#!/ Kishore Thakur

cygwin-x

2011-11-21T16:37:00.000+05:30

Installing and using Cygwin-x

go to http://x.cygwin.com/

and run the setup.exe program from the link near the bottom of the page.

Select "install from Internet"

And otherwise accept the defaults

Let your root directory remain c:\cygwin or choose another dir if preferred

Install for all users

I chose my download site as http://mirrors.xmission.com, which seems to work well

When reaching the screen, "select packages", single click on the icon just to

the right of "X11" until the option to the right of icon changes to "install",

then do next to continue.

If it complains about unmet dependencies, accept the default to install the additional

packages.

Then wait until everything is installed.

There should be a "Programs/Cygwin/Cygwin Bash Shell" directly accessible from start button,

so run it.

inside the bash shell, run "startx" from the shell command line. It will bring up a

full screen window with possibly many X-term windows inside.

from one of these shell windows, run "xhost +" to allow anybody to display to you.

open up an nt command prompt via "start-run" and then type "cmd", and record your ip address

by running ipconfig.

run putty to the host that you wish to run the X-windows application to, and set the DISPLAY

environmnent variable correctly. For example, if your ip address is 172.18.41.232, then do

this within putty:

DISPLAY="172.18.41.232:0.0"

export DISPLAY

You can confirm that X back to your PC works by trying to display an xterm, run this from

putty, "/usr/openwin/bin/xterm &". It should display another window inside the X display server GUI.

Guidelines for installing perl dbi/dbd in Solaris10

2011-11-21T16:23:00.000+05:30

DBI

installing perl dbi, must be done as root

perl -MCPAN -e shell

If running cpan for the first time, it will ask you a bunch of questions. For the most

part, just accept the defaults. The only thing I change is to make sure to automatically

include all dependent modules. If it asks for some mirrors to connect to, pick ones in

North America. I usually choose mirrors that look like they are ISPs, not .edu domain

mirrors. Choose at least 4 or 5. With 5.12, it seems to choose for you.

once you are at the cpan> prompt, install DBI:

cpan> install DBI

it downloads and installs and tests DBI. If there are any other modules it relies on that we don't have yet, they

will be downloaded and installed also. DBI install should be pretty simple.

DBD

To install DBD::oracle we will not use the CPAN shell environment. The big

prerequsite for DBD::oracle is to have the Oracle binaries already installed on the host.

Download DBD::oracle from here: http://search.cpan.org/search%3fmodule=DBD::Oracle, then ungzip/untar it. Make

the directory that it creates and everything underneath writeable and accessible by user oracle.

At a minimum, this is what will need to be done:

1. Become user oracle and source one of the most recent .profile_* files in the Oracle homedir.

2. run these commands successfully:

perl Makefile.PL

make

If these 2 commands run, you are almost home free.

3. Try to run "make test". It will fail anyways because there is no database account set up, this is ok.

If it fails at a step before that, then you have some other problem.

4. Become root and cd back into the DBD::oracle install directory, and run "make install".

Complications:

1) The C compiler version that the above commands are run under must be the

same version that was used to build perl. Use "perl -V" to see the compiler

version used to build perl. Either gcc or perl might need to be upgraded in

order to get them to match.

2) There may not be an existing .profile_* file to use. You can try copying one from

another host, and then modifying it as needed to change to existing dirs for ORACLE_HOME

and LD_LIBRARY_PATH and similar vars. Or you can ask a DBA to create a .profile_something

for you. They may ask which DB instance this is for. To be honest, we don't really care.

One env var that Perl DBI::DBD does not use is ORACLE_SID.

3) Not all of the oracle code has been installed, such that DBD::oracle does not compile.

Ask a DBA to install more of the oracle code.

4) Conflicts between 32 and 64 bit versions of libraries and code. Everything needs to be

either 32 bit or 64 bit, you can't mix and match. If the perl we are using is 32 bit, then

the libraries DBD::oracle needs to bring in must also be 32 bit. if I do "file /usr/bin/perl",

it will report the whether it is 32bit or 64 bit. re-ordering of env vars like LD_LIBRARY_PATH

may be necessary so that 32 bit libraries are first. You may also need to go in and tweak the

Makefile so that it refers to 32 bit libraries instead of 64 bit libraries. A very painful solution might

be that we have to recompile perl as a 64 bit application.

5) Whenever there are complications, and you want to make another attempt to reinstall, you should

do a “make clean”, and then begin again by running “perl Makefile.PL”.

ISM/DISM info

2011-11-17T22:36:00.003+05:30

Background to DISM

What is DISM
Solaris Dynamic Intimate Shared Memory (DISM) provides shared memory that is dynamically resizable. DISM means that applications can respond to changes in memory availability by dynamically increasing or decreasing the size of optimized shared memory segments. The first major application to support DISM was Oracle9i - Oracle9i uses DISM for its dynamic System Global Area (SGA) capability.

The Origins of DISM
Many applications, and especially databases, use shared memory to cache frequently-used data (the buffer cache) and for interprocess communication. Solaris provides an optimized shared memory capability known as Intimate Shared Memory (ISM), and all major databases take advantage of it.

ISM benefits
ISM offers a number of benefits over standard System V shared memory:

1. ISM shared memory is automatically locked by the kernel when the segment is created. This not only ensures that the memory cannot be paged out, it also allows the kernel to use a fast locking mechanism when doing I/O into or out of the shared memory segment, thereby saving significant CPU time.

2. Kernel virtual-to-physical memory address translation structures, are shared between processes that attach to the shared memory, saving kernel memory and CPU time.

3. Large pages, supported by the UltraSPARC Memory Management Unit (MMU), are automatically allocated for ISM segments (as of Solaris 2.6 OS). Large pages can reduce the number of memory pointers by a factor of 512. This reduction in complexity translates into noticeable performance improvements, especially on systems with large amounts of memory.

4. Since memory is locked, no swap space is needed to back it, thereby saving disk space.

Unfortunately though, ISM segments cannot be resized. To change the size of an ISM database buffer cache, the database must be shutdown and restarted, affecting system availability. For example, removing memory by Dynamic Reconfiguration may require shutting down database instances.
DISM overcomes this limitation. A large DISM segment can be created when the database boots, with sections of it selectively locked or unlocked as memory requirements change. Instead of the kernel automatically locking DISM memory, though, locking and unlocking is done by the application (e.g. Oracle).

DISM Performance
When DISM was first released in Solaris 8 Update 3 (1/01), it inherited a number of the benefits of ISM. In particular:

1. Memory is locked (by the application), preventing paging and allowing I/O to use fast kernel locking mechanisms.

2. Kernel virtual to physical memory address translation structures are shared between processes that attach to the DISM segment, saving kernel memory and CPU time.

In this first release, large MMU pages were not supported. For Solaris 8 systems with 8GB of memory or less, it is reasonable to expect a performance degradation of up to 10% compared to ISM, due to the lack of large page support in DISM. The actual performance impact will vary, though, according to the amount of shared memory and the frequency of access to it. Sun recommends avoiding DISM on Solaris 8 either where SGAs are greater than 8 Gbytes in size, or on systems with a typical CPU utilization of 70% or more. In general, where performance is critical, DISM should be avoided on Solaris 8. As we will see, Solaris 9 Update 2 (the 12/02 release) is the appropriate choice for using DISM with systems of this type.
Solaris 9 Update 1 (the 9/02 release) introduced large page support for DISM segments. Tests have shown that, as of this release, DISM and ISM performance are equivalent. This enhancement is significant - the availability benefits of DISM can be enjoyed without compromising performance.
Solaris 9 Update 2 (the 12/02 release) further enhances DISM - unlocked memory can be more efficiently made available to other applications by proactively returning it to the free list, rather than waiting for the page daemon to locate it. This release also introduced a number of necessary DISM-related bug fixes, making it the minimum Solaris 9 release for running DISM.

Finally, since DISM memory is not automatically locked, swap space must be allocated for the whole segment. If the swap defined is not big enough, the system will reserve memory pages in RAM, which can cause a memory shortage. Memory reservation in RAM does not decreases freemem, but decreases availrmem. This remaining difference between ISM and DISM is unlikely to be a major issue, though, given the capacity of modern disk drives.

For more information on this extra swap reservation incurred when DISM is used, see SunSolve InfoDoc 80799 "Solaris[TM] Operating System: DISM double allocation of memory".

Oracle's Implementation of DISM in Oracle9i
Oracle took advantage of DISM in Oracle9i (and subsequent releases, such as Oracle10g) to implement dynamic SGA resizing. Dynamic SGA resizing allows a database administrator (DBA) to respond to changing needs by increasing or decreasing SGA memory without a database reboot. Without DISM this feature would not be available on Solaris.

Since DISM requires the application to lock memory, and since memory locking can only be carried out by applications with superuser privileges, Oracle implemented a daemon that runs with root privileges. Since Oracle does not normally run with superuser privileges, the Role Based Access Control (RBAC) features introduced in Solaris 8 were used to provide that access in the first release of Oracle9i. RBAC allows a nominated binary to run with an effective uid of root. During the Oracle install procedure, the installer is asked to run a script as root; this script established the necessary RBAC permissions. In particular, entries were added to the /etc/user_attr and /etc/security/exec_attr files. Later Oracle releases simply made the $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism binary setuid root to achieve the same end.

The $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism binary implements the new root daemon. Look for it in ps with the description ora_dism_$ORACLE_SID.

For example:

serv1% ps -aef | grep dism

    root   747     1   0 13:57:26            19:42 ora_dism_custdb

 oradba1 18456 18391   0 23:37:08 pts/6       0:00 grep dism

Oracle9i introduced a new init.ora parameter, sga_max_size, to activate DISM. This variable establishes the maximum size to which the SGA can grow; it can only be modified statically (in other words an Oracle reboot is required before any change to sga_max_size takes effect). Oracle will use DISM instead of ISM if sga_max_size is set larger than the total of the database buffers (in particular, db_cache_size dynamic SGA resizing is not supported with the older db_block_buffers parameter), the shared pool, the redo buffers, the large pool, the Java pool, and the SGA fixed size (representing Oracle's internal requirements).
Once DISM has been invoked, Oracle automatically locks an amount of memory determined by the total of the elements described above (database cache, shared pool, etc). Subsequently, the DBA can alter the size of the database buffers (db_cache_size) and the shared pool (shared_pool_size) with Oracle's alter system command. For example:

 alter system set db_cache_size =

Depending on the command, Oracle then locks additional memory, subject to the upper limit imposed by sga_max_size, or releases memory for use elsewhere by the operating system. The results of alter system actions are shown in the alert log file, typically located in

$ORACLE_HOME/rdbms/log/alert_$ORACLE_SID.log. An example is shown below:

CKPT: Current size = 37904 MB, Target size = 3760 MB

Fri Jun 21 21:29:50 2002

Completed checkpoint up to RBA [0x7e.2.10], SCN: 0x0000.25c3f387

CKPT: Resize completed for buffer pool DEFAULT for blocksize 2048

Fri Jun 21 21:29:54 2002

ALTER SYSTEM SET db_cache_size='3932160000' SCOPE=MEMORCKPT: Begin

resize of buffer pool 3 (DEFAULT for block size 2048)Y;

What can go wrong
Oradism permissions not setup correctly
System administrators do not always install Oracle using the install script. Instead, the relevant directories may be transferred to another system using tar, cpio or a similar utility. If the /etc/user_attr and /etc/security/exec_attr files on the target system are not modified accordingly, the oradism program will not run with the correct permissions.

For later Oracle releases that made the oradism program setuid root, a transfer of the Oracle binaries to another system may not have preserved these permissions (for example, tar may have been run as the oracle user rather than as root). Also, if binaries are located on another system and mounted on the server with NFS, it is possible that the mount options needed to permit root access have not been set, with the result that the oradism setuid permissions will not be honored.

Oradism dies
If the Oracle9i oradism process dies for some reason (unlikely unless a system administrator accidentally kills it), all locked memory will be automatically unlocked. Performance will suffer accordingly.
Note, however, that oradism can be restarted automatically by Oracle10g if it dies.

SGA memory is only partially locked
If the DBA sets the database buffers, shared pool etc too large in the init.ora file, or later increases them too much with an alter system command, Oracle may not be able to successfully lock the whole of the requested memory. In this case, when Oracle uses that portion of the memory that is not locked, poor performance will result. Note that memory is not locked and unlocked in a single chunk lock and unlock operations are carried out on individual memory 'granules', typically 16Mbytes in size.

How to diagnose it
Solaris release
To determine your Solaris release, refer to the /etc/release file:

serv1% cat /etc/release

                    Solaris 9 12/02 s9s_u2wos_10 SPARC

       Copyright 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

                    Use is subject to license terms.

                       Assembled 05 November 2002

The system in the example above is running Solaris 9 Update 2 (as indicated by u2 in the s9s_u2wos_10 string).

SGA not locked
Systems with active use of unlocked SGA memory can be identified with either the lockstat or statit utilities. The lockstat utility ships with both Solaris 8 and 9; the statit utility is a widely-used although unsupported utility that can be downloaded from http://www.solarisdatabases.com/utilities/statit.
The lockstat utility shows mutex contention. As root, look for mutex contention in the segspt_softunlock or spt_anon_getpages functions. Two examples are included below showing the first few lines of a lockstat profile from a system running an active Oracle instance with unlocked SGA memory. The following command can be used to generate these profiles.

serv1# /usr/sbin/lockstat -A -n 200000 sleep 10

Here are the two sample profiles:

Adaptive mutex spin: 22908 events in 10.006 seconds (2290 events/sec)

Count indv cuml rcnt     spin Lock                   Caller

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

   4896  21%  21% 1.00    27532 0x3001314ec88          spt_anon_getpages+0x54

    81   0%  22% 1.00       11 0x300001a1e98          sc_flush+0x1c4

    78   0%  22% 1.00        2 pse_mutex+0xb0         page_unlock+0x1c

    77   0%  22% 1.00        2 pse_mutex+0x368        page_unlock+0x1c

Adaptive mutex spin: 561050 events in 10.017 seconds (56011 events/sec)

Count indv cuml rcnt     spin Lock                   Caller

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

549729 98%  98% 1.00      146 0x300085a2580          segspt_softunlock+0xc4

  834   0%   98% 1.00    10685 0x300085a2578          spt_anon_getpages+0x54

  715   0%   98% 1.00       12 0x300085a2580          spt_anon_getpages+0x64

The presence of such mutexes indicates that SGA memory is not locked.
In statit, look for faults due to s/w lcking req. A non-zero result on a system with an active Oracle instance indicates that some or all SGA memory is not locked. The following example illustrates how to check for this behavior:

serv1% statit sleep 30 | grep lcking

    31.62 faults due to s/w lcking req     0.00 kernel as as_flt()s

The example above shows softlocks, indicating a problem with SGA memory locking.

Permissions problems
Examine the alert log for each instance. The following entry indicates that Oracle was unable to start the oradism process with superuser privileges:

Wed Jul 16 14:03:39 2003

WARNING: -------------------------------

WARNING: oradism not set up correctly.

  Dynamic ISM can not be locked. Please

  setup oradism, or unset sga_max_size.

  [diagnostic 0, 5, 0]

----------------------------------------

Performance will be very significantly degraded for this instance, since SGA memory is not locked.
To check whether a running oradism process has the appropriate permissions, use the pcred program (available on both Solaris 8 and 9). Consider the following example:

serv1% ps -aef | grep dism

    root   747     1   0 13:57:26            19:42 ora_dism_custdb

oradba1 18456 18391   0 23:37:08 pts/6       0:00 grep dism

serv1% sudo pcred 747

747:    e/r/suid=0  e/r/sgid=5432

In this example, the oradism program is running with superuser privileges (suid=0).
To check if RBAC is configured appropriately, look for the appropriate entries in the /etc/user_attr and /etc/security/exec_attr files.

serv1% grep -i dism /etc/security/exec_attr

Oracle DISM

mgmt:suser:cmd:::/export/home/oracle/bin/oradism:euid=serv1% grep -i

dism /etc/user_attr

oracle::::type=normal;profiles=Oracle DISM mgmt

In this case both files have been setup. Instances using binaries located in /export/home/oracle/bin will be able to run oradism with root privileges.
Check, too, if the setuid bit has been set on the oradism program. For example:

serv1% ls -l $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism

-rwsr-sr-x   1 root     dba         9280 Apr  9  2002 /export/home/oracle/bin/oradism*

In the above example the oradism program is owned by root, and the setuid bit is set (as indicated by the first s in rws). The program should therefore be able to start with appropriate permissions.
Oradism dies
Check for the presence of the oradism process with the ps program.
Unfortunately, in the unlikely event that this process dies, in Oracle9i it will not be noted in the alert log file until the next time alter system is used to grow or shrink memory.
Oracle10g has the ability to restart oradism if it dies.
SGA memory only partially locked
In Oracle10g, a new table (x$ksmge) can be examined to determine the state of locks for each granule of SGA memory (each granule is typically 16Mbytes in size).
For Oracle9i, an interpose library is from the Veritas, Oracle, Sun Joint Escalation Center (VOSJEC). Untar the file into a temporary directory, and install the library according to the instructions in the README file. When oradism is started, a /tmp/mlock.log file will be created, and all lock and unlock operations will be logged to the file along with their return status (non-zero return status indicates failure). An example is given below of the information that will be logged if locks attempts are successful:

Mon Nov 10 13:57:26 2003: Detected mlock(380000000, 400000)

Mon Nov 10 13:57:26 2003:   mlock return status=0

Mon Nov 10 13:57:26 2003: Detected mlock(1013000000, 1400000)

Mon Nov 10 13:57:26 2003:   mlock return status=0

Mon Nov 10 13:57:26 2003: Detected mlock(381000000, 1000000)

Mon Nov 10 13:57:26 2003:   mlock return status=0

An example of unsuccessful lock attempts is shown below:

Sat May 25 02:45:22 2002: Detected mlock(e61000000, 1000000)

Sat May 25 02:45:22 2002:   mlock return status=-1, errno=11 <-------------

Sat May 25 02:45:22 2002: Detected mlock(e62000000, 1000000)

Sat May 25 02:45:23 2002:   mlock return status=-1, errno=11 <-------------

How to fix it
Solaris OS release issues
As previously noted, a known Solaris 8 OS bug (4966813) can cause this problem. The solution is to install Solaris Patch 117000-05. DISM should only be used on Solaris 8 OS, if patch 117000-05 or later is installed . DISM should not be used on Solaris 9 OS prior to Update 2 (the 9/02 rele ase).
Permissions problems
The simplest way of ensuring appropriate permissions is to make the oradism program setuid root, obviating the need for RBAC. This can be achieved as follows:

serv1% chown root $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism

serv1% chmod 4755 $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism

serv1% ls -l $ORACLE_HOME/bin/oradism

-rwsr-xr-x   1 root  dba  9280 Apr 9 2002 /export/home/oracle/bin/oradism*

Oradism dies
If the oradism process dies in Oracle10g, no action is necessary; Oracle is able restart it. In Oracle9i, though, the only practical solution is to shutdown and restart the instance.
SGA memory only partially locked
The main solution to this problem is to ensure that it doesn't happen. By installing the interpose library, it is possible to monitor the success of locking operations. Attempts to lock more memory than the system has available should be avoided.
General Guidelines
The following guidelines are offered in conclusion:

1. Ensure you are using an appropriate release of Solaris OS(refer to the next section of this document).

2. If you don't need to resize the SGA dynamically, you probably don't need to set sga_max_size.

3. If you use sga_max_size, check that oradism is working correctly as described above.

4. On Solaris 8 OS, DISM should only be used if Solaris Patch 117000-05 is installed. Even once the patch is installed, DISM should be avoided where performance is critical. Use of DISM can cost up to 10% in performance compared to ISM for SGAs up to 8 Gbytes in size (although your mileage may vary depending on your circumstances!). Sun recommends avoiding DISM on Solaris 8 where the SGA is larger than 8 Gbytes, or where CPU utilization is typically greater than 70%.

5. On Solaris 9 as of Update 2, the performance of DISM is equivalent to ISM. DISM should not be used with releases of Solaris 9 prior to Update 2.

Document Audience:	SPECTRUM
Document ID:	214947
Old Document ID:	(formerly 80799)
Title:	Solaris[TM] Operating System: DISM double allocation of memory
Copyright Notice:	Copyright © 2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Update Date:	Tue Mar 22 00:00:00 MST 2005

Solution Type Technical Instruction

Solution 214947 : Solaris[TM] Operating System: DISM double allocation of memory

Related Categories

·         Home>Product>Software>Operating Systems

Description

SM212ZV Internal ID use only.

Memory allocation by Intimate Shared Memory (ISM) is well understood. Dynamic
Intimate Shared Memory(DISM) works slightly differently, and this needs to be
accounted for in the system configuration. Otherwise, DISM may not function as
expected and it's usefulness will be limited.

Steps to Follow

BTFNA7V Internal ID use only.

When shared memory is allocated via shmget(), its size is subtracted from the
available virtual swap space.
When a shared memory segment allocated via shmget() is attached to a process,
it is declared as ISM or DISM by the flags to the shmat() call:
#define SHM_SHARE_MMU 040000 /* share VM resources such as page table */
#define SHM_PAGEABLE 0100000 /* pageable ISM */
The SHM_SHARE_MMU flag makes the shared memory segment an ISM segment, while the
SHM_PAGEABLE flag makes it a DISM segment. It should be noted that a segment
cannot be both, and an attempt to set both flags will fail.
A DISM segment can have portions of the segment selectively locked into memory
by a (root-privileged) process, using the mlock() call. This allows the program
to more selectively manage which portions of the shared memory need to be locked
in at a given time.
The down side to this is, that the DISM segment will subtract the size of the
segment from the available memory a second time - once for its in-memory space,
and a second, for its possible swap usage - effectively doubling the virtual
memory requirement for any DISM segments. This second allocation occurs during
the mlock() call.
Thus, a system using DISM needs to have as much disk swap available, as the
total DISM segments in use. If the system exhausts available swap, DISM segments
will not be mlock()'able.
If the system is intended to have little or no disk swap, DISM is not
appropriate and should not be used.

Internal Comments

VVDFGN6 Internal ID use only.

1) This whole problem is caused by:

    BugID 1225025 - mlock:ed anonymous memory remains backed by swap

2) In Solaris 2.5.1 OS and before, normal ISM had this same double-allocation

   counting problem.  This is discussed in InfoDoc 15505.

3) To demonstrate the effect, a program was written using DISM and mlock()'ing

   the segment.  "swap -s" is used to monitor the space consumed in its

   "available" field.  The program allocates 0.5GB of DISM.

   This is taken prior to starting the test program:

     total: 84816k bytes allocated + 6592k reserved = 91408k used, 3053320k  available

   We start with approximately 3GB available.

   shmget() done:

     total: 84896k bytes allocated + 530872k reserved = 615768k used, 2528936k

     available

   This shows that the available swap has dropped by 0.5GB as expected.

   shmat() done (segment is returned with pages unlocked):

     total: 84880k bytes allocated + 530888k reserved = 615768k used, 2528744k

     available

   no change here...

   mlock() done:

     total: 609136k bytes allocated + 6632k reserved = 615768k used, 2004456k

     available

   This shows that the mlock() call is responsible for the second decrement of

   0.5GB in the available field.

   munlock() done:

     total: 609184k bytes allocated + 6584k reserved = 615768k used, 2528744k

     available

   And finally, when the segment is munlock()'ed, the second allocation

   disappears.

My Wedding Invitation

2011-05-10T14:56:00.000+05:30

Dear Friends,

Everybody has a desire to lead their lives with the person, whom they love the most. It's not easy to find a person, who loves you unconditionally and truly.

I'm happy & proud to share that I've found a person with whom I've decided to spend the rest of my life with.

Please join on the occasion of my Wedding with..

**** ROSHITHA THAKUR ***

On 22nd May, 2011 at 12:15 PM IST.

Since I was unable to meet you in person to handover the invites, consider this mail as a very personal message to you.

Expecting your precious presence.
http://roshithakishore.weddingannouncer.com/welcome.html

Wedding Venue:
Gujarathi Function Hall, Opp: Forest Office, Varni Road, Nizamabad. AP. INDIA.

Reception:
24th May, 2011, 1PM onwards at Raja Rajeshwari Gardens, NIRMAL. AP. INDIA.

Contact Details:
Parents - 9963806502, 9963806503.
Friends - 9848352205, 9000584258, 9652043284.

Thanks,
Kishore Thakur.
9908623232.

What is the difference between password and passphrase under OpenSSH with DSA / RAS public key authentication?

2010-02-06T23:06:00.005+05:30

" What is the basic and important difference between password and passphrase when implementing SSH with DSA/RSA public key authentication? Which one is recommended for daily usage? "

The main and basic difference is that you can use multi string phrase including spaces and tabs using a passphrase under ssh. Normal /etc/shadow password is a single string password and many application will breaks with spaces and tabs while using authentication. So your account password must be a single word/string.

For example my account password can be iF33%gNCyzDy
I could create a passphrase: Th1s 1s A t3sT and s3cur3 pa$$phra$3

The advantage is simple you can use spaces and tabs to create a more secure and hard to break authentication method. This makes dictionary based attack quite difficult.

Implementing a Temporary File System (TEMPFS) in Solaris

2010-02-06T22:53:00.002+05:30

TempFS provides in-memory (RAM), very fast, storage and boosts application performance

Steps:
1. Determine available memory and the amount you can spare for TEMPFS
-prtconf
- allocate 100MB
2. Execute mount command:

mkdir /tempdata && chmod 777 /tempdata && mount -F tmpfs -osize=100m swap /tempdata

Note: TEMPFS data does NOT persist/survive across reboots
Note: TEMPFS data is lost when the following occurs:
1. TEMPFS mount point is unmounted: i.e. umount /tempdata
2. System reboot

Modify /etc/vfstab to include the TEMPFS mount point for reboots

swap - /tempdata tmpfs - yes -

Monitoring performance of ZFS file system using zfs iostat

2010-02-06T22:50:00.002+05:30

ZFS is built-in with a lot of monitoring features. We would be covering iostat here specifically.

The command syntax is pretty simple and straight forward and much close to the older iostat command. Here's how it looks like:

root@opensolaris:~# zpool iostat

root@opensolaris:~# zpool iostat zpooldata 1 5

capacity operations bandwidth

pool used avail read write read write

---------- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

zpooldata 222K 7.06G 0 0 2.47K 1.45K

zpooldata 222K 7.06G 0 0 0 0

zpooldata 222K 7.06G 0 0 0 0

zpooldata 222K 7.06G 0 0 0 0

zpooldata 222K 7.06G 0 0 0 0

root@opensolaris:~#

How to Rename a Solaris Zone?

2010-02-06T22:48:00.002+05:30

A few days back i had a need to rename my Solaris zones from "orazone" to "oraprodzone". I followed the below steps to successfully rename my zone's name.

STEP 1: Shutdown the zone "orazone"

Issue the following commands from the globalzone to shutdown orazone.

globalzone# zoneadm list -iv
ID NAME STATUS PATH
0 global running /
2 orazone running /zones/orazone
globalzone# zoneadm -z orazone halt
globalzone# zoneadm list -iv
ID NAME STATUS PATH
0 global running /
- orazone installed /zones/orazone
globalzone#

STEP 2: Rename the Zone from "orazone" to "oraprodzone"

Enter zone configuration from the global zone using the below mentioned commands.

globalzone# zonecfg -z orazone
zonecfg:orazone> set zonename=oraprodzone
zonecfg:orazone> commit
zonecfg:orazone> exit

globalzone# zoneadm list -vc
ID NAME STATUS PATH BRAND
0 global running / native
- oraprodzone installed /zones/orazone native

STEP 3: Boot the zone

After you have made the above changes, boot the zone from the global zone using the below commands.

globalzone# zoneadm -z oraprodzone boot
globalzone# zoneadm list -iv
ID NAME STATUS PATH
0 global running /
2 orazone running /zones/orazone

Done!

There is another way to rename a zone (not supported, but it worked for me), but then that's not the right one though. However, i would mention that as well.

Renaming zone orazone to oraprodzone

Perform all of the below as root of global zone.
First shutdown your orazone zone

globalzone# zoneadm -z orazone halt
globalzone# vi /etc/zones/index

change orazone to oraprodzone

globalzone# cd /etc/zones
globalzone# mv orazone.xml oraprodzone.xml
globalzone# vi oraprodzone.xml

change orazone to oraprodzone

globalzone# cd /zones
-/zones is where I have stored all the zones

globalzone# mv orazone oraprodzone

-cd to your new zone (/zones/oraprodzone)and modify /etc/hosts, /etc/nodename, /etc/hostname.xxx

globalzone# cd /zones/oraprodzone/root/etc

-boot new renaming zone
globalzone# zoneadm -z oraprodzone boot

Run Levels for Various Unices

2010-01-30T22:25:00.002+05:30

From Wikipedia Page, The term runlevel refers to a mode of operation in one of the computer operating systems that implement Unix System V-style initialization. Conventionally, seven runlevels exist, numbered from zero to six; though up to ten, from zero to nine, may be used. S is sometimes used as a synonym for one of the levels.

In standard practice, when a computer enters runlevel zero, it halts, and when it enters runlevel six, it reboots. The intermediate runlevels (1-5) differ in terms of which drives are mounted, and which network services are started. Lower run levels are useful for maintenance or emergency repairs, since they usually don’t offer any network services at all. The particular details of runlevel configuration differ widely among operating systems, and slightly among system administrators.

The runlevel system replaced the traditional /etc/rc script used in Version 7 Unix.

Run Levels in Solaris
S, s
Single user mode. Doesn’t require properly formated /etc/inittab. Filesystems required for basic system operation are mounted.

0
Go into firmware (sparc)

1
System Administrator mode. All local filesystems are mounted. Small set of essential system processes are running. Also a single user mode.

2
Put the system in multi-user mode. All multi-user environment terminal processes and daemons are spawned.

3
Extend multi-user mode by making local resources available over the network.

4
Is available to be defined as an alternative multi-user environment configuration. It is not necessary for system operation and is usually not used.

5
Shut the machine down so that it is safe to remove the power. Have the machine remove power, if possible.

6
Reboot

a, b, c
Process only those /etc/inittab entries having the a, b, or c run level set. These are pseudo-states, which may be defined to run certain commands, but which do not cause the current run level to change.

Q, q
Re-examine /etc/inittab.

Run Levels in HP-UX
0
System is completely shut down. All processes are terminated and all file systems are unmounted.

1,s,S
Single-user mode. All system services and daemons are terminated and all file systems are unmounted.

2

Multi-user mode, except NFS is not enabled.

3
Multi-user mode. This is the normal operational default state. NFS is enabled.

4
Multi-user mode with NFS and VUE. (VUE is HP’s desktop, kinda like CDE)

6
Reboot.

Run Levels in OpenBSD
-1
Permanently insecure mode – always run system in level 0 mode.

0
Insecure mode – immutable and append-only flags may be changed. All devices may be read or written subject to their permissions.

1
Secure mode – system immutable and append-only flags may not be turned off; disks for mounted filesystems, /dev/mem, and /dev/kmem are read-only.

2
Highly secure mode – same as secure mode, plus disks are always read-only whether mounted or not and the settimeofday(2) system call can only advance the time.

Run Levels in ULTRIX, Digital UNIX / Tru64
0
System is completely shut down. All processes are terminated and all file systems are unmounted.

1
Single-user mode. All system services and daemons are terminated and all file systems are unmounted.

2
Multi-user mode, except NFS is not enabled.

3
Multi-user mode. This is the normal operational default state. NFS is enabled.

4
Not Used

5
Not Used

6
Reboot

Run Levels in Irix
0
Shut the machine down so it is safe to remove the power. Have the machine remove power if it can.

1
Put the system into system administrator mode. All filesystems are mounted. Only a small set of essential kernel processes run. This mode is for administrative tasks such as installing optional utilities packages. All files are accessible and no users are logged in on the system.

2
Put the system into multi-user state. All multi-user environment terminal processes and daemons are spawned. Default.

3
Start the remote file sharing processes and daemons. Mount and advertise remote resources. Run level 3 extends multi-user mode and is known as the remote-file-sharing state.

4
Define a configuration for an alternative multi-user environment. This state is not necessary for normal system operations; it is usually not used.

5
Stop the IRIX system and enter firmware mode.

6

Stop the IRIX system and reboot to the state defined by the initdefault entry in inittab.

a,b,c
Process only those inittab entries for which the run level is set to a, b, or c. These are pseudo-states that can be defined to run certain commands but do not cause the current run level to change.

Q,q
Re-examine inittab.

S,s
Enter single-user mode. When the system changes to this state as the result of a command, the terminal from which the command was executed becomes the system console.

Run Levels in SYSV
The following is from a SYSV text book, it’s the generally used run level for SYSV systems.

0
Power-down state. Shuts machine down gracefully so that it can be turned off. Some models turn off automatically.

s
Single user state. This run level should be used when installing or removing software utilities, checking file systems, or using Maintenance (/install) file system. It is similar to run level 1; however, in run level s, multi-user file systems are unmounted and daemons are stopped. The terminal issuing the init s becomes the console.

1
Administrative state. In run level 1, file systems required for multi-user operations are mounted. And loggias requiring access to multi-user file systems can be used.

2
Multi-user state. File systems are mounted and normal user services are started.

3
Network File System (NFS) state. Prepares your system to use NFS.

4
User-defined

5
Virtually the same as System State 6. See /sbin/rc0 script for details. Early versions of UNIX used this as an entry to a firmware interface.

6
Power-down and reboot to the state defined by the initdefault entry in the /etc/inittab file.

Run Levels in Linux
0
Halt the system.

1
Single-user mode.

2-4
Multi-user modes. Usually identical. Level 2 or 3 is default (dependent on distro).

5
Multi-user with graphical environment. This applies to most (but not all) distros.

6
Reboot the system and return to default run level.

Replace disk on SVM

2010-01-30T22:23:00.000+05:30

bash-3.00# metadb

flags first blk block count

a m p luo 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c0d0s7

a p luo 8208 8192 /dev/dsk/c0d0s7

a p luo 16400 8192 /dev/dsk/c0d0s7

a p luo 16 8192 /dev/dsk/c0d1s7

a p luo 8208 8192 /dev/dsk/c0d1s7

a p luo 16400 8192 /dev/dsk/c0d1s7

bash-3.00# format

Searching for disks…done

AVAILABLE DISK SELECTIONS:

0. c0d0

/pci@0,0/pci-ide@1,1/ide@0/cmdk@0,0

1. c0d1

/pci@0,0/pci-ide@1,1/ide@0/cmdk@1,0

Specify disk (enter its number): ^D

bash-3.00# metastat -p

d3 -m d13 d23 1

d13 1 1 c0d0s3

d23 1 1 c0d1s3

d1 -m d11 d21 1

d11 1 1 c0d0s1

d21 1 1 c0d1s1

d0 -m d10 d20 1

d10 1 1 c0d0s0

d20 1 1 c0d1s0

bash-3.00# metastat

d3: Mirror

Submirror 0: d13

State: Okay

Submirror 1: d23

State: Okay

Pass: 1

Read option: roundrobin (default)

Write option: parallel (default)

Size: 6152895 blocks (2.9 GB)

d13: Submirror of d3

State: Okay

Size: 6152895 blocks (2.9 GB)

Stripe 0:

Device Start Block Dbase State Reloc Hot Spare

c0d0s3 0 No Okay Yes

d23: Submirror of d3

State: Okay

Size: 6152895 blocks (2.9 GB)

Stripe 0:

Device Start Block Dbase State Reloc Hot Spare

c0d1s3 0 No Okay Yes

d1: Mirror

Submirror 0: d11

State: Okay

Submirror 1: d21

State: Okay

Pass: 1

Read option: roundrobin (default)

Write option: parallel (default)

Size: 2104515 blocks (1.0 GB)

d11: Submirror of d1

State: Okay

Size: 2104515 blocks (1.0 GB)

Stripe 0:

Device Start Block Dbase State Reloc Hot Spare

c0d0s1 0 No Okay Yes

d21: Submirror of d1

State: Okay

Size: 2104515 blocks (1.0 GB)

Stripe 0:

Device Start Block Dbase State Reloc Hot Spare

c0d1s1 0 No Okay Yes

d0: Mirror

Submirror 0: d10

State: Okay

Submirror 1: d20

State: Okay

Pass: 1

Read option: roundrobin (default)

Write option: parallel (default)

Size: 16386300 blocks (7.8 GB)

d10: Submirror of d0

State: Okay

Size: 16386300 blocks (7.8 GB)

Stripe 0:

Device Start Block Dbase State Reloc Hot Spare

c0d0s0 0 No Okay Yes

d20: Submirror of d0

State: Okay

Size: 16386300 blocks (7.8 GB)

Stripe 0:

Device Start Block Dbase State Reloc Hot Spare

c0d1s0 0 No Okay Yes

Device Relocation Information:

Device Reloc Device ID

c0d1 Yes id1,cmdk@AVBOX_HARDDISK=VBff26b95e-f100ab63

c0d0 Yes id1,cmdk@AVBOX_HARDDISK=VB9296a814-953892af

bash-3.00#

—————————–

REPLACE DISK c0d0 – Test1

root@solaris10 # metastat -p

d3 -m d13 d23 1

d13 1 1 c0d0s3

d23 1 1 c0d1s3

d1 -m d11 d21 1

d11 1 1 c0d0s1

d21 1 1 c0d1s1

d0 -m d10 1

d10 1 1 c0d0s0

d20 1 1 c0d1s0

root@solaris10 #

—————————

root@solaris10 # metadetach -f d0 d20

d0: submirror d20 is detached

root@solaris10 # metadetach -f d1 d21

d1: submirror d21 is detached

root@solaris10 # metadetach -f d3 d23

d3: submirror d23 is detached

root@solaris10 # metaclear d20

d20: Concat/Stripe is cleared

root@solaris10 # metaclear d21

d21: Concat/Stripe is cleared

root@solaris10 # metaclear d23

d23: Concat/Stripe is cleared

root@solaris10 #

>>>>If there are any replicas on this disk, remove them using:

#metadb -d c#t#d#s#

>>>>>If there are any open filesystems on this disk (not under Solaris VM control),unmount them

>>>>>Run the ‘cfgadm’ command to remove the failed disk

#cfgadm -c unconfigure c#::dsk/c#t#d#

———–

root@solaris10 # metadb -a c1d1s7

———–

root@solaris10 # metainit d20 1 1 c1d1s0

d20: Concat/Stripe is setup

root@solaris10 # metainit d21 1 1 c1d1s1

d21: Concat/Stripe is setup

root@solaris10 # metainit d23 1 1 c1d1s3

d23: Concat/Stripe is setup

root@solaris10 #

======================================

More Investigation:

d3: Mirror (disk asli, partisi “/Home” 2,9GB)

d13: Submirror of d3 (database mirror di c0d0s3)

d23: Submirror of d3 (database mirror di c0d1s3)

d1: Mirror (disk asli, partisi “swap”, 1GB)

d11: Submirror of d1 (database mirror di c0d0s1)

d21: SUbmirror of d1 (database mirror di c0d1s1)

d0: Mirror (disk alsi, partisi “root, 7,8GB) >>Need Maintenance

d10: SUbmirror of d0 (database mirror di c0d0s0)

d20: Submirror of d0 (database mirror di c0d1s0) >>Need Maintenance

root@solaris10 # metastat -p

d3 -m d13 d23 1

d13 1 1 c0d0s3

d23 1 1 c0d1s3

d1 -m d11 d21 1

d11 1 1 c0d0s1

d21 1 1 c0d1s1

d0 -m d10 d20 1

d10 1 1 c0d0s0

d20 1 1 c0d1s0

root@solaris10 #

{Remove all submirror from disk c0d1 (d23, d21 and d20):

#metadetach d3 d23

#metaclear d23

#metadetach d1 d21

#metaclear d21

#metadetach d0 d20

#metaclear d20

Then, remove the database in c0d1s7:

#metadb -d c0d1s7

{replace with new disk, repartition again:

#prtvtoc /dev/rdsk/c0d0s2 |fmthard -s – /dev/rdsk/cd1s2

{then, run ‘metainit’ &’metattach’ to connect them with their submirror:

#metainit d23 1 1 c0d1s3

#metattach d3 d23

#metainit d21 1 1 c0d1s1

#metattach d1 d21

#metainit d20 1 1 c0d1s0

#metattach d0 d20

{Then create replica database:

#metadb -a -c 3 c0d1s7

{Last, if your Box is x86, run “installboot” command to new disk

{jika disk baru partisinya benar dan device namenya sama, command bisa dipersingkat menjadi:

#metareplace -e d23 c0d1s3

#metareplace -e d21 c0d1s1

#metareplace -e d20 c0d1s0

Solaris Link Aggregation

2010-01-30T22:19:00.000+05:30

Link aggregation or IEEE 802.1AX-2008, is a computer networking term which describes using multiple network cables/ports in parallel to increase the link speed beyond the limits of any one single cable or port, and to increase the redundancy for higher availability.

Most implementations now conform to what used to be clause 43 of IEEE 802.3-2005 Ethernet standard, usually still referred to by its working group name of “IEEE 802.3ad”. The Link Aggregation definition has since been moved to a standalone IEEE 802.1AX standard. (wikipedia.org)

Here’s the sample of setup aggregation link between :

e1000g0 and e1000g1
e1000g2 and e1000g3

Make sure your eeprom’s local-mac-address? variable is set to true (you don’t need this for x86):

# eeprom local-mac-address?
local-mac-address=false

# eeprom local-mac-address? = true

# eeprom local-mac-address?
local-mac-address?=true

1. Unplumb the interfaces to be aggregated:
# ifconfig e1000g0 down unplumb
# ifconfig e1000g1 down unplumb
# ifconfig e1000g2 down unplumb
# ifconfig e1000g3 down unplumb

2. Create a link-aggregation group with key 1 and 2:

{format= dladm create-aggr -d

interface Represents the device name of the interface to become part of the aggregation.
key Is the number that identifies the aggregation. The lowest key number is 1. Zeroes are not allowed as keys.

{passive mode by default:
# dladm create-aggr -d e1000g0 -d e1000g1 1
# dladm create-aggr -d e1000g2 -d e1000g3 2

{active mode:
# dladm create-aggr -l active -d e1000g0 -d e1000g1 1
# dladm create-aggr -l active -d e1000g2 -d e1000g3 2

*please note that, if you configure LACP passive mode on your switch, you have to configure active mode on your server. if both in passive mode, they do not exchange LACP packets. check your configuration with “dladm show-aggr -L” command.

# dladm show-link aggr1
# dladm show-link aggr2

3. Plumb up the interface aggrkey, add ip address:

# ifconfig aggr1 plumb
# ifconfig aggr2 plumb

# ifconfig aggr1 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
# ifconfig aggr2 192.168.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 up

4. Show link aggregation status:

# dladm show-aggr >>check the status
# dladm show-aggr -s >>to display statistics
# dladm show-aggr -L >>to display LACP specific information

5. Make the IP configuration of the link aggregation persist across reboots

create “/etc/hostname.aggrkey” file
# vi /etc/hostname.aggr1
192.168.1.1
# vi /etc/hostname.aggr2
192.168.1.2

# dladm modify-aggr -t -l passive 1 {change aggr1 to passive mode; temporary only]
# dladm modify-aggr -t -l active 1 {change aggr1 to active mode; temporary only]

for further reference:

http://docs.sun.com/source/820-3084-10/link_aggregation.html

Solaris 10 Remote X11,X-Server or CDE Login Problem

2010-01-07T21:47:00.000+05:30

Sometimes I got an error after finishing on Solaris 10 box installation. After make some configuration then suddenly I can’t access my Solaris XDMCP remote session on my laptop.. Usually, I use XManager Enterprise to get Solaris GUI remote session XDMCP. here the step-by-step to troubleshoot if you got the same problem:

{Make sure that svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login is enabled and online.

root@solaris10 # svcs cde-login
STATE STIME FMRI
online Mar_02 svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login:default

root@solaris10 #netservices limited

restarting syslogd
restarting sendmail
dtlogin needs to be restarted. Restart now? [Y] y
restarting dtlogin
{Check dtlogin process:

root@solaris10 # ps -ef | grep dtlogin

root 29384 1 0 Mar 02 ? 0:00 /usr/dt/bin/dtlogin -daemon -udpPort 0 [should be TCP, not UDP]

{Modify the x11-server service:

—–>Show properties:
#svcprop svc:/application/x11/x11-server

——>Turn on tcp listen:
#svccfg -s svc:/application/x11/x11-server setprop options/tcp_listen=true

{Modify the dtlogin service:

—–>Show properties:
#svcprop svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login:default
#svccfg -s svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login setprop dtlogin/args=\”\”

—–>Then restart the X server:
#svcadm refresh svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login:default;
#svcprop -p dtlogin svc:/application/graphical-login/cde-login:default

root@solaris10 #netservices open

restarting syslogd
restarting sendmail

root@solaris10# svcadm restart cde-login
root@solaris10# ps -ef |grep dtlogin
root 27722 1 0 15:08:37 ? 0:00 /usr/dt/bin/dtlogin -daemon
root 27724 26297 0 15:08:43 pts/3 0:00 grep dtlogin

http://saifulaziz.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/solaris-10-remote-x11-or-cde-login-problem/#comment-1148

Remove Solaris Volume Manager Information

2010-01-07T21:13:00.002+05:30

Breaking Solaris SVM is easy, but sometimes if we type wrong command it will become a big trouble and wasting time to troubleshoot, like what I did yesterday, I’m stuck!;-). so, if you stuck with SVM, just remove or clear the whole SVM information on the disk (both mirror and submirror).

CLEAR / Remove Solaris Volume Manager Information:
———————————————————————-
1. All of the Solaris Volume Manager information is stored in three files:
/kernel/drv/md.conf
/etc/lvm/mddb.cf
/etc/lvm/md.cf

So to clear out Solaris Volume Manager, overwrite these files with the files from a system without Solaris Volume Manager or just remove the last entry configuration.

your three files configuration become like this:

bash-3.00# more /kernel/drv/md.conf
#
#pragma ident “@(#)md.conf 2.2 04/04/02 SMI”
#
# Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
# Use is subject to license terms.
#
# The parameters nmd and md_nsets are obsolete. The values for these
# parameters no longer have any meaning.
name=”md” parent=”pseudo” nmd=128 md_nsets=4;

bash-3.00# more /etc/lvm/mddb.cf
#pragma ident “@(#)mddb.cf 2.1 00/07/07 SMI”
#
# Copyright (c) 2000 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
# All rights reserved.
#metadevice database location file do not hand edit
#driver minor_t daddr_t checksum

bash-3.00# more /etc/lvm/md.cf
#pragma ident “@(#)md.cf 2.1 00/07/07 SMI”
#
# Copyright (c) 2000 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
# All rights reserved.
#
# metadevice database configuration file
# do not hand edit

2. and also, there is an entry similar to “rootdev:/pseudo/md@0:0,0,blk” in the “/etc/system” file, dont forget to remove this entry. Do not just comment it out.

3. edit “/etc/vfstab” configuration, then reboot.

4. now, perform mirroring disk again;-)

Enabling or Disabling MPXIO Multipathing per Port

2010-01-07T20:25:00.000+05:30

What is MPXIO?

Solaris Multiplexed I/O (MPxIO), known also as Sun StorageTek Traffic Manager (SSTM, earlier Sun StorEdge Traffic Manager), is multipath I/O software for Solaris OS. It enables a storage device to be accessed through multiple host controller interfaces from a single operating system instance. The MPxIO architecture helps protect against I/O outages due to I/O controller failures. Should one I/O controller fail, MPxIO automatically switches to an alternate controller.

This architecture also increases I/O performance by load balancing across multiple I/O channels.

It was integrated within the Solaris operating system beginning in February 2000 with Solaris 8 release.

The file to enable or disable mpxio has been moved in Solaris 10 from /kernel/drv/scsi_vhci.conf to the bottom of the file /kernel/drv/fp.conf and /kernel/drv/mpt.conf.

The easy way to enable/disable global MPXIO On Solaris:
——————————————————————–
# vi /kernel/drv/fp.conf

mpxio-disable=”no”;

CHANGE TO ‘YES’ for Disable and ‘NO’ for Enable

Or, just simply run this command:
#stmsboot -D fp -e >>enable MPXIO
#stmsboot -D fp -d >>disable MPXIO

the, you will prompted to reboot the server.

But, actually Multipathing can be enabled or disabled on specific Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) controller ports. If you enable multipathing on a specific HBA port controller port, all supported devices connected to that controller port will be enabled for multipath operation.

The following procedure applies to both SPARC and x86 based machines:
Port Configuration Considerations

Before you start configuring the software by port, consider the following:

* FC global and per-port multipath settings are specified in the file /kernel/drv/fp.conf.

Per-port multipath settings have priority over the global setting. This means that if global multipathing is enabled by a specific port has been disabled for multipathing, the port will not be available in the multipathing configuration. Conversely, even if global multipathing has been disabled, specific ports may be enabled for multipathing if they are listed in the appropriate driver.conf(4) file.
* Load balancing is controlled by the global load-balance property in /kernel/drv/scsi_vhci.conf file and is not controlled on a per-port basis.
* If a device has more than one path to the host, all paths to the device must be configured with multipathing enabled or disabled.
* Configuring multipathing by port enables the multipathing software to coexist with other multipathing solutions like Symantec (VERITAS) Dynamic Multipathing (DMP), or EMC PowerPath. However, devices and paths should not be shared between the multipathing software and other multipathing solutions.

To Configure Multipathing by Port

Depending on how many ports you want the multipathing software to control, you can enable or disable multipathing globally or for specified ports.

1. Log in as root (su - root).
2. Determine the HBA controller ports that you want the multipathing software to control.

For example, to select the desired device, perform an ls -l command on /dev/cfg directory. The following example shows the ls -l command output.

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 50 Jan 29 21:33 c0 ->
../../devices/pci@7c0/pci@0/pci@1/pci@0/ide@8:scsi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 61 Jan 29 21:33 c1 ->
../../devices/pci@7c0/pci@0/pci@1/pci@0,2/LSILogic,sas@1:scsi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 61 Jan 29 21:33 c2 ->
../../devices/pci@7c0/pci@0/pci@1/pci@0,2/LSILogic,sas@2:scsi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 53 Jan 29 21:33 c3 ->
../../devices/pci@7c0/pci@0/pci@9/LSILogic,sas@0:scsi
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 54 Apr 16 20:28 c5 ->
../../devices/pci@780/pci@0/pci@8/SUNW,qlc@0/fp@0,0:fc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 56 Apr 16 20:28 c6 ->
../../devices/pci@780/pci@0/pci@8/SUNW,qlc@0,1/fp@0,0:fc

Note – Controllers c5 and c6 are ports A and B on a dual-port FC HBA. Controllers c1 and c3 are single port SAS HBA ports. Controller c2 is the internal SAS controller in a Sun FireTM T2000 server. Once you have determined the port, or ports, you want to explicitly enable or disable multipathing for, go to the next step.
3. Enable or disable specific ports as follows:
* FC HBA ports
1. Edit file /kernel/drv/fp.conf
2. Add the following line for each FC HBA port that is to be enabled:

name="fp" parent="parent name" port=port-number mpxio-disable="no";

where parent name is the port device name, and port-number is the FC HBA port number.

For example, the following entries disable multipathing on all FC HBA controller ports except for the two specified ports:

mpxio-disable="yes";
name="fp" parent="/pci@6,2000/SUNW,qlc@2" port=0 mpxio-disable="no";
name="fp" parent="/pci@13,2000/pci@2/SUNW,qlc@5" port=0 mpxio-disable="no";

3. Add the following line for each FC HBA port that is to be disabled:

name="fp" parent="parent name" port=port-number mpxio-disable="yes";

For example:

name="fp" parent="/pci@6,2000/SUNW,qlc@2" port=0 mpxio-disable="yes";

4. Type stmsboot -u to start the reboot and configuration process.

You are prompted to reboot. During the reboot, the /etc/vfstab file and your dump device configuration are updated to reflect any device name changes.
5. (Optional) After the reboot, if necessary, configure your applications to use new device names as described in Multipathing Considerations.

Wishing You and Your Family a Happy and Prosperous New Year !

2009-12-31T19:44:00.000+05:30

Logwatch Configuration in Linux

2009-12-21T22:32:00.002+05:30

Logwatch is a modular log analyser that runs every night and mails you the results. It can also be run from command line.

The output is by service and you can limit the output to one particular service. The subscripts which are responsible for the output, mostly convert the raw log lines in structured format.

Logwatch generally ignores the time component in the output, that means, you will know that the reported event was logged in the requested range of time, but you will have to go to the raw log files to get the exact details.

Logwatch Installation in Debian

#apt-get install logwatch

That's it installation done.Now you need to configure the logwatch

Main Configuration file for logwatch located at /etc/logwatch/conf/logwatch.conf

Default Logwatch configuration file as below and you need to change this file options

# NOTE:

# All these options are the defaults if you run logwatch with no

# command-line arguments. You can override all of these on the

# command-line.

# You can put comments anywhere you want to. They are effective for the

# rest of the line.

# this is in the format of = . Whitespace at the beginning

# and end of the lines is removed. Whitespace before and after the = sign

# is removed. Everything is case *insensitive*.

# Yes = True = On = 1

# No = False = Off = 0

# Default Log Directory

# All log-files are assumed to be given relative to this directory.

LogDir = /var/log

# You can override the default temp directory (/tmp) here

TmpDir = /tmp

# Default person to mail reports to. Can be a local account or a

# complete email address.

MailTo = root

# If set to 'Yes', the report will be sent to stdout instead of being

# mailed to above person.

Print = No

# Leave this to 'Yes' if you have the mktemp program and it supports

# the '-d' option. Some older version of mktemp on pre-RH7.X did not

# support this option, so set this to no in that case and Logwatch will

# use internal temp directory creation that is (hopefully) just as secure

UseMkTemp = Yes

#

# Some systems have mktemp in a different place

#

MkTemp = /bin/mktemp

# if set, the results will be saved in instead of mailed

# or displayed.

#Save = /tmp/logwatch

# Use archives? If set to 'Yes', the archives of logfiles

# (i.e. /var/log/messages.1 or /var/log/messages.1.gz) will

# be searched in addition to the /var/log/messages file.

# This usually will not do much if your range is set to just

# 'Yesterday' or 'Today'... it is probably best used with

# Archives = Yes

# Range = All

# The default time range for the report...

# The current choices are All, Today, Yesterday

Range = yesterday

# The default detail level for the report.

# This can either be Low, Med, High or a number.

# Low = 0

# Med = 5

# High = 10

Detail = Med

# The 'Service' option expects either the name of a filter

# (in /etc/log.d/scripts/services/*) or 'All'.

# The default service(s) to report on. This should be left as All for

# most people.

Service = All

# You can also disable certain services (when specifying all)

#Service = -zz-fortune

# If you only cared about FTP messages, you could use these 2 lines

# instead of the above:

#Service = ftpd-messages # Processes ftpd messages in /var/log/messages

#Service = ftpd-xferlog # Processes ftpd messages in /var/log/xferlog

# Maybe you only wanted reports on PAM messages, then you would use:

#Service = pam_pwdb # PAM_pwdb messages - usually quite a bit

#Service = pam # General PAM messages... usually not many

# You can also choose to use the 'LogFile' option. This will cause

# logwatch to only analyze that one logfile.. for example:

#LogFile = messages

# will process /var/log/messages. This will run all the filters that

# process that logfile. This option is probably not too useful to

# most people. Setting 'Service' to 'All' above analyizes all LogFiles

# anyways...

#

# some systems have different locations for mailers

#

mailer = /usr/bin/mail

#

# With this option set to 'Yes', only log entries for this particular host

# (as returned by 'hostname' command) will be processed. The hostname

# can also be overridden on the commandline (with --hostname option). This

# can allow a log host to process only its own logs, or Logwatch can be

# run once per host included in the logfiles.

#

# The default is to report on all log entries, regardless of its source host.

# Note that some logfiles do not include host information and will not be

# influenced by this setting.

#

#HostLimit = Yes

Email Notifications With Logwatch

Logwatch is a slick Perl script that bundles up logfile reports and emails them to you. Debian users can install it by running apt-get install logwatch. Debian puts the configuration files in /etc/logwatch. The RPM puts them in /etc/log.d. Of course you may also install from sources. Be sure to consult the README for installation.

To make it go, first find logwatch.conf. You'll need to make a few tweaks. Set the "MailTo" directive to your desired email address, or local account. For local mail, most Linux systems still come with venerable old "mail", which works just fine:

MailTo = carla
mailer = /usr/bin/mail

Of course you may use any mailer you wish.

To make Logwatch send you daily reports, set the time range to "Today":

Range = Today

Other choices are "All" and "Yesterday." Now set your desired detail level for your reports:

Detail = High

Save your changes, and run Logwatch to send you a report:

# logwatch

The whole idea is to have Logwatch work without you having to exert yourself, so now you have to edit /etc/crontab to run Logwatch at your desired intervals. This runs it daily at 1am:

# m h dom mon dow user command
0 1 * * * root /usr/sbin/logwatch

Remove Shutdown and Reboot Option from Linux GUI Login Screen

2009-12-21T22:13:00.000+05:30

GDM is gnome specific display manager. It is a display manager that implements all significant features required for managing attached and remote displays. GDM is highly configurable, and many configuration settings can affect security. The GDM daemon is responsible for managing displays on the system. This includes authenticating users, starting the user session, and terminating the user session.

GUI tool gdmsetup
The gdmsetup application can be used to configure GDM. Open terminal and type the command:
$ sudo gdmsetup

Select "Local" tab > unselect "Show Actions menu" > Close

Note: You can start gdmsetup by visiting System > Administration > Login Screen / Login Windows. You can also modify configuration file stored at /etc/gdm/ directory.

How do I create a mirrored system disk in Solaris 10 jumpstart?

2009-11-12T00:41:00.002+05:30

Solaris 10 supports the use of mirror devices with the filesys keyword. This is in addition to other new features including patch installation, and package commands (when installing flash archives).
Here is an example jumpstart profile with mirroring:-

install_type initial_install
system_type standalone
cluster SUNWCall
partitioning explicit
filesys mirror:d10 c0t0d0s0 c0t1d0s0 8192 /
filesys mirror:d20 c0t0d0s1 c0t1d0s1 4096 swap
filesysmirror:d30 c0t0d0s3 c0t1d0s3 4096 /opt
filesys mirror:d40 c0t0d0s4 c0t1d0s4 8192 /usr
filesys mirror:d50 c0t0d0s5 c0t1d0s5 free /export/home
metadb c0t1d0s7 size 8192 count 3

Rather generous slice sizes, but they always seem to fill up....
The submirror devices names will be formulated automatically (e.g. d11 and d12 for the d10 mirror device)
Metastate database replicas must be on a slice separate to any metadevice (This is not a restriction other than in a jumpstart), and there must be at least three in any SVM system

How can I migrate my Solaris 10 (Update 6, 10/08 onwards) system to a ZFS-based root file system?

2009-11-12T00:23:00.000+05:30

This is a brief example of migrating an existing UFS-based Solaris 10 system to use a ZFS storage
pool for its root, swap and dump areas.
This is only supported in Solaris 10 Update 6 (10/08) onwards.

This procedure shows the process for migrating using Live Upgrade, and is one of six Live Upgrade scenarios taken from our Solaris Live Upgrade Workshop one-day course.

Note that preparation for performing a Live Upgrade includes installation of specific patches and the correct Live Upgrade software, plus availability of disk storage. See the following link for details:-
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-61-206844-1

Migrating to ZFS has several benefits, including:-

* Using advanced ZFS facilities, with attendant performance and resilience.
* Only one pool to maintain, with simple administration and easy addition of disks to the pool if more capacity is needed.
* New Boot Environments (BE's) are created using ZFS file system snapshot clones, and are created almost instantly; these can then be upgraded, patched and modified (adding removing packages, etc) and then activated and booted from to take over from the currently running BE.

To begin, create a pool on your spare disk(s), preferably a mirror.

The pool must be created from slices on disks with an SMI disk label, rather than whole disks, in order to be bootable and upgradeable, and you must use only slices or mirrors, and not RAIDZ. (a feature of ZFS roughly equivalent to RAID 5)

A ZFS root file system is larger than a UFS root file system because swap and dump devices must be separate devices, whereas swap and dump devices are the same device in a UFS root file system.

# zpool create -f prawn_root_t2 mirror c0t2d0s0 c0t3d0s0
# zpool status
.. displays information about the ZFS pools.

Now use lucreate to create a new BE on the ZFS pool:-
# lucreate -n prawn_zfs_root -p prawn_root_t2
Analyzing system configuration.
Comparing source boot environment file systems with the file
system(s) you specified for the new boot environment. Determining which
file systems should be in the new boot environment.
Updating boot environment description database on all BEs.
Updating system configuration files.
The device is not a root device for any boot environment; cannot get BE ID.
Creating configuration for boot environment .
Source boot environment is .
Creating boot environment .
Creating file systems on boot environment .
Creating file system for in zone on .
Populating file systems on boot environment .
Checking selection integrity.
Integrity check OK.
Populating contents of mount point .
Copying.
Creating shared file system mount points.
Creating compare databases for boot environment .
Creating compare database for file system .
Creating compare database for file system .
Creating compare database for file system .
Creating compare database for file system .
Updating compare databases on boot environment .
Making boot environment bootable.
Creating boot_archive for /.alt.tmp.b-4Gc.mnt
updating /.alt.tmp.b-4Gc.mnt/platform/sun4u/boot_archive
Population of boot environment successful.
Creation of boot environment successful.
#
(Takes about 30-40 minutes.)
Note that data slices separate from those containing the Solaris OS such a /export/home will not be migrated (nor can they be, unlike BE's contained on UFS file systems); such slices will be mounted on their original mount points when the new BE is booted.
# lufslist prawn_zfs_root
.. displays file system information for the new BE
# lustatus
.. displays general BE information

You could now use luupgrade or smpatch (smpatch currently has issues...) to patch the new (ZFS-based) BE before activating it.

If the original (UFS) BE contained non-global zones in the system slices, they will be copied with the lucreate.
If they exist in a non-system slice, such as /zones mounted on a separate slice, then they will treated as a shared slice, in a similar manner to a /export/home slice as described above.

Looking to the future, when further releases are available, you could upgrade the new BE before booting it:-
# luupgrade -n prawn_zfs_root -u -s /net/yamaha/software/sol10_u8
Where /net/yamaha/software/sol10_u8 is the path to a valid Solaris 10 distribution image. (Imaginary as at March 2009!)

Now that the new ZFS BE is created, we can activate it, then boot from it:-
# luactivate prawn_zfs_root
A Live Upgrade Sync operation will be performed on startup of boot environment

.

******************************************************************
The target boot environment has been activated. It will be used when you
reboot. NOTE: You MUST NOT USE the reboot, halt, or uadmin commands. You
MUST USE either the init or the shutdown command when you reboot. If you
do not use either init or shutdown, the system will not boot using the
target BE.
******************************************************************
In case of a failure while booting to the target BE, the following process
needs to be followed to fallback to the currently working boot environment:

1. Enter the PROM monitor (ok prompt).

2. Change the boot device back to the original boot environment by typing:

setenv boot-device /pci@1f,0/ide@d/disk@0,0:a

3. Boot to the original boot environment by typing:
boot
******************************************************************
Modifying boot archive service
Activation of boot environment successful.

You can now reboot, but see the output above from luactivate on which commands to use.
# init 6

When the new ZFS root pool BE is booted and running, we can consider our next steps.
We may wish to retain the original BE in case of problems.
Have a look around to see how the system looks with various commands - you will not notice much difference, except with commands such as df.
Also, it is important to have knowledge of ZFS zpool and zfs commands in order to maintain the file systems and pool; such topics are covered on both our Solaris 10 Systems Administration Part 2, and Solaris 10 Update Workshop courses.
Note how partitions that hold user data, such as /export/home, are not included in the BE, but retain their original partitions and mount points.
You may wish to migrate these also ZFS, perhaps in a separate pool.
It is possible to place such things within the existing pool, but this would make them part of any new cloned BE's, with possible complications as a result.

Now we can create a further BE very quickly, which can then be patched or upgraded as required.

To create a new BE from our ZFS BE:-
# lucreate -n prawn_root_t2_jan_31
Analyzing system configuration.
Comparing source boot environment file systems with the
file system(s) you specified for the new boot environment. Determining
which file systems should be in the new boot environment.
Updating boot environment description database on all BEs.
Updating system configuration files.
Creating configuration for boot environment .
Source boot environment is .
Creating boot environment .
Cloning file systems from boot environment to create boot environment .
Creating snapshot for on .
Creating clone for on .
Setting canmount=noauto for in zone on .
Population of boot environment successful.
Creation of boot environment successful.

Takes about 30 seconds.....
# lustatus

A zfs list command will show the BE has been created as a clone of a ZFS snapshot.
# zfs list

Snow Leopard: Enabling the root user

2009-11-07T09:55:00.000+05:30

By default, the root user is not enabled in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Enabling it takes a simple procedure by way of the Directory Utility application or via Terminal. In Mac OS X 10.5, Directory Utility was located in the Applications > Utilities folder. In Snow Leopard, this is no longer the case. You can now find Directory Utility in System > Library > CoreServices.

To enable the root user using Directory Utility:

1. Open Directory Utility.
2. Click the padlock icon to unlock the application. Enter your administrator password to authenticate.
3. From the Directory Utility menu bar, select Edit > Enable Root User.
4. Now, select Edit > Change Root Password and enter the password of your choice.

To enable the root user using Terminal:

1. Open terminal and enter: sudo passwd root
2. Enter your administrator password followed by a password for the root user and you're all set.

Keep in mind that enabling the root user significantly increases the security threats on your Mac. Users should only enable the root user if they specifically need it and know what they are doing.

Prevent the Terminal host name from changing Mac OSX Server

2009-11-07T09:48:00.000+05:30

When you launch the terminal, the default shell "Bash" will present the last login time, followed by the command prompt. This is formatted to show the computer's name, followed by the current directory and then a dollar sign. Depending on the system and network configuration, the computer's name may change.

My hostname is "Kishore-Desktop"

The computer's host name is the one you type in the "Sharing" system preferences, and while a change in the hostname should not affect the performance of the machine, it is nice to have it be consistent. The first thing to try is to use the "hostname" command to change the hostname:

I've just changed the hostname to "TEST", but the current login session does not yet reflect the change

After running this command, the terminal name will not change until you quit the current shell and log in again:

Starting a new terminal session shows the change.

The hostname can be changed dynamically by routers and other network devices through DHCP requests, which can have the hostname keep changing every time your IP address and other DHCP information is renewed. If this is the case, you may be able to set the router to never provide hostname information, or you can set the computer to never accept a hostname change. To do this, you will need to add a line to the computer's hostconfig file using the following procedure:

1.

Open the Terminal
2.

Enter the following command:

sudo pico /etc/hostconfig
3.

Authenticate, scroll to the bottom of the file, and add the following line:

HOSTNAME=Kishore-Desktop

(Change "Kishore-Desktop" to your desired hostname--no spaces)
4.

Save the file and quit by pressing control-X, confirming the save with the "Y" key followed by "enter".

Editing the /etc/hostconfig file in "pico" so the hostname never changes

After this has been added to the file, the computer's hostname should not change even when you renew your DHCP lease.

SSH Public key based authentication

2009-11-02T14:42:00.000+05:30

This howto covers generating and using ssh keys for automated:

a) Login

b) Make backups

c) Run commands from shell etc

Task: Generating ssh keys

1) Log on to your workstation ( for example log on to workstation called admin.fbsd.nixcraft.org as vivek user). Please refer the following sample setup - You will be log in, on your local system, AS THE USER you wish to make passwordless ssh connections.

(Click image to enlarge)

2) Create the Cryptographic Key on FreeBSD workstation, enter:

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa
Assign the pass phrase (press [enter] key twice if you don't want a passphrase). It will create 2 files in ~/.ssh directory as follows:

~/.ssh/id_rsa : identification (private) key
~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub : public key
3) Use scp to copy the id_rsa.pub (public key) to rh9linux.nixcraft.org server as authorized_keys2 file, this is know as Installing the public key to server.

$ scp .ssh/id_rsa.pub vivek@rh9linux.nixcraft.org:.ssh/authorized_keys2
4) From FreeBSD workstation login to server:

$ ssh rh9linux.nixcraft.org
5) Changing the pass-phrase on workstation (if needed):

$ ssh-keygen -p
6) Use of ssh-agent to avoid continues pass-phrase typing
At freebsd workstation type:

$ ssh-agent $BASH
$ ssh-add
Type your pass-phrase

From here, whenever connecting to server it won’t ask for password.
Above two commands can be added to ~/.bash_profile so that as soon as I login into workstation I can set the agent.

7) Deleting the keys hold by ssh-agent

a) To delete all keys

$ ssh-add -D
b) To delete specific key

$ ssh-add -d key
c) To list keys

$ ssh-add -l

My Favorite Quotes Bank

2009-10-25T21:11:00.000+05:30

My Favorite Quotes Bank

I like to put quotes around my room. I mainly use them to motivate myself when I'm slacking.
The quotes I enjoy are simple, concise and evoke a passion for working hard or show the harsh realities of NOT working hard. Anytime I see a quote to my liking, I write it in my quotes section on notes page. Usually my main source of quality quotes comes from random posts on TheKirkReport.com, from which I regularly steal them.

Once I put a quote up, it helps to motivate for a while, but then quickly starts fading into the background. I then begin to stop noticing it when I walk in my room. For this reason, I'm constantly adding new ones or moving them around.
Whenever I come across a good quote from anything...a book, interview, podcast, magazine, TV show etc...I write it down either in a notepad, my MacBook Pro or my iPhone.

Here are some of my favorite quotes for whichever reasons, and some of the places I put them around my room:

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running."

"It is a common oversight in people not to make provision for the bad times while they are experiencing good times."
--Machiavelli

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it."
--Thomas Jefferson

"I never saw a pessimistic general win a battle."
--General Dwight David Eisenhower

"A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner"

"When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters - one represents danger and one represents opportunity."
--John F. Kennedy

"The wise person has long ears and a short tongue "

"If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him. Of course, no one would have remembered him either"

" I work as hard as I can, For as long as I can, And the best that I can, EVERYTIME.

".....it doesn't matter how many times you fail. It doesn't matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and either should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because...All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are."
--Mark Cuban

"If you think your actions are too small to make a difference, you've never been in a bed with a mosquito. "

"The only man who never makes a mistake is the one who never does anything."
--Theodore Roosevelt

"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment."
--Barry LePatner

"Good things come to those who wait. Better things come to those who try."

"Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty."

"If we do not discipline ourselves the world will do it for us."
--William Feather

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
--Aristotle

Whoever feels pain in hearing a good character of a neighbor, will feel pleasure in the reverse.
--Franklin

Man is made for bustle and movement. A ship in motion, a fine woman dancing.
--Abigale Adams

People have everything we want.
--Earl Nightingale

When asked if one should marry or not, Socrates responded, "You will repent it either way."

The great majority of people do not achieve unusual success; why would we expect that getting in the same line as them in any endeavor would result in any sort of remarkable success?
--Earl Nightingale's Greatest Discovery page 118

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.
--Anti

Good looks help and constitute an asset if the rest of the person is in balance.
--Earl Nightingale

The only thing about a man that is a man is his thinker. Everything else you can find in a pig or a horse.
-Archibald mcleish

Your stomach should be filled 1/3rd with food, 1/3rd with water and 1/3rd empty to be at your most productive.
--Muslim quote

If you can't poke fun at yourself, you're not much.
--George Steinburner

He who has health, has hope, and he who has hope, has everything.
--old Arabian proverb

The atitude must preceed the accomplishment.
--Nightingale

When a man doesn't know which harbor he's sailing to, no wind is the right wind.
--Senneca

You can't have your Kate and Edith too.
-Statler Brothers

If it feels right, smells right and tastes right, it's almost surely the right thing to do. It really is as simple as that.
--Captain Michael Abrashoff

Talking about men in their forties experiencing a mid-life crisis:
"Suddenly the past seems a humiliating reminder of risks untaken, women unconquered, and chances ignored."
--Nancy Mayer

If someone says a particular person spoke critically of you, just smile and reply, "I guess they don't know about all my other faults. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned only these"
--Epictetus

Books are the training weights of the mind.
--Epictetus

Man cannot remake himself without suffering. For he is both the marble and the sculptor.
--Alexis Carrel

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet attested their wealth stems in part from being born in America where "innovation and risk are rewarded"

Aristotle said, "Happiness is a byproduct of healthful and successful activity."

Everytime you do something, you throw a boomerang. Eventually the result will come back to you.

It's true some of the best things in life a free, but it's funny....have you ever tried getting them without money?

To get a great idea, come up with lots of them.
--Thomas Edison

Write as well as you can and finish what you start.
--Ernest Hemingway

When asked for the formula of success, Andrew Carnegie said, "Put all your eggs in one basket, then watch that basket."

The purpose of ANY organization is to help man enjoy a more meaningful existence.
--Direct Line 18B towards end

I cannot become who I want to be by remaining who I am.

The bedrock values instilled by Sam Walton and his early lieutenants were all-american values: Hard Work, frugality, discipline, loyalty, a restless effort at constant self-improvement.
--The Wal-Mart Effect

Sam was no genius...he was a workaholic. He was not driven by money, but by competition. He could be playing tennis with a one-legged man in a wheelchair and would show no mercy.
--The Wal-Mart Effect

Any business needs to concentrate on two things: order volume and avg order value.

Like an hourglass, only one grain at a time can pass through. If we go one grain at a time, slowly buy surely we can get an enormous quantity done.

Willis H. Carrier:
I have bee using this same anti-worry technique for 30 years:
Step 1.) Analyze the situation fearlessly and honestly and figure out what's the worst that could possibly happen.
----
Step 2.) after figuring out the worst outcome, I reconciled myself into accepting it if necessary.
-----
Step 3.) from that time on I devoted my time and energy to trying to improve upon the worst which I had already accepted mentally.

Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw the stars.

Greek proverb: The best things are the most difficult.

To make things more pleasant for others is a reason for being.

The best laid schemes o' mice and men often go astray.
--Robert Burns

Wise men ne'er sit and wait their loss, but cheerily seek how to redress their harms.
--Shakespear

A man is what he thinks about all day long.
--Emerson

Our life is what our thoughts make of it.
--Marcus Aurelius

I had the blue because I had no shoes,
Until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.

Find a problem, then ask the opposite.

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.
--Dr. Seuss

It's nice to be part of something that will last a little longer than you will.

Doctors give up a year of life to specialize, but they reap the rewards for decades to come.
--The Dip - Seth Godin

Scarcity creates value.

Never retreat. Never explain. Get it done and let them howl.
--Benjamin jowett

We could be playing cards right now and I'd want to kick your ass. Not win, but kick your ass. There's a difference.
--Tiger Woods

When asked, "What is your idea of happiness?"...Alfred Hitchcock replied, "A clear horizon."

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily.
--Zig Ziglar

Don't write about what your readers want you to write about. Write about what you're passionate about.
--Mark Cuban/Tim Ferris

If you don't know what to write about, write about what makes you angry, but don't attack people.

Excellence is not an act, but a habit.
--Plato

Talent is the desire to practice. You love something so much, you're willing to make a large sacrifice for it.
--Malcom Gladwell

It doesn't take any more time or effort to dream a big dream than a small dream.

I'm a great believer in saying yes and not no."
--Richard Branson

It HAS to be something you like, or you WILL bail.
--Joe Liemandt

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.
--Andrew Carnegie

You don't go in the studio and think, "Ok, what would people want to hear me sing about." I go in there and think, "Ok, what just happened this weekend? You just gotta keep it real with yourself"
-T-pain interview (Yes, I just included a quote by T-pain...you can learn something from everyone)!

If you could put a silver bullet in one competitor, which one would it be? You'll quickly find out who the best is
--Warren Buffet

If you risk something that is important to you, for something that is not important to you, it's just foolish.
--Warren Buffet

Build a moat around your business. When I invest in a company, the only guidance I give the managers is to continue building that moat. Make it bigger, make it deeper, throw crocodiles in it.
--Warren Buffet

The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.
--Paraclese

If you stay ready, you never have to GET ready
--Will Smith

Take what you love to do and apply it to something profitable.

Almost everything you do should be building upon somthing which you can look back at in its entirety and be proud, or sell.

If your competitor is so dull they can't come up with something original about their own products or services and have to steal things you create, they won't be competition for long.

Define success:
A=X+Y+Z
A= Success
X = Work
Y = Play
Z = Keep your mouth shut
--Albert Einstein

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.
--Malcolm Gladwell

Rules prevent disaster, but they ensure medicrity
--Barry Schwartz

There is only one goodness, it is knowledge. There is only one evil, it is negligence.
--Socrates

It may be that taking the focus off your own happiness is what makes happiness possible.
--From a satire article in Cracked

We tend to play things ridiculously safe...it seems as if some people think they're going to live forever.
--Earl Nightingale

When asked where all his success comes from, Ted Turned simply replied, "Thinking. I read and I thought."

Stanger, if we pass each other and you desire to speak to me, why should you not? And why should I not speak to you?
--Walt Whitman

If you're just a distributor, where will you be in 5 years when the major suppliers begin vertically integrating?
--Ted Turner

In chess, a 1 or 2 ahead player always gets beat by someone who looks 7 or 8 moves ahead. I always wanted to think a few moves ahead of the competition.
--Ted Turner

When asked about the secret to longevity in show business, George Carlin replied, "Productivity."

Lasting a long time is a function of pleasing a wide range of people.

To make more money: Motivate yourself by trying to solve peoples problems, not looking to sell them something.

If you give a child too many gifts, he will take them for granted. However we have been given a gift beyond measure (power of the mind), and we do much the same.
--Earl Nightingale

Beauty without intelligence is like a masterpiece painted on a napkin.

The man who has least fear for his carcass, has much time to consider others.

Conform to their style and they'll remember you a day. Create your own style and they'll remember you forever.

Humans must always have a carrot on a stick
--Maslow

Everybody is creative, and everybody is talented. I just don't think everybody is discipined.
--Al Hirschfeld

Nice people with common sense do not make interesting characters. They only make good former spouses.
--Isabel Allende

It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it." --W. Somerset Maugham

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didnâ€™t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
--Mark Twain

Creativity starts when you cut a zero from your budget."
--Jaime Lerner

At the age of 24 I began setting clear, written goals for each area of my life. I accomplished more in the following year than I had in the previous 24.
--Brian Tracy

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
--Vidal Sassoon

If you sleep you can have sweet dreams...if you work hard you make dreams come true.
--Professor Kwag

Train yourself to let go of the things you fear to lose.
--George Lucas

In the words of William Arthur Ward, "Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing."

When investing, pessimism is your friend, euphoria the enemy.
--Warren Buffet 2008 shareholder letter

People don't like gadgets, they like experiences. iPhone ads never highlight the technology or show the charger.
--Steve Oskoui

Stop thinking about how to get from people, and start thinking how to create value for them. Massive amounts for them.
--Eben Pagan

If you will take your best ideas, give them away, then people will presume what you're selling is worth more.
--Eben Pagan

Strong men are honest about their desires.

Our capitalistic society ensures there will be competition.

I have told so many of my students that when you're 1% unhappy itâ€™s time to get out. Now itâ€™s time to follow my own advice.
--Perry Belcher

Loving the twitter spam messages promoting worthless MLM and easy money systems. Whatever happened to hard work and a killer product?
--Mitchell Harper

Everybody says my website is a little like McDonald's...it may not be healthy for you, but everyone likes it.
--Perez Hilton

The way we manage her brand is plan it out like a lawyer would create a case plan, then follow that plan.
--Paris Hilton Inc. Movie

Living with a woman is like working backstage.
--Ray Croc biography

If you want to conduct an orchestra, you must turn your back on the crowd.

I work with many CEO's and celebrities and one common trait among these patients is they all imagined themselves attaining success before realizing their goals.
--Excerpt from a self-hypnosis book

Success leaves clues. Study people you admire or want to be like.
--Tony Robbins

If merely looking up past financial data would tell you what the future holds, the Forbes 400 would consist of librarians.
--Warren Buffet 2008 shareholders letter

Solaris 10 10/09 (Update 8)

2009-10-17T17:18:00.001+05:30

Solaris 10 10/09 (Update 8)

Recently Solaris 10 10/09 (aka: Update 8) released. You can see the complete What's New in the Solaris 10 10/09 Release doc for details, but here is a brief overview. You can download the release from sun.com/solaris.

Two-Terabyte Disk Support for Installing and Booting the Solaris OS
pcitool Utility
nss_ldap shadowAccount Support
Sun Validation Test Suite 7.0 Patch Set 6
Turbo-Charging SVR4 Packaging (faster pkg installs)
Zones Parallel Patching
PVIO Drivers in Solaris 10 Guest Domains (I recommend snv_121 if you really need xVM)
iSCSI Initiator SMF Service
LSI 6180 Controller Support in Solaris MPxIO
Callout Subsystem Scalability
Driver for LSI MPT 2.0-Compliant SAS2.0 Controllers
Broadcom NetXtreme II Gigabit Ethernet Driver
Interrupt Remapping Support for Intel Vt-d
SATA Tape Devices Supported by the AHCI Driver
Sun StorageTek 6Gb/s SAS PCIe RAID HBA Driver
Intel 82599 10Gb PCI Express Ethernet Controller
Intel 82598 10Gb PCI Express Ethernet Controller
NTP Version 4.2.5
PostgreSQL 8.1.17, 8.2.13, and 8.3.7
Samba 3.0.35
Additionally, a variety of ZFS improvements:

ZFS and Flash installation support (Hybrid Pool)
Setting ZFS user and group quotas
Using ZFS ACL pass through inheritance for execute permission
Using cache devices in your ZFS storage pool (Hybrid Pool)
ZFS property enhancements; such as read-only properties usedbychildren/usedbydataset/usedbyrefreservation/usedbysnapshots and ability to bias primarycache/secondarycache
ZFS log device recovery
Using ZFS ACL Sets
... and of course a bunch of bug fixes as well.

Europe Trip - Pics -12

2009-09-02T02:42:00.000+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -11

2009-09-02T02:40:00.000+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -10

2009-09-02T02:38:00.001+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -9

2009-09-02T02:37:00.001+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -8

2009-09-02T02:35:00.002+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -7

2009-09-02T02:34:00.002+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -6

2009-09-02T02:31:00.002+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -5

2009-09-02T02:30:00.002+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -4

2009-09-02T02:26:00.002+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -3

2009-09-02T02:25:00.001+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -2

2009-09-02T02:23:00.001+05:30

Europe Trip - Pics -1

2009-09-02T02:21:00.004+05:30

Europe Trip - August-Sep 09

2009-09-02T02:19:00.002+05:30

Installing Apache, MySQL and PHP on Leopard

2009-07-18T17:48:00.000+05:30

Working in Web Development means you have to have a development environment installed on your local machine, in order to test and develop dynamic pages, using a web server (Apache,), a database (MySQL) and a scripting language (PHP). There are ways of getting those components installed in a bundle, like WAMP, LAMP or MAMP. But as a developer, you are more the manual type, right? So as I had to go through that installation process recently, this article documents the steps I went through.
Apache

OSX already comes with Apache installed, it is just a matter of starting the server. You can do this if you go to System Preferences > Sharing and check “Web Sharing”. The Apache default page should now be displayed at
http://localhost

Later on, you can use the following commands to start, stop or restart Apache:

$ sudo apachectl start
$ sudo apachectl stop
$ sudo apachectl restart

If you would like to change the DocumentRoot of the server, you need to edit the httpd.conf file:

$ sudo vi /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

In here, you need to change the DocumentRoot setting:

DocumentRoot "/Users/myUser/myNewWebroot/"

...

PHP

PHP comes bundled up with Leopard as well. The important things to know here are where it got installed and where to find the configuration file.

Most likely, it got installed to:
/usr/local/php5

The configuration file should be located at:
/private/etc/php.ini

You only need to make sure that Apache knows that PHP is available, so edit httpd.conf:
$ sudo vi /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

And add the following lines (in the appropriate sections, to keep things tidy):
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
…
LoadModule php5_module libexec/apache2/libphp5.so

Finished with that, restart Apache, empty the browser cache and then load a php file for testing if it is correctly interpreted.
MySQL

Download the most recent dmg image from the MySQL site.

Before actually installing MySQL, I found it helps to restart the computer before proceeding with the installation. When running through the installation wizard, MySQL will get installed to:
/usr/local/mysql-VERSION

So, for example:
/usr/local/mysql-5.0.51b-osx10.5-x86/

Also, a symlink should have been created:
/usr/local/mysql -> mysql-5.0.51b-osx10.5-x86

You should also install the Preference Pane, which comes with the installation package as MySQL.prefPane

To start MySQL manually, run the following command:
$ sudo /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM/MySQLCOM start

You should also add MySQL to $PATH:
$ vi ~/.profile
$ export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/mysql/bin
$ source ~/.profile

To check whether that was successful, run:
$ echo $PATH

The default settings for the root user are:

* Username: root
* Password: [leave blank]

Add-on: PHPmyAdmin

To get PHPmyAdmin installed, which comes in handy for managing your database(s), download the latest package from their download page. Extract that package to a directory somewhere in your DocumentRoot.

Open config.sample.inc.php with an editor of your choice and add the following details for your MySQL installation:

/*
* This is needed for cookie based authentication to encrypt password in
* cookie
*/
$cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'whatever'; /* YOU MUST FILL IN THIS FOR COOKIE AUTH! */

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';
$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = ''; // use here your password

After you made those changes, save the file as config.inc.php.
PEAR

PEAR should also already be available on your Mac. The location is probably:
/usr/local/php5/bin/pear

It is a good idea to add the path to PEAR to $PATH, similar to setting the path for MySQL (see above). In addition, upgrade PEAR to the latest version like so:

$ sudo pear channel-update pear.php.net
$ sudo pear upgrade PEAR
Resources

* Installing MySQL on Mac OS X (MySQL Reference Manual)
* Installing MySQL 5.0 on Max OS X 10.5 client
* Installing MySQL on Mac OS X

Download the Mac OS X 10.4 Package from the MySQL Developer site here.

Be sure to pick the right architecture for your Mac.
Install MySQL

Mount the disk image and run the installer package called “mysql-5.0.XX-osx10.4-ARCH.pkg” or similar. Substitute minor version numbers and “ARCH” where appropriate.

I won’t go through the steps inside the installer, that would be tedious.

At the end of it all you will have a lovely working install of MySQL 5.0 in /usr/local/mysql-5.0.XX-osx10.4-ARCH and a handy symlink to that directory at /usr/local/mysql

Now for the problems.
Problem 1 – The startup item doesn’t work

launchd has killed the old StartupItems folder and functionality, someone should have told MySQL that was coming.

Here is a launchd plist file that you can use in it’s place:
view plaincopy to clipboardprint?

1.
2. 3. "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
4.
5.
6. GroupName
7. mysql
8. KeepAlive
9.
10. Label
11. com.mysql.mysqld
12. Program
13. /usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe
14. UserName
15. mysql
16.
17.

"http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

GroupName
mysql
KeepAlive

Label
com.mysql.mysqld
Program
/usr/local/mysql/bin/mysqld_safe
UserName
mysql

Save the above code into a file at /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.mysql.mysqld.plist

Change it’s ownership to root:

$ sudo chown root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.mysql.mysqld.plist

Load the launchd job thusly:

$ sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.mysql.mysqld.plist

Stop MySQL and unload the job like this:

$ sudo launchctl stop com.mysql.mysqld
$ sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.mysql.mysqld.plist

Unloading takes a couple of uncomfortable seconds to complete, just be patient.
Problem 2 – The preference pane doesn’t work

Well, that’s just tough. Presumably the preference pane relied quite heavily on the startup item. So with that dependancy broken it’s back to the command line.
Problem 3 – “mysql” not found on command line

I had success fixing this by adding the following line to a new file at ~/.profile

PATH=${PATH}:/usr/local/mysql/bin

Then exit the current terminal window and open a new one.

This may not be the bestest most official way to do it, but it works.
Problem 4 – Built in PHP doesn’t like the MySQL socket

True, the default socket for MySQL and MySQLi extensions on PHP is set to /var/mysql/mysql.sock but the MySQL we just installed creates the sock file in /tmp/mysql.sock

This is not a problem for everyone, most PHP apps don’t use the default mysql settings.

To change this just create a file at /etc/php.ini and put this in there:

[MySQL]
mysql.default_socket = /tmp/mysql.sock

[MySQLi]
mysqli.default_socket = /tmp/mysql.sock

There is no need to copy the whole php.ini.default file over to this location, of course if you already have a php.ini file, then just change or append these settings into that file.

Restart the built in Apache.

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/mac-os-x-installation.html

In my sweet home ( 03/07/09 )

2009-07-04T21:35:00.002+05:30

How to Upgrade from OpenSolaris 2008.11 to OpenSolaris 2009.06

2009-06-09T01:48:00.001+05:30

http://www.sun.com/events/communityonewest/media/demo.xml?intcmp=commonewest_upgrade_demo

Solaris 10 Commad Line Guide – Networking Configuration

2009-06-05T18:46:00.000+05:30

To bind an IP address to a Network Interface Card

#ifconfig –a >> to check the configuration
#ifconfig qfe0 plumb >> to enable the first Network Interface Card
#ifconfig qfe0 netmask up >>to bind IP address, subnet, and enable the configuration

Create a file on /etc directory – hostname.qfe0 with hostname entry
Add entry on /etc/netmasks if IP address is on different subnet
Add entry on /etc/inet/hosts file with IP address and hostname

Example:

#ifconfig –a
hme0: flags=863 mtu 1500
inet 202.40.231.2 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 202.40.231.255
ether 8:0:20:9f:51:fe

#ifconfig qfe0 plumb
#ifconfig qfe0 202.40.xxx.3 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
#ifconfig –a
hme0: flags=863 mtu 1500
inet 202.40.xxx.2 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 202.40.xxx.255
ether 8:0:20:9f:51:fe
qfe0: flags=863 mtu 1500
inet 202.40.xxx.3 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 202.40.xxx.255

To change IP Address

#ifconfig qfe0 down >>to disable the first Network Interface Card

To remove Network Interface Card

#ifconfig qfe0 unplumb >> to remove the first Network Interface Card

To bind a virtual IP address to Network Interface Card

#ifconfig qfe0:1 plumb >>in some cases this is not needed if qfe0 has been plumb
#ifconfig qfe0:1 202.40.xxx.x netmask 255.255.255.0 up

Create a file on /etc directory – hostname.qfe0:1 with hostname entry
Add entry on /etc/netmasks if IP address is on different subnet
Add entry on /etc/inet/hosts file with IP address and hostname

NOTE:

If adding a quad port Network Interface Card, the naming convention will be qfe0, qfe1, qfe2, qfe3.
If adding a single port Network Interface Card, the naming convention will be hme1, hme2, hme3.
The onboard Network Interface Card is hme0
If adding a virtual IP address, the naming convention will be hme0:1, hme0:2, up to hme0:3 only for hme0, or qfe0:1, qfe0:2, up to qfe0:3 only for
qfe0, depending on the number of hme and qfe port used.

To hardcode the speed of the Network Interface Card

Example:
You want to hardcode 100Full Duplex for hme0
#ndd –set /dev/hme instance 0
#ndd –set /dev/hme adv_100fdx_cap 1
#ndd –set /dev/hme adv_100hdx_cap 0
#ndd –set /dev/hme adv_10fdx_cap 0
#ndd –set /dev/hme adv_10hdx_cap 0
#ndd –set /dev/hme adv_autoneg_cap 0

Create an input on the file /etc/system so that when your system rebooted it will run the NIC in 100Full Duplex automatically.
set hme:hme_adv_100fdx_cap=1
set hme:hme_adv_100hdx_cap=0
set hme:hme_adv_10fdx_cap=0
set hme:hme_adv_10hdx_cap=0
set hme:hme_adv_autoneg_cap=0

To check the status
#ndd /dev/hme \? >>displays all command options for ndd
#ndd /dev/hme link_status >>displays the hme0 link status

The above configurations should be followed in order.

1 = Capable/Enable
0 = Disable
hme1 = instance 1
hme2 = instance 2
hme3 = instance 3

The system on the other end of network cable should be hardcode to 100Full Duplex also. If the other end is a switch, check your vendor manuals on how to
do it.

To monitor packets traveling in your NIC ports

Example:
You want to monitor your hme0 port of packets coming from IP address 202.40.224.14
#snoop –d hme0 | grep 202.40.224.14

You want to monitor your qfe1 port of packets coming from host server1
#snoop –d qfe1 | grep server1

You want to monitor your hme1 ports of all packets
#snoop –d hme1

To add or remove a static route

Example:
You want to add a static route to network 192.168.16.0 to your default gateway of 10.236.74.1
#route add –net 192.168.16.0 10.236.74.1
then create a script, so that when the system rebooted the route will automatically added
#cd /etc/rc2.d
#vi S168staticroute
Add the following line
route add –net 192.168.16.0 10.236.74.1

You want to add a static route to host 192.168.64.4 to your default gateway of 10.236.74.1
#route add 192.168.64.4 10.236.74.1
then create a script, so that when the system rebooted the route will automatically added
#cd /etc/rc2.d
#vi S168staticroute
Add the following line
route add 192.168.64.4 10.236.74.1

You want to delete the static route to network 192.168.16.0 to your default gateway of 10.236.74.1
#route delete –net 192.168.16.0 10.236.74.1

You want to delete the static route to host 192.168.64.4 to your default gateway of 10.236.74.1
#route delete 192.168.64.4 10.236.74.1

Solaris 10 Remote X11,X-Server or CDE Login Problem

2009-06-05T18:24:00.001+05:30

Configuring IP Network Multipathing on Solaris

2009-06-05T18:19:00.000+05:30

IPMP has the following features:

1. It eliminates a single network adapter as a single point of failure in these cases, ( a. Network adapter failure b. Network link failure)
2. It enables interfaces to fail over within approximately 10 seconds when using the default configuration.
3. It can be configured by adjusting the parameters in the ”/etc/default/mpathd” file.
4. It can be configured for use with both IPv4 and IPv6.
5. It enables interfaces to be configured as standby interfaces.

{IPMP failure detection:
Probe-based failure detection
-detects network error by sending ICMP ECHO_REQUEST messages
Link based failure detection
-detects network error by checking the IFF_RUNING

How to Configure IPMP on Solaris

*PROBE-BASED IPMP*

{Probe-Based IPMP Requirements:

* The Solaris 8 10/00 OS, as a minimum, must be installed.
* Unique MAC addresses must be configured on each network interface.
* Multiple network adapter interfaces must be connected on each subnet.
* An IPMP group name must be assigned to the group of interfaces.
* A test address is assigned to an interface.
* Additional hosts or devices must exist on the same subnet.

{Configuring Probe-Based IPMP:

1. # cat /etc/release
2. # eeprom ”local-mac-address?=true”
3. # ifconfig e1000g0 10.5.0.11 netmask + broadcast + up
4. # ifconfig e1000g0 group
5. # ifconfig e1000g0 addif 10.5.0.61 netmask + broadcast + failover deprecated up
6. # ifconfig e1000g1 10.5.0.21 netmask + broadcast + group up
7. # ifconfig e1000g1 addif 10.5.0.71 netmask + broadcast + failover deprecated up
8. # ifconfig -a

{Configuring Probe-Based IPMP using configuration files
1. # cat /etc/hostname.eri0
10.10.0.11 netmask + broadcast + group mptest1 up \
addif 10.5.0.61 netmask + broadcast + -failover \
deprecated up

2. # cat /etc/hostname.qfe2
10.10.0.21 netmask + broadcast + group mptest1 up \
addif 10.5.0.71 netmask + broadcast + -failover \
deprecated up

3. # init 6

*LINK-BASED IPMP*

{Link-Based IPMP Requirements:

* Solaris 9 12/02 OS, at a minimum, must be installed.
* Network interfaces must use any of the following drivers: hme, eri, ce, ge, bge, qfe, dmfe, e1000g, ixgb, nge, nxge, rge, xge
* Unique MAC addresses must be configured on each of the interfaces.
* An IPMP group name must be assigned to interfaces

{Configuring Link-Based IPMP

1. # cat /etc/release
2. # eeprom ”localmacaddress=true”
3. # ifconfig eri0 10.10.0.11 netmask + broadcast + group up
4. # ifconfig hme0 10.10.0.21 netmask + broadcast + group up
5. # ifconfig a

{Configuring Link-IPMP – Administration Guide – IP ServicesBased IPMP using configuration files
1. # cat /etc/hostname.eri0
10.10.0.11 netmask + broadcast + group up

2. # cat /etc/hostname.hme0
10.10.0.21 netmask + broadcast + group up

3. # init 6

Reference:

IPMP – Administration Guide – IP Services

man ifconfig
man in.mpathd
docs.sun.com

Step Install Oracle 10g R2 on Solaris 10 x86 ( with /etc/project )

2009-06-05T18:12:00.000+05:30

Checking Requirement:

—————————-

#/usr/sbin/prtconf | grep “Memory size” [Check RAM size]
# /usr/sbin/swap -s [check swap]
# df -k /tmp [check /tmp size (>400mb)]
# uname -r [check solaris version]

# pkginfo -i SUNWarc SUNWbtool SUNWhea SUNWlibm SUNWlibms SUNWsprot SUNWsprox SUNWtoo SUNWi1of SUNWi1cs SUNWi15cs SUNWxwfnt

# cat /etc/nsswitch.conf | grep hosts
# hostname
# domainname

RUN INSTALL:
—————-
A. create group name “dba”, oracle inventory group “oinstall” and “oracle” user

# /usr/sbin/groupadd oinstall
# /usr/sbin/groupadd dba

{Determine oracle user exist or not
# id -a oracle
{if exist, should be look like this=
uid=440(oracle) gid=200(oinstall) groups=201(dba),202(oper)

{create oracle user=
# useradd -d /export/home/oracle -g dba -G oinstall -m -s /bin/ksh oracle

#mkdir /export/home/oracle
#chown oracle:dba /export/home/oracle

{set password=
# passwd -r files oracle

{to determine nobody user=
# id nobody
# /usr/sbin/useradd nobody >>run if does not exist

B. EDIT FILE /export/home/oracle/.profile
————————————–
umask 022
TMP=/tmp
TMPDIR=$TMP
DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
export TMP TMPDIR DISPLAY
ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle [replace with ur Oracle base Directory]
ORACLE_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1 [replace with ur Oracle home Directory]

ORACLE_SID=jktdb [replace with your database]
PATH=$ORACLE_HOME/bin:$PATH
export ORACLE_BASE ORACLE_HOME ORACLE_SID PATH

C. Configure Kernel Parameter
—————————–
Note: Do not follow the official installation instruction, they contain misleading and out errors of fact!

#projadd oracle [This command will create a new 'resource project']
edit the /etc/user_attr file:
adm::::profiles=Log Management
lp::::profiles=Printer Management
root::::auths=solaris.*,solaris.grant;profiles=Web Console Management,All;lock_after_retries=no

oracle::::project=oracle [add this line]

then:

#su – oracle
$ id -p
$ prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -i project oracle

The display look like this:
project: 100: oracle
NAME PRIVILEGE VALUE FLAG ACTION RECIPIENT
project.max-shm-memory
privileged 126MB – deny -
system 16.0EB max deny -

leaving the oracle user still connected in the original one Then, as root in the new terminal, you can issue this command:

#prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -v 4gb -r -i project oracle [create max memory to 4GB]

As soon as you’ve issued that command, switch back to the oracle user’s session and re-issue the earlier command:

$ prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -i project oracle

Note:
#prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -v 4gb -r -i project oracle [this setting will lost after reboot]
to set permanently, run this: #projmod -s -K “project.max-shm-memory=(priv,4gb,deny)” oracle

D. Performing the Oracle Installation
————————————-
#su – oracle
$xhost +
$export DISPLAY=localhost;0.0
$ xhost + >>run this if you install from remote PC
$ cd /export/home/database/ [the source unzipped here]

./runInstaller

FOR SOLARIS SPARC:
====================
$ gunzip ship_rel10_sol64_db.cpio.gz
$ cpio -idm < ship_rel10_sol64_db.cpio

$./runInstaller

If you found unsufficient SWAP disk space on your disk, create folder under / then run this command:
—————————————————
$ TMP=/directory
$ TMPDIR=/directory
$ export TMP TMPDIR

Follow the screen>>NEXT>>NEXT

last, run this as root user:
—————————-
/u01/app/oracle/oraInventory/orainstRoot.sh
/u01/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/root.sh

Create db:
———-
orc1
jktdb

E. 6.0 On-going Administration
——————————–
Finally, it’s time to get the web-based Enterprise Manager database administration tool up and running.
Since we’re using 10g Release 2, you should be able to launch a browser (Launch -> Web Browser) and simply navigate to : http://localhost:1158/em

If you do not know the correct port number to use, look for the following line in the $ORACLE_HOME/install/portlist.ini file.

in order to be able to log on as SYS with a password of whatever you supplied to the first screen of the Oracle installation wizard. In fact, getting a meaningful result at this point relies on three things having been performed successfully:

1. starting a listener (lsnrctl start)
2. opening the database (sqlplus / as sysdba then startup)
3. starting the Enterprise Manager agent (emctl start dbconsole)

F. Automating Database Startup
———————————————–
edit file “/var/opt/oracle/oratab” script to find lines with ‘Y’ at their ends
Create file “/etc/init.d/dbora”
——-
#!/bin/sh
ORA_HOME=/u01/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1
ORA_OWNER=oracle

if [ ! -f $ORA_HOME/bin/dbstart ]
then
echo “Oracle startup: cannot start”
exit
fi

case “$1″ in
’start’)
su – $ORA_OWNER -c “$ORA_HOME/bin/dbstart”
;;
’stop’)
su – $ORA_OWNER -c “$ORA_HOME/bin/dbshut”
;;
esac

———
#chmod 777 /etc/init.d/dbora
#/etc/init.d/dbora stop

To integrate dbora file to standart Solaris startup and shutdown process:
————————————————————————
#ln -s /etc/init.d/dbora /etc/rc0.d/K01dbora
#ln -s /etc/init.d/dbora /etc/rc2.d/S99dbora

IF u found error this:
———————–
ORACLE_HOME_LISTNER is not SET, unable to auto-stop Oracle Net Listener

edit file “dbstart” & “dbshut”, find line $ORACLE_HOME_LISTNER=$1

and change to = $ORACLE_HOME_LISTNER=/u01/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1

RECOMMENDED DIRECTORY STRUCTURE:
———————————————-

[Oracle Base Directory:]
/u01/app/oracle
/u01/app/orauser
/opt/oracle/app/oracle

[Oracle Inventory Directory:]
ORACLE_BASE/oraInventory

[Oracle Home Directory:]

ORACLE_BASE/product/10.2.0/db_1

[Identify an existing oracle base directory:]
#more /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc
[the output should be:]

inventory_loc=/u01/app/oracle/oraInventory
inst_group=oinstall

# more /var/opt/oracle/oratab

*:/u03/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1:N

*:/opt/orauser/infra_904:N

*:/oracle/9.2.0:N

COMMON INSTALLATION ERROR:
===========================
Unable to convert from “UTF-8″ to “646″ for NLS!
Solution: Install SUNWuiu8 package.

error adduser:
———————
UX: useradd: ERROR: Inconsistent password files. See pwconv(1M)

This is because the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files are out of synchronization on your machine. [CSCdi74894]
To fix this, run the pwconv command, and then rerun cwconfigure.

try to run:

wc -l /etc/passwd /etc/shadow

————–
ERROR Checking monitor: must be configured to display at least 256 colors >>> Could not execute auto check for
display colors using command /usr/openwin/bin/xdpyinfo. Check if the DISPLAY variable is set. Failed <<<<
Some requirement checks failed. You must fulfill these requirements before continuing with theinstallation, at which time they will be rechecked.

Solution(s):
1. Install SUNWxwplt package
2. Set DISPLAY variable
3. Execute xhost + on target (set in DISPLAY) computer

———————————————————-
Exception in thread “main” java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError:
… libmawt.so: ld.so.1: java: fatal: libXm.so.4: open failed: No such file or directory

Solution: Install the SUNWmfrun package.

—————————————————————————————————-
Can’t load ‘/usr/perl5/5.8.4/lib/i86pc-solaris-64int/auto/Sun/Solaris/Project/Project.so’ for module
Sun::Solaris::Project: ld.so.1: perl: fatal: libpool.so.1: open failed: No such file or directory at
/usr/perl5/5.8.4/lib/i86pc-solaris-64int/DynaLoader.pm line 230. at /usr/sbin/projadd line 19 Compilation
failed in require at /usr/sbin/projadd line 19. BEGIN failed–compilation aborted at /usr/sbin/projadd line 19.

Solution: Install the SUNWpool SUNWpoolr packages.

———————————————————————–
bash-3.00$ /u01/app/oracle/product/10.2.0/db_1/bin/./emctl start dbconsole
Exception in getting local host
java.net.UnknownHostException: -a: -a
at java.net.InetAddress.getLocalHost(InetAddress.java:1191)
at oracle.sysman.emSDK.conf.TargetInstaller.getLocalHost(TargetInstaller.java:4977)
at oracle.sysman.emSDK.conf.TargetInstaller.main(TargetInstaller.java:3758)
Exception in getting local host

Solution : check server hostname and /etc/hosts
————————————————————————-

UNINSTALL ORACLE 10G:
———————
1. remove all database, by running $dbca
2. stop any oracle process running:
Database Control : $ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl stop dbconsole
Oracle Net listener : $ORACLE_HOME/bin/lsnrctl stop
iSQL*Plus : $ORACLE_HOME/bin/isqlplusctl stop
Ultra Search : $ORACLE_HOME/bin/searchctl stop

3. Start Oracle Universal installer:

$ORACLE_HOME/oui/bin/runInstaller

4. In the Welcome window, click Deinstall Products.
5. In the Inventory screen, select the Oracle home and the products that you want to remove,
then click Remove.

Oracle 10g Installation on Solaris 10

2009-06-03T22:55:00.000+05:30

Overview

For our installation, we used the following ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID, please adjust these parameters for your own environment.

*

ORACLE_HOME = /opt/oracle/product/9.2.0
*

ORACLE_SID = QUO1

Check Hardware Requirements

Minimal Memory: 1024 MB

To determine the amount of RAM memory installed on your system, enter the following command.

$ /usr/sbin/prtconf

Minimal Swap Space:

To determine the amount of Swap Space installed on your system, enter the following command.

$ /usr/sbin/swap -s

*

Between 1024 MB and 2048 MB 1.5 times the size of RAM
*

Between 2049 MB and 8192 MB Equal to the size of RAM
*

More than 8192 MB 0.75 times the size of RAM

Minimal Disk Space in /tmp: 400 MB

To determine the amount of disk space available in the /tmp directory, enter the following command:

$ df -h /tmp

Operating System Software Requirements

Use the latest kernel patch from Sun Microsystems (http://sunsolve.sun.com)

- Download the Patch from: http://sunsolve.sun.com
- Read the README File included in the Patch
- Usually the only thing you have to do is:

$ cd
$ ./install_custer
$ cat /var/sadm/install_data/_log
$ showrev -p

- Reboot the system

To determine your current operating system information:

$ uname -a

To determine which operating system patches are installed:

$ showrev -p

To determine which operating system packages are installed:

$ pkginfo -i [package_name]

To determine if your X-windows system is working properly on your local system, but you can redirect the X-windows output to another system.

$ xclock

To determine if you are using the correct system executables:

$ /usr/bin/which make
$ /usr/bin/which ar
$ /usr/bin/which ld
$ /usr/bin/which nm

Each of the four commands above should point to the /usr/ccs/bin directory. If not, add /usr/ccs/bin to the beginning of the PATH environment variable in the current shell.

Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

The JRE shipped with Oracle10 is used by Oracle Java applications such as the Oracle Universal Installer is the only one supported. You should not modify this JRE, unless it is done through a patch provided by Oracle Support Services. The inventory can contain multiple versions of the JRE, each of which can be used by one or more products or releases. The Installer creates the oraInventory directory the first time it is run to keep an inventory of products that it installs on your system as well as other installation information. The location of oraInventory is defined in /var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc. Products in an ORACLE_HOME access the JRE through a symbolic link in $ORACLE_HOME/JRE to the actual location of a JRE within the inventory. You should not modify the symbolic link.

Check Software Limits

Oracle10 includes native support for files greater than 2 GB. Check your shell to determine whether it will impose a limit.

To check current soft shell limits, enter the following command:

$ ulimit -Sa

To check maximum hard limits, enter the following command:

$ ulimit -Ha

The file (blocks) value should be multiplied by 512 to obtain the maximum file size imposed by the shell. A value of unlimited is the operating system default and is the maximum value of 1 TB.

Setup the Solaris Kernel

In Solaris 10, you are not required to make changes to the /etc/system file to implement the System V TPC. Solaris 10 uses the resource control facility for its implementation.
Parameter Resource Control Recommended Value
noexec_user_stack NA 1
semsys:seminfo_semmni project.max-sem-ids 100
semsys:seminfo_semmsl process.max-sem-nsems 256
shmsys:shminfo_shmmax project.max-shm-memory 4294967295
shmsys:shminfo_shmmni project.max-shm-ids 100

Many kernel parameters have been replaced by so called resource controls in Solaris 10. It is possible to change resource controls using the prctl command. All shared memory and semaphore settings are now handled via resource controls, so any entries regarding shared memory or semaphores (shm & sem) in /etc/system will be ignored.

Here is the procedure we followed to modify the kernel parameters on Solaris 10 / Oracle 10.2.0.3.

Unlike earlier releases of Solaris, most of the system parameters needed to run Oracle are already set properly, so the only one you need is the maximum shared memory parameter. In earlier versions this was called SHMMAX and was set by editing the /etc/system file and rebooting. With Solaris 10 you set this by modifying a «Resource Control Value». You can do this temporarily by using prctl, but that is lost at reboot so you will need to add the command to the oracle user's $HOME/.profile.

The other option is to create a default project for the oracle user.

# projadd -U oracle -K "project.max-shm-memory=(priv,4096MB,deny)" user.oracle

What this does:

* Makes a project named "user.oracle" in /etc/project with the user oracle as it's only member.

# cat /etc/project

system:0::::
user.root:1::::
noproject:2::::
default:3::::
group.staff:10::::
user.oracle:100::oracle::project.max-shm-memory=(priv,4294967296,deny)

* Because the name was of the form "user.username" it becomes the oracle user's default project.

* The value of the maximum shared memory is set to 4GB, you might want to use a larger value here if you have more memory and swap.

* No reboot is needed, the user will get the new value
at their next login.

Now you can also modify the max-sem-ids Parameter:

# projmod -s -K "project.max-sem-ids=(priv,256,deny)" user.oracle

Check the Parameters as User oracle

$ prctl -i project user.oracle

project: 100: user.oracle
NAME PRIVILEGE VALUE FLAG ACTION RECIPIENT
project.max-contracts
privileged 10.0K - deny -
system 2.15G max deny -
project.max-device-locked-memory
privileged 125MB - deny -
system 16.0EB max deny -
project.max-port-ids
privileged 8.19K - deny -
system 65.5K max deny -
project.max-shm-memory
privileged 4.00GB - deny -
system 16.0EB max deny -
project.max-shm-ids
privileged 128 - deny -
system 16.8M max deny -
project.max-msg-ids
privileged 128 - deny -
system 16.8M max deny -
project.max-sem-ids
privileged 256 - deny -
system 16.8M max deny -
project.max-crypto-memory
privileged 498MB - deny -
system 16.0EB max deny -
project.max-tasks
system 2.15G max deny -
project.max-lwps
system 2.15G max deny -
project.cpu-shares
privileged 1 - none -
system 65.5K max none -
zone.max-lwps
system 2.15G max deny -
zone.cpu-shares
privileged 1 - none -

Create Unix Group «dba»

$ groupadd -g 400 dba
$ groupdel dba

Create Unix User «oracle»

$ useradd -u 400 -c "Oracle Owner" -d /export/home/oracle \
-g "dba" -m -s /bin/ksh oracle

Setup ORACLE environment ($HOME/.bash_profile) as follows

# Setup ORACLE environment

ORACLE_HOME=/opt/oracle/product/10.2.0; export ORACLE_HOME
ORACLE_SID=QUO1; export ORACLE_SID
TNS_ADMIN=/home/oracle/config/10.2.0 export TNS_ADMIN
ORA_NLS10=${ORACLE_HOME}/nls/data; export ORA_NLS10
CLASSPATH=${CLASSPATH}:${ORACLE_HOME}/jdbc/lib/classes12.zip
ORACLE_TERM=xterm; export ORACLE_TERM
ORACLE_OWNER=oracle; export ORACLE_OWNER
NLS_LANG=AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8ISO8859P1; export NLS_LANG
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib:${ORACLE_HOME}/lib:${ORACLE_HOME}/lib32; export LD_LIBRARY_PATH

# Set up the search paths

PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/sfw/sbin
PATH=$PATH:/usr/bin:/usr/ccs/bin:/usr/openwin/bin:/usr/sadm/bin
PATH=$PATH:/usr/sfw/bin:/usr/X11/bin:/usr/j2se/bin
PATH=$PATH:$ORACLE_HOME/bin

Install Oracle Software

To extract the installation archive files, perform the following steps:

$ gunzip filename.cpio.gz
$ cpio -idcmv < filename.cpio

Check oraInst.loc File

If you used Oracle before on your system, then you must edit the Oracle Inventory File, usually located in:
/var/opt/oracle/oraInst.loc

Install with Installer in interactive mode

Install Oracle 10g with Oracle Installer

$ DISPLAY=:0.0
$ export DISPLAY
$ ./runInstaller

Edit the Database Startup Script /var/opt/oracle/oratab

QUO1:/opt/oracle/product/10.2.0:Y

Create Password File

If the DBA wants to start up an Oracle instance there must be a way for Oracle to authenticate this DBA. That is if he is allowed to do so. Obviously, his password can not be stored in the database, because Oracle can not access the database if the instance has not been started up. Therefore, the authentication of the DBA must happen outside of the database.

The init parameter remote_login_passwordfile specifies if a password file is used to authenticate the DBA or not. If it set either to shared or exclusive a password file will be used.

Default location and file name

The default location for the password file is: $ORACLE_HOME/dbs/orapw$ORACLE_SID

Deleting a password file

If password file authentication is no longer needed, the password file can be deleted and the init parameter remote_login_passwordfile set to none.

Password file state

If a password file is shared or exclusive is also stored in the password file. After its creation, the state is shared. The state can be changed by setting remote_login_passwordfile and starting the database. That is, the database overwrites the state in the password file when it is started up. A password file whose state is shared can only contain SYS.

Creating a password file

Password files are created with the orapwd tool.

$ orapwd file=orapwQUO1 password=manager entries=5 force=y

Create a Symbolic Link from $ORACLE_HOME/dbs to the Password.

Create the Database

Edit the CREATE DATABASE File initQUO1.ora and create a symbolic-Link from $ORACLE_HOME/dbs to your Location.

$ cd $ORACLE_HOME/dbs
$ ln -s /home/oracle/config/10.2.0/initQUO1.ora initQUO1.ora
$ ls -l

lrwxrwxrwx 1 oracle dba 39 Jun 5 12:55 initQUO1.ora -> /home/oracle/config/10.2.0/initQUO1.ora
lrwxrwxrwx 1 oracle dba 36 Jun 5 12:58 orapwQUO1 -> /home/oracle/config/10.2.0/orapwQUO1

First start the Instance, just to test your initQUO1.ora file for correct syntax and system resources.

$ cd /export/home/oracle/config/10.2.0/
$ sqlplus /nolog
SQL> connect / as sysdba
SQL> startup nomount
SQL> shutdown immediate

Now you can create the Database

SQL> @initQUO1.sql
SQL> @shutdown immediate
SQL> startup

Check the Logfile: initQUO1.log

Start Listener

$ lsnrctl start LSNRQUO1

Automatically Start / Stop the Database

Solaris 10 has introduced the Solaris Service Management Facility to start / stop Services.

Services that are started by traditional rc scripts (referred to as legacy services) will generally continue to work as they always have. They will show up in the output of svcs(1), with an FMRI based on the pathname of their rc script, but they can not be controlled by svcadm(1M). They should be stopped and started by running the rc script directly.

$ svcs | grep oracle

legacy_run 8:27:00 lrc:/etc/rc3_d/S99oracle

To start the Database automatically on Boot-Time, create or use our Startup Scripts oracle which must be installed in /etc/init.d. Create symbolic Links from the Startup Directories.

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root S99oracle -> ../init.d/oracle

Opensolaris 2009.06 Release

2009-06-02T06:42:00.000+05:30

Open Solaris 2009.06 is out now, you can download from - http://opensolaris.com/get

Special features - http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1640183659?bctid=24694644001

http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/features/2009-0601/index.jsp

Project Crossbow Takes Networking to a New Level

As a follow on to Sun's ZFS technology, which reinvented the fundamental concept of file systems, Project Crossbow's complete re-architecture of the network stack becomes the new standard for how networking at the operating system level is done. This project delivers, for the first time, the networking capability designed for virtualization in combination with highly scaled, multiple-core, multi-threaded processors connected with extremely fast network interfaces. More information on Project Crossbow is available at: http://opensolaris.com/learn.

Project Crossbow's virtual network interfaces provide full resource management to simplify administration of complex deployments of multi-tiered applications on a single machine or an entire datacenter. Combined with the ability to scale the workload of single or multiple network interfaces across multiple core and processor systems, up to the largest systems available in the world today, customers can increase network efficiency and performance. Available today, both of these networking enhancements are major milestones for an enterprise operating system and are likely to set a new standard for next generation operating system platforms.

Major Enhancements Continue in Storage

OpenSolaris 2009.06 provides dozens of enhancements to the breakthrough technology of ZFS and encompasses it with a complete architecture of connectivity and protocol support. New, fully integrated flash storage support in ZFS helps to optimize large scale pools of very high performance storage by designating flash devices as write accelerators and read accelerators. These pools are automatically managed by ZFS to achieve extreme levels of performance across many workloads, making the need for small caches on RAID controllers obsolete.

Native support for Microsoft CIFS has been added as a full peer to NFS, as a high performance kernel with integrated features and support for Microsoft Windows semantics for security, naming and access rights, allowing transparent use and sharing of files across Windows, Linux and Solaris environments. To round out the complete storage capability, Sun has designed new, very high performance support for iSCSI and Fiberchannel block protocols into the Solaris kernel, allowing systems running OpenSolaris to participate as a client and a target for virtually any storage topology.

All of these storage features are integrated into the Solaris platform and take full advantage of its core functionality including: fault management, networking, multi-threaded scaling, performance, security and resource management capabilities. More information on the storage enhancements in OpenSolaris is available at: http://opensolaris.com/learn.

Comprehensive Approach to Virtualization

With this announcement, Sun continues to deliver on a holistic, built-in virtualization design for networking, storage and application abstraction, raising performance and scale to new highs for the industry. Building on the advances in networking storage virtualization, the OpenSolaris platform delivers key server virtualization technologies in the form of Solaris Containers, Logical Domains (LDoms) for Sun CMT systems and the Xen-based hypervisor to give users a complete virtualization platform built directly into the OpenSolaris OS. One of the most widely deployed virtualization technologies in the world, Solaris Containers provide lightweight, agile, software-defined boundaries that can be used to create virtual servers for consolidating hundreds of existing enterprise-class workloads onto a single system. More information on the built-in virtualization capabilities of OpenSolaris is available at: http://opensolaris.com/learn.

Release 5.1 Commands

2009-05-20T21:49:00.000+05:30

x86/x64 Support

The tool now supports the analysis of core dumps from Solaris 10 and above. This requires that they are analyzed on an x86 or x64 system for 32 bit core dumps and an x64 system for 64 bit core dumps.

Currently, the stack display does not include arguments. The disassembler is also under construction.

Sun Cluster Support

The clust command has been added to retrieve cluster specific information. The new command syntax is as follows:

clust [flag] [arg]

Where:

abuf reports available dbg options which can be enabled
addr reports important cluster addresses
ebuf reports enabled dbg buf which can be displayed
dbuf [-a] dumps specified dbg_buf, -a dumps possible previous data from from buffer when it has wrapped wrap
delta calculates delta between hrtime and tm (timestamp) found in the debug buffers.
did finds and reports our did devices
hb reports heartbeat data
invo [-t|-s|-i] reports invocation flags add thread reporting
members reports current cluster members
path reports current paths and associated data
pm reports path manager data
rdbg <*dbg_buf> dumps specified dbg_buf (no size calculation)

Zone Support

A new zone command has been added to display zone information in the core. Additionally, the proc and vfstab commands now have options to include the zone name for the process/vfstab entry, or to select processes or vfstab entries by zone. The new project, rctl, and task commands also have per-project options.

New Structure Command Flags

New flags were added to the sdump, slist, sarray, shash, and skma commands to enable display of more details of structures elements. Those include:
option function
-a display the address of each structure element
-o display the offset of each structure element
-s display the size of each structure element
-m display the CTF module of each structure element
-t display the type of each structure element
-i display the index of each structure array element
-g display any gaps between structure elements
-e allows specification of the array element size (sarray and shash only)
These options are only available on the CTF versions of structures, and not the stabs-based definitions.

Additionally, new options were added to the stype command:
option function
-o display the origin of the type. This could be from the CTF data in the core, or the stabs file name.
-d display all of the CTF versions of the type, including the names of the modules which include that version
-m display the module for each element of the type shown
-g display gaps between structure elements

stype xck will compare all available CTF versions of a type and display a list of the differing versions of the type in the core with a list of the modules which use that version. The parenthesized numbers show the number of elements, followed by the size of the type.

Additionally, types which are "dissonant" are shown. If two version of a type are dissonant, then they are not only different, but they have differing offsets or sizes for the same named members of that type.

Finally, if there is a region of memory where a pointer to another known type was found, the "stype field" subcommand will help search for types which exist in the CTF data which has that type at a known offset.

Deprecated Commands

Some commands which have been documented as deprecated for a long time have now been eliminated from the tool. Specifically:
deprecated command replacement
summary thread summary
findstk stack find
fminfo toolinfo
The findstk command still exists as an alias, although it cannot be searched for with the help command.

Additionally, the bigdump command is now deprecated.
deprecated command replacement
bigdump bufc buf list
bigdump inode inode list
bigdump idleq inode idleq
bigdump ireuse inode ireuse
bigdump dnlc dnlc list
bigdump dwbuf buf dw
bigdump tmpfs tmpfs

User-defined Symbols

Support has been added for user-defined symbols. These will supercede any in-core symbols that would normally be shown. This allows specification of names that might be useful to the user for regions of memory, including treating it an an array. See the symbols, section for further details.

New Commands
autofs
This new command displays the autofs configuration in the core by traversing the fnnode tree.

cv
This new command lists the threads waiting for a condition variable.

clust

The clust command has been added to retrieve cluster specific information.

nfs
This new command lists the NFS shares for the system.

pool
This new command displays the pools present in the system. It can also be used to get information about a specific pool. Pools may be selected by name, pool id, or pool structure address.

project
This command prints a table of projects on the system. It can also be used to list the tasks in a project. A project may be selected by name, project id, or kproject structure address, or those in a zone specified by name, zone id, or zone structure address.

rctl
This command is used to display resource controls. They can be displayed by rctl structure address, rctl_set structure address, or for a process specified by PID or proc structure address.

sleepq
This command simply lists the threads waiting in a specified sleepq specified by the provided sleepq_head structure address.

task
This command prints a table of tasks on the system. It can also be used to display processes in the task. A task may be specified by task id, task structure address, project id, or kproject structure address.

xmmu
This command is similar to the sfmmu command for displaying kernel virtual to physical address translation structures, but is for the x86/x64 architecture. It can be used to display PTEs, hments, htables, ptables, hat structures, or searching for translations for a specified virtual address.

zfs

The zfs command has been added to retrieve zfs specific information.

zone
This command lists the zones, including their id, name, root path, and status. If the -l flag is included, more data about the zone is displayed. If the -z option is included, then only the specified zone is displayed. The may be specified as a zone address, id, or name.

Interface Changes
color
The color command's options for fatal, warning, info, info2, error, and alert now include the ability to set background colors and attributes.

Two new color classifications were added: redzone and bad. The former is used to indicate the portion of data which is supposed to be the redzone. The latter indicates "bad" data such as data which should be 0xdeadbeef but is not in "kma buf" output.

The basic command format is:

color

The and may be any one of black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and white. The options are positional, so the word none can be used in place of a color to indicate not to set a color.

Attributes supported are bold, faint, italic, underline, blink, reverse, and strikethrough. These may be combined in a comma-separated list.

Some examples are:

color fatal red none bold
color warning none none underline,bold
color bad white red
color alert green
color info white green

Note that attribute support is dependent on the terminal emulator in use. For example, some of the attributes, faint, italic and strikethrough in particular, may not be supported by the terminal emulator you are using. Some may display these attributes differently, such as using a brighter color instead of making the font bold. Other possibilities is that the terminal emulator may not support certain combinations of attributes.

cpu -c []
In Solaris Nevada, the chip structure and notation was eliminated. A new facility called the processor group (pgroup) was implemented in its place. The -c flag's meaning was changed to mean a pgroup specifier instead of a chip specifier on that version of Solaris.

cpu -h []
This new flag allows display of CPUs by their hardware sharing relationship. This matches against the pghw_hw type field, and dumps the CPUs by this grouping. Valid s are PGHW_IPIPE, PGHW_CACHE, PGHW_FPU, PGHW_MPIPE, PGHW_MEMORY, and PGHW_CHIP. This feature only works on Solaris Nevada.

If the is omitted, then a summary of the hardware relationships is displayed, only listing the CPU IDs and their troups. For example, from a system with an UltraSPARC-T1:

PGR_PHYSICAL, class:cmt(id:1), PGHW_IPIPE
0/0: 0 1 2 3
3/68: 4 5 6 7
4/70: 8 9 10 11
5/72: 12 13 14 15
6/74: 16 17 18 19
7/76: 20 21 22 23
8/78: 24 25 26 27
9/80: 28 29 30 31
PGR_PHYSICAL, class:cmt(id:1), PGHW_FPU
1/0: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
PGR_PHYSICAL, class:cmt(id:1), PGHW_MPIPE
2/0: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

The X/Y represents the pgroup ID and the instance number.

dev node []
This new option for dev displays the tree of in_node structures rooted at e_ddi_inst_state.ins_root, which is a fully-populated parallel tree to the dev_info tree.

findfiles
Two new options have been added to this command to allow searching for files based on vnode, and based on vnode's v_vfsp.

The new -n option for findfiles allows searching for processes using files whose vnode matches the supplied . This matching includes a namenode's nm_filevp and nm_mountvp, a fifonode's fn_realvp and fn_dest, and an snode's s_realvp.

The new -f option for findfiles allows searching for processes using files whose vnode's v_vfsp matches the supplied . This matching includes a namenode's nm_filevp's v_vfsp and nm_mountvp's v_vfsp, a fifonode's fn_realvp's v_vfsp and fn_dest's v_vfsp, and an snode's s_realvp's v_vfsp.

findval
The flags for findval have been altered to make the size specifiers into single-character flags.
old (bits) new (bytes)
-8 -1
-16 -2
-32 -4
-64 -8

A new flag, -L has also been added. If a match is found in a kmem cache, that cache's slab freelist and magazines are scanned to determine whether the matching buffer is free or allocated.

flip
The -va option has been replaced by -V. Correspondingly, the -pa option has been replaced by -P.

A new option was added to allow specification of the size of the object to be read for the (implicit) -a case where a value is read from the core. By default, sizeof(ulong) is read and displayed. The -S flag allows specification of 1, 2, 4, or 8-byte chunks of data to be read instead.

ifconf
The ifconf command's output now includes IPMP group names.

kma stat
In the kma stat output, an asterisk at the end of the line for a cache is now used to indicate that setting KMF_AUDIT in kmem_flags would not make it into this cache's cache_flags due to the cache_flags and cache_cflags set. This means that setting KMF_AUDIT in kmem_flags wouldn't allow kma users to be run against this cache.

If KMF_AUDIT is already set in kmem_flags, the asterisk then indicates whether KMF_AUDIT is set for that cache.

kma users -b
This new flag for kma users allows selection of only data from the specified time range [ , ). The specified range is compared against the kmem_bufctl_audit_t's bc_timestamp. The values are in the same units as the bc_timestamp field.

kma users -f
By default, kma users processes allocated buffers. The new flag -f causes it to process free buffers instead. This is accomplished by walking the cache's magazines and slab freelists. Note that the cache must have one of the KMF_BUFTAG flags enabled to be able to get from a given free buffer to its kmem_bufctl_audit structure which contains the stack and thread data which kma users needs.

kstat xck []
The xck subcommand causes the entire set of kstats to be walked, looking for any that match a class/module/name specification. Any that match are checked against a condition, and if they fail that check, they cause a message to be displayed, and the values which triggered it.

By default, the list of specifications are kept in the file /lib/kstat_xck. You can specify a different rules file on the command line. When it successfully loads a rules file, it reports the number of rules found, then runs the checks.

The format of the rules file is a colon-separated list of the following six fields:
class the kstat class
module the kstat module
name the kstat name
rule the rule checked - see below for details
severity the severity of the rule if it fails, 0-9. This may be used to emphasize higher (numeric) severities over lower.
message the error message to be displayed if the rule fails
The comment character is '#'. If a kstat matches the class, module, and name specified, then the rule is applied to the kstat. If the class, module, or name are empty, then they match anything.

The rule is matched against the kstat_named_t entries in the kstat. A rule can specify where is used to match against the kstat_named_t's name, and it's value is then compared against . can be any of ">", "<", ">=", "<=", "==", or "!=". can be an integer, the name of another kstat_named_t within that kstat, or a string enclosed in quotes.

may also include a percentage calcuation for a name.

Some examples:

device_error:::Hard Errors>0:9:device had hard errors

any kstat's whose class is "device_error", matching any module or name, and has a kstat_named_t named "Hard Errors" which has a value greater than zero, report "disk had hard errors" using severity 9.

An example of a hit on this rule would be:

st54,err:Hard Errors>0(33):device had hard errors

This shows the name of the kstat that triggered the report, the check that failed, the value in parentheses, and the error message.

Another example:

net:::duplex!="full":9:not full duplex

matches class "net"'s kstat_named_t of "duplex" and has a string value that is not "full", and reports "not full duplex" at severity 9.

A third example:

::biostats:buffers_locked_by_someone>1%buffer_cache_lookups:9:

This matches any kstat named "biostats" and compares a kstat_named_t with the name "buffers_locked_by_someone" against 1% of one named "buffer_cache_lookups", and reports if it's greater at severity 9. In this case, no specific error message is printed, just the rule and values.

mdump
mdump now prints a leading asterisk (*) instead of a line which is a repeat of the previous line. This is done to help point out "interesting" data. See the scatenv mdump_compression section for further details.

Additionally, mdump now displays the "next" address at the end of its output. This is done to show what the "next" address would be, and, in the case where we ended with multiple compressed lines, to show that it continued to the end of the requested data.

mdump/rd* -P
The new -P option to the mdump and all of the rd commands allows reading from the core or system by physical address instead of virtual address.

memerr
Two new flags were added to this command which can be useful when the errorq data isn't in the "normal" places. The -raw flag causes all queues to be processed, which may include old errors, or possibly even junk.

The -dump flag causes the errorqs to be processed using the eq_dump element, which should contain crashdump-related elements.

meminfo tree
This version of the meminfo command works similarly to the user option, but only walks the process tree under the specified , giving that trees totals.

meminfo user
Previously, you could select processes by their process address or PIDs. You can now instead match by the command string. This is done by matching the psargs for the process against the provided substring.

The process address/PID specification is distinguished from the command substring based on the first character. If it is numeric, it is considered a process address/PID list, otherwise, a command substring.

meminfo -m user
This new option to the meminfo command will display the memory layout for all the processes on the system.

nvlist
This command was added to display the contents of an nvlist structure.

page color
This new option to the page command will examine the page_freelists and page_cachelists and display a list of how many pages are in each of the per-color buckets, organized by page size.

page frag []
This new option to the page command walks the page_counters arrays and counts the free base constituent pages for a given pagesize. The output shows a number of free base constituent pages, followed by a count of the number of pages of size that have that many constituent pages free.

For example, if the chart showed:

free page count
==== ==========
512 35
511 112
...

that would mean that there are 35 large pages that have 512 of their constituent pages free, and 112 that have 511 free.

The last line of output for pages with 0 constituent pages free also includes a count of those pages by their pagesize. Since they're entirely in-use, it's possible that they're in-use as large pages already. The list shows how many are at each pagesize. Note that pages larger than the sizecode being displayed are factored by their size.

For example, when requesting size 1(64KB):

0 978433 8K:5927, 64K:284434, 512K:143528, 4M:104064, 32M:413150 (213M unknown)

would appear to show 413150 32MB pages, when this is more than there are in the system. So instead, that value is divided by 512, since there are 512 32MB pages in a 64KB page. The result is:

0 978433 8K:5927, 64K:284434, 512K:17941, 4M:1626, 32M:808 (209M unknown)

But in this case, the sum of the pages doesn't equal 978433.

The "unknown" entry is for entries in the page_counters for which a page cannot be found. These are typically parts of memory for which no page structure is allocated (memory used during boot), and thus the page size cannot be easily determined.

Two fragmentation percentages are calculated:
coalesce fragmentation - how fragmented completely-free large pages are into free constituent pages
relocate fragmentation - how non-free constituent pages are fragmenting large pages of the selected size

The coalesce fragmentation measure is based on 100% representing all constituent pages being the smallest pages. For the scaled fragmentation calculation, constituent pages which are sized between the smallest and the one being examined are counted at 1/rate where "rate" is how many smallest pages make up the current size. For example, fragmentation into 512K pages are counted at 1/64 the fragmentation of 8K pages.

For example, from the following fragmentation of 4M pages:

512 12964 free 8K:2067328, 64K:13552, 512K:4508, 4M:8151

the calculation would be:

(2067328 + 13552 + 4508) / (12964 * 512)

Which would make 31.4179% of the total possible fragmentation. For the scaled fragmentation, using the same numbers, the calculation would be:

(2067328 + 13552 / 8 + 4508 / 64) / (12964 * 512)

which would make 31.1724% scaled coalesce fragmentation.

Relocate fragmentation is measured by summing the slots using this formula:

(count of pages in this slot / total number of partially-free pages) *
(count of subpages free for this slot / number of subpages in a page)

Fully in-use (non-free) pages at slot 0, are not counted.

Unless specified, the used is mmu_ism_pagesize, or mmu_page_sizes-1 if mmu_ism_pagesize is not available. This command is only supported on Solaris 10 and above.

page mappers -P
The -pa flag for page mappers has been replaced by the -P flag.

pkma -fslL
Two new options were added to the pkma command.

By default, only allocated buffers from the specified cache are scanned for packet matches. The -f flag causes both allocated and free buffers to be scanned.

The -s flag causes pkma to display a summary of the packet data seen. This includes counts of the following:

ethernet type
ethernet source
ethernet destination
IPv4 protocol
IPv4 source
IPv4 destination
IPv6 protocol
IPv6 source
IPv6 destination
ICMPv4 type/code
ICMPv6 type/code
TCP source port
TCP destination port
UDP source port
UDP destination port
(R)ARP op
ARP sender ethernet
ARP target ethernet
RARP sender ethernet
RARP target ethernet
ARP sender IP
ARP target IP
RARP sender IP
RARP target IP

The output for each is shown with a count of occurrences in brackets. For example:

ethernet type: 0x800(IPv4)[316983], 0x806(ARP)[4738]

The new scatenv setting pdump_min_pkt affects how many of a given item must be seen before it is displayed. That is, if less than pdump_min_pkt would be displayed in the brackets, the entry is not displayed. See the pdump_min_pkt section for more details on this setting.

The -l flag adds two more categories:

source packet half
destination packet half

The -L flag further adds the whole packet as a category.

proc
The proc command has some options added to display processes' zone (-z), project ID (-j), task ID (-k), or contract ID (-c).

Additionally, processes may be selected by using the uppercase versions of the above flags. To select processes by zone, use -Z . Processes within a project may be selected using -J . Similarly, processes within a task may be selected with -K . Finally, processes may be selected by contract ID with -C .

sarray/shash -e
When dumping arrays or the array of hash buckets, the array members may be separated by something other than the element size. This new option allows specification of the size that the command will increment the address of array elements.

This will be used for both the calculation of the start element, and all the rest of the elements.

scatenv alternate_cpu_walk
By default, most of the time when the CPU structures are walked by the tool, it starts at cpu_list and walks the list of CPUs via the cpu_next links.

If that list is broken, then this setting may be turned on to change how the list of CPUs is obtained. With this enabled, it instead uses the cpu array of pointers to CPU structures.

scatenv dis_instr_bytes
Due to x86/x64 instructions being variably-sized, it can sometimes be useful to see the actual bytes that make up the instruction. When this is enabled, the bytes of the instruction are displayed with it.

scatenv dis_instr_size
Due to x86/x64 instructions being variably-sized, it can sometimes be useful to see the size of the instruction. When this is enabled, the size of the instruction is displayed with it.

scatenv dispq_empty
The dispq command previously displayed only CPUs with threads in their dispatch queues. This change shows all CPUs unless the scatenv setting for dispq_empty is enabled. By default it is disabled.

Additionally, if any threads are pinned by the cpu_thread, they are also shown in the dispq output. Finally, if the cpu_dispthread doesn't match the cpu_thread, and hasn't shown up in the pinned thread(s), it is also shown.

scatenv mdump_compression
mdump now compresses repeated lines to help find "interesting" data in the output. It now prints a leading asterisk (*) instead of a line which is a repeat of the previous line. Further repititions are omitted. This behavior can be reverted to the original by disabling the mdump_compression setting.

This also effects the output of kma buf and panic kmem similarly.

mdump_compression is enabled by default.

scatenv pdump_min_pkt
This setting affects how many of an item in pkma -s must be seen before it is shown in the output. The default is 100. See the pkma -s section for more details on that command.

scatenv thr_microstate
Some of the microstate information is now present in thread/lwp output if the TP_MSACCT flag is set in the t_proc_flag - the t_mstate, ms_prev, ms_state_start, and ms_start.

These are also displayed if the thr_microstate setting is enabled.

Enabling thr_microstate also causes the ms_term, and the ms_acct fields to be displayed, detailing the time spent by the thread in various states.

seg softlock
This new subcommand lists segments with softlocks, and a total of softlocks active in the system.

sema -L
Similar to rwlock -L, this new option searches segkp for threads with the specified semaphore, eliminates those in the sleep queue for that semaphore, and lists those remaining as possible semaphore holders.

slist
The slist command now accepts a type of "none". This is intended to allow walking linked lists where the offset of the link pointer is known, but the type is not.

Only the element number and address are displayed for each. The -c flag also works with this type name.

For type "none", the link offset must be specified as a number.

skma -f
skma dumps buffers which are allocated by default, and if the -f flag is used, then both free and allocated buffers are displayed. This new option to skma allows dumping only the buffers within a specified cache which are free.

stack summary -m/-M/-f/-F
These new flags for stack summary allow selection of stacks to summarize based on the modules seen in the stack, or on the functions. The -m and -f allow for explicit matching of the module and function, and the capitalized versions do substring matches instead. Only one of these is allowed.

stream [-l|-s] [-d] squeue []
Solaris 10 has a new streams feature called squeues. This new subcommand of the stream command allows examination of the squeues present.

In its base form, stream squeue lists all the squeues on the system, including the decoded fields in the structures.

The mblks present in the squeues may be displayed by specifying stream -l sqeueue. This display honors the str_data and str_pdump flags - thus it will not display the mblks unless both -l is specified and str_data is enabled.

A one-line summary of squeues present is displayed if the -s flag is specified. This includes a summary of the mblks present on the squeue. This flag overrides -l.

If -d is included, only squeues which have data (mblks) in them are displayed.

An squeue may be specified by including . This will still honor any flags included, and if -d is specified for an squeue which has no data, then nothing will be shown.

svm -i
Sometimes the crash copy of the SVM data may have invalid device sizes. The "-i" option was added to instruct svm to ignore these errors and display info on the meta device.

symbols
New subcommands were added to the symbols command to allow the user to specify their own symbols. The command has three options: add, del, and list.

The add subcommand is how user-defined symbols are created. By default it creates a word-sized symbol. The user can additionally specify a size if something other than word size is desired.

If the symbol size is specified, the number of elements can be specified. In this case, the region is treated as an array with each element the size specified.

The del subcommand is used to remove symbols from the user-specified symbol table.

Finally, the list subcommand is used to list the entries in the user-specified symbol table.

tlist killed
This new subcommand for tlist dumps threads whose process has SKILLED set in their p_flag, indicating that a SIGKILL has been posted to the process.

This is implemented in tlist rather than proc since often the process won't be present in the process list any longer, yet the threads linger in the thread list, holding a pointer to the involved process.

tlist pctcpu
This new subcommand for tlist dumps threads which hae a t_pctcpu greater than the specified value. If no value is specified, 90% is used.

vfstab
The vfstab command now includes an option (-F ) to specify the filesystem type. This will only list filesystems of the specified type .

The device or mount point may now also be specified directly in the command. If specified, only filesystems which exactly match the string will be displayed.

An option (-z) was also added to display the zone associated with each entry. Entries in the vfstab may also be selected by the zone using -Z option.

whatis -P
The -pa flag for whatis has been replaced by the -P flag.

svm [-s ] [-d ]
The -d option was added to support translation of Solaris Volume Manager's minor device numbers. In some cases these device numbers will seem odd and this option should help by providing the metaset wherein the device is defined and device instance within that metaset.

On Solaris 9 and up, the metaset name can now by provided as an argument to the -s option.

The structures associated with SVM change frequently. This causes Solaris CAT to dump incorrect information. We are in the process of changing the SVM code to use CTF instead of static structures. In this release the metaset and metadb info is now read using CTF.

Solaris CAT

2009-05-20T19:23:00.000+05:30

Sanity Checks

Solaris CAT will run some sanity checks upon startup to look for hints of known problems. These will appear in a section just before the prompt appears, similar to:

sanity checks: settings...vmem...cpu...sysent...clock...misc...done

which is an example of a warning-free startup. An example of one with things to pay attention to is:

sanity checks: settings...vmem...cpu...sysent...clock...misc...

WARNING: console output stopped by ctrl-s (1027 bytes pending)

WARNING: 1 pending softints (softlevel1 queued on CPU1)

done

Two types of messages will appear

Issues which have been observed to cause problems in other systems or cores will begin with WARNING:.
Interesting discoveries which are unlikely to cause problems will be preceded by NOTE:.

By default, all checks mentioned below will appear as warnings unless indicated by (NOTE).

These are intended to point you in a good direction to begin an investigation. They are not necessarily related to the problem being investigated and may, in fact, be wholly irrelevant.

There are two scatenv settings which can be used to control the operation of the sanity checks:

sanity_check: Turning this setting off will disable all of the sanity checks.
sanity_note: Turning this setting off will disable only the NOTE information.

/etc/system settings

General checks performed on entries in this file are as follows:

set mod:var=val

mod not loaded (NOTE)
mod loaded or NULL, and var doesn't exist
mod loaded or NULL, and var exists but is not STT_OBJECT
mod loaded or NULL, and var exists but is not STB_GLOBAL or STB_LOCAL
mod:var seen more than once with different val
mod:var seen more than once with same val (NOTE)

Checks are also made for the following problems with specific settings (some are intentionally redundant):

msginfo_msseg set to > 32767
ngroups_max set to <>
sq_max_size == 0 or > 100
rlim_fd_cur > 1024 on Solaris <>
rlim_fd_max > 1024 on Solaris <>
lwp_default_stksize not a multiple of _pagesize
sd_max_xfer_size set
ssd_max_xfer_size set
desfree != lotsfree/2
minfree != desfree/2
throttlefree != minfree
cachefree != lotsfree or lotsfree * 2 (Solaris 7 and 8)
dyncachefree != lotsfree or cachefree (Solaris 7 and 8)
lotsfree < desfree
desfree < minfree
minfree < throttlefree
cachefree < lotsfree
ufs_LW > ufs_HW

clock-related sanity checks

All of these are hints that that the kernel clock may not be advancing:

panic_hrtime, hres_last_tick, or hrtime_base behind by more than 10 minutes
clock_pend or clock_reruns nonzero
cyclics pending for more than 10 minutes (Solaris >= 8)
callouts which expired more than 1 second ago

cpu structure sanity checks

The list of CPUs on the system are checked for various conditions which could indicate areas of interest:

a count of CPUs which are offline
CPUs which have cpu_intr_actv set
CPUs whose cpu_base_spl is greater than 0
CPUs whose last_swtch is greater than 15 seconds ago
CPUs which have a thread on the processor using more than 90% CPU
CPUs which have a pinned thread using more than 90% CPU
CPUs which have more than 5 threads in their dispatch queues
CPUs which have threads on their dispatch queue whose t_disp_queue is set to a different CPU
CPUs which have an implementation number different than that of the first CPU
CPUs which have a clock speed different than that of the first CPU (NOTE)

memory-related sanity checks

availrmem <= tune.t_minarmem
freemem < throttlefree (page_create() throttled)
avefree < minfree (hard swapping)
avefree < desfree && freemem <= desfree (soft swapping)
avefree < lotsfree (paging)
avefree < dyncachefree (paging fs pages)
kernel cage checks on Solaris >= 7
- kcage_freemem < kcage_lotsfree (NOTE)
- kcage_freemem < kcage_desfree
- kcage_freemem < kcage_minfree
- kcage_freemem < kcage_throttlefree
- kcage_needfree > 0

miscellaneous sanity checks

device in use for more than 1 filesystem or swap
rootdir is NULL (intentional panic)
coredump size doesn't match that calculated from the dumphdr (incomplete or corrupt coredump)
DF_LIVE set in dumphdr dump_flags (live coredump)
DF_COMPLETE not set in dumphdr dump_flags (incomplete coredump)
kernelbase not expected value (corrupt coredump)
max_nprocs - nproc <= 0 (ran out of processes)
nproc > 90% of maxnprocs (running out of processes)
symbol bunyip_vnodeops present (bunyip module loaded) (NOTE)
sysent or sysent32 table entries which have sy_call or sy_callc with modules other than those in the following list (system call interceptor code loaded):
- "genunix"
- "unix"
- "pipe"
- "nfs"
- "doorfs"
- "msgsys"
- "shmsys"
- "semsys"
- "kaio"
- "pset"
- "cpc"
- "c2audit"
- "sysacct"
- "inst_sync"
- "srmlimitsys"
- "rpcmod"
- "samsys"
- "samsys64"
- "autofs"
- "portfs"
processor sets created (NOTE)
ndd parameter ip_icmp_err_interval set to 0
init process is a zombie
disk commands pending
pending softints
count of pages retired due to errors
syncq service threads active (Solaris 8 only) (hung streams)
console output stopped by ctrl-s
system_taskq with active threads
callouts with high bit set in c_runtime
ptl1 panics where TL[N] tt is 0x68, TL[N] tpc is a stx (64b) or stw (32b), and the address being stored to is in the onproc thread's redzone (probable stack overflow) (Solaris 9 and above only)
vmem checks on Solaris >= 8
- vmem arenas with threads asleep on the vm_cv (threads waiting for allocations)
rmap checks on Solaris <>any of kernelmap, kernelmap32, or kobj_map with:
m_want == 1 (thread waiting for an entry)
m_free == m_size and m_want == 1 (out of entries in map)

Solaris Crash Analysis Tool

2009-05-19T18:43:00.001+05:30

Version 5.0 is now available

Installation Instructions are below.

Instructions for using the GUI can be found here.

NOTE: We are attempting to correct bugs as quickly as they are uncovered. We'll soon be publishing a known bugs list. If you encounter a problem please let us know ASAP by emailing SolarisCAT-team@sun.com and include the output of toolinfo and coreinfo, or you can enter a bug report using Bugtraq+ under the "scat" category.

Solaris CAT 5.0 Installation Instructions

Note: There are three version of the Solaris CAT package available. The differences and size requirements are as follows:

Package Name	Description	Disk Space Requirement
SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-i386.pkg	Supports X86/x64 platform	~60MB
SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-sparc.pkg	Supports SPARC platforms	~240MB
SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-combined.pkg.gz	Includes binaries from the above packages. The intent is that the combined version can be used as a single installation and shared between SPARC and x86/x64 systems. One still has to analyze crash dumps on systems of the same processor architecture.	~280MB

The following directions use version 5.0 as an example of the installation on an x86/x64 system. You can install the other platform versions using the same procedure but with the correct SUNWscat package archive.

Copy the SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-i386.pkg.gz file to your system.
NOTE: When downloading, the .gz extension may be truncated, leaving the file named SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-i386.pkg, but still compressed. Use the file command to tell if it is a compressed file. If it is misnamed, just use mv SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-i386.pkg SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-i386.pkg.gz before proceeding.
Uncompress, if needed by using, gunzip SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-i386.pkg.gz .
As root (a.k.a, superuser), remove the old package using pkgrm SUNWfm and pkgrm SUNWscat (depending which package was installed) to ensure the cleanup of all old files.
As root (a.k.a, superuser), install the package using pkgadd using the command
pkgadd -d SUNWscat5.0-SVXXXX-i386.pkg
Add /opt/SUNWscat/bin to your PATH environment variable.
Execute Solaris CAT using scat and the Solaris CAT GUI, known as blast using blast.

BLAST

A GUI interface is available with this version of Solaris CAT. You launch it at the command line by typing blast .

Some of the Wonderful Things About YouTube

2009-05-16T23:40:00.000+05:30

For the most part, YouTube is probably more a colossal waste of time more than anything else. Take a look at the day's most popular videos and you'll quickly see that most of them are relatively useless or at most just mildly entertaining.

Like any big group of anything, roughly 80% will be pretty useless, but there will also be a top tier with some very helpful stuff.

Despite having an enormous TV downstairs with a killer surround sound system, I don't watch TV at home anymore. I used to watch all the time, but kept asking myself "What the hell did I just do for 6 hours?" So more and more YouTube is becoming one of my most-visited sites. I've discovered a few things which make the YouTube experience educational, informative and helpful rather than just a giant distraction for bored students, people with spare time on the job and insomniacs:

USES:
Personally I like learning about interesting/successful people and how they got where they are. I find that subject fascinating. I read about this kind of stuff all the time, but sometimes it's nice to hear and see the words being spoken. I find the stories inspiring and containing many great nuggets of information.

It's also great stuff to listen to in the background whilst doing work.

EXAMPLES:

Inside the Actor's Studio:
The show focuses on celebrities who are very well known, and you often get a very introspective view into the celebrity and the work and hardships they endured to get where they are.

Obviously it's preferable listening to the celebs who had a similar upbringing to yours, but some of the others are good. Even if you weren't brought up in a poor, broken home it's nice to hear what it's like for others.

I personally just watched the Conan O'Brien interview and thought it was great.
Conan Obrien Interview

Richard Feynman
On one of my library visits I randomly read "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" which I strongly recommend. I loved reading this book, and was introduced to the great physicist Richard Feynman with his very-not-so-scientist-like-antics and brilliant mind.

I think the reason he got so popular was his great layman explanations that help people understand complicated physics, he definitely communicates ideas MUCH better than most intellectual types.....and that small thing he did in the 40's to basically help build the first nuclear bomb.
Richard Feynman Part 1
Richard Feynman: Take the Word From Another Point of View Part 1

Berkley Physics
I find it fascinating that my dad migrated to the United States from India to get his masters from Berkley....and now I can get all of those same classes online, for free!

Berkley posts many classes online, for free, for anyone to view. No enrollment fee, regardless of age....almost anyone in the world has access to higher education. You're not going to get a helpful TA to push you along with school work, but any self-motivated person out there can participate in a top-tier college course.

I'm personally taking this Berkley Physics course right now. Getting some of the best professors and special guests in the world on any subject you like? Way better than watching 6 hours of TV.

Archive of American Television:
Sort of like Inside the Actors Studio except more in depth and un-edited. Each interview is somewhere around 4-6 hours, so you get details you normally won't hear on edited interviews.

The AAT has posted hundreds of their interviews, many names which you will recognize. The other cool thing about these interviews is they generally only interview older people who've gone through a lifetime of experiences. I like that.

It's great listening to these in the background while doing work that doesn't require intense thought.

I very much enjoyed and learned from the Ted Turner Interview and George Carlin Interview.

Warren Buffet:
Obviously one of the richest men in the world will have some good insights, and his are remarkably simple. There's tons of Warren Buffet stuff on YouTube but my favorite is this Warren Buffet Speech given to a class of MBA's.

TIPS:
If you're interested in learning about a person, simply YouTube search some simply phrases such as:

(Their name) speech
(Their name) documentary
(Their name) interview

Another thing is to realize right away that YouTube user comments are probably some of the most idioc things ever.

-------------------------------------

So while YouTube can be one of the greatest time-wasters of all time, it can also be massively helpful and educational.

I'm a firm believer that most education is learned in your spare time....so why not better yourself with YouTube instead of just wasting time on it?

Ok, fine....a double motorcycle backflip from time-to-time is OK too :-)

Oracle Buys SUN, not IBM

2009-05-16T23:39:00.001+05:30

It's official. Oracle buys SUN:
http://www.oracle.com/index.html

This should be interesting. Oracle has a history of collecting acquisition including MySQL's transactional database engine, InnoDB. Looks like now they have the whole set, thanks to buying Sun.

http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/media/presskits/2009-0420/index.jsp

Searchable Wiki Title: Operating System Hints

2009-04-30T17:46:00.000+05:30

All JBoss software is written in 100% Pure Java; which means that it should run on any OS and hardware platform which supports a compliant JVM.

However, there are still some things that are unique to operating systems which can be challenging. For example, SuSe and AIX uses IPv6 by default, Solaris ships with a broken TAR command, filename case sensitivity when mounting VFAT filesystems on Linux, etc. This page provides an index of operating systems which have individual hints pages.

Windows Hints

Solaris Hints

SuSe Hints

Knoppix Hints

Mainframe z/OS Hints

Redhat Hints

MacOS X Hints

AIX

HP-UX Hints

OpenVMS Hints

JOPR Installation

2009-04-30T17:35:00.001+05:30

This page quickly describes the installation of Jopr.

Go to the Jopr - Releases page and download the Jopr Server and the Jopr Agent
unzip Server and Agent in suitable places (i.e. in a directory not too deeply nested and with no spaces or non-ASCII characters in its name)
Install a database like PostgreSQL (version 8.2.4 +, please choose C locale for initdb), create a database instance called 'rhq' in it and a user 'rhqadmin' that owns this 'rhq' database.

create user rhqadmin password 'rhqadmin';

create database rhq owner rhqadmin;
Eventually set RHQ_SERVER_JAVA_HOME or RHQ_SERVER_JAVA_EXE_FILE_PATH env variables appropriately.
cd into the jopr-server-*/ directory and start the server:
bin/rhq-server.sh console
After a few seconds, the messages on the console will stop. When this happens, point your browser to http://localhost:7080/ and run the installer.
When this is done and you can log in (default user / pass are: rhqadmin/rhqadmin), it is time to start the agent. Start a second shell for this.
Unpackage the agent into a directory of your choosing
If you received the agent as a .zip package, simply unzip it into your chosen directory
If you received the agent as a agent update binary .jar, copy it to your chosen directory and run "java -jar --install"
NEW In Jopr 2.2: If you do not yet have an agent distribution, but you have started your Jopr Server as described above, then you can pull down an agent update binary .jar directly from the server and install it using these instructions:
Point a browser to "http://:7080/agentupdate/download" and save the agent binary update jar in a directory where you want to install the agent (the file you save should have a .jar extension; "" should be the hostname or IP address of the server that is running and "7080" is the port on which that the server is accepting HTTP requests)
Run "java -jar --install" where "" is the name of the file you downloaded from the server
cd into the agent directory (typically named "rhq-agent").
start the agent by issuing
bin/rhq-agent.sh
Answer the questions asked by the agent.
Go back to the Server GUI and to its Dashboard. Watch resources show up in the upper right in the Autodiscovery portlet and import them.
Done :-)

For a more detailed installation document, you can go to the JBoss Operations Network documentation.

Software can be available at - https://www.jboss.org/community/docs/DOC-12805

Oracle Exadata Storage

2009-04-24T17:39:00.000+05:30

The HP Oracle Exadata Storage Server is a storage product highly optimized for use with the Oracle database. Exadata is a combination of software and hardware used to store and access the Oracle database. It provides database aware storage services, such as the ability to offload database processing from the database server to storage, and provides this while being transparent to SQL processing and your database applications. Exadata delivers outstanding I/O and SQL processing performance for data warehousing applications by leveraging a massively parallel architecture to enable a dynamic storage grid for Oracle Database 11g deployments.

Traditional storage products provide the Oracle database a narrow and limited interface to database storage. Many bottlenecks exist today in the database I/O path restricting data bandwidth, and hence limiting overall database performance. Database servers need many Storage Area Network (SAN) Host Bus Adapters (HBA) to provide the bandwidth necessary to deliver data, from storage to the database, at an adequate rate.

EXADATA ARCHITECTURE

The Oracle Database 11g has been significantly enhanced to take advantage of Exadata storage. The Exadata software is optimally divided between the database server and Exadata cell. The database server and Exadata Storage Server Software communicate using the iDB – the Intelligent Database protocol. iDB is implemented in the database kernel and transparently maps database operations to Exadata-enhanced operations. iDB implements a function shipping architecture in addition to the traditional data block shipping provided by the database. iDB is used to ship SQL operations down to the Exadata cells for execution and to return query result sets to the database kernel.

Enterprise Manager Plug-In For Exadata

Exadata also has been integrated with the Oracle Enterprise Manager (EM) Grid Control to easily monitor the Exadata environment. By installing an Exadata plug-in to the existing EM system, statistics and activity on the Exadata Storage Server can be monitored and events and alerts can be sent to the administrator. The advantages of integrating the EM system with Exadata include:
Exadata works with Enterprise Manager to provide a graphic user interface to monitor and the Exadata environment.
• Monitoring Oracle Exadata storage
• Gathering storage configuration and performance information
• Raising alerts and warnings based on thresholds set
• Providing rich out-of-box metrics and reports based on historical data

Exadata Smart Scan Processing

With traditional, non-iDB aware storage, all database intelligence resides in the database software on the server. To illustrate how SQL processing is performed in this architecture an example of a table scan is shown below.

UNIX WWW BROWSERS

2009-03-16T19:51:00.001+05:30

UNIX WWW BROWSERS

There is as wide a variety of WWW browsers for UNIX systems as there is for any other platform. These range from still-popular text-based products such as Lynx, to experimental HTML3-compliant ones such as Arena, to the ubiquitous Mosaic and Netscape, for whichever flavour of UNIX suits your fancy.

Arena

Latest version: 0.97h
System requirements: X-Windows / UNIX
Download size: varies
License: prerelease
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

Arena is one of the few browsers which is designed with full support for HTML3 (aka HTML+) documents, including tables, math, and an experimental style sheet mechanism, so it makes sense that it's been developed by members of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). For more information, you can visit the Arena status page at http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Arena/ which contains a link to the Arena FAQ and a link to download one of the many binaries for your particular flavour of UNIX.

Chimera

Latest version: 1.65
System requirements: X-Windows
Download size: 261 KB
License: shareware
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

Chimera is a World-Wide Web browser with an X/Athena graphical interface. It does not require Motif. Chimera can access HTTP, FTP, and Gopher information servers and can access local files. Chimera supports forms and inline images. You can download the current version from ftp://ftp.cs.unlv.edu/pub/chimera/chimera-1.65.tar.gz. The Chimera home page can be found at http://www.unlv.edu/chimera/, and includes mirror sites where the package can be found, as well as links to additional information on Chimera setup, operation, and support. A screen capture of Chimera displaying the UNLV home page is also available if you're curious.

CLRMosaic

Latest version: 1.00
System requirements: IRIS GL; should run on any SGI Workstation with 24bit (or virtual 24bit), Zbuffer, and IRIX 4.0 or IRIX 5.2+
Download size: 1.4 MB
License: freeware
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

This extention of NCSA Mosaic 2.4 for X was developed by the Centre for Landscape Research here at the University of Toronto. CLRMosaic adds a 3D interactive model window to XMosaic, allowing live 3D models such as geographic mapping information and virtual architecture to be hyperlinked to HTML documents. For more information, see the CLRMosaic home page. The is available for download from ftp.clr.utoronto.ca/pub/sgi/clrmosaic/.pub/sgi/clrmosaic/.

HotJava

Latest version: 1.0 Alpha 3 (Solaris, Windows NT / 95)
System requirements: Sun Solaris 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 / Windows NT / 95 + SoundBlaster
Download size: 5.4 MB (Solaris); 3.6 MB (Windows NT)
License: free for individual, non-commercial use
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

Developed by Sun Microsystems HotJava represents the next generation of WWW browsing technology. With full support for HTML, the HotJava client is also able to download and run platform-independent "applets" programmed in a new object-oriented language called Java, allowing more advanced client-server interaction than is available with HTML browsers. Currently, HotJava is only available for Solaris (not SunOS 4.1 or Solaris x86), Windows NT, and Windows 95; ports to Linux, MacOS, and OS / 2(?) are in development. For more information on HotJava and Java, including how to get on the listserv mailing lists for the latest news and how to obtain a copy of the software, see Sun's HotJava home page at http://java.sun.com. Another HotJava information site maintained by Joey Oravec can be found at http://www.science.wayne.edu/~joey/java.html, and contains links to the official Sun Web page mirror and FTP site mirror.

Lynx

Latest version: 2.5
System requirements:
Download size: 901 KB (ZIP file)
License: non-commercial freeware (commercial use to be licensed)
Entry Updated: 19/July/1996

Lynx is a full screen text-mode hypertext browser for the WWW. It uses arrow and tab keys, cursor addressing and highlighting to indicate hypertext links, FORMS regions, etc. Lynx can be run from any text terminal, such as a VT-100 or WYSE, making it extremely useful for accessing WWW via a dial-in terminal connection. Source code and several precompiled binaries are available from ftp://ftp2.cc.ukans.edu/pub/lynx. YOu may also need the ZIP program to uncompress the archive. This can be found at ftp://ftp2.cc.ukans.edu/pub/lynx/unzip/. The Lynx home page at the University of Kansas can be found at http://www.cc.ukans.edu/about_lynx/about_lynx.html.

Mosaic for X-Windows (X-Mosaic)

Latest version: 2.6
System requirements: X-Windows
Download size: 779 KB to 1,668 KB (depending on platform)
License: free for academic, research, individual, or internal business use
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

This package is developed by NCSA, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and is quite full featured. The latest version of X-Mosaic is available for download via anonymous FTP from ftp://ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Mosaic/Unix/binaries/2.6/. There is also a XMosaic Developers home page at http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SDG/Software/XMosaic/. The latter is very useful for getting XMosaic up and running, and includes links to troubleshooting tips, online documentation, and supplementary software.

Netscape for UNIX

Latest version: 1.1N
System requirements:
Download size: 1,004 KB to 3,619 KB (depending on platform)
License: free academic, non-profit, or evaluation use; full documentation and support are provided with Netscape Navigator Personal Edition
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

Developed by Netscape Communications, this is a fast and full-featured browser, and is the most popular Web browser currently in use. You can download a free copy from the Netscape Anonymous FTP server at ftp://ftp.mcom.com/netscape1.1/unix, from one of its mirror sites, or by doing an archie search for the word netscape. The free version is for non-profit, academic, or evaluation use only, and a recently released Personal Edition is moderately priced at U$44.95 otherwise. This fully documented and supported version features e-mail capabilities using Eudora Light, and automatic dial-up connection through your choice of a number of national Internet Service Providers. Netscape Navigator Personal Edition can be purchased at the Netscape General Store*.

*Note: The above link to the Netscape General Store is a secure transaction (https:) link supported by Netscape only. Select this non-secure version if you aren't using Netscape, but would still like to look around without purchasing.

TkWWW

Latest version: 0.11
System requirements: X-Windows
Download size: 560 KB
License: shareware
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

TkWWW is a Tk/Tcl-based WWW browser that also allows for editing and preparation if html documents. It is almost a WYSWIG editor, but not quite. You can download version 0.11 from ftp://ftp.isri.unlv.edu/pub/mirror/infosystems/WWW/cern-mirror/dev/tkWWW-0.11.tar.Z or do an Archie search for TkWWW. Note that you will also need to install

Tk/Tcl This site has compressed tar files and documentation.
Xli (X Image library, for viewing images)

A TkWWW overview can be found at http://uu-gna.mit.edu:8001/tk-www/help/overview.html, and the TkWWW home page can be found at http://www.osf.org/ri/hci_papers/tkwww.html.

ViolaWWW

Latest version: 0.8
System requirements: X-Windows
Download size: 426 KB
License: shareware
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

A browser based on the "Viola" hypertext system. Multifont, neat buttons. One text window with "clone" facility. Other features include bookmarks and history list support. Future enhancements to include graphics and general SGML support. It is available for download at ftp://ftp.std.com/src/X11R5/viola/viola.0.8.tar.Z. The ViolaWWW status page at www.w3.org contains additional information.

WebSpace (SGI)

Latest version: 1.1
System requirements:
- IRIX 5.3 or 6.1
- Inventor 2.0.1 execution environent (included with IRIX 5.3) or higher
- Netscape 1.1S (Netscape 1.1 with SGI customizations)
- Root access to the machine in order to use the software manager (swmgr or inst)
Download size: 1 MB
License: free single-site license
Entry Updated: 1/Nov/1995

The hottest new interactive technology on the Web is currently VRML--the Virtual Reality Modeling Language. While HTML describes text, VRML describes 2D and 3D objects; while Netscape allows you to browse pages, WebSpace allows you to navigate and interact with 3D environments which can themselves contain hyperlinks to other HTML and VRML resources.

WebSpace is a product of Silicon Graphics, Inc. and Template Graphics Software, Inc. The product's interface is elegant and powerful, providing full control of motion and perspective, and bearing a vague resemblance, for lack of a better analogy, to piloting a virtual helicoper. Applications range from "flying" through virtual cities to "handling" 3D protein models. Currently, WebSpace has been released for the SGI platform only, although beta versions are apparently available for Windows NT, Sun Solaris ZX/TZX, and IBM AIX, and soon for Windows 3.1 / NT, Power Macs running System 7.5, Digital UNIX, and HP/UX. For more information on WebSpace, including links to the software, the WebSpace FAQ, and sites with examples of this stunning technology, visit the WebSpace home page at SGI or the WebSpace home page at Template Graphics Software. If you've already installed WebSpace or another VRML browser, check out The Palladium.

WebView

Latest version: 1.0 Beta 1
System requirements:
- C++ and ANSI C compilers
- OpenGL
- OpenInventor
- Motif v1.1 or later
- X11 r5 or later
Download size: 500 KB
License: free for VRML development purposes
Entry Updated: 06/Sept/1995

Webmin

2009-03-15T11:09:00.001+05:30

This article will tell you how to install and use Webmin, a web user interface mainly used for administering servers. If you are not a sysadmin, don’t run away: Webmin can also be used on a single desktop too. You may struggle to remember all the command line operations to manage, say, run levels or various daemons and prefer to do it the GUI way. One of the best reasons for using Webmin is to circumvent the sheer number of command line variations from distro to distro and the different locations for configuration files that you would otherwise require to memorize (manpages notwithstanding).

Please keep in mind that it is still essential to know how to use basic Unix commands. Using Webmin without some system literacy is just asking for trouble. It should be used as an additional tool, not a replacement—because a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. On that basis, let’s look at what Webmin modules can do for the desktop user.

What exactly is Webmin?

Webmin is a collection of Perl CGI scripts, so if you are a Perl programmer you can write new scripts and modify Webmin itself

Simply put, it is a way to administer your machine graphically through your chosen web browser and it will work with all the major and popular browsers: Firefox, Opera, Flock, Konqueror, Epiphany, Galeon, Seamonkey and Netscape Navigator which support tables and forms (and Java for the File Manager module). For lovers of small, fast and sleek browsers like Dillo I’m afraid you’ll be out of luck. Dillo does not support SSL which Webmin uses. However, there are many browsers to choose from so you can run Webmin from one browser in that list that’s bound to be your favourite. Better still, Webmin is a collection of Perl CGI scripts so if you are a Perl programmer you can write new scripts and modify Webmin itself (the source code is included).

Being such a popular piece of software means that you should experience little difficulty in getting hold of Webmin. Virtually all the major distros (Ubuntu, Mepis, Fedora, Madriva, Suse, etc) host it on their repositories and if your system is up to date you should not experience any problems. Your package manager should resolve all dependency problems. Don’t worry if your package manager doesn’t have the latest version of Webmin for installation. Install it anyway and once Webmin is up and running you can upgrade it from within the software in the Upgrade Webmin module, dependencies notwithstanding. The default is set to upgrade from the Webmin site. However, if all else fails point your browser to the official Webmin site which kindly hosts a number of binary package flavours for RPM, Debian, Solaris (and Tar too). They also kindly list all the versions of GNU/Linux known to work with Webmin. It is a fairly hefty 12.9MB but that’s only to be expected given what it does. Your package manager should handle the installation smoothly.

If space or download speeds are a consideration there is always the minimal version of Webmin which has only the Webmin API and few basic modules to get you started. You can then add/delete modules later as you please. If you are a GNU/Linux GPL purist, be warned that Webmin operates under a BSD-like licence. If you know how to program in Perl and have an itch to scratch, you can write your own third-party modules and release them under any licence you want, including the unsullied purity of GPLv3. Once installed you will get a message telling you that the install is complete and that you can log in using as root user:

: Figure 1: Webmin logon screen

Don’t worry about the warnings. That’s normal as the digital certificate is self signed. You’re in:

: Figure 2: Webmin’s default front page

You may encounter problems with self-signed certificates if you are using Firefox 3 and have to jump through a few hoops before you use Webmin. My colleague, Ryan Cartwright, has already discussed this here on FSM (and others too, here).

If you are going to use Webmin regularly to administer your machine it might be a good idea to set up a Firefox profile for it or navigate to the log-in page in Konqueror and drag the favicon onto the desktop for convenience. Just a thought. If you don’t like the default theme there are modules to change it. (I have used the default theme. The default theme is better if only because it allows you to select a module from the side panel without opening tabs and windows, though you can if you prefer). Extra themes can be installed from the panel on the left-hand side of the homepage under the Webmin drop-down menu (change language and theme) The pre-installed modules are also listed under various headings.

Before you start

Before you start doing any serious configuration work with Webmin you might want to think about configuring access to it. It used to be that Webmin would, by default, auto logout after five minutes but the latest version (1.420) leaves the field blank.

To avoid potential security problems of closing down (or a system crash) whilst root, it is perhaps advisable to set a time out. The period is up to you but do choose something commensurate with your work pattern. How? Simple, from the front page of Webmin choose Webmin User → Webmin Configuration → Authentication. Check the box marked _Auto-logout after and key in a suitable value. As an additional security feature, Webmin automatically uses PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) for Unix authentication.

It is worthwhile to set up one administrative user as it is generally not a good idea to work as root all the time. As you can see from the screenshot, Webmin allows you to set this up with tight control of what is permitted to be accessed:

: Figure 3: webmin users module

Clicking on any of the listed users allows you to customize the number of accessible modules, user access rights, security profiles and more:

: Figure 4: editing Webmin users

Finally, as we are using Webmin as a GUI for a single machine it also makes sense to limit access to localhost:

: Figure 5: setting IP access under Security and Limits Options

Check the radio button for Only allow from listed addresses and type localhost (or whatever name was set up) in the dialogue box and save your way out. One last thing you might want to consider to boost your security profile is port numbers.

By default Webmin uses port 10000. Changing port numbers won’t always fool Port scanners and whilst it is true that high port numbers are accessible to non-root access and compromising Webmin login details, Webmin uses SSL and that should negate the problem.

To test if SSL is installed properly type perl -e 'use Net::SSLeay' in a terminal. If there is no error returned you are good to go. Webmin will automatically use SSL—but you can disable it from the SSL module in Webmin Configuration—> SSL Encryption.

However, if you do decide to change the port number it is smart to choose one that is not shared by any other service. Wikipedia has a list of port numbers, what they do, and more importantly, if they are shared.

If you prefer the command line (ironically) fire up a console and type grep -w 10000 /etc/services. If the port is not being shared with any other service you will be returned to a prompt. Whatever port number you deploy it may be necessary to tweak your firewall depending on the settings. Finally, on the basis of the precautionary principle, it makes sense to delete all those modules you do not need, to avoid access to system files via Webmin.

Useful modules for single desktops (and laptops too)

System

Perhaps the most interesting and useful module for the single desktop user is System. Once it’s expanded, you can see the available administration categories:

: Figure 6: the contents of the System module

one of the less immediately obvious killer features of Webmin is that it operates directly on the files it amends rather than storing information in a database which may provoke compatibility problems

You can see straight away that there are some old hardy perennials there for desktop users: bootup and shutdown, changing passwords, scheduled cron jobs, system logs, users and groups to mention a few. Now, of course both Gnome and KDE provide specific GUI tools for these, but Webmin brings them all under one convenient location. More importantly, one of the less immediately obvious killer features of Webmin is that it operates directly on the files it amends rather than storing information in a database which may provoke compatibility problems. This means that you can use Webmin, safe in the knowledge that if you need or prefer to edit system files the old fashioned way on the command line specific to your GNU/Linux distro it should not precipitate any disasters. Incidentally, if you foul up you can inspect log files in a terminal, but Webmin can be configured to log all the changes you make when you are using it. If you brick something with Webmin you will still have the command line as your rescue tool. Not for nothing has Webmin been described as a “mix and match”. To illustrate these features let’s see Webmin in action handling installing software.

Selecting Software Packages from the System sub menu brings up the following screen:

: Figure 7: Webmin’s software packages module

Webmin will detect you system and package manager but if you need to you can tweak things a little further by clicking on the module config link (top left) and this will give you the option to choose systems and package managers, including whether or not to use Apt-get or Aptitude to install/remove software:

: Figure 8: module configuration for software packages

There are a number of installation options: from a local file, FTP, HTTP or from the repositories I chose the last one, which opens a separate window. I chose to search for Karm and the results are hypertext links:

: Figure 9: Webmin’s search result for Karm

Clicking on the link for Karm installs the package:

: Figure 10: Webmin successfully installs Karm

As you can see from the screenshot the process is, at this point, non-interactive with Webmin setting Apt to assume yes to all prompts and queries (which is not my default on the command line). I am rather concerned that Webmin invokes the force option for Apt-get. Surely that should not be the default as it may override system files and stability. The only configuration file I was able to locate was in Perl, at /usr/share/webmin/software apt-lib.pl which contained specific references to yes and force defaults, but as I am not familiar with Perl I resisted any temptation to try and amend the file to change them. However, because Webmin acts on the files directly rather than through a database, what Webmin does, Apt-get on the command line can undo and Karm can be safely removed with your package manager GUI or the command line equivalent.

Additionally, you explore your installed software files by clicking on the Package Tree button (top right) which gives you access to numerous hyperlink options:

: Figure 11: Package Tree reveals a list of installed software

This an quick and easy way to see at a glance exactly just what you have installed without recourse to the command line. You can familiarize yourself with your system’s file structure and drill down through all the levels too (especially convenient when done from within the confines of a tabbed browser). However, if you’re pining for the uncluttered purity of the command line, Webmin may help there too. Like the Filemanager module, the command shell module comes to us courtesy of a Java applet. It can be found under the Other category:

: Figure 12: default command shell

And it outputs results just like a conventional console:

: Figure 13: command shell running the output of dmesg

However, if you want to output dmesg one page at a time, appending | less will not work as it does normally in a console. Man pages are alright, but trying to launch applications fail. Clearly, Webmin’s command shell is not a viable substitute for a proper terminal.

Cron jobs and Running Processes

You can run a GUI like Kcron or fire up a terminal to schedule/create tasks but Webmin has a module for that too. You can schedule a con job from an pre-existing list:

: Figure 14: scheduled cron jobs

or create your own:

: Figure 15: creating a cron job with Webmin

You can of course monitor you box with top and pid but once again Webmin can function as a useful shoe in. Selecting, er, Running Processes bring it up:

: Figure 16: Running Processes

Along the top are four display options: PID, User, Memory and CPU:

: Figure 17: details of the pid for the CUP daemon with options to kill it

The PID details gives you plenty of options, including the ability to kill the process or “renice” it. Choosing the User display option splits the PIDs under user headings. If you want to track down any memory hogs, then selecting the Memory display options will finger the culprit(s)—with the usual opportunities to kill, renice, etc.

The Bootup and Shutdown module uses a similar layout with the facility to configure daemons and run levels in real time, at shut down or boot time:

: Figure 18: Bootup and Shutdown module options

Other tab

This contains several nifty modules, especially Command Shell (which can operate as a stand in for exploring your system without opening a console) and File Manager. The last one requires your browser to be enabled for Java as illustrated by this screenshot of Webmin’s file module running in Firefox:

: Figure 19: Webmin’s filemanager module running in Java-enabled Firefox

You also have lots of file options right within your chosen browser.

It is of course Java ugly, but it does allow you to browse all your files from the comfort of your favourite browser.

Final thoughts

We all love GUIs. For the average user of proprietary systems like Windows they are mostly all they ever need or see. Unix systems are rather different. Long before GUIs became ubiquitous, system administrators (and single machine users too) were weaned on configuration on the command line and spent copious amounts of time mastering their craft.

The increasing use and popularity of GNU/Linux has been educating people about its superior architecture, better security and relatively simple configuration files. It is also true though that the huge availability of graphical front ends has brought in a whole new slew of users who feel right at home with them as they did in Windows. However, the usual criticism is that, good and relatively easy to use as they are, they can never emulate the fine, granular control of the command line. There is a deal of truth in that.

Webmin, as a GUI, can challenge this. While you may discover that certain modules will not work because all distros do not use agreed, standard locations for their configuration files, Webmin is nevertheless one of the most feature-rich pieces of software you may ever use. Each module has a bucket load of features and so far there are 113 of them as nearly as many third party modules too. Webmin seems to have everything bar the kitchen sink—and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find a module for that too! Hopefully, once the LSB (Linux Standard Base) is adopted this problem should disappear. This article cannot begin to do justice to the sheer range of what Webmin can do. (Hell, if you don’t like the modules titles there is even a module to change them to something for meaningful/relevant to you. Now, that’s what I call customization. How recursive.

Giving Webmin to a newbi as a substitute for hard-won knowledge on the command line would be like giving a pyromaniac a flame thrower in a leaking oil refinery

Although it was designed primarily for administering remote machines on LANs and WANs, it is perfectly serviceable for users who want to configure several unconnected machines running different distros without having to remember the multiplicity of file paths and commands. None of this exempts the user from mastering GNU/Linux on the command line. Webmin is not for beginners. Giving it to a newbie as a substitute for hard-won knowledge would be like giving a pyromaniac a flame thrower in a leaking oil refinery. Without the pre-requisite skills and knowledge the premature and uncritical use of Webmin would be as dangerous a place to be as the refinery.

That said, once you have adequate system administration skills on the command line you can afford to relax a little and treat yourself to a few sessions on easy street with Webmin. The next best thing you can do is to treat yourself to a great book on Webmin—and it is free, courtesy of the Bruce Perens’ Open Series of books. Point your browser to the downloadable PDF. It was written by Jamie Cameron—and he ought to know a thing or two. He was the primary coder of Webmin.

Windows Command Line shortcuts

2009-02-21T02:35:00.000+05:30

If you go to c:\windows\system32 and execute dir *.msc you'll find quite a few:

certmgr.msc Certificates
ciadv.msc Indexing Service
compmgmt.msc Computer Management
devmgmt.msc Device Management
dfrg.msc Defragmenter
diskmgmt.msc Disk Manager
eventvwr.msc Event Viewer
fsmgmt.msc File share management
gpedit.msc Group Policy Editor
lusrmgr.msc Local Users and Groups
ntmsmgr.msc Removable Storage
ntmsoprq.msc Removable Storage Operator Requests
perfmon.msc Performance Monitor
rsop.msc Resultant Set of Policy
secpol.msc Security Policy
services.msc Services
wmimgmt.msc Windows Management Infrastructure

If you give a dir *.cpl you'll find more shortcuts for Control Panel applets:

access.cpl Accessibility
appwiz.cpl Add Remove Programs
bthprops.cpl Bluetooth Properties
desk.cpl Display properties
firewall.cpl Firewall
hdwwiz.cpl Add new hardware wizard
inetcpl.cpl Internet Properties
infocardcpl.cpl Windows Cardspace
intl.cpl Regional and Language options
irprops.cpl Wireless Link properties
javacpl.cpl Sun Java Control Panel
joy.cpl Game Controllers
main.cpl Mouse Properties
mmsys.cpl Sound and audio device properties
ncpa.cpl Network Connections Properties
netsetup.cpl Network Setup Wizard
nusrmgr.cpl User Accounts
nwc.cpl Gateway Services for Netware properties
odbccp32.cpl ODBC Administrator
plugincpl13125.cpl Oracle Jinitiator 1.3.1.25 control panel
plugincpl13128.cpl Oracle Jinitiator 1.3.1.28 control panel
plugincpl13129.cpl Oracle Jinitiator 1.3.1.29 control panel
powercfg.cpl Power Options properties
sapi.cpl Speech properties
sysdm.cpl System Properties
telephon.cpl Phone and Modem Options
timedate.cpl Date and Time properties
wscui.cpl Windows Security Center
wuaucpl.cpl Windows Automatic Updates

You can call any of the above *.cpl or *.msc files from command prompt or Start > Run.

Accessing PostgreSQL and Oracle with Access and SQL Developer

2009-02-14T23:23:00.000+05:30

Microsoft Office Access is a RDBMS that uses a GUI interface and RAD tools and a Jet Database Engine backend. It can also use external data stored in SQL servers such as MSSQL or Oracle, PostgreSQL, DB2, etc. via ODBC.

PostgreSQL is "the most advanced" open source database. It is a BSD-style licensed ORDBMS that supports advanced SQL features such as referential integrity constraints (foreign keys, column checks, etc), full ACID compliance, ANSI SQL compliance, views, rules, sub-selects, transactions, triggers, sequences, inheritance and has a built in language (PL/pgSQL) similar to Oracle PL/SQL. It also exhibits almost linear scalability up to 16 cores, being much more scalable then say, MySQL. As of version 8.3 it gets a performance and scalability boost too. The pgbench benchmark here shows an almost 50% performance boost (under certain workloads) from 8.1.

Using an ODBC connection you can use Access as a Rapid Application Development interface to develop Forms, Reports and Applications using PostgreSQL as a backend database, via PSQLODBC.

Install psqlodbc on your Access machine, and all you need to get started now is a PosgreSQL server (if you don't have one on your network you can install one on your Windows machine from:
http://www.postgresql.org/download/

Fire up Access and open up a database. We are going to create the ODBC connection and save the settings. First, let's export some table to the PostgreSQL database via ODBC. We can later link or import the table (in any database).

Create a new Data Source using the "PostgreSQL Unicode" driver. The goods database was created using "CREATE DATABASE goods OWNER cmihai ENCODING 'UTF8'" and we are planning on storing Unicode data.

Once you've selected a Server hostname (or IP), username, password and database (like the newly created "goods" database in your PostgreSQL server) you need to set some advanced options. Uncheck the "Bools as Char" box.

Check "True is -1":

Now we can Import a table using an external data source (it will import the structure and data of a Table in PostgreSQL as a table in Access. The tables will not be linked).

We can also Link tables using an external data source. This means that the data and structure of the table (schema) is only modified in the PostgreSQL database. We can link multiple applications to the same database (and tables). Just use Get External Data - Link to Data Source and select the PostgreSQL ODBC connection.

As you have noticed, PostgreSQL is case sensitive.

The linked tables are shown in the Table view with a sphere icon.

While you can use the Query Builder (in Design view or SQL view) to query data in the Access database (it can use both access tables and ODBC connected tables), there is an option to pass the SQL query directly to PostgreSQL, in Pass-Through mode.

SELECT public_clienti.nume, public_clienti.prenume, public_tari.tara
FROM public_clienti INNER JOIN public_tari ON public_clienti.tara = public_tari.tara
WHERE (((public_clienti.nume)="Gigi"))
ORDER BY public_clienti.nume, public_clienti.prenume;

The PostgreSQL query wouldn't use the public_clienti prefix, we can just do a simple Pass-Through query:

You can use Pass-Through queries in your Forms and Reports too.

Of course, you can also use Access with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express (freely available) or even the free Oracle 10g Express, using the SQL Developer Quick Migration tool to export MDB files to Oracle.

You can use the Quick Migration Wizzard:

Or the full blown "Oracle Migration Workbench Exporter for Access" to export your .mdb file for SQL Developer and Oracle Application Express.

Staring SQL Developer or JDeveloper fails due to hidden messagebox

2009-02-14T23:20:00.000+05:30

Can you spot why Oracle SQL Developer and JDeveloper aren't starting in this scenario?

You can't even see it on a white background (and there is no window in the taskbar) but there is a question box right behind the slash screen :-). Pay attention to the right edge of the splash...

Still, I love the new Java look.

Change Analysis Diagnostic tool for Windows XP

2009-02-14T23:13:00.001+05:30

Here's a neat tool for digital forensics, reversing or malware analysis:

This tool allows you to track changes in:

Software Programs
Operating System Components (hotfixes and updates)
Browser Helper Objects
Drivers
ActiveX Controls
Autostart Extensibity Points

Get it from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924732

UNIX Colors and Tools

2009-02-14T23:10:00.000+05:30

Just opened a new package of colored chalk so I'll write on my blackboard :-).

Can't really have fun without:

OpenSSH
GNU screen
KornShell 93, AWK, 1003.1 Shell & Utilities
Emacs, ed
Mutt
Midnight Commander (mc)
Elinks
Terminus font (sure, it's not a tool, but it sure as hell helps , especially during those 20 hour debugging sessions).

Emacs linum plugin + a 256 color TERMINFO entry + transparent putty can look pretty good:

256 colors _really_ do make quite a difference in Emacs (and vim) btw. Normal dtterm or xterm-color get you the first 8...

All you really need to do to get this working on AIX is to add a new TERMINFO entry (tic). You can easily grab the 256 color xterm with infocmp..

/usr/bin/tput colors
256

VIM looks pretty good too with a 256 color theme also (inkpot):

Happy Sankranthi

2009-01-14T04:17:00.000+05:30

Happy Pongal to all my readers!!

Well, I thought since many of my readers are from North India, [I recently came to know that its not celebrated in northern states] I shall tell what I know of this amazing festival.

We celebrate it for 3 days - marking the harvest season of crops and sun entering Makara raasi

1st day - Bhogi - We celebrate by starting the day with campfire, which we call as BHOGI MANTA - I remember we used to compete on whose fire rose highest and stood alive for longest time! ….The whole year, we kids used to collect all useless from our own house/grandmom’s house and store them so that we have more chance of keeping it alive! After the bonfire, we take head bath , have pongal as breakfast after doing pooja…and then we used to get a chance to go to friends place to distrbute prasadam. In the evening, we do a small ritual with kids in the house pouring and giving BHOGI PALLU - which are a mixture of regi pallu [sour sweet berries] and mamaralu [puffed rice] etc….Umm…I love regi pallu!

2nd Day - MAKARA SANKRANTHI - The main festival - we call in Telugu as “PEDDA PANDAGA” - it marks the harvesting season of crops …..its called MAKARA SANKRANTHI because this day, sun steps into capricon…and it does signify astronomically that from this day, SUN beams out and summer begins!! We celebrate sankranthi , saying thanks and paying our respects to all that gave us food - from bullocks to SUN GOD everything that helps the farmer get his harvest! Historically, Farmers used to celebrate this festival and others used to join them in celebration! One of the unique events we observe would be GANGIREDDU - BASAVANNA - as we call in TELUGU - WELL CLAD BULLOCKS!! We cook wide variety of dishes using maximum of the pulses/grains we get . We also collect and worship - NAVADHANYALU - the nine grains that are considered sacred!!

3rd Day - KANUMA - Whenever I ask my mom about what is this festival about and why we celebrate , she always says - this is for business people - they pray to God to bless them with success in their respective businesses. On this day also, there will be a wide display of BASAVANNA and GANGIREDDUs and also HARIKATHA Nayakulu People give grains/pulses/rice to the owner of the cow/bullock in return and ask for blessings….the more u give, the more u get is the philosophy behind it!

It always fascinates me, when I look back to try and understand the true meaning and origin of these festivals…..everything was started just so rightly!! Perfect and Logical even….We celebrate everything and everyone’s happiness………haina? Who said, In India we dont see dignity of labour?? Each inch of our tradition has it…we just not respect dignity of labour , WE CELEBRATE IT EVEN!!

Sad thing is everything is so damn distorted that we are failing to see this directly……are we losing ourselves in wild goose chase??

anyways thats a whole new discussion I suppose….

well, I Love India and I Love the way I am!! I am a proud to be Indian and want to be a responsible INDIAN!!

HAPPY SANKRANTHI AND MAY YOUR LIFES BE FILLED WITH JOY N SUCCESS!!

Kernel setup for Solaris 10 using project files - Special for Oracle10g

2009-01-11T20:14:00.001+05:30

1. Recommended method for modifying the /etc/project file is to use the “projadd” and “projmod” :

a. # projadd -c "Oracle" 'user.oracle'

b. # projmod -s -K "project.max-shm-memory=(privileged,10GB,deny)" 'user.oracle'

c. verify with # cat /etc/project or # prctl -i project user.oracle

2. Resource Control assignments made in this way (in the /etc/project file) are permanent, and will survive a system re-boot.

3. There is also an “on-the-fly” way to temporarily set Resource Control assignments using the prctl(1) command.

a. Should we need to temporarily increase the setting to 48 GB:
For example, assuming the preceding /etc/project

# prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -i project user.oracle

project: 100: user.oracle
NAME PRIVILEGE VALUE FLAG ACTION RECIPIENT
project.max-shm-memory
privileged 16.0GB - deny -
system 16.0EB max deny -

# prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -r -v 48GB -i project user.oracle
# prctl -n project.max-shm-memory -i project user.oracle

project: 100: user.oracle
NAME PRIVILEGE VALUE FLAG ACTION RECIPIENT
project.max-shm-memory
privileged 48 .0GB - deny -
system 16.0EB max deny

b. fix parameter ; entry new value on max-shm # vi /etc/project

values such as 48GB instead of the 51539607552

;project.max-shm-memory=(privileged, 51539607552, deny);

Solaris 10 Fibre Channel Management

2009-01-11T20:03:00.000+05:30

Solaris 10 Fibre Channel Management

On Solaris 10 Fibre Channel Management was so easy, cos the storage foundation kit is now integrated into the base OS, name was ” fcinfo “.

” fcinfo ” utility were added to view fibre channel connectivity information.
” fcinfo ” is especially useful, since it provides a tool with the base Operating System to view HBA and connectivity information, include HBAs from Emulex, JNI and Qlogic.

# uname -a
SunOS 5.10

# fcinfo -V
fcinfo: Version 1.0
For more information, please see fcinfo(1M)

# fcinfo hba-port

HBA Port WWN: 210000e08b8f29bf
OS Device Name: /devices/pci@84,4000/fibre-channel@3:devctl
Manufacturer: QLogic Corporation
Model: QLA2340
Type: N-port
State: online
Supported Speeds: 1Gb 2Gb
Current Speed: 2Gb
Node WWN: 200000e08b8f29bf

HBA Port WWN: 10000000c9581765
OS Device Name: /dev/cfg/c3
Manufacturer: Emulex
Model: LP9802
Type: N-port
State: online
Supported Speeds: 1Gb 2Gb
Current Speed: 2Gb
Node WWN: 20000000c9581765

HBA Port WWN: 10000000c9582596
OS Device Name: /dev/cfg/c4
Manufacturer: Emulex
Model: LP9802
Type: N-port
State: online
Supported Speeds: 1Gb 2Gb
Current Speed: 2Gb
Node WWN: 20000000c9582596

Option “-l” is Lists the link error statistics information for the port
# fcinfo hba-port -l

HBA Port WWN: 210000e08b8f29bf
OS Device Name: /devices/pci@84,4000/fibre-channel@3:devctl
Manufacturer: QLogic Corporation
Model: QLA2340
Type: N-port
State: online
Supported Speeds: 1Gb 2Gb
Current Speed: 2Gb
Node WWN: 200000e08b8f29bf
Error: SendRLS failed for 210000e08b8f29bf

HBA Port WWN: 10000000c9581765
OS Device Name: /dev/cfg/c3
Manufacturer: Emulex
Model: LP9802
Type: N-port
State: online
Supported Speeds: 1Gb 2Gb
Current Speed: 2Gb
Node WWN: 20000000c9581765
Link Error Statistics:
Link Failure Count: 1
Loss of Sync Count: 6
Loss of Signal Count: 0
Primitive Seq Protocol Error Count: 0
Invalid Tx Word Count: 120
Invalid CRC Count: 0

HBA Port WWN: 10000000c9582596
OS Device Name: /dev/cfg/c4
Manufacturer: Emulex
Model: LP9802
Type: N-port
State: online
Supported Speeds: 1Gb 2Gb
Current Speed: 2Gb
Node WWN: 20000000c9582596
Link Error Statistics:
Link Failure Count: 1
Loss of Sync Count: 6
Loss of Signal Count: 0
Primitive Seq Protocol Error Count: 0
Invalid Tx Word Count: 8
Invalid CRC Count: 0

Remote -port used for display information on remote targets,
This information includes the storage manufacturer, the storage product type, WWPNs, and all of the SCSI targets that have been presented to the host.
# fcinfo remote-port -slp 10000000c9582596

Remote Port WWN: 50060e80042ab014
Active FC4 Types: SCSI
SCSI Target: yes
Node WWN: 50060e80042ab014
Link Error Statistics:
Link Failure Count: 0
Loss of Sync Count: 0
Loss of Signal Count: 0
Primitive Seq Protocol Error Count: 0
Invalid Tx Word Count: 0
Invalid CRC Count: 0

LUN: 0
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d0s2

LUN: 1
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V*2 -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d1s2

LUN: 2
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V*2 -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d2s2
LUN: 3
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V*2 -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d3s2

LUN: 4
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V*2 -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d4s2

LUN: 5
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V*2 -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d5s2

LUN: 6
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V*2 -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d6s2

LUN: 7
Vendor: HITACHI
Product: OPEN-V*2 -SUN
OS Device Name: /dev/rdsk/c4t50060E80042AB014d7s2

All Keyboard Shortcuts

2008-12-26T23:15:00.001+05:30

List of F1-F9 Key Cmds 4 cmd prompt

List of F1-F9 Key Commands for the Command Prompt
F1 / right arrow: Repeats the letters of the last command line, one by one.
F2: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to copy up to" of the last command line
F3: Repeats the last command line
F4: Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to delete up to" of the last command line
F5: Goes back one command line
F6: Enters the traditional CTRL+Z (^z)
F7: Displays a menu with the command line history
F8: Cycles back through previous command lines (beginning with most recent)
F9: Displays a dialog asking user to enter a command number, where 0 is for first command line entered.
Alt+Enter: toggle full Screen mode.
up/down: scroll thru/repeat previous entries
Esc: delete line
Note: The buffer allows a maximum of 50 command lines. After this number is reached, the first line will be replaced in sequence.
Helpful accessibility keyboard shortcuts
Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds

Gmail Shortcuts

Gmail
Note: Must have "keyboard shortcuts" on in settings.
C: Compose new message.
Shift + C: Open new window to compose new message.
Slash (/): Switch focus to search box.
K: Switch focus to the next most recent email. Enter or "O" opens focused email.
J: Switch focus to the next oldest email.
N: Switch focus to the next message in the "conversation." Enter or "O" expands/collapses messages.
P: Switch focus to the previous message.
U: Takes you back to the inbox and checks for new mail.
Y: Various actions depending on current view:
Has no effect in "Sent" and "All Mail" views.
Inbox: Archive email or message.
Starred: Unstar email or message.
Spam: Unmark as spam and move back to "Inbox."
Trash: Move back to "Inbox."
Any label: Remove the label.
X: "Check" an email. Various actions can be performed against all checked emails.
S: "Star" an email. Identical to the more familiar term, "flagging."
R: Reply to the email.
A: Reply to all recipients of the email.
F: Forward an email.
Shift + R: Reply to the email in a new window.
Shift + A: Reply to all recipients of the email in a new window.
Shift + F: Forward an email in a new window.
Shift + 1 (!): Mark an email as spam and remove it from the inbox.
G then I: Switch to "Inbox" view.
G then S: Switch to "Starred" view.
G then A: Switch to "All Mail" view.
G then C: Switch to "Contacts" view.
G then S: Switch to "Drafts" view.

Mozilla Firefox Shortcuts

Mozilla Firefox Shortcuts
Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + PageDown: Cycle through tabs.
Ctrl + Shift + Tab or Ctrl + PageUp: Cycle through tabs in reverse.
Ctrl + (1-9): Switch to tab corresponding to number.
Ctrl + N: New window.
Ctrl + T: New tab.
Ctrl + L or Alt + D or F6: Switch focus to location bar.
Ctrl + Enter: Open location in new tab.
Shift + Enter: Open location in new window.
Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E: Switch focus to search bar.
Ctrl + O: Open a local file.
Ctrl + W: Close tab, or window if there's only one tab open.
Ctrl + Shift + W: Close window.
Ctrl + S: Save page as a local file.
Ctrl + P: Print page.
Ctrl + F or F3: Open find toolbar.
Ctrl + G or F3: Find next...
Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3: Find previous...
Ctrl + B or Ctrl + I: Open Bookmarks sidebar.
Ctrl + H: Open History sidebar.
Escape: Stop loading page.
Ctrl + R or F5: Reload current page.
Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5: Reload current page; bypass cache.
Ctrl + U: View page source.
Ctrl + D: Bookmark current page.
Ctrl + NumpadPlus or Ctrl + Equals (+/=): Increase text size.
Ctrl + NumpadMinus or Ctrl + Minus: Decrease text size.
Ctrl + Numpad0 or Ctrl + 0: Set text size to default.
Alt + Left or Backspace: Back.
Alt + Right or Shift + Backspace: Forward.
Alt + Home: Open home page.
Ctrl + M: Open new message in integrated mail client.
Ctrl + J: Open Downloads dialog.
F6: Switch to next frame. You must have selected something on the page already, e.g. by use of Tab.
Shift + F6: Switch to previous frame.
Apostrophe ('): Find link as you type.
Slash (/): Find text as you type.

Remote Desktop Connection Navigation

Remote Desktop Connection Navigation
Ctrl + Alt + End: Open the NT Security dialog.
Alt + PageUp: Switch between programs.
Alt + PageDown: Switch between programs in reverse.
Alt + Insert: Cycle through the programs in most recently used order.
Alt + Home: Display start menu.
Ctrl + Alt + Break: Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen.
Alt + Delete: Display the Windows menu.
Ctrl + Alt + NumpadMinus: Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing Alt + PrintScreen on a local computer.
Ctrl + Alt + NumpadPlus: Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PrintScreen on a local computer.

Accessibility

Accessibility
Right Shift for eight seconds: Toggle FilterKeys on and off. FilterKeys must be enabled.
Left Alt + Left Shift + PrintScreen: Toggle High Contrast on and off. High Contrast must be enabled.
Left Alt + Left Shift + NumLock: Toggle MouseKeys on and off. MouseKeys must be enabled.
NumLock for five seconds: Toggle ToggleKeys on and off. ToggleKeys must be enabled.
Shift five times: Toggle StickyKeys on and off. StickyKeys must be enabled.
6.) Microsoft Natural Keyboard with IntelliType Software Installed
Win + L: Log off Windows.
Win + P: Open Print Manager.
Win + C: Open control panel.
Win + V: Open clipboard.
Win + K: Open keyboard properties.
Win + I: Open mouse properties.
Win + A: Open Accessibility properties.
Win + Space: Displays the list of Microsoft IntelliType shortcut keys.
Win + S: Toggle CapsLock on and off.

Generic

Generic
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert: Copy.
Ctrl + X or Shift + Delete: Cut.
Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert: Paste/Move.
Ctrl + N: New... File, Tab, Entry, etc.
Ctrl + S: Save.
Ctrl + O: Open...
Ctrl + P: Print.
Ctrl + Z: Undo.
Ctrl + A: Select all.
Ctrl + F: Find...
Ctrl+W : to close the current window
Ctrl + F4: Close tab or child window.
F1: Open help.
F11: Toggle full screen mode.
Alt or F10: Activate menu bar.
Alt + Space: Display system menu. Same as clicking the icon on the titlebar.
Escape: Remove focus from current control/menu, or close dialog box.
Generic Navigation
Tab: Forward one item.
Shift + Tab: Backward one item.
Ctrl + Tab: Cycle through tabs/child windows.
Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Cycle backwards through tabs/child windows.
Enter: If a button's selected, click it, otherwise, click default button.
Space: Toggle items such as radio buttons or checkboxes.
Alt + (Letter): Activate item corresponding to (Letter). (Letter) is the underlined letter on the item's name.
Ctrl + Left: Move cursor to the beginning of previous word.
Ctrl + Right: Move cursor to the beginning of next word.
Ctrl + Up: Move cursor to beginning of previous paragraph. This and all subsequent Up/Down hotkeys in this section have only been known to work in Rich Edit controls.
Ctrl + Down: Move cursor to beginning of next paragraph.
Shift + Left: Highlight one character to the left.
Shift + Right: Highlight one character to the right.
Shift + Up: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line up.
Shift + Down: Highlight from current cursor position, to one line down.
Ctrl + Shift + Left: Highlight to beginning of previous word.
Ctrl + Shift + Right: Highlight to beginning of next word.
Ctrl + Shift + Up: Highlight to beginning of previous paragraph.
Ctrl + Shift + Down: Highlight to beginning of next paragraph.
Home: Move cursor to top of a scrollable control.
End: Move cursor to bottom of a scrollable control.
Generic File Browser
Arrow Keys: Navigate.
Shift + Arrow Keys: Select multiple items.
Ctrl + Arrow Keys: Change focus without changing selection. "Focus" is the object that will run on Enter. Space toggles selection of the focused item.
(Letter): Select first found item that begins with (Letter).
BackSpace: Go up one level to the parent directory.
Alt + Left: Go back one folder.
Alt + Right: Go forward one folder.
Enter: Activate (Double-click) selected item(s).
Alt + Enter: View properties for selected item.
F2: Rename selected item(s).
Ctrl + NumpadPlus: In a Details view, resizes all columns to fit the longest item in each one.
Delete: Delete selected item(s).
Shift + Delete: Delete selected item(s); bypass Recycle Bin.
Ctrl while dragging item(s): Copy.
Ctrl + Shift while dragging item(s): Create shortcut(s).

In tree pane, if any:
Left: Collapse the current selection if expanded, or select the parent folder.
Right: Expand the current selection if collapsed, or select the first subfolder.
Numpad Asterisk: Expand currently selected directory and all subdirectories. No undo.
Numpad Plus: Expand currently selected directory.
Numpad Minus: Collapse currently selected directory.

Windows Hotkeys

Windows Hotkeys
Shift + F10 right-clicks.
Win + L (XP Only): Locks keyboard. Similar to Lock Workstation.
Win + F or F3: Open Find dialog. (All Files) F3 may not work in some applications which use F3 for their own find dialogs.
Win + Control + F: Open Find dialog. (Computers)
Win + U: Open Utility Manager.
Win + F1: Open Windows help.
Win + Pause: Open System Properties dialog.
Win + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons. Enter clicks, AppsKey or Shift + F10 right-clicks.
Win + Shift + Tab: Cycle through taskbar buttons in reverse.
Alt + Tab: Display Cool Switch. More commonly known as the AltTab dialog.
Alt + Shift + Tab: Display Cool Switch; go in reverse.
Alt + Escape: Send active window to the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + Shift + Escape: Activate the window at the bottom of the z-order.
Alt + F4: Close active window; or, if all windows are closed, open shutdown dialog.
Shift while a CD is loading: Bypass AutoPlay.
Shift while login: Bypass startup folder. Only those applications will be ignored which are in the startup folder, not those started from the registry (Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\)
Ctrl + Alt + Delete or Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDel (Both NumLock states): Invoke the Task Manager or NT Security dialog.
Ctrl + Shift + Escape (2000/XP ) or (Ctrl + Alt + NumpadDot) : Invoke the task manager. On earlier OSes, acts like Ctrl + Escape.
Print screen: Copy screenshot of current screen to clipboard.
Alt + Print screen: Copy screenshot of current active window to clipboard.
Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow: Invert screen. Untested on OS's other than XP.
Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow: Undo inversion.
Win + B : Move focus to systray icons.