This can be useful in troubleshooting if the system fails to boot with a suspected bootblk issues, or if you suspect something in the OS keeps overwriting the bootblk. For Solaris 10 Below is the output from a Solaris 10u4 with UFS, Solaris 10u6 with UFS, and a Solaris 10u6 with ZFS bootblock. The bootblk version changed from s10u6 onwards. This is why the output differs between s10u6 and earlier versions. S10U1 through U5 UFS root: # dd if=/dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0 bs=1b count=1 iseek=1 | od … [Read more...] about Howto Verify If a Bootblk is Installed on the Boot Disk (SPARC)
ZFS
How to Configure iSCSI targets on Solaris 10
iSCSI target feature has been available since s10u7. Here is some information for setting up a basic iSCSI target configuration. High level steps to follow are as shown below : create a base directory configure the backing store Creating a target Add ACL to target 1. create a base directory The base directory is used to store the iSCSI target configuration data, and needs to be defined prior to using the iSCSI target for the first time. You can create a base directory with the … [Read more...] about How to Configure iSCSI targets on Solaris 10
How to Import Zpool and Mount of BE When Booted From Alternate Device in Solaris 11
This post shows how to boot from an alternate device or media to update or fix a Solaris 11 instance. Boot the system from another bootable disk, installation DVD, or over the network. Ensure that the version of Solaris 11 on the alternate media matches the version of the Solaris 11 on the disk. For SPARC: If you boot from installation media or an installation server on the network, select the text installation. If you boot from an installation server, use the following command: ok> boot … [Read more...] about How to Import Zpool and Mount of BE When Booted From Alternate Device in Solaris 11
How to Backup and Restore ZFS root pool in Solaris 10
The following procedure can be used to backup and restore a ZFS root pool (rpool) using the tools that are provided in Solaris 10 and above. It is advised that the system admin becomes comfortable with this procedure and attempts a restore before deploying this into production environments. In this procedure, it is assumed the root pool will be called 'rpool' as is the given standard during installation. We will also use below sample filesystems as the part of … [Read more...] about How to Backup and Restore ZFS root pool in Solaris 10
How to update the boot_archive for ZFS root in Solaris
If a Solaris system fails to boot with messages similar to the following are encountered, the system will need to be booted from alternate Oracle Solaris media ( e.g. the failsafe archive, cd / dvd media, or an install image over the network) in order to update the boot_archive. The file just loaded does not appear to be executable. Refer the post below to mount zfs root pool (rpool) booting from DVD. How to mount the zfs rpool while booted from CD [SPARC] Steps to update the … [Read more...] about How to update the boot_archive for ZFS root in Solaris
Solaris ZFS : How to replace a failed disk in rpool (x86)
The post describes steps to replace a failed disk in rpool for x86 based systems. Assuming c0t0d0 and c0t1d0 are mirrored in the ZFS rpool, and c0t1d0 need to be replaced. 1. As shown in the output below, c0t1d0 need to be replaced as it is having a lot of errors. # iostat -En ... c0t1d0 Soft Errors: 0 Hard Errors: 35 Transport Errors: 137630 Vendor: SEAGATE Product: ST914602SSUN146G Revision: 0400 Serial No: 071791R032 Size: 146.81GB ... The spool status command will … [Read more...] about Solaris ZFS : How to replace a failed disk in rpool (x86)
Understanding “Holding a ZFS Snapshot” Feature
What is "Holding a ZFS Snapshot" feature Remote replication of ZFS datasets can result in different automatic snapshot policies on the two sides of a replication pair. For example, the sending side may want to keep five snapshots at one-minute intervals, whereas the receiving side may want to keep 10 snapshots at one-minute intervals. This can result in the older snapshots being destroyed inadvertently by zfs receive because they no longer exist on the sending side. The ZFS snapshot hold … [Read more...] about Understanding “Holding a ZFS Snapshot” Feature
How to Identify ZFS Snapshot Differences using “zfs diff”
To determine the differences between ZFS snapshots, you can use the zfs diff command. The output of this command provides a high-level description of the differences between a snapshot and a descendant dataset. The descendant can be either a snapshot of the data set or the current data set. For each file that has undergone a change between the original snapshot and the descendant, the type of change is described along with the name of the file. In the case of a rename, both the old and new names … [Read more...] about How to Identify ZFS Snapshot Differences using “zfs diff”
How to find the space consumed by ZFS snapshots
When a snapshot is created, its space is initially shared between the snapshot and the file system, and possibly with previous snapshots. As the file system changes, space that was previously shared becomes unique to the snapshot, and thus is counted in the snapshot’s used property. Additionally, deleting snapshots can increase the amount of space that is unique for use by other snapshots. Note: The value for a snapshot’s space referenced property is the same as that for the file system … [Read more...] about How to find the space consumed by ZFS snapshots
Solaris ZFS : How to Create / Rename / Rollback / Destroy a ZFS Snapshot
Creating and Destroying a ZFS Snapshot You can use the zfs snapshot command to create a snapshot, which takes as its only argument the name of the snapshot that you want to create. In the example below, you are creating a snapshot of datapool/home/user that is named friday. # zfs snapshot datapool/home/user@friday Note: To create a recursive snapshot, use zfs "snapshot -r" and the snapshot name (for example, zfs snapshot -r datapool/home@now). To destroy a ZFS snapshot, use the zfs … [Read more...] about Solaris ZFS : How to Create / Rename / Rollback / Destroy a ZFS Snapshot