Summary

This chapter provides a description of the OpenBoot environment, the PROM, NVRAM, and the kernel. It describes how to access OpenBoot and the various commands that are available to test and provide information about the hardware.

This chapter describes the OpenBoot architecture, and it explains how OpenBoot controls many of the hardware devices. By using the programmable user interface available in OpenBoot, you can set several parameters that control system hardware and peripherals.

The device tree and OpenBoot device names are explained in this chapter. Throughout this book, the text refers to various device names used in Solaris. It's important that you understand each one of them. Along with device names, this chapter explains how to set temporary and permanent device aliases.

The system startup phases are described in this chapter, and you have learned how Solaris processes and services are started, from bootup, to loading and initializing the two-part kernel, to continuing to the multi-user milestone. You can further control these services through the Service Management Facility.

This chapter describes how important it is to shut down the system properly because the integrity of the data can be compromised if the proper shutdown steps are not performed. All the various commands used to shut down a system in an orderly manner are outlined.

Chapter 4, "User and Security Administration," describes how to protect your system and data from unauthorized access.