KERNEL(8) Maintenance Commands and Procedures KERNEL(8)
NAME
kernel - UNIX system executable file containing basic operating system
services
SYNOPSIS
kernel-name [
-asrvx] [
-m smf_options] [
-i altinit]
DESCRIPTION
The operating system image, or kernel, is the collection of software
comprising the image files (
unix and
genunix) and the modules loaded at
any instant in time. The system will not function without a kernel to
control it.
The kernel is loaded by the
boot(8) command in a machine-specific way.
The kernel may be loaded from disk,
CD-ROM, or DVD (
diskfull boot) or
over the network (
diskless boot). In either case, the directories under
/platform and
/kernel must be readable and must contain executable code
which is able to perform the required kernel service. If the
-a flag is
given, the user is able to supply different pathnames for the default
locations of the kernel and modules. See
boot(8) for more information on
loading a specific kernel.
The
moddir variable contains a list of module directories separated by
whitespace. moddir can be set in the
/etc/system file. The minimal
default is:
/platform/platform-name/kernel /kernel /usr/kernel
This default can be supplemented by a specific platform. It is common for
many SPARC systems to override the default path with:
/platform/
platform-name/kernel:/platform/
hardware-class-name\
/kernel:/kernel:/usr/kernel
where
platform-name can be found using the
-i option of
uname(1), and
hardware-class-name can be found using the
-m option of
uname(1).
The kernel configuration can be controlled using the
/etc/system file
(see
system(5)).
genunix is the platform-independent component of the base kernel.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-a Asks the user for configuration information, such as where to find
the system file, where to mount
root, and even override the name of
the kernel itself. Default responses will be contained in square
brackets ([ ]), and the user may simply enter RETURN to use the
default response (note that RETURN is labeled ENTER on some
keyboards). To help repair a damaged
/etc/system file, enter
/dev/null at the prompt that asks for the pathname of the system
configuration file. See
system(5).
-i altinit Select an alternative executable to be the primordial process.
altinit must be a valid path to an executable. The default primordial
process is
init(8).
-m smf_options The
smf_options include two categories of options to control booting
behavior of the service management facility: recovery options and
messages options.
Message options determine the type and amount of messages that
smf(7) displays during boot. Service options determine the services which
are used to boot the system.
Recovery options
debug Prints standard per-service output and all
svc.startd messages to
log.
milestone=[milestone] Boot with some SMF services temporarily disabled, as indicated by
milestone.
milestone can be "none", "single-user", "multi-user",
"multi-user-server", or "all". See the
milestone subcommand of
svcadm(8).
Messages options
quiet Prints standard per-service output and error messages requiring
administrative intervention.
verbose Prints standard per-service output with more informational
messages.
-r Reconfiguration boot. The system will probe all attached hardware
devices and configure the logical namespace in
/dev. See
add_drv(8) and
rem_drv(8) for additional information about maintaining device
drivers.
-s Boots only to init level 's'. See
init(8).
-v Boots with verbose messages enabled. If this flag is not given, the
messages are still printed, but the output is directed to the system
logfile. See
syslogd(8).
-x Does not boot in clustered mode. This option only has an effect when
a version of Sun Cluster software that supports this option has been
installed.
EXAMPLES
See
boot(8) for examples and instructions on how to boot.
FILES
/kernel Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a
particular instruction set that are needed for booting the system. of
the core image file.
/platform/platform-name/kernel
The platform-specific kernel components.
/platform/hardware-class-name/kernel The kernel components specific to this hardware class.
/usr/kernel Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a
particular instruction set.
The directories in this section can potentially contain the following
subdirectories:
drv Loadable device drivers
exec The modules that execute programs stored in various file formats.
fs File system modules
misc Miscellaneous system-related modules
sched Operating system schedulers
strmod System V STREAMS loadable modules
sys Loadable system calls
SPARC
cpu Processor specific modules
tod Time-Of-Day hardware interface modules
As only 64-bit SPARC platforms are supported, all SPARC executable
modules are contained within
sparcv9 directories in the directories
listed above.
x86 mach x86 hardware support
Modules comprising the 32-bit x86 kernel are contained in the above
directories, with the 64-bit x86 kernel components contained within
amd64 subdirectories.
SEE ALSO
isainfo(1),
uname(1),
devfs(4FS),
system(5),
attributes(7),
smf(7),
add_drv(8),
boot(8),
init(8),
kadb(8),
rem_drv(8),
savecore(8),
svc.startd(8),
svcadm(8),
syslogd(8)DIAGNOSTICS
The kernel gives various warnings and error messages. If the kernel
detects an unrecoverable fault, it will panic or halt.
NOTES
Reconfiguration boot will, by design, not remove
/dev entries for some
classes of devices that have been physically removed from the system.
March 6, 2023
KERNEL(8)