1platform(4) File Formats platform(4)
2
6 platform - directory of files specifying supported platforms
7
9 .platform
10
13 The Solaris operating environment release includes the .platform direc‐
14 tory, a new directory on the Solaris CD image. This directory contains
15 files (created by Sun and Solaris OEMs) that define platform support.
16 These files are generically referred to as platform definition files.
17 They provide a means to map different platform types into a platform
18 group.
19 Platform definition files in the .platform directory are used by the
22 installation software to ensure that software appropriate for the
23 architecture of the system will be installed.
24 Sun provides a platform definition file named .platform/Solaris . This
27 file is the only one that can define platform groups to which other
28 platform definition files can refer. For example, an OEM platform defi‐
29 nition file can refer to any platform group specified in the Solaris
30 platform definition file.
31 Other platform definition files are delivered by OEMs. To avoid name
34 conflicts, OEMs will name their platform definition file with an OEM-
35 unique string. OEMs should use whatever string they use to make their
36 package names unique. This unique string is often the OEM's stock sym‐
37 bol.
38 Comments are allowed in a platform definition file. A "#" begins a com‐
41 ment and can be placed anywhere on a line.
42 Platform definition files are composed of keyword-value pairs, and
45 there are two kinds of stanzas in the file: platform group definitions
46 and platform identifications.
47 o Platform group definitions:
49 The keywords in a platform group definition stanza are:
51 PLATFORM_GROUP The PLATFORM_GROUP keyword must be the
54 first keyword in the platform group defi‐
55 nition stanza. The value assigned to this
56 keyword is the name of the platform group,
57 for example:
58 PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4c
60 The PLATFORM_GROUP name is an arbitrary
62 name assigned to a group of platforms.
63 However, PLATFORM_GROUP typically equals
64 the output of the uname -m command. PLAT‐
65 FORM_GROUP value cannot have white space
66 and is limited to 256 ASCII characters.
67 INST_ARCH The instruction set architecture of all
70 platforms in the platform group, for exam‐
71 ple:
72 INST_ARCH=sparc
74 The INST_ARCH keyword value must be the
76 value returned by the uname -p command on
77 all platforms in the platform group.
78 o Platform identifications:
82 The keywords in a platform identification stanza are:
84 PLATFORM_NAME The PLATFORM_NAME keyword must be the
87 first keyword in the platform identifi‐
88 cation stanza. The PLATFORM_NAME is the
89 name assigned to the platform, for
90 example:
91 PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,SPARCstation-5
93 Typically, this name is the same as the
95 value returned by the uname -icommand
96 on the machine, but it need not be the
97 same.
98 The PLATFORM_NAME value cannot have
100 white space and is limited to 256 ASCII
101 characters. If it contains parentheses,
102 it must contain only balanced parenthe‐
103 ses. For example. the string
104 "foo(bar)foo" is a valid value for this
105 keyword, but "foo(bar" is not.
106 The other keywords in the platform
108 identification stanza can be in any
109 order, as long as the PLATFORM_NAME
110 keyword is first.
111 PLATFORM_ID The value returned by the uname -i com‐
114 mand on the machine, for example:
115 PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,SPARCstation-5
117 MACHINE_TYPE The value returned by the uname -m com‐
120 mand on the machine, for example:
121 MACHINE_TYPE=sun4c
123 IN_PLATFORM_GROUP The platform group of which the plat‐
126 form is a member, for example:
127 IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4c
129 The platform group name must be speci‐
131 fied in the same file as the platform
132 identification stanza or in the plat‐
133 form definition file with the name
134 .platform/Solaris .
135 The IN_PLATFORM_GROUP keyword is
137 optional. A platform doesn't have to
138 belong to a platform group. If a plat‐
139 form is not explicitly assigned to a
140 platform group, it essentially forms
141 its own platform group, where the plat‐
142 form group name is the PLATFORM_NAME
143 value. The IN_PLATFORM_GROUP value typ‐
144 ically equals the output of the uname
145 -m command. IN_PLATFORM_GROUP value
146 cannot have white space and is limited
147 to 256 ASCII characters.
148 INST_ARCH The instruction set architecture of the
151 platform, for example:
152 INST_ARCH=sparc
154 This field is only required if the
156 platform does not belong to a platform
157 group. The INST_ARCH keyword value must
158 be the value returned by the uname -i
159 command on all platforms in the plat‐
160 form group.
161
165 The installation program will remain compatible with the old Solaris CD
166 format. If a Solaris CD image does not contain any platform definition
167 files, the installation and upgrade programs will select the packages
168 to be installed based on machine type, that is, the value returned by
169 the uname -p command.
170
172 Example 1 Platform Group Definitions
173 The following example shows platform group definitions from the .plat‐
176 form/Solaris platform definition file.
177 #
180 PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
181 INST_ARCH=sparc
182 Example 2 Platform Identification Stanzas
186 The following example shows platform identification stanzas, which
189 define systems that belong in a platform group, from the .plat‐
190 form/Solaris platform definition file.
191 #
194 PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,SunFire
195 PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,SunFire
196 IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
197 PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,Ultra-80
198 PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,Ultra-80
199 IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
200 #
201 PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,SunFire
202 PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,SunFire
203 IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
204 #
205 PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,Ultra-80
206 PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,Ultra-80
207 IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
208
212 The .platform directory must reside as /cd_image/Solaris_vers/.plat‐
213 form, where
214 cd_image Is the path to the mounted Solaris CD (/cdrom/cdrom0/s0
216 by default) or the path to a copy of the Solaris CD on
217 a disk.
218 Solaris_vers Is the version of Solaris, for example, Solaris_2.9.
221
224 Typically, a platform identification stanza contains either a PLAT‐
225 FORM_ID or a MACHINE_TYPE stanza, but not both.
226 If both are specified, both must match for a platform to be identified
229 as this platform type. Each platform identification stanza must contain
230 either a PLATFORM_ID value or a MACHINE_TYPE value. If a platform
231 matches two different platform identification stanzas—one which matched
232 on the value of PLATFORM_ID and one which matched on the value of
233 MACHINE_TYPE , the one that matched on PLATFORM_ID will take prece‐
234 dence.
235 The .platform directory is part of the Solaris CD image, whether that
238 be the Solaris CD or a copy of the Solaris CD on a system's hard disk.
239SunOS 5.11 19 Nov 2002 platform(4)