Manager. Converting Printer Configuration in NIS+ (xfn) to NIS+ Format. Setting Up Access to a Printer with Admintool. Setting Up A Local Printer with Admintool. Setting Up a Print Server (Solaris Operating Environment). Controlling the Printing of Banner Pages. Turning Off Banner Pages. Setting Up a PostScript Print Client with LP Commands. Using Printing Commands. Printing to the Default Printer. Printing to a Printer by Name. Requesting Notification When a File Has Been Printed. Printing Multiple Copies. Determining Printer Status. Cancelling a Print Request.



11. Recognizing File Access Problems.


Recognizing Problems with Search Paths. Displaying the Current Search Path. Setting the Path for Bourne and Korn Shells. Sourcing Bourne and Korn Shell Dot Files. Setting the Path for the C Shell. Sourcing C Shell Dot Files. Verifying the Search Path. Executing a Command. Recognizing Problems with Permissions and Ownership. Changing File Ownership. Changing File Permissions. Changing File Group Ownership.



Glossary.


Index.