What is an alternative to the “top†command on Solaris?
The alternative to the top command is prstat command in solaris
It will give the status of each and every process.
Comment for 16. The Solaris Security Toolkit, formerly known as the JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts (JASS) toolkit, provides a flexible and extensible mechanism to harden and audit Solaris Operating Systems (OSs).
Comment 18. RPC:A call to a procedure in a different address space. In a traditional procedure call, the calling procedure and the called procedure are in the same address space on one machine. In a remote procedure call, the calling procedure invokes a procedure in a different address space and usually
on a different machine.
The Jumpstart feature is an automatic installation process available in the Solaris operating environment. It allows system administrators to categorize machines on their network and automatically install systems based on the category to which a system belongs.
Short for LAN on motherboard. The term refers to a chip or chipset capable of network connections that has been embedded directly on the motherboard of a desktop, workstation or server. Instead of requiring a separate network interface card to access a local-area network, such as Ethernet, the circuits are attached to the motherboard. An advantage of a LOM system is an extra available PCI slot that is not being used by the network adapter.
The fmthard command updates the VTOC (Volume Table of Contents) on hard disks and, on systems, adds boot information,to the Solaris fdisk partition. One or more of the options,-s datafile, -d data, or -n volume_name must be used to request modifications to the disk label. To print disk label contents, see prtvtoc.The /dev/rdsk/c?[t?]d?s2 file must be the character special file of the device where the new label is to be installed. On systems, fdisk must be run on the drive before fmthard.
There is some rules kind of stuff for installing and configuruing the particular machine.
because after insatlling fro the jumpstart procedure the machine should br configured accoring to the user requirements….
prstat -> examines all active processes on the system and reports statistics based on the selected output mode and sort order
vmstat -> reports information about processes, memory, paging, block IO, traps, and cpu activity
pmap -> lists the virtual memory mappings underlying the given process
4. How do you get system diagnostics information?
prtdiag -v -> Shows mem, cpu, Power supply, add-on cards info, LEd status
iostat -En -> Shows disk status.(look for hard error)
/var/adm/messages -> Logs most commont failures and the entire system events
Extended POST -> This can be done at boot time.
ipmitool -> Shows voltage, fanspee, led status etc…
5. What is OBP and how do you access it?
Open Boot PROM -> Similar to a BIOS in a pc, but a lot more powerful
Stop+A -> from OS (Not recommended)
init 0 -> gracefully brings machine to ok> prompt from OS
6. What is LOM and how do you access it?
LOM -> Lights out manager
Powerful CLI interface which helps to get info about the Server
this can be connected via local (Serial management)
or over the LAN (Net management)
can be used for remote administration, diagnosing issues when machine fails to come up
LOM will be active long soon as power is coming to the Server
7. What is VTS?
Sun Validation Test Suite -> tests and validates Sun hardware by verifying the configuration and functionality of hardware controllers, devices
8. What is an alternative to the “top†command on Solaris?
prstat
9. What is /etc/system for?
The /etc/system file provides a static mechanism for adjusting the values of kernel parameters. Values specified in this file are read at boot time and are applied. Any changes that are made to the file are not applied to the operating system until the system is rebooted.
10. What does ndd do?
allows you to tune, tweak, set and reset various parameters related to the TCP/IP stack while the system is running
11. What does init 5 do?
Gracefully powers down the system (OS) and powers the machine off
12. What does init 0 do?
Gracefully powers down the system (OS) and drops to OBP ie ok> prompt
26 Comments on Solaris interview questions
What does the pkgadd command do?
pkgadd is used to add a package to the solaris.It installs the package in the /usr/local directory by default.
What is an alternative to the “top†command on Solaris?
The alternative to the top command is prstat command in solaris
It will give the status of each and every process.
Comment for 16. The Solaris Security Toolkit, formerly known as the JumpStart Architecture and Security Scripts (JASS) toolkit, provides a flexible and extensible mechanism to harden and audit Solaris Operating Systems (OSs).
Comment 18. RPC:A call to a procedure in a different address space. In a traditional procedure call, the calling procedure and the called procedure are in the same address space on one machine. In a remote procedure call, the calling procedure invokes a procedure in a different address space and usually
on a different machine.
Comment 11. init 5 will shutdown and Power-off the server.
Comment 12. init 0 will bring the server to the ok> prompt (Fourth monitor)
Comment 10: ndd command will hardcore the speed of the network interface card.
Comment 5: OBP is called as Open Boot PROM. This OBP can be accessiable thru ok> prompt (Fourth monitor)
Comment 4: You can get system diagonostics information thru prtdiag command. And you can execute this command by
/usr/platform/’uname -m’/sbin/prtdiag -v|more
comment 13: Booting form CD-ROM can be done by the command
ok >boot cdrom
comment 5: Open Boot PROM cand be accessed by two methods
a. OK prompt > printenv,setenv,nvalias……
b. #eeprom
What is /etc/system for?
/etc/system is a kernal file of Solaris OS.
What does fmthard do?
fmthard will create partitions in a new disk as in a already created/designed disk.
For example we can get output from prtvtoc command and give as a input to the new disk as follows.
prtvtoc /dev/rmt/c0t0d0s0 > a | fmthard /dev/rmt/c1todos1
Commment 15 :How do you boot from a Network with jumpstart?
boot net - install
comment 13 :How do you boot from CD-ROM?
boot cdrom
Comment 14: What is jumpstart?
The Jumpstart feature is an automatic installation process available in the Solaris operating environment. It allows system administrators to categorize machines on their network and automatically install systems based on the category to which a system belongs.
Q.14
Make sure
1. The Install server or boot server is in the same local network segment as client with network link up
2. NFS service are running on Jumpstart server
3. The tftp service are running. To start uncomment the tftp entry in /etc/initd.conf and restart the inet service.
6.What is LOM
Short for LAN on motherboard. The term refers to a chip or chipset capable of network connections that has been embedded directly on the motherboard of a desktop, workstation or server. Instead of requiring a separate network interface card to access a local-area network, such as Ethernet, the circuits are attached to the motherboard. An advantage of a LOM system is an extra available PCI slot that is not being used by the network adapter.
20) What does fmthard do?
The fmthard command updates the VTOC (Volume Table of Contents) on hard disks and, on systems, adds boot information,to the Solaris fdisk partition. One or more of the options,-s datafile, -d data, or -n volume_name must be used to request modifications to the disk label. To print disk label contents, see prtvtoc.The /dev/rdsk/c?[t?]d?s2 file must be the character special file of the device where the new label is to be installed. On systems, fdisk must be run on the drive before fmthard.
for question 14 Jumpstart installation
There is some rules kind of stuff for installing and configuruing the particular machine.
because after insatlling fro the jumpstart procedure the machine should br configured accoring to the user requirements….
1. What does the pkgadd command do?
Used for adding packages to the OS
2. How do you create a solaris package?
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/packages/solaris/sparc/html/creating.solaris.packages.html
3. How do you view shared memory statistics?
swap -l -> displays swap usage
prstat -> examines all active processes on the system and reports statistics based on the selected output mode and sort order
vmstat -> reports information about processes, memory, paging, block IO, traps, and cpu activity
pmap -> lists the virtual memory mappings underlying the given process
4. How do you get system diagnostics information?
prtdiag -v -> Shows mem, cpu, Power supply, add-on cards info, LEd status
iostat -En -> Shows disk status.(look for hard error)
/var/adm/messages -> Logs most commont failures and the entire system events
Extended POST -> This can be done at boot time.
ipmitool -> Shows voltage, fanspee, led status etc…
5. What is OBP and how do you access it?
Open Boot PROM -> Similar to a BIOS in a pc, but a lot more powerful
Stop+A -> from OS (Not recommended)
init 0 -> gracefully brings machine to ok> prompt from OS
6. What is LOM and how do you access it?
LOM -> Lights out manager
Powerful CLI interface which helps to get info about the Server
this can be connected via local (Serial management)
or over the LAN (Net management)
can be used for remote administration, diagnosing issues when machine fails to come up
LOM will be active long soon as power is coming to the Server
7. What is VTS?
Sun Validation Test Suite -> tests and validates Sun hardware by verifying the configuration and functionality of hardware controllers, devices
8. What is an alternative to the “top†command on Solaris?
prstat
9. What is /etc/system for?
The /etc/system file provides a static mechanism for adjusting the values of kernel parameters. Values specified in this file are read at boot time and are applied. Any changes that are made to the file are not applied to the operating system until the system is rebooted.
10. What does ndd do?
allows you to tune, tweak, set and reset various parameters related to the TCP/IP stack while the system is running
11. What does init 5 do?
Gracefully powers down the system (OS) and powers the machine off
12. What does init 0 do?
Gracefully powers down the system (OS) and drops to OBP ie ok> prompt
13. How do you boot from CD-ROM?
boot cdrom
What is the difference between pkgadd -d and patchadd -d command ?
when a software pkg is added, the pkgadd command uncompresses and copies file from installation media to the local system’s disk.
patchadd is used to install unpacked patches to the solaris operating environment.
What is the difference between a SPARC and a RISC?
What is kernel tuning in sun solaris
hi
comment:23
kernel tuning means to change kernel parameter in /etc/system
for ex:
#vi /etc/system file
set_maxuser 41 (40)
so whenever we want to edit and change the parameter in etc/system is called one kind of kernel tuning
What we have to do when the /etc/format.dat file is corrupted?
26.Can anyone suggest how to read the nth character from a file in Solaris 9 where the value of n is read from the user as input.