Memory blacklist operation

To check if memory blacklist operation by LDoms Manager (ldm) is in progress, run:

echo "zeus ::print -a zeus_t mem_blacklist_inprog" | mdb -p `pgrep ldmd`

If no blacklist operation is in progress, the above may return output that is similar to:

<hex-address> mem_blacklist_inprog = 0 (false)

When a memory blacklist operation is in progress, the above may return output that is similar to:

<hex-address> mem_blacklist_inprog = 0x1 (true)

In such a situation, any attempt to run ldm commands related to memory management may fail with error:

A memory blacklist operation is being processed. Other memory operations are disabled until it completes

Sometimes a power cycle may clear the blacklist operation. In not-so-lucky situations, the affected DIMM(s) may have to be serviced.

(Credit: Eunice M.)

Duplicate IP Address & Recovery

If two nodes [running Solaris] on a network share the same IP address, Solaris kernel detects the duplicate address, marks it as duplicate and eventually disables and turns off the IP interface if the problem persists. These actions are typically recorded in the system log with warnings such as the following.

eg.,

Dec 23 16:46:18 some-host ip: [ID 759807 kern.warning] WARNING: net0 has duplicate address xx.xx.xx.xx (in use by 00:10:e0:5d:9c:83); disabled
Dec 23 16:46:18 some-host in.routed[737]: [ID 238047 daemon.warning] interface net0 to xx.xx.xx.xx turned off

When the IP interface was disabled/turned off, ipadm show-if shows down state for that interface.

Once the problem was discovered and fixed [by the administrator or user] to avoid duplication of IP address, Solaris kernel enables and brings up the IP interface that it turned off earlier upon detecting a duplicate IP address. This action too is recorded in the system log.

Dec 23 16:51:18 some-host ip: [ID 636139 kern.notice] NOTICE: recovered address ::ffff:xx.xx.xx.xx on net0

Once the system marks an interface down due to the conflicting IP address in a remote system, the local system checks periodically to see if the conflict persists. In Solaris 11.3, the time between the checks is 300,000 milliseconds (300 seconds or 5 minutes). However in some cases waiting for 5 minutes might not be desirable. In such cases, the time between the duplicate IP address checks can be tuned by modifying the IP tunable parameter, _dup_recovery, to appropriate value.

eg.,

Reduce the _dup_recovery value to 90 seconds.

• Temporary change (non-persistent)

  # ndd -get /dev/ip ip_dup_recovery
  300000
  
  # ndd -set /dev/ip ip_dup_recovery 90000
  
  # ndd -get /dev/ip ip_dup_recovery
  90000
  

• Permanent change (persistent across reboots)

  # ipadm show-prop -p _dup_recovery ip
  PROTO PROPERTY              PERM CURRENT      PERSISTENT   DEFAULT      POSSIBLE
  ip    _dup_recovery         rw   300000       --           300000       0-3600000
  
  # ipadm set-prop -p _dup_recovery=90000 ip
  
  # ipadm show-prop -p _dup_recovery ip
  PROTO PROPERTY              PERM CURRENT      PERSISTENT   DEFAULT      POSSIBLE
  ip    _dup_recovery         rw   90000        90000        300000       0-3600000
  

Notice the slight difference in parameter names when ndd and ipadm were used to tune the same value.

Solaris OS: What Group Package was Installed?

pkg list on target system shows this information.

eg.,

# pkg list | grep "group/system/solaris" | grep server
group/system/solaris-minimal-server               0.5.11-0.175.3.1.0.5.0     i--

List all packages that are part of the group package that was installed by running:

pkg list -as `pkg contents -r -H -o fmri -t depend -a type=group <group-package>`

List available group packages to install Solaris server:

# pkg search solaris-*-server | awk '{ print $3 "\t" $4}'
VALUE        PACKAGE
solaris/group/system/solaris-large-server       pkg:/group/system/solaris-large-server@0.5.11-0.175.3.1.0.5.0
solaris/group/system/solaris-minimal-server     pkg:/group/system/solaris-minimal-server@0.5.11-0.175.3.1.0.5.0
solaris/group/system/solaris-small-server       pkg:/group/system/solaris-small-server@0.5.11-0.175.3.1.0.5.0

• solaris-large-server provides an Oracle Solaris large server environment that contain all of the common network services that an enterprise server must provide. Hardware drivers that are required for servers such as InfiniBand drivers are also part of this group package.

• solaris-small-server installs a smaller set of packages on a server and provides command-line environment

• solaris-minimal-server installs the smallest possible set of Solaris packages which provides a minimal command-line environment

In addition to the above, solaris/group/system/solaris-desktop group package provides Solaris desktop environment. This package contains the GNOME desktop environment that includes GUI applications such as web browsers and mail clients, and drivers for graphics and audio devices.

Keep in mind that solaris-desktop group package has a lot more packages compared to the other three group packages outlined above.

Solaris OS: What AI Manifest was Used?

On target system, locate the AI manifest file that was used to perform the Solaris installation at:

• /var/log/install/ai.xml

Installation log can also be found in the same directory.

Package History

pkg history shows command history related to a specific package or all packages installed on the system. This includes information such as who initiated the package operation, the complete command, how long it took to complete the operation, whether a new boot environment (BE) was created and the errors encountered, if any.

Refer to pkg(1) man page for the options and description.

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Fancy Separator Credit: jkneb

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