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Configuring DNS services in Solaris 11

Published   Read time 32 sec(s)   (540 visits).

Modifying /etc/nsswitch.conf and /etc/resolv.conf to configure naming services is depricated in Solaris 11, We now perform this task using SMF.

client_loop: send disconnect: Broken pipe

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 30 sec(s)   (1744 visits).

Whilst its an annoyance, this message is harmless. Here we show three examples of how you can overcome this issue.

What is samfsinfo?

Published   Read time 1 min 18 sec(s)   (587 visits).

The samfsinfo command displays the file system structure for a specified file system

How to Setup and Configure NIS/YP Services

Published   Read time 5 min(s) 40 sec(s)   (609 visits).

This is a step-by-step tutorial that explains the installation and configuration of ypserv NIS server and client.

2 Security tweaks to enhance Webmin

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 35 sec(s)   (586 visits).

Out of the box webmin works great, with these two tweaks we can enhance the security of this web-based sysadmin tool.

How to reset a lost Webmin password

Published   Read time 37 sec(s)   (106 visits).

If you've lost your admin password to access webmin, then use the 'changepass.pl' utility to simply reset your webmin password.

systemd replaces upstart and init

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 27 sec(s)   (698 visits).

Unlike Upstart in Oracle Linux 6, the systemd daemon now replaces Upstart in managing system run levels and services.

Repairing a Damaged ZFS Device

Published   Read time 8 min(s) 39 sec(s)   (721 visits).

This article describes how to determine ZFS device failure types, clear transient errors, and replace a device.

Repairing a Missing ZFS Device

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 21 sec(s)   (638 visits).

If a device cannot be opened, it displays as UNAVAILABLE in the zpool status output.

Enabling the Solaris Auditing subsystem

Updated   Read time 39 sec(s)   (1343 visits).

To configure the Solaris Auditing subsystem on Solaris 9 or Solaris 10 we simply run the bsmconv command-line utility from the /etc/security directory

Solaris Boot Process

Updated   Read time 7 min(s) 59 sec(s)   (1509 visits).

The Solaris boot process in a nutshell is the process of boot loading RC scripts to reach single or multiuser level

Using the Solaris getent command

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 16 sec(s)   (705 visits).

The advantage of getent is that the command searches the information sources in the order in which they are configured in the name service switch file.

Solaris patch return codes - patchadd

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 41 sec(s)   (2460 visits).

When installing patches on Solaris, you may often see error codes or Exit/Return codes when the patch installation fails. These are the return codes.

fssnap of / (root) fails under Solaris

Updated   Read time 1 min 27 sec(s)   (2613 visits).

Using fssnap we can quickly take a temporary snapshot of any UFS file system and then use that snapshot for backup operations.

Solaris 10 and 11 differences for sysadmins

Updated   Read time 25 min(s) 10 sec(s)   (1891 visits).

Describes multiple topics for transitioning from the Solaris 10 operating system to an Oracle Solaris 11 release.

Changing a Windows Computer Name

Updated   Read time 47 sec(s)   (1168 visits).

A simple how to to change the computer name for Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 systems.

Solaris Deferred Activation Patching (DAP)

Updated   Read time 4 min(s) 31 sec(s)   (650 visits).

With DAP the reboot is deferred until all patching is completed unlike non-DAP kernel patches which forced reboot before other patches can be applied.

Changes to the NMC database backup

Published   Read time 1 min 48 sec(s)   (2338 visits).

NetWorker 18.2 performs an NMC database backup as separate backup action in the server backup workflow, which is part of the Server Protection policy.

Reclaiming Data Domain Space

Updated   Read time 1 min 51 sec(s)   (1695 visits).

This is a simple article that provides the command-line steps needed to manually reclaim space on a Data Domain system.

Patching Solaris with Sun Patch Manager 2

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 16 sec(s)   (1338 visits).

Sun have decided to terminate (end-of-support) Patch Manager 2.0 support. You are now recommended to use Sun Update Manager instead.

Introduction to Solaris Live Upgrade

Updated   Read time 3 min(s) 28 sec(s)   (1328 visits).

The Solaris Live Upgrade revolutionises the way that you add patches to Solaris products and can save you hours of time and effort.

beadm quick reference

Updated   Read time 1 min 3 sec(s)   (1044 visits).

The beadm command enables users to manage their boot environments. This article provides a snapshot of the more command beadm subcommands.

Process monitoring using prstat

Updated   Read time 4 min(s) 35 sec(s)   (1029 visits).

The prstat statistics utility shows a top-level summary of the processes that are using system resources currently.

RPM cheat sheet

Updated   Read time 1 min 29 sec(s)   (3063 visits).

RPM is a command line package management utility used for installing, uninstalling, updating, querying and verifying software packages.

SSH configuration and security best practices

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 18 sec(s)   (2618 visits).

Here is a list of processes and configurations that you can use to tighten and enhance SSH security with regard to remote host access

Move a NetBackup image catalog to new location

Updated   Read time 1 min 29 sec(s)   (3386 visits).

In preparing to move the NetBackup image catalog from one location to another, it is recommended to perform a full catalog backup beforehand.

Renaming a ZFS zpool

Updated   Read time 1 min 21 sec(s)   (2473 visits).

Renaming a zpool is not as intuitive as I would expect, but it is still pretty simple. However, we can accomplish this through a three step process.

Hard drive sanitisation - A homebrew approach

Updated   Read time 7 min(s) 13 sec(s)   (3750 visits).

The most efficient means of sanitising computers and/or a storage media device is to overwrite the entire device with zeroes or with a random pattern.

Creating a Solaris Zone on ZFS

Updated   Read time 3 min(s) 46 sec(s)   (1850 visits).

The following is a simple example of creating a ZFS filesystem and using it to hold a newly-created Solaris Zone (Solaris Container)

Assigning a Volume Name to a Solaris disk

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 28 sec(s)   (3167 visits).

Having a large number of disks can be a challange for sysadmins. By giving each disk a volume name may make it easier.

Deleting Windows temp files

Updated   Read time 3 min(s) 6 sec(s)   (2377 visits).

Any file under the Windows Temp folder is safe to delete. But that isn't the only place that temporary files are stored on Windows computers.

How to find System Serial number from command line

Updated   Read time 1 min 45 sec(s)   (3364 visits).

Ever needed to obtain the serial number of a system without physically inspecting the hardware. Here's some command-line examples for various systems.

Useful Windows RUN Commands

Updated   Read time 3 min(s) 46 sec(s)   (3032 visits).

There are several ways to efficiently access the files, folders, and programs in Windows operating system.

Reset lost Solaris root password using kmdb

Updated   Read time 5 min(s) 37 sec(s)   (2384 visits).

Performing a Solaris root password recovery when neither local cd/dvd or jumpstart (netinstall) options are avilable.

Chatting from the Windows Command Prompt

Published   Read time 3 min(s) 9 sec(s)   (2570 visits).

The net send command is used to send messages on a network. Learn more about this command and see several examples.

Solaris inode size

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 39 sec(s)   (2513 visits).

Inodes store information on files such as user and group ownership, access mode (read, write, execute permissions) and type of file.

Understanding LLTSTAT output

Updated   Read time 4 min(s) 37 sec(s)   (3561 visits).

Veritas Cluster Server?s Low Latency Transport (LLT) protocol provides fast, kernel-to-kernel communication and monitors network connections.

Configuring Solaris Link Aggregation

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 29 sec(s)   (2566 visits).

When we aggregate two or more network interfaces we are forming a new network interface on top of those physical interfaces.

Resumable ZFS Send Streams

Published   Read time 1 min 15 sec(s)   (4076 visits).

The ability to resume an interrupted zfs send/receive data stream which is a representation of a snapshot is now part of Oracle Solaris 11.4

Solaris NFS

Updated   Read time 4 min(s) 22 sec(s)   (3927 visits).

NFS is a protocol which allows file systems on one system to be made available on a remote system. NFS works on a server-client model.

Troubleshooting NetBackup frozen media issues

Updated   Read time 5 min(s) 44 sec(s)   (3496 visits).

Frozen media is the media that NetBackup does not use for backups. NetBackup stops directing the backups and the archives to frozen media.

Solaris SPARC Boot Sequence

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 55 sec(s)   (2393 visits).

Understanding the booting process is important in the sense that you can get a clear idea when a system faces a booting problem and steps involved.

Oracle Linux and Solaris runlevels

Published   Read time 1 min 42 sec(s)   (2513 visits).

Like Oracle Enterprise Linux 6, Solaris has runlevels 0 through 6. However, the meanings are somewhat different. In OEL 7 runlevel is target.

How to rename a SAM-QFS file system

Published   Read time 1 min 8 sec(s)   (3282 visits).

We use the samfsck command to rename a SAM-QFS file system after making the necessary changes in the mcf file.

Solaris backup and restore command examples

Updated   Read time 4 min(s) 43 sec(s)   (3425 visits).

Backups and Restores of Solaris UFS file systems, files and directories can be done using tar, cpio, ufsdump, ufsrestore and dd commands.

Find command examples

Updated   Read time 3 min(s) 44 sec(s)   (1858 visits).

The find command in UNIX and Linux is a command line utility allowing you to search for files in a directory hierarchy.

Configure DNS services in Solaris 11 using SMF

Updated   Read time 1 min 19 sec(s)   (1817 visits).

The previous method of modifying a configuration file to configure naming services no longer works we now reply on SMF.

DNS lookup process

Updated   Read time 1 min 14 sec(s)   (1750 visits).

When a name query from a client computer cannot be resolved locally, DNS servers can be queried as needed to resolve the name.

List directory contents of an ISO image

Published   Read time 21 sec(s)   (2999 visits).

isodump is a crude utility to interactively display the contents of iso9660 images in order to verify directory integrity

Extract a single file from ISO image

Published   Read time 46 sec(s)   (2536 visits).

isodump is a crude utility to interactively display the contents of iso9660 images in order to verify directory integrity

Recreating /dev/null in Solaris

Published   Read time 20 sec(s)   (3225 visits).

A simple procedure to recreate /dev/null on a Solaris system using the mknod command to create a special character device.

How to Change or Set hostname on OEL/RHEL/CentOS 7

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 18 sec(s)   (2558 visits).

Unlike OEL/RHEL/CentOS 6, manually appending “HOSTNAME=xxxxx” into file /etc/sysconfig/network and restarting system will not work on version 7.

How to Change or Set hostname on OEL/RHEL/CentOS 6

Published   Read time 1 min 2 sec(s)   (2476 visits).

A simple post for those who are new to Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL) or Red Hat Linux (RHEL) version 6 and wish to change hostname.

NetWorker NSR Log Viewer

Published   Read time 28 sec(s)   (3200 visits).

Within the NetWorker Config Checker 1.1 there is an additional application called NSR Log Viewer.

Deleting Savesets in NetWorker 7.5x

Updated   Read time 1 min 30 sec(s)   (3243 visits).

In versions of NetWorker 7.4.x and below, it was always possible to use nsrmm to delete savesets that exist on disk backup units

Solaris inittab

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 1 sec   (2746 visits).

The /etc/inittab file plays a crucial role in the boot sequence. For versions of Solaris prior to version 10, the /etc/inittab was edited manually.

Allocating Sufficient Swap Space

Published   Read time 1 min 29 sec(s)   (2479 visits).

If the system needs more memory resources and the RAM is full, inactive pages in memory are moved to the swap space.

Scanning for new luns

Published   Read time 1 min 42 sec(s)   (2695 visits).

This is a short article on how to rescan newly added luns in Solaris, Linux, AIX and HP-UX operating systems.

Oracle Users and Passwords

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 23 sec(s)   (2629 visits).

The default accounts are: sys, system, dbsnmp and sysman. The following table provides a basic description of the of the default users.

Oracle background processes

Published   Read time 6 min(s) 43 sec(s)   (2931 visits).

An oracle database is run as an instance. A database server can run multiple instances and each instance is made up of different components.

Adding fonts in Solaris 11

Published   Read time 44 sec(s)   (2757 visits).

fontconfig is used to manage all types of fonts including PostScript and TrueType fonts in the Solaris desktop environment.

Installing Solaris boot blocks

Published   Read time 1 min 30 sec(s)   (3057 visits).

This post discusses how to install the boot block on a Solaris system running either the older UFS file system or the newer ZFS root file system.

Using psradm to enable/disable a processor on Solaris

Published   Read time 53 sec(s)   (3259 visits).

The psradm utility changes the operational status of processors. The legal states for the processor are on-line, offline, spare, Faulted, and no-intr

Troubleshooting the SAM-FS Stager

Published   Read time 1 min 36 sec(s)   (2678 visits).

An article designed specificall y to aide the resolution when you encounter issues with the SAM-QFS stager.

Troubleshooting the SAM-FS Archiver

Published   Read time 5 min(s) 10 sec(s)   (2885 visits).

This document is designed specifically to aide the resolution when you encounter issues with the SAM-QFS archiver.

Restart SAM-FS Stager

Published   Read time 18 sec(s)   (3150 visits).

This post simply provides the steps necessary to restart the SAM-FS stager cleanly

Restarting the SAM-FS Archiver

Published   Read time 43 sec(s)   (2620 visits).

This post simply provides the steps necessary to restart the SAM-FS archiver cleanly

Manually pruning NetWorker indexes

Published   Read time 1 min 34 sec(s)   (3421 visits).

nsrim be default is executed by nsrd after a savegrp completes it's cycle.

Changing the WWN on a SPARCstorage Array

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 48 sec(s)   (2491 visits).

There are times when it is advantageous to change the World-Wide Number (WWN) for a particular SPARCstorage Array, such as after replacing the battery

Moving a SPARCstorage Array between servers

Published   Read time 1 min 25 sec(s)   (3120 visits).

Here are the steps necessary to ensure successful switch-over of a Sun Storage Array (SSA) between two Sun systems.

Solaris SCSI Tape Configuration (st.conf)

Published   Read time 1 min 41 sec(s)   (2471 visits).

The st.conf is the configiuration file for the st (SCSI Tape) driver on the Solaris Operating System.

SunOS 4.1x and 5.x Administrative File differences

Published   Read time 1 min 13 sec(s)   (3004 visits).

This article provides a list of the important files that have changed between SunOS 4.1.x and Solaris 2.x (SunOS 5.x) based systems

SunOS 4.1x and 5.x Administrative Command differences

Published   Read time 3 min(s) 33 sec(s)   (2459 visits).

This article provides a summary of the SunOS administrative command differences between SunOS 4.1.x and Solaris 2.x (SunOS 5.x) based systems

NIS+ Credential Setup

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 35 sec(s)   (3095 visits).

To gain authorisation to change NIS+ databases you need to create your security credentials for the NIS+ principals

System Logging across different UNIX systems

Published   Read time 1 min 56 sec(s)   (2490 visits).

This post provides brief differences in the log files used for System Logging of the most common versions of UNIX.

How to backup VCS Configuration

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 53 sec(s)   (3612 visits).

hasnap - backs up or restores a predefined and user defined list of VCS configuration files on each node in the cluster.

Sun Cluster 3.x Cheat Sheet

Published   Read time 9 min(s) 40 sec(s)   (3628 visits).

This cheat sheet contains common commands and information for Sun Cluster versions 3.0, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.

Veritas Cluster (VCS) CLI reference guide

Published   Read time 1 min 33 sec(s)   (2716 visits).

In VCS configuration, each cluster contains systems, service groups and resources. Service Groups contain a list of systems belonging to that group.

Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) cheat sheet

Published   Read time 8 min(s) 15 sec(s)   (2872 visits).

In VCS configuration, each Cluster contains systems, Service Groups and Resources. Service Groups contain a list of systems belonging to that group.

NIS and NIS+ cheat sheet

Published   Read time 5 min(s) 48 sec(s)   (2802 visits).

This quick reference guide provides a crib sheet style listing for administrating NIS and NIS+ environments.

Creating a Solaris FLAR image

Published   Read time 1 min 56 sec(s)   (2662 visits).

A Solaris FLAR image can be used for reinstalling the OS one the original host and other systems.

Resetting Solaris LDOM to factory default

Published   Read time 1 min 15 sec(s)   (3047 visits).

If you remove the LDOM before restoring the factory default configuration, you can restore the factory default configuration from the service processor

Enforcing password complexity on Solaris

Updated   Read time 4 min(s) 36 sec(s)   (2580 visits).

Solaris 10 is the first version of Solaris to provide a complex set of variables for controlling password strength.

Setting default route on Solaris (updated)

Published   Read time 1 min 0 sec(s)   (3292 visits).

A HowTo article to add or edit the Default Gateway or Default Router in Sun Solaris Operating System.

Less is More, or is it Most?

Published   Read time 1 min 4 sec(s)   (2578 visits).

The standard pager in Solaris is more, the standard pager in Linux is less, so is less more or most

Viewing Processes with the pgrep command

Published   Read time 3 min(s) 10 sec(s)   (3049 visits).

The pgrep command lets you specify the criteria and then displays the information only about the processes that match the criteria.

UFS snaphots

Updated   Read time 1 min 45 sec(s)   (2417 visits).

Basically, a snapshot is read-only copy of a file system (for the purpose of backup).

Viewing Processes with the prstat command

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 44 sec(s)   (2724 visits).

The prstat command displays information about processes similar to ps and pgrep commands but refreshes (updates) the output in a periodic fashion

Solaris UADMIN commands

Published   Read time 44 sec(s)   (2793 visits).

The uadmin command is tightly coupled to the system administration procedures and is not intended for general use

Using SSH login without password

Published   Read time 1 min 54 sec(s)   (2824 visits).

An article outlining steps needed to be able to use the SSH to access a remote system without supplying a password each time that you connect.

How to check OEM agent status on Solaris

Updated   Read time 52 sec(s)   (3444 visits).

This article provides the steps necessary to check the status of the OEM agent on any given Solaris system

Installing Oracle OEM agent on a Solaris host

Published   Read time 1 min 13 sec(s)   (3421 visits).

This post provides the simple steps necessary to install the Oracle Enterprise Manager agent on a given Solaris system.

Disabling MONLIST in NTP

Published   Read time 42 sec(s)   (2759 visits).

NTP server prior to version 4.2.7 apparently allows for the user to query the NTP server stat

UFS logging in Solaris (updated)

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 20 sec(s)   (3153 visits).

When enabled, all changes to file system meta-data are written to an intent log prior to being written out to the file system itself.

Installing Windows Server Backup

Published   Read time 1 min 27 sec(s)   (2469 visits).

WSB is not installed by default. The feature installation is made by Server Manager. After installation, the tool can be accessed via console or CLI.

Mounting an Mac OS X install DVD in Ubuntu 14.04

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 49 sec(s)   (3447 visits).

This document describes how to use a Linux computer to extract the BaseSystem.dmg image file from an Mac OS X (10.7+) installation DVD

Managing Computers Remotely with the MMC

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 37 sec(s)   (3119 visits).

Managing a remote system using the Computer Management console, you must launch the console with an account that has administrative credentials.

The Microsoft Management Console

Published   Read time 6 min(s) 29 sec(s)   (3015 visits).

The primary administrative tools in Windows Server 2003 are MMC consoles with col­ lections of snap-ins suited to a specific purpose.

Installing a Windows Server 2003

Published   Read time 10 min(s) 44 sec(s)   (2464 visits).

This article provides practicle steps you will need to configure a computer to run Windows Server 2003

The Windows Server 2003 Family

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 49 sec(s)   (2454 visits).

The goal of this article is to introduce you to the multiple versions and editions of Windows Server 2003.

Upgrading NetBackup 5.x to 6.0

Published   Read time 1 min 14 sec(s)   (2433 visits).

This article provides simplistic overview steps of performing an upgrade of your NetBackup environment from 5.x to release 6.0

Configuring a basic firewall under Ubuntu 14.04

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 49 sec(s)   (3173 visits).

This article provides a quick reference to UFW commands that will create iptables firewall rules are useful in common, everyday scenarios.

Adding a node to an active VCS cluster

Published   Read time 3 min(s) 9 sec(s)   (2535 visits).

In this article we look at the requirement to add a new noode to an existing VCS cluster to increase the cluster capacity

How to force NetWorker to clean a tape drive

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 16 sec(s)   (4878 visits).

Best practices suggest that auto-cleaning within NetWorker be turned off and allow the library to perform that task

Running ESXi and vSphere 5.1 in a VMware workstation

Published   Read time 1 min 29 sec(s)   (3131 visits).

VMware workstation will be installed on a host such as a laptop and the ESXi/ESXi free/V-Sphere will run on a VM guest within VMware workstation.

Creating a local yum repository for Puppet

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 7 sec(s)   (2759 visits).

Puppets automated management of installed applications and libraries can be enhanced with custom package repositories such as a custom repository.

Cloud device integration with NetWorker

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 58 sec(s)   (3129 visits).

The NetWorker Cloud Backup Option provides support for backing up to both private (onsite) and public (offsite) cloud configurations.

Moving from LAMP to LEMP

Published   Read time 3 min(s) 15 sec(s)   (2876 visits).

LAMP is a popular server stack using apache to deliver dynamic content; LEMP utilises ngnix to achieve the same open source technologies.

Installing BMC Patrol Agent 9.5

Published   Read time 30 sec(s)   (2578 visits).

This topic describes how to perform a first-time installation of the BMC patrol agent, which includes the system collectors and service daemon.

Changes to NetWorker Log Files

Published   Read time 1 min 23 sec(s)   (2686 visits).

A number of changes have been made to log files in NetWorker release 7.4 to better accomodate internationalised message logging.

NetWorker Management Console debug settings

Published   Read time 1 min 1 sec   (2815 visits).

irst set the debug level to display output for analysis. This can be done at the command line level or from within the GUI.

NetWorker probe based backups

Published   Read time 1 min 47 sec(s)   (2665 visits).

The processing of probe based backups occurs through a probe based backup group instead of the regular scheduled backup.

NetWorker License Conformance Report

Published   Read time 27 sec(s)   (2658 visits).

The license conformance summary is a new feature in NetWorker Management Console that simply reports the current NetWorker licensing inventory.

Solaris Software Patches

Published   Read time 1 min 34 sec(s)   (2504 visits).

Patches are identified by unique alphanumeric strings. The patch base code, then a hyphen, and then a number that represents the patch revision number

NetWorker lockbox password management

Published   Read time 1 min 7 sec(s)   (5139 visits).

NetWorker 7.5 provides a lockbox service that allows NetWorker application modules to securely store and retrieve passwords over the network.

Sun Explorer Utility (SUNWexplo)

Published   Read time 58 sec(s)   (2827 visits).

The Sun Explorer utility gathers information and creates detailed snapshots of a systems architecture and configuration.

Controlling User Disk Space Usage

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 13 sec(s)   (3163 visits).

Quotas let system administrators control the size of UFS file systems by limiting the amount of disk space that individual users can acquire.

Building a Solaris 11 IPS Server

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 13 sec(s)   (1098 visits).

Maintaining a copy of the Solaris distribution is a good way to ensure all your systems have access to updates and software packages.

Dump device estimates in Oracle Solaris

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 18 sec(s)   (589 visits).

The dumpadm program is a Solaris administrative command that manages the configuration of the operating system crash dump facility.

What is the NetBackup Catalog?

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 15 sec(s)   (1614 visits).

The NetBackup Catalog is the internal database that contains information about backups and configuration and should be protected regulary.

Backing up the NetBackup Catalog

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 26 sec(s)   (789 visits).

The NetBackup Catalog is the internal database that contains information about NetBackup backups and should be protected.

Changing a NetWorker device mode to Service

Published   Read time 48 sec(s)   (2577 visits).

With the new NetWorker Managemenet Console (NMC) under 7.3 you can only toggle a device as enables or disabled, service mode is no longer available.

How to rename a pool under NetWorker

Published   Read time 1 min 23 sec(s)   (3067 visits).

Pools define to which set of media the data shall be saved, it is mandatory that each pool must have different data selection criteria assigned to it.

Renaming Sun Cluster node names

Published   Read time 51 sec(s)   (2645 visits).

Sometime hostname need to be changed especially when your customer want to make some list of server more orderly and correctly identify your machine

Connecting NetWorker to CloudBoost

Published   Read time 42 sec(s)   (2452 visits).

Connect NetWorker to CloudBoost to send a NetWorker backup clone to CloudBoost.

How to Restart or Shutdown a remote Windows Server

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 43 sec(s)   (3292 visits).

When you attempt to restart a remote server remember that the default ComputerName is the local machine, therefore you need to append -m ComputerName.

ZFS command line examples

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 32 sec(s)   (2959 visits).

ZFS uses the concept of storage pools to manage physical storage. Historically, file systems were constructed on top of a single physical device.

nsrwatch now supported on Windows platforms

Published   Read time 47 sec(s)   (2716 visits).

The main advantage of using nsrwatch over NMC, is that NMC operations are usually delayed, whereas nsrwatch displays operations in near realtime.

What is the NetWorker rap.log

Published   Read time 56 sec(s)   (3001 visits).

The RAP option tracks the history of additions, deletions, and modifications to a NetWorker resource or resource attribute.

How to allocate NetWorker licenses to another client

Published   Read time 1 min 0 sec(s)   (2471 visits).

NetWorker allocates licenses to hosts as needed. However they are not removed from clients when decommissioned or removed from an active group.

Configuring link based IPMP on Solaris

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 12 sec(s)   (854 visits).

IP network multipathing (IPMP) provides a mechanism for building redundant network interfaces to guard against failures with network interfaces.

How to install and change locale in Solaris 11

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 42 sec(s)   (1296 visits).

In a default installation of Oracle Solaris 11, ten Core Locales are available. You can add support for additional locales using the pkg command.

stop/start syslogd on Solaris (updated)

Updated   Read time 1 min 3 sec(s)   (4220 visits).

syslog is an important facility need in all enterprises. We as sysadmins look at syslogs as a critical source to troubleshoot performance issues

Fixing ILOM command errors

Updated   Read time 1 min 47 sec(s)   (3354 visits).

There has been more than one instance when the Sun ILOM was not responsive to commands or were throwing errors

Solaris Security Toolkit (JASS)

Published   Read time 59 sec(s)   (2620 visits).

The Solaris Security Toolkit simplifies and automates the process of securing Solaris OS systems and is based on proven security best practices/

Managing Solaris 10 inetd services

Updated   Read time 1 min 14 sec(s)   (2434 visits).

inetadm is used in Solaris 10 to managing inetd services. If you run without any parameters you simply get a list of all services and status

Which Solaris package installed this file?

Published   Read time 37 sec(s)   (3084 visits).

If you have a file and need to know the package that installed the file on the system then using pkgchk should help.

Changing Oracle Enterprise Linux hostname

Published   Read time 57 sec(s)   (2479 visits).

Either due to cloning or corporate naming standards, you may find the need to change the hostname of an Oracle Enterprise Linux System.

Restoring data using scanner and uasm

Published   Read time 1 min 0 sec(s)   (2685 visits).

Sometimes we need to recover data from the tapes which are well beyond Browse & Retention Policies

Solaris System log (syslogd) overview

Published   Read time 3 min(s) 27 sec(s)   (2655 visits).

Efficient event log syslog analysis reduces system downtime, increases network performance, and helps tighten security policies in the enterprise.

Gaining root access to VBA via ssh

Published   Read time 58 sec(s)   (2621 visits).

This post provides the steps necessary to log into a VBA through SSH and load the dpnid key to ensure all the commands are run correctly.

Upgrading the CloudBoost virtual appliance

Published   Read time 1 min 46 sec(s)   (2450 visits).

On the Support page, you can see what version of CloudBoost is currently running, and you can upgrade the CloudBoost virtual appliance.

Finding Solaris release and kernel info

Published   Read time 50 sec(s)   (2518 visits).

Do you need to determine which release of Solaris you are running? Or other useful information that comes with it? The read more

Deleting invalid entries in NBU job monitor

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 35 sec(s)   (2953 visits).

Because the bpjobd.act.db file contains active and queued jobs, deleting it will only remove the unwanted job, since no other jobs were running.

Changing GUID of Imported Media in NetBackup

Published   Read time 24 sec(s)   (2556 visits).

This will change the GUID of the media in the NetBackup media database, once complete you will be able to perform operations with this media.

How to analyze NetBackup unified logs

Published   Read time 3 min(s) 52 sec(s)   (3588 visits).

For legacy NetBackup logs which is located under /usr/openv/netbackup/logs , below numbers can indicate to you the severity when troubleshooting.

Miscellaneous Solaris Commands

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 0 sec(s)   (3189 visits).

An assortment of miscellaneous Solaris commands that are useful to both novice and experienced Solaris administrators

Red Hat 6 (RHEL) run levels

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 45 sec(s)   (2676 visits).

The idea behind SysV init runlevels revolves around the idea that different systems can be used in different ways.

NetWorker Startup variables with nsrrc

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 0 sec(s)   (3186 visits).

Starting with NetWorker 8.0, NetWorker uses the /nsr/nsrrc file to define environment variables at NetWorker startup.

NetWorker recover completion query program (nsrrecomp)

Published   Read time 1 min 23 sec(s)   (2635 visits).

The nsrreccomp command is used to query the NetWorker server jobs database and the recover log files in order to display a recover completion report.

Renaming a NetWorker server with nsrclientfix

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 6 sec(s)   (4480 visits).

This post provides a simple procedure that allows you to rename a NetWorker server using the nsrclientfix command.

Using nsr_ize to install Legato NetWorker

Published   Read time 1 min 24 sec(s)   (3022 visits).

The nsr_ize utility installs or removes Legato NetWorker software and files to or from a server.

Using nsr_shutdown to stop a NetWorker server

Published   Read time 43 sec(s)   (895 visits).

Use nsr_shutdown to stop NetWorker services intelligently. By default nsr_shutdown will stop all NetWorker services running on a host.

Cleaning up the Live Upgrade environment

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 37 sec(s)   (845 visits).

A simple process to cleanup the LiveUpgrade configuration for the solenv1 and alternative boot environments without impacting the system.

How to hide Windows 2012 Server Manager at login

Updated   Read time 1 min 21 sec(s)   (2586 visits).

If you have a server which is low on resources, having to wait for the server manager process to finish loading can be a little bit painful

NetWorker checkpoint restart backups

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 18 sec(s)   (2571 visits).

The checkpoint restart feature allows a failed backup operation to restart at a known good point prior to the point-of-failure during the backup.

Avamar shutdown procedure

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 17 sec(s)   (2831 visits).

This post provides a quick guide to the steps needed to shutdown an Avamar system.

Identifying an ethernet (MAC) address in Solaris

Updated   Read time 1 min 14 sec(s)   (5387 visits).

Identifying a ethernet MAC address in Solaris as a non-root user is not as difficult as people think. arp, netstat and prtpicl are your friends.

EMC NetWorker Modules go End-of-Life

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 38 sec(s)   (3061 visits).

Several legacy EMC NetWorker application modules go End-of-Sale on June 30, 2011 and will no longer be available for purchase.

Integrating EMC NetWorker and Data Domain

Published   Read time 0 sec(s)   (3053 visits).

Performs tasks that are related to FAT and NTFS file systems, such as managing reparse points, managing sparse files, or dismounting a volume

NetWorker 8.1 Snapshot Management Demo

Published   Read time 0 sec(s)   (2998 visits).

This video covers the prerequisites for configuring Snapshot Management, as well as using the client configuration wizard to create a client.

NetWorker 8.1 VMware Backup and Recovery Demo

Published   Read time 0 sec(s)   (2525 visits).

This video will show NetWorker integration with VMware vCenter, including backup and recovery using the vSphere Web Client and NMC

EMC NetWorker FastStart Demo

Published   Read time 0 sec(s)   (3131 visits).

NetWorker Fast Start is a solution for backup and recovery, designed to simplify licensing, installation, and configuration.

Setting up NetWorker log file rotation size limits

Published   Read time 1 min 48 sec(s)   (3392 visits).

At times it is necessary to limit the size of the NetWorker logs to prevent the daemon and rap log files from growing too large.

Setting up a NetWorker Dedicated Storage Node

Published   Read time 1 min 8 sec(s)   (2961 visits).

With the introduction of Legato NetWorker 7.0 a dedicated storage node can back up only its own local data and a DSN license is required.

Listing files in a NetWorker saveset

Published   Read time 1 min 24 sec(s)   (2804 visits).

At first glance the answer this is not straight forward, but the answer is quite simple; Using two commands mminfo and nsrinfo we get the results.

Patching Solaris 10 zones in parallel

Updated   Read time 1 min 5 sec(s)   (2500 visits).

Every sysadmin that has upgraded or patched a system running multiples zones will tell it, the upgrade was an undefinably long process.

Mounting an SMB/CIFS share on Solaris 11

Updated   Read time 1 min 22 sec(s)   (3858 visits).

This article will document how to mount a Windows CIFS file share onto the local file system on the Solaris 11 server.

Renaming an Oracle VM Guest Domain

Updated   Read time 1 min 26 sec(s)   (2619 visits).

A simple post providing the steps necessary to rename a guest domain

Creating Avamar backup schedules from CLI

Updated   Read time 47 sec(s)   (2448 visits).

Creating an avamar schedule for your backup policies is a must for any systems administrator. This post shows you how to step-by-step.

VADP Recovery using command line

Published   Read time 1 min 43 sec(s)   (3067 visits).

Prereqs to a successful VADP restore are that the virtual machine be removed from the Inventory in VCenter.

Changing Solaris password with an expect script

Published   Read time 43 sec(s)   (2766 visits).

Changing a users password without user input is easy under Linux using the chpasswd command. On Solaris this does not exist.

Configure iSCSI with Multipathing on RHEL 6

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 8 sec(s)   (2333 visits).

A simple post which outlines the steps needed to configure iSCSI with Multipathing on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5

How to mount an ISO image under Solaris

Published   Read time 1 min 13 sec(s)   (2477 visits).

A simple procedure to mount an ISO image under the Solaris OS and present the image to Guest zones.

Starting and Stopping Solaris services with svcadm

Published   Read time 25 sec(s)   (3269 visits).

svcadm issues requests for actions on services executing within the SMF. Actions for a service are carried out by its assigned service agent.

Locking down your Solaris system

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 6 sec(s)   (2415 visits).

With later releases of Solaris, if you want to, you can manually lock down your system using the netstat, svcs and svcadm commands.

ZFS and Sun Cluster integration

Published   Read time 19 sec(s)   (2457 visits).

A ZFS owned disk may be promoted to be a quorum disk on current Sun Cluster versions

ZFS Data Protection

Published   Read time 56 sec(s)   (2537 visits).

ZFS is a transactional file system. For each write request, a copy is made of the specified block protected by Copy-On-Write (COW)

ZFS Zones

Published   Read time 28 sec(s)   (946 visits).

If the filesystem is created in the global zone and added to the local zone via zonecfg, it may be assigned to more than one zone

ZFS Filesystem Management

Published   Read time 49 sec(s)   (2447 visits).

Similar filesystems should be grouped together in hierarchies to make management easier.

How to completely remove a NetWorker client

Published   Read time 4 min(s) 8 sec(s)   (3243 visits).

A word of caution: before you begin removing a client, make sure you have a recent bootstrap backup; If we make any mistakes we can easily recover

Automatic home directory creation

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 15 sec(s)   (2401 visits).

Using the executable maps feature in Solaris automounter we can create an authenticated users home directory automatically if it does not exist.

openSUSE Quick Reference Guide

Updated   Read time 2 min(s) 0 sec(s)   (750 visits).

This article provides a quick reference guide for the open SuSE operating system

Restoring Solaris files with NetWorker 7.x

Published   Read time 1 min 51 sec(s)   (717 visits).

This is a simple step-by-step guide on restoring files on a given Solaris system using the NetWorker recover command-line utility in NetWorker 7.x

Stopping and starting NetWorker from CLI

Published   Read time 1 min 13 sec(s)   (4085 visits).

I find it faster on the command line than using any gui when it comes to stop and start of the NetWorker daemons or services.

Switching Solaris 11 repositories

Updated   Read time 1 min 15 sec(s)   (2429 visits).

For testing purpose you can use the release repository but production environments must use oracle support repository.

EFI and SUN Disk Labels

Published   Read time 45 sec(s)   (2490 visits).

Have you ever got into a situation where you can't install a new system as you forgot to change the disk label from EFI prior to install?

Patching Solaris with PCA

Published   Read time 1 min 48 sec(s)   (2822 visits).

Not only does PCA generate a list of patches and downloads them, it also resolves dependencies between patches and installs them in the correct order

ZFS Quick Reference Guide

Published   Read time 2 min(s) 38 sec(s)   (2517 visits).

ZFS uses the concept of storage pools to manage physical storage. Historically, file systems were constructed on top of a single physical device.

Finding and Removing core files

Published   Read time 15 sec(s)   (2388 visits).

A simple one liner to help find and remove core files from a given system.

Changing OLDAUTH setting on a NetWorker client

Published   Read time 1 min 10 sec(s)   (3597 visits).

Use this procedure to switch from nsrauth to oldauth authentication on the backup server for the client exhibiting the problem.

pfiles versus lsof

Updated   Read time 1 min 41 sec(s)   (2825 visits).

Many people install lsof on their system as they know it from Linux. But you have a similar tool in Solaris, namely pfiles.

ZFS Pool Management

Published   Read time 54 sec(s)   (2556 visits).

When disks are added to an existing mirrored or RAID Z pool, the ZFS is resilvered to redistribute the data.

Making pfexec work like sudo under Solaris

Published   Read time 1 min 45 sec(s)   (2553 visits).

I thought I'd try out the new role based action control (RBAC) on the Solaris systems as an alternative to sudo.

How to unexpire a user login in Solaris

Published   Read time 45 sec(s)   (3587 visits).

Using the usermod command on Solaris allows a sysadmin to unexpier/unlock a users login account

ZFS Dataset Size

Published   Read time 33 sec(s)   (2561 visits).

A simple entry on how to discover or set the size for a given ZFS dataset as occasionaly we need to increase the size of a ZFS dataset.

Setting up Solaris 10 Accounting subsystem

Updated   Read time 5 min(s) 45 sec(s)   (1487 visits).

To configure the Solaris Auditing subsystem on Solaris 9 or Solaris 10 we simply run the bsmconv command-line utility from the /etc/security directory

Which volumes are required for a NetWorker restore?

Published   Read time 1 min 27 sec(s)   (3183 visits).

This post provides a method of listing which volumes are required to perform a NetWorker restore/recovery via command-line and via the recovery GUI.