3.5.9 SOLARIS 2

Q:

I keep getting a `bad address' error when cfengine tries to reset the netmask and broadcast address.

A:

This is a bug in the sockets library on solaris. It is supposed to be fixed in solaris 2.5.

Q:

How can I add my own file `rc.local' to the startup bootfiles automatically?

A:

For example, create a file called /local/etc/rc.local which looks something like this:

          #
          # rc.local
          #
          PATH=/local/gnu/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin; export PATH
          
          #!/bin/sh
          
          if [ "`hostname`" = "net-server" ]; then
          
             echo Starting WWW server
             /local/httpd_1.4/httpd -d /local/httpd_1.4
          
             echo Starting GNU finger server
             /local/etc/fingerd
          
          fi
          
          echo Starting ypbind
          /usr/lib/netsvc/yp/ypbind
          
          echo Adding a default route and flushing table
          
          route -f add default my-gateway 1
          
          echo Starting xdm
          
          /local/bin/start-xdm
          
     

Now add an entry to your cfengine.conf file like this

          
             solaris::
          
                { /etc/rc3.d/S99rc-local
          
                AutoCreate
                AppendIfNoSuchLine "exec sh /local/etc/rc.local"
                }
          
     

Q:

The solaris installation program creates /tmp without the sticky bit set, so that any user can delete any files in /tmp. It also means that a race condition can occur in the kernel which can give away root access to any user!

A:

Add the following line to the configuration immediately!

          
          files:
          
             /tmp mode=1777 action=fixdirs
          
     

Q:

The ftp program will not allow me to log in to my own account!

A:

The problem is that your shell is not in the system file /etc/shells. Add a line something like this:

          
          editfiles:
          
             { /etc/shells
          
             AppendIfNoSuchLine "/local/bin/tcsh"
             }
          
     

Q:

tcsh prints an error message on startup and will not read my .cshrc file.

A:

The problem is the central login file distributed with solaris. tcsh can't understand it. Add a line

          
          disable:
          
              /etc/.login type=file
          
     

You might want to replace this with a link to your own file.

Q:

Why does solaris fill up the routing table with hundreds of addresses under the loop-back interface? (see netstat -r)

A:

First of all, get the latest patches for solaris, there are bugs in the kernel of solaris 2.4 which makes this worse. Second, make sure you have a file /etc/defaultrouter with the IP address of your local gateway, if you don't intend to run your system as a router. For instance:

          files:
          
            solaris::
          
               /etc/defaultrouter o=root g=other m=644 act=touch
          
          editfiles:
          
             solaris::
          
                { /etc/defaultrouter
          
                AppendIfNoSuchLine "xxx.xxx.xxx.1"
                }
          
     

where xxx.xxx.xxx.1 is the IP address of your gateway.

Q:

When trying to boot the system, solaris fails with the error message: fork: rescource temporarily unavailable/vfork failed. The system then claims that there is something wrong with one of the file systems.

A:

The file /etc/system has probably been corrupted. If this file does not exist, solaris establish the kernel properly and will not fork any processes. Things usually die early on in the boot process. This causes the side effect that the first fork the system needs to perform (to check the disk file systems) fails and misinterprets the reason for failure of the command. This makes it look as though something is wrong with the disks. Add a line:

          
          files:
          
             /etc/system o=root g=root m=0644 action=touch
          
     

Q:

I am currently involved with setting up machines with jumpstart. Jumpstart as you may know allows handsfree installation of solaris. One of the things it allows you to do is specify a "finish" script. I am running cfengine from this script to do the bulk of the configuration. During jumpstart, the root of the machine you are installing is actually under "/a". This leads to problems with cfengine with LOCKFILEDIR and LOGFILEDIR at the very least. It would cause problems with all assumptions cfengine makes about system files too. What would be execeedingly nice would be a command line option to redefine where root is assumed to be. I realize this would be pretty hairy with respect to mounting through cfengine, but it would be very useful. For file editing and such a root prefix macro woudlprobably work ok. Let me know what you think.

A:

Define the filenames

           $(root)/filename
     

and set $(root) to "" or "/a" depending on context? That way you could the above without screwing up other things which might be needed. You can switch off the locks with -K. And you could override the vfstab location for solaris in the resource file.