kernel(1M) System Administration Commands kernel(1M)NAMEkernel - 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(1M) 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(1M) 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(4)).
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 key‐
boards). To help repair a damaged /etc/system file, enter /dev/null
at the prompt that asks for the pathname of the system configura‐
tion file. See system(4).
-i altinit
Select an alternative executable to be the primordial process.
altinit must be a valid path to an executable. The default primor‐
dial process is init(1M).
-m smf_options
The smf_options include two categories of options to control boot‐
ing behavior of the service management facility: recovery options
and messages options.
Message options determine the type and amount of messages that
smf(5) 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 subcom‐
mand of svcadm(1M).
Messages options
quiet
Prints standard per-service output and error messages requiring
administrative intervention.
verbose
Prints standard per-service output with more informational mes‐
sages.
-r
Reconfiguration boot. The system will probe all attached hardware
devices and configure the logical namespace in /dev. See
add_drv(1M) and rem_drv(1M) for additional information about main‐
taining device drivers.
-s
Boots only to init level 's'. See init(1M).
-v
Boots with verbose messages enabled. If this flag is not given, the
messages are still printed, but the output is directed to the sys‐
tem logfile. See syslogd(1M).
-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(1M) for examples and instructions on how to boot.
FILES
/kernel
Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a partic‐
ular 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 partic‐
ular 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 mod‐
ules 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.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWcar, SUNWcarx │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOuname(1), isainfo(1), add_drv(1M), boot(1M), init(1M), kadb(1M),
rem_drv(1M), savecore(1M), svc.startd(1M), svcadm(1M), syslogd(1M),
system(4), attributes(5), smf(5), devfs(7FS)
SPARC Only
monitor(1M)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.
SunOS 5.10 27 Nov 2007 kernel(1M)
