The Solaris[tm] Operating Environment for x86 General FAQs

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1. How can I bind multiple (virtual) IP addresses to a single network interface card?
2. When I create source in the Solaris[tm] 7 Operating Environment (OE) for x86, I always get the error:  "/usr/ucb/cc:  language optional software package not installed", and the compiler is aborted. What can I do?
3. How we can mount Microsoft Windows NT filesystems under a Solaris OE server?
4. Where can we get the Solaris OE supported hardware configuration list (HCL)?
5. From where can we download the Solaris OE DCA (Device Configuration Assistant Boot Diskette)?
6. Where can we get the Solaris OE official free patches?
7. Where can we can download third party vendor hardware drivers?
8. How do I set up an IP address for an interface on the Solaris OE for x86?
9. Where can I get more information about Sun Solaris OE certifications?
10. CD-ROM and floppy disk devices are not mounting on the Solaris OE. What could be the reason?
11. Is there a utility to configure the display settings in the Solaris 8 OE for x86?
12. I am trying to install the Solaris 8 OE for x86. When booting the system from a DCA I get an error:
    Warning: ACPI tables not in reclaim memory
    prom_panic:Kmem_free block already free
    Entering boot debugger
    [12ff05]
    How can I disable the ACPI in the Solaris 8 OE for x86?
    
13. Where can I get the Solstice AdminSuite[tm] software for the Solaris 8 OE for x86?
    
14. Why do I get the "RPC: Program not registered" error on my NFS partition?
    
15. How can I have two FTP ports on single Solaris OE server?
    
16. How do I temporarily disable UNIX user logins if super user is doing administration tasks or is in the process of a system shutdown?
    
17. I would like to:
    • Display a message on a banner before any user logs into a system. Only after accepting the rules and regulations mentioned in the message should the user be allowed to log in.
    • Display a message on a banner before any user enters into a session. Only after accepting the rules and regulations mentioned in the message should the user should be allowed to enter the session.
    • Display a message on a banner before any user logs out of a system.
    
    
18. I want to use the up and down arrow keys to get the last commands I typed. How do I configure my login shell to do this in the Solaris 8 OE?
    
19. How do I set up multiple consoles on the Solaris 8 OE for x86?
    
20. How many pseudo terminals can we open in the Solaris 8 OE?
    
21. I am trying to set up a DHCP server running on the Solaris 8 OE. I can successfully configure DHCP through DHCP config, but when I try to start the DHCP server daemon I get error messages like "error binding to udp socket address already in use". How do I rectify this problem?
    
22. How do I print from a Linux client to a Solaris 8 OE print server? The client seems to be unable to find the print daemon on the server.
    
23. How do I disable banner information in the printer configuration file?
    
24. How can I change the locale dynamically and permanently in the Solaris 8 OE?
    
25. When a user tries to connect to a Solaris OE server through telnet program, and has entered an invalid password three times, I would like to log all the error message into a log file. How can I do this?

The following steps demonstrate how to configure the ethernet (elx0) device to support more than one IP address.

1. Create a text file in the /etc directory called hostname.elx0:1 and add this entry to file:
   virtual

2. Add this IP address and hostname in the /etc/hosts file:
   10.0.0.1    virtual

3. Create a new script file in the /etc/rc2.d directory called S70virtual, and add these entries in this file (for permanent change):
   ifconfig elx0:1 10.0.0.1    up netmask 255.255.255.0

4. Reboot the system.

To delete a logical interface, use the unplumb command . For example,

example% ifconfig elx0:1 down unplumb will delete the logical interface  elx0:1.

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When invoking the cc command, the "language optional software package not installed " error may be encountered. This occurs when SUNWspro/bin is not present in the path, resulting in the /usr/ucb/cc compiler being used instead of the SUNWspro/bin/cc compiler.

No compiler that comes with the Solaris OE. You either have to buy one or get a gcc compiler from http://www.sunfreeware.com..

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You can access the Microsoft Windows NT files and folders from Solaris OE Sparc® server using a Samba server.

1. Download Samba server from http://www.samba.org.

2. Install and configure the Samba server on the Solaris OE server (refer to man page - smb.conf).

3. Start the Samba server service.
   # /etc/init.d/samba.server start

4. Check the Samba server daemons
   # ps -ef | grep bd

       root 17251     1  0 12:09:00 ?        0:00 /usr/local/samba/bin/nmbd -D -s/u
   sr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf
       root 17249     1  0 12:09:00 ?        0:00 /usr/local/samba/bin/smbd -D -s/u
   sr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf

5. Create a folder on the Microsoft Windows NT server and share it, giving the appropriate permissions for that folder.

6. On the Solaris OE server, use the following command to connect to Microsoft Windows NT server:
   syntax -

   smbclient //nt_computer_name/share_name -I nt_ip -Uuser_name

   # ./smbclient //sundts2/downloads -I 129.158.224.125 -U root

   added interface ip=129.158.224.212 bcast=129.158.224.255 nmask=255.255.255.0
   Password:
   Domain=[WORKGROUP] OS=[Windows 5.0] Server=[Windows 2000 LAN Manager]
   smb: \>

7. smb: \> ls
     .                                   D        0  Mon May  7 21:31:14 2001
     ..                                  D        0  Mon May  7 21:31:14 2001
     l4refx86.ps.gz                      A   109457  Wed May 16 06:25:38 2001
     winzip80.exe                        A  1259960  Wed May 16 06:29:04 2001
     freecommandLinetools.exe            A  8935988  Thu May 17 05:11:28 2001
     msnsetup_min.exe                    A  5459016  Thu May 17 04:36:28 2001
     mmssetup.exe                        A   766000  Thu May 17 03:51:08 2001
     rp500enu.exe                        A 10236296  Sun May  6 21:41:20 2001
     rp8-complete2-u1-setup.exe          A 13613568  Tue May 22 08:04:58 2001
     ud802egw.exe                        A  4479320  Wed May 23 04:09:38 2001
     rx802egw.exe                        A  4479256  Wed May 23 05:02:42 2001
     nc800ekw.exe                        A 12200720  Wed May 23 05:23:06 2001
     MSVBVM50.dl_                        A   864854  Thu Oct 15 01:34:00 1998
     Grammar.ex_                         A   272286  Sun Jun  6 05:10:30 1999
     SETUP.LST                           A     7175  Sun Jun  6 05:25:16 1999
     ....
     ....
     ....
                  63883 blocks of size 65536. 26689 blocks available

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4. Where can we get the Solaris OE supported hardware configuration list (HCL)?

You can get the Solaris OE supported hardware configuration list from http://soldc.sun.com/support/drivers/hcl/.

The systems on the hardware compatibility list have been verified by system vendors and submitted for inclusion on the HCL. If the system you are looking for does not appear on the list, contact the vendor and request that they conduct the Solaris certification tests and submit their product for listing in the HCL.

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You can download the Solaris OE DCA from http://soldc.sun.com/support/drivers/dca_diskettes/.
Refer to http://soldc.sun.com/support/drivers/copytodisk.html for Copy File Images to Diskette.

The Device Configuration Assistant is one component of the booting system and performs the following essential functions:

• Defines self-identifying devices and their assigned resources
• Searches for non-self-identifying (ISA) devices
• Saves the device configuration information
• Permits autobooting
• Builds a device tree (like the SPARCTM model) according to set rules
• Provides menu-based screens for progressing through the configuration process and through help information

The Device Configuration Assistant is a DOS executable program, bootconf.exe. It is called from and runs under the second stage bootstrap boot.bin, a program that contains DOS emulation. The Configuration Assistant is linked with the standard C library, which makes the DOS system calls (for example, to access a diskette) emulated by boot.bin. The Configuration Assistant also uses boot.bin to create device tree nodes and set properties on these nodes.

The Configuration Assistant selectively loads and runs realmode drivers (BEFs) to:

• Find ISA devices for drivers that handle ISA devices
• Determine the bootable targets attached to a controller (for example, disks or CD-ROM drives)
• Actually access a device (disk, CD-ROM, or net)

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You can get the Solaris OE official free patches from http://sunsolve.sun.com.

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7. Where can we download third party vendor hardware drivers?

Please refer to http://www.sun.com/io_technologies/ihv-drivers.html.

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To setup an IP address for the Solaris OE machine, you have to:

1. Add the hostname and corresponding IP address in /etc/hosts - e.g.

   127.0.0.1 localhost

2. Edit /etc/nodename and include the hostname in this file.

   Example:

   Solaris

3. Edit /etc/hostname.xxx0 <an entry for the NIC card e.g. elx0> and include the hostname.

   Example:

   Solaris

   Or, execute these two commands to unconfig and configure your entire machine, including the new hostname/IP address:

   1. #sys-unconfig
   2. #sysidtool

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Refer to http://suned.sun.com/US/certification/solaris/index.html for more information about Solaris OE system administration and Solaris OE network administration certifications.

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vold is the daemon that should be running on your system to allow CD-ROMs and floppies to mount automatically. For the floppy mount process you must type volcheck after inserting the floppy; it is more semi-automatic. The CD-ROM should mount by itself after a few seconds (10-15). The great killer of vold is WABI. WABI and vold cannot be run at the same time. If you have ever run WABI on your system, check this first:

more /etc/vold.conf

Look for the following section (this is the way it should look to work):

# Devices to use
use cdrom drive /dev/rdsk/c*s2 dev_cdrom.so cdrom%d
use floppy drive /dev/rdiskette[0-9] dev_floppy.so floppy%d

Make sure the floppy line is uncommented. If you change this file, make sure you stop then restart vold to make the change takes effect.

The directories /cdrom and /floppy should be empty. Eject the CD-ROM or floppy and check the /floppy or /cdrom directory. If it is not empty, you probably had remnants of something that was mounted in the past. Remove the remnants.

1. Is vold running?

   % ps -ef | grep vold

    NO? Start it: % /etc/init.d/volmgt start
    YES? Continue.

2. Insert a CD-ROM or floppy.
   For a floppy ONLY type: % volcheck

3. Did it mount the CD-ROM or Floppy?
   % cd /cdrom
   OR % cd /floppy
   % ls -la
   Look for the link that vold creates:

   For floppies:
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 root nobody 16 Dec 18 13:50 floppy0 ->
    ./unnamed_floppy/
    drwxrwxrwx 3 nobody nobody 512 Dec 18 09:10 unnamed_floppy/

   For CD-ROMs:
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 root nobody 15 Dec 18 13:50 cdrom0 -> ./disksuite_4_0/
   dr-xr-xr-x 2 root sys 2048 Oct 25 1995 disksuite_4_0/

   If the link is not there, vold did not mount it.

4. Does it mount manually? STOP vold first:

   % /etc/init.d/volmgt stop

   For CD-ROM:
   % mount -F hsfs -o ro /dev/dsk/c0t6d0s0 /cdrom

   % ls -la /cdrom

   
   Is it there now?

   For floppies it's trickier. You need to know several things about the
   floppy:

   1. Is there a filesystem on it? What kind of filesystem? pcfs or ufs?
   2. To read the same floppy on different system, follow the steps below on the system on which you wish to read floppy:

      Ok, % mount -F ufs /dev/diskette0 /floppy
      Or, % mount -F pcfs /dev/diskette0 /floppy

      % ls -la /floppy

      Is it there now?

5. Will it still not mount?

   Try different media. For CD-ROMs be sure to use a Sun CD-ROM. If your CD-ROM uses a caddy, try another caddy.

   For a floppy, try another one, such as a free commercial PC floppy that arrives in the mail. (That would be pcfs, of course.)

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Yes, kdmconfig - configures or unconfigures the keyboard, display, and mouse options for OpenWindows[tm] software and internationalization.

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Warning: ACPI tables not in reclaim memory
prom_panic:Kmem_free block already free
Entering boot debugger
[12ff05]

How can I disable the ACPI in the Solaris 8 OE for x86?

If ACPI is disabled, the corruption can be avoided. However, this disables all ACPI functionality.

Disable ACPI by either:
% eeprom acpi-user-options=0x2
or by editing the /boot/solaris/bootenv.rc file (or equivalent on the boot floppy) and adding the line:
% setprop acpi-user-options 0x2

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Look on the Solaris 8 OE, 2/2 software CD, in the /cdrom/cdrom0/Solaris_8/EA/products directory.

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If there is no file system in the /etc/dfs/sharetab file to be exported, the daemons will not start. So, users may get the "RPC: Program not registered" error if these daemons are not running:
nfs mount: servername:: RPC: Program not registered

Add the following entry in the /etc/dfs/dfstab file:

share -F nfs /cdrom

The contents in the dfstab file are executed automatically when the system enters run-level 3. This gives the administrator a uniform method of controlling the automatic sharing of system resources.

Run /etc/rc3.d/S15nfs.server to start the nfsd and the mountd daemons manually if they have not been started.

% /etc/rc3.d/S15nfs.server start

If NFS service is running, stop the NFS server and start the NFS service again.

Example:

% /etc/init.d/nfs.server stop
% /etc/init.d/nfs.server start

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This is possible in third party ftp server wu-ftpd. You can download it from http://www.sunfreeware.com.

You can do this from the command line or with a special definition in /etc/services, /etc/inetd.conf. For command line, look up -P and -p in the ftpaccess(5) manpage.

To set this up with special definitions, add two ports with consecutive numbers in /etc/services, and then start wu-ftpd on these ports. Add to /etc/services something like:

ftptest 4021/tcp #command port
ftptest-data 4020/tcp #data port

Then start wu-ftpd from /etc/inetd.conf:

ftptest stream tcp nowait root /usr/etc/in.ftpd in.ftpd

The key is the name 'ftptest', which associates the port assignment in the /etc/services file to that in the inetd.conf file. Make certain that the choice of ports in /etc/services (4021 and 4020 above) are from the local use list and don't conflict with other port assignments (see RFC1700, ASSIGNED NUMBERS). One important subtlety - the data port is not really derived from the data port declaration in the /etc/services file. The FTP specification (RFC765) states the data port is defined as one less than the command port. However, including the data port declaration in the /etc/services file prevents it from being accidentally assigned to something else.

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You can temporarily disable user logins by creating the /etc/nologin file. nologin allows a message to be displayed to users who are attempting to log on in the process of a system shutdown. After displaying the contents of the nologin file, the login procedure terminates, preventing the user from logging onto the machine. Logins by super-user are not affected by this procedure. The /etc/nologin file contains a message similar to:

***No logins permitted.***
***The system will be unavailable until 2 PM.***

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• Display a message on a banner before any user logs into a system. Only after accepting the rules and regulations mentioned in the message should the user be allowed to log in.
• Display a message on a banner before any user enters into a session. Only after accepting the rules and regulations mentioned in the message should the user be allowed into the session.
• Display a message on a banner before any user logs out of a system.

1. To display a message on a banner before any user logs into the system, you have to modify the Xstartup file.

   Example:

   # cp /usr/dt/config/Xstartup /etc/dt/config

   Modify the Xstartup file with the help of vi editor.

   Add the line in the Xstartup file:

   /usr/dt/bin/dterror.ds "Banner of a message" "Message"

   Save the file and log out of the system. It now displays the banner message.

2. To display a message on a banner before any user enters into the session, you have to modify the Xsession file.

   Example:

   #vi /usr/dt/bin/Xsession

   Search and edit the dthello line

   dtstart_hello[0]="$DT_BINPATH/dthello -file /etc/motd &

   Save the file and log out of the system. It now displays the message before the user enters into a session.

3. To display a message on a banner before a user logs out of the system, you have to modify the Xreset file.

   Example:

   #cp /usr/dt/config/Xreset /etc/dt/config

   Modify the Xreset file with the help of vi editor. Add the line to the Xreset file:

   /usr/dt/bin/dterror.ds "Banner of a message" "Message"

   Save the file and exit from the user session. It now displays the message.

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You can download and configure the bash shell from http://www.sunfreeware.com. This will support up arrow and down arrow for your previous commands, just like a doskey.

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This feature is not available in the Solaris 8 OE for x86.

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The Solaris 8 OE enables the opening of any number of pseudo-terminals (used by programs like rlogin and telnet). In previous releases, only 48 pseudo-terminals were allocated by default. The Solaris 8 OE software now allocates pseudo-terminals dynamically when they are needed, automatically adapting to the work load. This benefits desktop users and system administrators who deal with large numbers of open terminal sessions.

The number of /dev/pts entries available is dynamic, up to a limit determined by the number of physical memory available on the system.

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1. kill -HUP inetd_pid
2. kill bootd daemon
3. netstat -a should not show an idle (or anything) on 67 or 68 UDP
4. Start the DHCP server.

   /etc/init.d/dhcp start

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The workaround is to turn off the saf listener for printing; saf has not been used by the print subsystem since Solaris 5.5.1. The customer may use the pmadm command on the server to turn off the saf listener, which will fix the problem.

% pmadm -r -p tcp -s lpd
% pmadm -r -p tcp -s lp

This problem is against admintool and has been fixed in the Solaris 8.1 OE; it is to be patched for the Solaris 8 OE. It is recommended that you use the new printmgr to configure printers on the server:

% /usr/sadm/admin/bin/printmgr

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The root user can modify any printer's interface script. For example, to turn off the printing of a banner page, edit /etc/lp/interfaces/printer_name on the print server and change the nobanner line from:

nobanner="no"

to

nobanner="yes"

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A locale is a collection of files, data, and sometimes code that contains the information needed to adapt the OE to local market needs. A locale can be thought of as a 'bundle' containing information such as the messages displayed to the user, the interface/GUI components (i.e. size of buttons etc), cultural information such as date and currency formats, and fonts or other writing system specific information.

Change Locale Dynamically

Your locale can be changed in two ways. Prior to entering OpenWindows[tm] software, set the LANG environment variable to the appropriate value. For example, in the Bourne shell

LANG=de export LANG

would set the locale to German. Now any OpenWindows windows will be started in this locale.

Alternatively, once in OpenWindows the locale can be changed from the properties dialogue box.

Change Locale Permanently

You can change the default locale system-wide with the following procedure:

1. Edit the /etc/default/init file by adding or changing the line.

   Substitute C, zh_TW.BIG5, zh_TW or zh_TW.UTF-8 for locale.

2. Have all users exit the Common Desktop Environment (CDE).
3. Type the following commands:

   % su
   # /usr/dt/bin/dtconfig -kill

4. Type the following commands:

   % su
   # reboot

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You can achieve this configuration through the RETRIES option in the /etc/default/login file.

# RETRIES determines the number of failed logins that will be
# allowed before login exits.
#
RETRIES=3
#
# The SYSLOG_FAILED_LOGINS variable is used to determine how many failed
# login attempts will be allowed by the system before a failed login
# message is logged, using the syslog(3) LOG_NOTICE facility. For example,
# if the variable is set to 0, login will log -all- failed login attempts.
#
SYSLOG_FAILED_LOGINS=3

# telnet osiris
Trying 129.158.230.191...
Connected to osiris.
Escape character is '^]'.
 

This is a secured system. Unauthorized access prohibited. All activity is logged.

login: senthil
Password:
Login incorrect
login: senthil
Password:
Login incorrect
login: senthil
Password:
Login incorrect
Nov  2 18:30:07 osiris login: REPEATED LOGIN FAILURES ON /dev/pts/21 FROM osiris
Connection closed by foreign host.

After three unsuccessful login attempts, all the attempts are logged in the file /var/adm/loginlog. This file contains one record for each failed attempt. Each record contains the login name, tty specification, and time.

# more /var/adm/loginlog
root:/dev/pts/21:Fri Nov  2 18:21:05 2001
root:/dev/pts/21:Fri Nov  2 18:21:12 2001
senthil:/dev/pts/21:Fri Nov  2 18:29:49 2001
senthil:/dev/pts/21:Fri Nov  2 18:29:56 2001
#

By default, loginlog does not exist, so no logging is done. To enable logging, the log file must be created with read and write permission for owner only. Owner must be root and group must be sys.

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ID #1261