1kernel(1M) System Administration Commands kernel(1M)
2
6 kernel - UNIX system executable file containing basic operating system
7 services
8
10 kernel-name [-asrvx] [-m smf_options] [-i altinit]
11
14 The operating system image, or kernel, is the collection of software
15 comprising the image files (unix and genunix) and the modules loaded at
16 any instant in time. The system will not function without a kernel to
17 control it.
18 The kernel is loaded by the boot(1M) command in a machine-specific way.
21 The kernel may be loaded from disk, CD-ROM, or DVD (diskfull boot) or
22 over the network (diskless boot). In either case, the directories under
23 /platform and /kernel must be readable and must contain executable code
24 which is able to perform the required kernel service. If the -a flag is
25 given, the user is able to supply different pathnames for the default
26 locations of the kernel and modules. See boot(1M) for more information
27 on loading a specific kernel.
28 The moddir variable contains a list of module directories separated by
31 whitespace. moddir can be set in the /etc/system file. The minimal
32 default is:
33 /platform/platform-name/kernel /kernel /usr/kernel
35 This default can be supplemented by a specific platform. It is common
39 for many SPARC systems to override the default path with:
40 /platform/platform-name/kernel:/platform/hardware-class-name\
42 /kernel:/kernel:/usr/kernel
43 where platform-name can be found using the -i option of uname(1), and
48 hardware-class-name can be found using the -m option of uname(1).
49 The kernel configuration can be controlled using the /etc/system file
52 (see system(4)).
53 genunix is the platform-independent component of the base kernel.
56
58 The following options are supported:
59 -a
61 Asks the user for configuration information, such as where to find
63 the system file, where to mount root, and even override the name of
64 the kernel itself. Default responses will be contained in square
65 brackets ([ ]), and the user may simply enter RETURN to use the
66 default response (note that RETURN is labeled ENTER on some key‐
67 boards). To help repair a damaged /etc/system file, enter /dev/null
68 at the prompt that asks for the pathname of the system configura‐
69 tion file. See system(4).
70 -i altinit
73 Select an alternative executable to be the primordial process.
75 altinit must be a valid path to an executable. The default primor‐
76 dial process is init(1M).
77 -m smf_options
80 The smf_options include two categories of options to control boot‐
82 ing behavior of the service management facility: recovery options
83 and messages options.
84 Message options determine the type and amount of messages that
86 smf(5) displays during boot. Service options determine the services
87 which are used to boot the system.
88 Recovery options
90 debug
92 Prints standard per-service output and all svc.startd messages
94 to log.
95 milestone=[milestone]
98 Boot with some SMF services temporarily disabled, as indicated
100 by milestone. milestone can be "none", "single-user", "multi-
101 user", "multi-user-server", or "all". See the milestone subcom‐
102 mand of svcadm(1M).
103 Messages options
105 quiet
107 Prints standard per-service output and error messages requiring
109 administrative intervention.
110 verbose
113 Prints standard per-service output with more informational mes‐
115 sages.
116 -r
120 Reconfiguration boot. The system will probe all attached hardware
122 devices and configure the logical namespace in /dev. See
123 add_drv(1M) and rem_drv(1M) for additional information about main‐
124 taining device drivers.
125 -s
128 Boots only to init level 's'. See init(1M).
130 -v
133 Boots with verbose messages enabled. If this flag is not given, the
135 messages are still printed, but the output is directed to the sys‐
136 tem logfile. See syslogd(1M).
137 -x
140 Does not boot in clustered mode. This option only has an effect
142 when a version of Sun Cluster software that supports this option
143 has been installed.
144
147 See boot(1M) for examples and instructions on how to boot.
148
150 /kernel
151 Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a partic‐
153 ular instruction set that are needed for booting the system. of the
154 core image file.
155 /platform/platform-name/kernel
158 The platform-specific kernel components.
160 /platform/hardware-class-name/kernel
163 The kernel components specific to this hardware class.
165 /usr/kernel
168 Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a partic‐
170 ular instruction set.
171 The directories in this section can potentially contain the following
175 subdirectories:
176 drv
178 Loadable device drivers
180 exec
183 The modules that execute programs stored in various file formats.
185 fs
188 File system modules
190 misc
193 Miscellaneous system-related modules
195 sched
198 Operating system schedulers
200 strmod
203 System V STREAMS loadable modules
205 sys
208 Loadable system calls
210 SPARC
213 cpu
214 Processor specific modules
216 tod
219 Time-Of-Day hardware interface modules
221 As only 64-bit SPARC platforms are supported, all SPARC executable mod‐
225 ules are contained within sparcv9 directories in the directories listed
226 above.
227 x86
229 mach
230 x86 hardware support
232 Modules comprising the 32-bit x86 kernel are contained in the above
236 directories, with the 64-bit x86 kernel components contained within
237 amd64 subdirectories.
238
240 See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
241 ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
246 │ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
247 ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
248 │Availability │SUNWcar, SUNWcarx │
249 └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
250
252 uname(1), isainfo(1), add_drv(1M), boot(1M), init(1M), kadb(1M),
253 rem_drv(1M), savecore(1M), svc.startd(1M), svcadm(1M), syslogd(1M),
254 system(4), attributes(5), smf(5), devfs(7FS)
255 SPARC Only
257 monitor(1M)
258
260 The kernel gives various warnings and error messages. If the kernel
261 detects an unrecoverable fault, it will panic or halt.
262
264 Reconfiguration boot will, by design, not remove /dev entries for some
265 classes of devices that have been physically removed from the system.
266SunOS 5.11 27 Nov 2007 kernel(1M)