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So you have decided to install oracle in your Solaris OS!!!!
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Qn. I have solaris sun fire 4800 machine.
My cd rom is scsi. I have inserted a cd. how to read the cd?
Ans. For Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 sytems, first create the directory, then map the cdrom to this directory.

# mkdir -p /cdrom/cdrom0



# mount -o ro -F hsfs /dev/dsk/c0t6d0s2 /cdrom/cdrom0

Note: c0t6d0s2 is for scsi drive and c0t2d0s2 is for ide drive
          But how to findout, whether my drive is scsi or ide??????????????????????

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What is Sun Solaris? Sun Solaris is an Operating System (ofcourse,you know)
There are various versions of solaris os
solaris 2.5
solaris 2.6
solaris 7
solaris 8
solaris 10
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Which processor is used in this OS?
Sun-1,sun-2,sun-3 were using motorola processors
Sun-4 was using SPARC processor, manufactured by sun itself.
Then sun developed ULTRASPARC processors which are 64 bit
Sun-4c is old sparc systems
sun-4m are late sparc systems
sun-4u is ultrasparc system
Intel processors are used in solaris machines.
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Why solaris 9 is called as solaris 5.9?
Here 5 refers to SYSTEM-5.Actually AT&T Released System-3 Unix. After that System-5 was released.Solaris basic architecture is based on system-5.
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How to know whether my os is solaris 8 or solaris 9?


# cat /etc/release
Solaris 10 1/06 s10s_u1wos_19a SPARC


or
# uname -snrvmapiX
SunOS solaris 5.10 Generic sun4u sparc SUNW,Ultra-60 System = SunOS
Node = solaris
Release = 5.10
KernelID = Generic
Machine = sun4u
BusType =
Serial =
Users =
OEM# = 0
Origin# = 1
NumCPU = 1


#man uname gives the following result:
NAME
uname - print name of current system
SYNOPSIS
uname [-aimnprsvX]
uname [-S system_name]
DESCRIPTION
The uname utility prints information about the current sys-
tem on the standard output. When options are specified, sym-
bols representing one or more system characteristics will be
written to the standard output. If no options are specified,
uname prints the current operating system's name. The
options print selected information returned by uname(2),
sysinfo(2), or both.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-a Prints basic information currently available
from the system.
-i Prints the name of the platform.
-m Prints the machine hardware name (class).
Use of this option is discouraged. Use uname
-p instead. See NOTES section below.
-n Prints the nodename (the nodename is the
name by which the system is known to a com-
munications network).
-p Prints the current host's ISA or processor
type.
-r Prints the operating system release level.
-s Prints the name of the operating system.
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Before you install oracle, check the hardware
you should have 512 Mb of RAM, 1 GB of swap and 3 GB of disk
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$ /usr/sbin/prtconf
System Configuration: Sun Microsystems sun4u
Memory size: 2048 Megabytes
Wah! I have 2GB, it is more than enough. minimum requirement is just 250mb
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Do you know what is sun4u?
u stands ULTRA SPARC processor. Yes. My system is having ultra sparc processor


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Do you know what is /usr/bin?
It is one of the standard folders
It contains most of the executable files
Executable means ready-to-run programs
They are NOT needed for booting the system.
There will be about 2000 executbale files in this folder.
Examples of exe files are: bc,cal,du,env,find,finger,zip,gunzip,man
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$xclock
What is xclock command is important?
xclock is the standard gui clock for the X Window System.
This command is important,because if this command is working fine, then your xwindw is working fine.
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$ /usr/bin/which make
$ /usr/bin/which ar
$ /usr/bin/which ld
$ /usr/bin/which nm




What are the importants of these exe files ?
These files are needed for oracle installation and should be located in /usr/bin/ccs folder.
But how to check their location?
These commands should show /usr/ccs/bin directory. If not showing, the you have to add /usr/ccs/bin to pATH.
If these files are not
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$sqlplus
If this command is not working, then there is something wrong in oracle installation.
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What is JRE?
JRE stands for Java Runtime Environment.
Why this is necessary?
For example, Oracle Universal Installer is a Java application. if this application has to run means,
you shoule have jre installed properly.
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$ ulimit -Sa
$ ulimit -Ha
These commands check the maximum soft/hard shell limits
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$ uname -a
It gives the basic information about my solaris system
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$ groupadd -g 400 dba


cpio -idmv < abcd.cpio -i means :::::: extract files from archieve. o means copy out files into the archieve -d means ::::: for creating new directories as required when extracting m says "display the message such as insert the next tape" v is for verbose,which means, list out the files in the screen. cp stands for copy, cpio stands for copy the files into or out of archieve. cpio command is for neither zip or unzip.it is for archieving(backup) a number of files. That is if you give 2 or more files, cpio will make it as a single file with extension cpio. To know the list of files inside a cpio file (without restoring), try this command: $cpio -t < yourfile.cpio ( t means table down or list the contents) To extract files from cpio, try the following command.but be careful, if any other file exists with the name, it will overwrite without warning. $ cpio -id < yourfile.cpio (i means cpio will read the file, d means cpio will create the necessary directories) =============================================== How to install something from the cd? $ su root $ mkdir /cdrom $ mount -r -F hsfs /dev/????? /cdrom Note: Normally Solaris volume Manager will automatically mouthe cdrom -r means:::::: mount it as readonly -F means:::::: Fork off, which means, a number of devices can be mounted parallelly. =================================================== $ svrmgrl SVRMGR> startup
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borisdonbergs-65c

How to Shutdown the Solaris SunFire System

The shutdown command for solaris is

  root# init 0                 

you should get  "ok" as output

In the "ok" prompt, type "poweroff"


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init 0 is called as PROM mode. It is used to bring a running system to the OK prompt, either to turn the system off or to perform a PROM

ok prompt is also called as OPEN BOOT PROMPT mode function
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The important Levels are:
init 0 To shut down the operating system; then you can turn off the pwoer safely


init s or S To run as a single user with some file systems
mounted and accessible.
init 1 To access all available file systems. User logins
are disabled
init 2 For normal operations. Multiple users can access the
system and all file system. All daemons are running except
for the NFS server daemons
init 3 (this is the default run level for solaris):  For normal operations with NFS resources shared.
This is the default run level for the Solaris OS.
init 4 Not configured by default, but available for
customer use
init 5 To shut down the operating system so that it is safe
to turn off power to the system. If possible, automatically
turns off power on systems that support this feature.
init 6 To shut down the system to run level 0, and then
reboot to multiuser level with NFS resources shared (or
anyother level is the default in the inittab file).

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How to find out, in which LEVEL my system is running?
$ who -r                                 


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/etc/inittab file
 
init is a daemon (daemon is a background program). when init command is run, init daemon reads the contents in /etc/inittab file. In this file, follwing thing are there:

• The system's default run level
• What processes to start, monitor, and restart if they terminate
• What actions to take when the system enters a new run level

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Complete  details on init command is available at

http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/817-0798/6mgisnq09?l=en&a=view&q=run+levels+solaris

How to Install Solaris SPARC system Step by Step Procedure

How to boot solaris from cd rom

HOW TO INSTALL SOLARIS FROM CD ROM. STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE WHICH I MADE READY FOR MY OWN USE. Some of these configuration may not be applicable to you. You can use this information just for a basic understanding of how solaris os works. Point 1: You should be in "ok" prompt. ok prompt refers that eeprom is now controlling the system. Point 2: If you are NOT in ok prompt, then type shutdown the system by typing "init 0" and you may get ok prompt. eg # init 0 Point 3: Your pc or laptop should be connected to the console port of the system and some kind of terminal emulation software such as hyperterminal to be used. In that terminal only, you should get this ok prompt. Point 4: If there is any keyboard port in your solaris machine and a keyboard is connected in that port, then hyperterminal will not work. In such cases, you have to disconnect the keyboard from the machine. Point 5: In case of solaris 8, there will be two CDs. Insert the CD-1 and type "boot cdrom" eg: ok boot cdrom The output screen may look like this: Resetting ... Sun Blade 150 (UltraSPARC-IIe 650MHz), No Keyboard Copyright 1998-2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. OpenBoot 4.6, 1792 MB memory installed, Serial #xxxxxxx. Ethernet address xxxxxx, Host ID:xxxxxxx. Rebooting with command: boot cdrom Boot device: /pci@1f,0/ide@d/cdrom@1,0:f File and args: SunOS Release 5.8 Version Generic_108528-13 64-bit Copyright 1983-2001 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Now it asks, do you want to continue, i say Yes This is the Solaris Installation Welcome screen. Hit ESC - F2 to continue   Then it asked  whether your solaris is networked. It means, whether any user will reach your solaris server from some other machines. Naturally, the answer will be Yes.yes. Networked --------- [X] Yes [ ] No Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then it asked, do you want to enter dhcp server ip address. i said NO Use DHCP -------- [ ] Yes [X] No Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then it asked to type the host name and i type boris Host name: boris Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then it asked ip address and i typed the ip address   IP address: 10.32.1.1. Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then it asked do you want to give subnet mask. i told yes. System part of a subnet ----------------------- [X] Yes [ ] No Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then it asked furnish mask and i typed the mask Netmask: 255.255.255.0 Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then it asked do you want to enable ipv6, i said no. Enable IPv6 ----------- [ ] Yes [X] No Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then at one stage it asked which software installed. i selected entire distribution 64 bit. Select the Solaris software to install on the system. ----------------------------------------------------- [ ] Entire Distribution plus OEM support 64-bit 1432.00 MB [X] Entire Distribution 64-bit ................. 1401.00 MB [ ] Developer System Support 64-bit ............ 1350.00 MB [ ] End User System Support 64-bit ............. 932.00 MB [ ] Core System Support 64-bit ................. 396.00 MB Hit ESC - F2 to continue Then it asked in which hard disk drive you want to install the os. i selected c0t0d0 Then it asked, in which slice you want to install the root directory. Point 1: In windows, a hard disk have different partitions like c:, D:,E:, here it is called as slice-0, slice-1,etc. You will see EIGHTpartitions: c0t0d0s0 c0t0d0s1 c0t0d0s2 c0t0d0s3 c0t0d0s4 c0t0d0s5 c0t0d0s6 c0t0d0s7 c0t0d0s0 will be for root cotodos2 is imaginary. it represents the whole disk. Each slice should be mapped to one FILE SYSTEM / MOUNT POINT and you can change the disk space available for each slice. The value against s2 slice gives the total disk space. File system name or mount point of s2 slice is called as "OVERLAP" Point 3: You can modify the disk space, by pressing esc then f4 / .................c0t0d0s0 swap......... c0t0d0s1 overlap..... .c0t0d0 and Finally it asked do you want to reboot the system, i told yes [X] Auto Reboot [ ] Manual Reboot Hit ESC - F2 to Begin the Installation At the end, it asked to configure the root password and i gave the password. Original Boot Device : c0t0d0s0 [X] c0t0d0s0 [ ] c0t0d0s1 [ ] c0t0d0s2 [ ] c0t0d0s3 [ ] c0t0d0s4 [ ] c0t0d0s5 [ ] c0t0d0s6 [ ] c0t0d0s7 [ ] Any of the Above Hit ESC - F2 to after selecting Disk Slice Then it asked about reconfiguration of eeprom. In windows, i think it is cmos setup. It is as if selecting do you want to boot from hard disk or cdrom.   Do you want to update the system's hardware (EEPROM) to always boot from c0t0d0? Hit ESC - F2 to Reconfigure EEPROM and Continue Then it asked do you want to preserve the existing data. i answered no. Then it asked auto layout or manual layout of file systems. It is just like which basic folders you want to create. I select the default values: root and swap. both are ofcourse must for any os. swap is equal to virtual hard disk space which is used like RAM. swap directory should have atleast 1gb Do you want to use auto-layout to automatically layout file systems? Manually laying out file systems requires advanced system administration skills. Hit ESC - F2 to Perform Auto Layout. File Systems for Auto-layout ------------------------------- [X] / [ ] /opt [ ] /usr [ ] /usr/openwin [ ] /var [X] swap Hit ESC - F2 to continue -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I generally select ESC - F4 (F4_Customize) to edit the partitions for disk c0t0d0. If this is a workstation, I make only three partitions: / : I often get the sizes for the individual filesystems (/usr, /opt, and /var) incorrect. This is one reason I typically create only one partition as / that will be used for the entire system (minus swap space). In most cases, I will be installing additional disks for large applications like the Oracle RDBMS, Oracle Application Server, or other J2EE application servers. overlap : The overlap partition represents entire disk and is slice s2 of the disk. swap : The swap partition size depends on the size of RAM in the system. If you are not sure of its size, make it double the amount of RAM in your system. I typically like to make swap 1GB. ------------------------------------------------ Boot Device: c0t0d0s0 ================================================= Slice Mount Point Size (MB) 0 / 37136 1 swap 1025 2 overlap 38162 3 0 4 0 5 0 6 0 7 0 ================================================= Capacity: 38162 MB Allocated: 38161 MB Rounding Error: 1 MB Free: 0 MB Hit ESC - F2 to continue

How to shutdown sunfire 4800?

Type "init 0" eg : #init 0 You will get "ok" prompt. Type "poweroff all" eg. ok poweroff all After that, you have to physically switch off the machine.

What is SC? What is Domain?

SC stands for System Controller. By connecting the hyperterminal to the console port in this SC card, you can give the solaris command. Solaris sunfire 4800 can run two domains simultaneously. That means, two operating system instances can be run in the machine simultaneously on two different set of system boards. To get the SC Menu at any time (if you areconnected via hyperterminal), you can press ESCAPE key and then type "#". To go to console, type "console".

Golden Links for Solaris

Which Solaris System works on Which Platform

Which hardware are supported for Solaris 9

How to install Solaris 9 using CD
List of documents for Solaris 9

How to POWER ON the solaris system

Installation guide for solaris sun fire 4800

Basically there are four models under Sun Fire. They are Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800. The installation procedure almost same in all these models.
Installation Step 1: You should connect a Hyper Terminal to the TTYa port  in the Primary System Controller Board (SSC0) and try to understand the following terms.

QN.What is Administrative Console, Primary System Controller Board (SSC0) and Patch Panel?
In a router, there will be console port, we connect the pc to that port and by using hyperterminal software in the pc, we configure the router. In the same way, solaris has a port . Its name is PRIMARY TTYa SERIAL PORT. This port is available in a panel known as PATCH PANEL. The PC we are going to connect to this port is called as ADMINISTRATIVE CONSOLE. Using this console we can install and configure solaris system. TTYa  cable is nothing but NULL MODEM cable. The pc is communicating with the portion of the solaris which is called as SSC0 which is PRIMARY SYSTEM CONTROLLER BOARD.

Q2. What are the basic components available in a Sun Fire system?
Here I am giving the components in 6800.

• CPU/Memory boards............. 3
• CPUs ....................................12
• Maximum memory.................. 96 Gbytes
• I/O assemblies .....................2 (PCI or CompactPCI)
• System Controller boards.......... 2
• Repeater boards ..................2
•  Domains 2 ..........................maximum 
• Power supplies ......................3

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What is the meaning of two domains?
Each domain can run a separate operating system


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When you partition the machine into two what happens?
All connections between boards of one partition and boards of the other partition are
disabled. The system logically behaves as two separate systems. Each partition can be made into two domains which means, each domain  runs its own instance of operting system.

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What is the advantage of creating domains?

Domains are useful for testing new applications,operating system updates. When the testing is over, you can rejoin the application logically without rebooting.


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Why solaris is more reliable?
The System Controller tests each components separately and the faulty components are isoloated from the system duing POST.  Errors are logged so that the defective items can be identified and replaced later. SSC and the powersupply are redundant.
 
 
 
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What is Repeater Board?
It is like a  Switch (yes, lan switch). Imagine all the cpu-cum-memory boards and other components are connected to this switch. It is easy to isolate any component because of this arrangement.

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To power on  the system:

Power on steps: First power on RTS(Redundant Transfer Switches), , then check all circuit breakers are on, then put on ac input box switch, then puton rack fan tray switch, then puton FrameManager keyswitch (This will be available only if the system is mounted on the sun fire cabinet),

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What is frame manager?
The FrameManager is a set of hardware and software intergated into the Sun Fire
cabinet and the Sun Fire 6800 system. It performs concurrent monitoring and control
of the fan trays, RTS modules, and RTU assemblies. The FrameManager is located on
the top front of the cabinet.The FrameManager has threeLEDs: power, fault, and service
 
 
 
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What is PATCH PANEL?
The patch panel provides an interface between the system controllers and the system
 
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Reset switch in SSC?
Press the Reset switch  by using a pen tip to reset the SystemController board so that it reboots.

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GREEN LAMPS:
When in good condition, the green lamp in cpu modules,fan tray, ssc,I/O assembly should glow.
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What is PCI I/O Assembly?
In a normal PC motherboard, there will be a number of pci slots. In sun fire, a number of slots are kept in an assembly. If you want to place a pcb, remove the assembly, insert the pcb in one of the slots and reinsert the assembly. You have to put on the power of the assembly.. you have to check for greeen lamp in the assembly.
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PERIODIC MAINTENANCE
The air intake screens  collect and trap dust and debris particles. They should be cleaned every 3 months
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