Beginners Guide to Solaris 11 Network Administration

Network configuration in Oracle Solaris 11 has changed significantly from how you configured the network in Oracle Solaris 10. In addition, Oracle Solaris 11 supports several new networking features, including some key network virtualization technologies.

Network Administration Commands

Use the following commands for persistent network configuration in Oracle Solaris 11:

ipadm: Creates persistent configuration of interfaces, addresses, and TCP/IP properties. This command replaces the ifconfig command that is used in Oracle Solaris 10.
dladm: Manages datalink configuration. This command replaces the ndd command and the drive.conf file that are used in Oracle Solaris 10 for configuration of certain network parameters.
route: Configures persistent routes. This command replaces the /etc/defaultrouter file that is used in Oracle Solaris 10 to manage a system route configuration.

Note: In Oracle Solaris 11, the /etc/defaultrouter file is not removed, but is deprecated.

Comparing Network Administration Commands (Solaris 10 V/s Solaris 11)

Task	Oracle Solaris 10	Oracle Solaris 11
Datalink configuration	dladm command	dladm command
IP interface and IP address configuration	ifconfig command and Edit the /etc/hostname* file.	ipadm command
System host name configuration	Edit the /etc/nodename file.	hostname command
TCP/IP host name configuration	Edit the /etc/inet/hosts file.	Edit the /etc/inet/hosts file.
Network parameter administration	ndd command	ipadm command dladm command
Wireless network configuration	wificonfig command	dladm command
Drive configuration	ndd command and Edit the /etc/driver.conf file.	Set dladm properties. Configure driver-private properties.

Administering Datalinks

Determine the state of physical network interfaces:

# dladm show-phys
LINK       MEDIA           STATE       SPEED      DUPLEX     DEVICE        
net1       Ethernet        unknown     1000       full       e1000g1   
net2       Ethernet        unknown     1000       full       e1000g2g   
net0       Ethernet        up          1000       full       e1000g0   
net3       Ethernet        unknown     1000       full       e1000g3

Determine the state of each network link:

# dladm show-link
LINK      CLASS      MTU        STATE       OVER 
net1      phys       1500       unknown     -- 
net2      phys       1500       unknown     -- 
net0      phys       1500       up          -- 
net3      phys       1500       unknown     --

Configuring IP Interfaces and IP Addresses

1. Configure a static network interface:

# ipadm create-ip net0
# ipadm create-addr –T static –a local=192.168.0.112/24 net0 net0/v4

2. Configure an interface with DHCP:

# ipadm create-ip net1
# ipadm create-addr –T dhcp net1/dhcpaddr net1/dhcpaddr

3. Display interface information:

# ipadm interface 
# ipadm show-if 
# ipadm show-addr

Note: There are two steps to configure an IP in Oracle Solaris 11: First, you create the interface, and then you configure an IP address for the interface. However, in Oracle Solaris 10, you configure an IP in a single step by using the ifconfig command.

Configuring Persistent Routes

You use the route command to manually manipulate the network routing tables. The use of the –p option with the route command makes the changes persistent across reboots. You cannot manage routes by using the /etc/defaultrouter file because it is deprecated in Oracle Solaris 11.

1. Add a persistent route to a system:

# route –p add default ip-address

2. View all the persistent static routes:

# route –p show

3. Display the currently active routes on a system:

# netstat –rn

Configuring Reactive Profiles

You use the “netadm list” command to display all profile information, including which profiles are active, even if the currently active profile is DefaultFixed and you are using fixed network configuration. It is the only command that you can use to determine which profile is active on a system. Also, you use the netadm list command to check which profile is active after an installation.

You use the “netcfg” command to create new profiles and customize them, and you use the netadm command to display information about existing profiles and to manage user-defined profiles.

The network profile and configuration object types are:

Network Configuration Profiles (NCPs): An NCP specifies the configuration of network links and interfaces. There are two types of NCPs:
- Automatic NCP: It is a system-defined profile that is made up of one link NCU and one interface NCU for each physical link that is present of the system. The content of the Automatic NCP changes if network devices are added or removed.
- User-defined NCPs: They are profiles that you create to meet the needs of your particular network configuration. A user-defined NCP can be modified and removed by the user.
Network Configuration Units (NCUs): They are the individual configuration objects (or profiles) that contain all of the properties that define an NCP. Each NCU represents a physical link or an interface and contains properties that define the configuration for that link or interface.
Location Profiles: It is one of the two primary profile types that define the system’s network configuration and specifies the systemwide network configuration (for example, the naming services, domain, IP Filter, and IPsec configuration). There are both system- and user-defined locations.

1. List all profiles and their state:

# netadm list

2. List system-defined and user-defined profiles:

# netcfg list

3. Create an NCP and NCU:

# netcfg
netcfg> create ncp oracle_profile 
netcfg:ncp:oracle_profile> create ncu phys net0

4. Enable a profile:

# netadm enable -p loc geeklab
# netadm enable -p ncp oracle_profile

5. Create an NCP and NCU:

# netcfg
netcfg> create ncp oracle_profile 
netcfg:ncp:oracle_profile> create ncu phys net0 
Created ncu 'net0'. Walking properties ...
...

6. Create a location profile:

# netcfg
netcfg> create loc User
Created loc 'User'. Walking properties ... 
...

7. Enable a profile:

# netadm enable -p loc geeklab
# netadm enable -p ncp oracle_profile