1platform(4)                      File Formats                      platform(4)
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NAME

6       platform - directory of files specifying supported platforms
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SYNOPSIS

9       .platform
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DESCRIPTION

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.
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20
21       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.
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25
26       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.
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33       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.
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39
40       Comments are allowed in a platform definition file. A "#" begins a com‐
41       ment and can be placed anywhere on a line.
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43
44       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.
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48           o      Platform group definitions:
49
50                  The keywords in a platform group definition stanza are:
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52
53                  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:
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59                                    PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4c
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61                                    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.
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68
69                  INST_ARCH         The instruction set  architecture  of  all
70                                    platforms in the platform group, for exam‐
71                                    ple:
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73                                    INST_ARCH=sparc
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75                                    The INST_ARCH keyword value  must  be  the
76                                    value  returned by the uname -p command on
77                                    all platforms in the platform group.
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81           o      Platform identifications:
82
83                  The keywords in a platform identification stanza are:
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85
86                  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:
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92                                       PLATFORM_NAME=SUNW,SPARCstation-5
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94                                       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.
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99                                       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.
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107                                       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.
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112
113                  PLATFORM_ID          The value returned by the uname -i com‐
114                                       mand on the machine, for example:
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116                                       PLATFORM_ID=SUNW,SPARCstation-5
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118
119                  MACHINE_TYPE         The value returned by the uname -m com‐
120                                       mand on the machine, for example:
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122                                       MACHINE_TYPE=sun4c
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124
125                  IN_PLATFORM_GROUP    The platform group of which  the  plat‐
126                                       form is a member, for example:
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128                                       IN_PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4c
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130                                       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
136                                       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.
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149
150                  INST_ARCH            The instruction set architecture of the
151                                       platform, for example:
152
153                                       INST_ARCH=sparc
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155                                       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.
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COMPATIBILITY

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.
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EXAMPLES

172       Example 1 Platform Group Definitions
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174
175       The following example shows platform group definitions from the  .plat‐
176       form/Solaris platform definition file.
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178
179         #
180         PLATFORM_GROUP=sun4u
181         INST_ARCH=sparc
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183
184
185       Example 2 Platform Identification Stanzas
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187
188       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
192
193         #
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
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FILES

212       The  .platform  directory  must reside as /cd_image/Solaris_vers/.plat‐
213       form, where
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215       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.
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220       Solaris_vers    Is the version of Solaris, for example, Solaris_2.9.
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NOTES

224       Typically, a platform identification stanza  contains  either  a  PLAT‐
225       FORM_ID or a MACHINE_TYPE stanza, but not both.
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228       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.
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237       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.
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242SunOS 5.11                        19 Nov 2002                      platform(4)
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