In my previous write up here, I wrote a brief description of the Sun VTS (Validation and Test Suite) which can help one to run tests on any Sun Supported hardware and hardware components and report the health status and identify faulty devices. Now, lets get installing and run Sun VTS in Solaris 10.

Download the most recent stable version of SUNWvts (SUNWvts6.4ps2 at the time of writing this article) for SPARC/x86 platforms from here

NOTE: Requires Sunsolve login to download.

Sun VTS requires the following packages installed to run properly.

Core SunVTS Framework

SUNWvts_VTS6.4ps2_sparc.tar.Z (SPARC)

SUNWvts_VTS6.4ps2_x86.tar.Z (x86)

Sun VTS Tests

SUNWvtsts_VTS6.4ps2_sparc.tar.Z (SPARC)

SUNWvtsts_VTS6.4ps2_x86.tar.Z (x86)

SunVTS Framework Configuration Files in Root partition (Optional/Recommended)

SUNWvtsr_VTS6.4ps2_sparc.tar.Z

SUNWvtsr_VTS6.4ps2_x86.tar.Z
 
Sun VTS Man Pages (Optional)
SUNWvtsmn_VTS6.4ps1_sparc.tar.Z (SPARC)

SUNWvtsmn_VTS6.4ps1_x86.tar.Z (x86)

Prior to installation, it is important that any previous version of the above mentioned Sun VTS packages are removed.

To check if previous versions are installed

solaris10# pkginfo -l | grep -i vts

If found uninstall them before proceeding with the procedure

solaris10# pkgrm SUNWvts SUNWvtsr SUNWvtsts SUNWvtsmn

Download and install the latest revision of Microtasking libraries (libmtsk) patch for Solaris 10 from the following Sun Solve website:

http://sunsolve.sun.com/show.do?target=patchpage

Solaris 10 SPARC – 120753 (120753-05)

Solaris 10 x86 – 120754 (120754-05)

Download unzip and install the patch:

SPARC

solaris10# unzip 120753-05.zip

solaris10# patchadd 120753-05

x86

solaris10# unzip 120754-05.zip

solaris10# patchadd 120754-05

Now, lets get installing the Sun VTS packages.

Install SunVTS Core Framework (SPARC & x86)

solaris10#pkgadd -d . SUNWvts

That installs the required Sun VTS Core Framework package.

Install the rest of the SunVTS packages
(SunVTS Tests,config files in root & Man pages)

solaris10# pkgadd -d . SUNWvtsts SUNWvtsr SUNWvtsmn

That completes the Sun VTS package installation.

Enable the rstatd daemon

rstatd daemon is disabled by default in Solaris 10.

solaris10# svcadm enable rstatd

Export Display to your PC (GUI only)

solaris10# export DISPLAY 192.168.0.2:0

Start Sun VTS

solaris10# /opt/SUNWvts/bin/sunvts &

This should start the Sun VTS software and export GUI to your PC (if display not exported then runs tty user interface on the terminal). Sun VTS will discover devices and list available tests for your server with dezcriptive information on the server.

I discussed here about resetting the password on Sun Solaris Operating system in SPARC platform. While the procedure is almost the same wherein you boot with the CD into single user mode and mount the root partition, here we discuss the procedure to reset the password for the root user on the x86 platform.

It is recommeded that the security for the physical access to the server is restricted so as to ensure that there is no unauthorized access and anyone who follows this routine is an authorized personnel.

Boot the server with a Sun Solaris Operating System CD (I’m using a Solaris 10 CD but doesn’t matter really) or a network boot with a JumpStart server. Change the Boot order accordingly in your x86 system and start the server and launch a single user mode (No Password).

In Solaris 10, you have the default Fail Safe boot option in the Boot Loader. With this you do not need a CD or JumpStart server as selecting it will launch the Single-User shell. I haven’t used the early Solaris versions on an x86 system so if anyone knows it is availabe then please post your comments.

When you boot from the CD, select the option for the Sigle-user mode (Option 6 on Solaris 10 CD)

This will look for the currently installed Solaris OS on your system and prompts a Yes/No question to mount the Root filesystem as a Read/Write file system onto /a.

Select yes to mount the root file system (/dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 here) on /a. If you select No, no harm as you still can mount it manually using:

solaris# mount /dev/dsk/c0t0d0s0 /a

NOTE: /a is a temporary mount point that is available when you boot from CD or a JumpStart server

Now, with the root file system mounted on /a. All you need to do is to edit the shadow file and remove the encrypted password for root.

solaris# vi /a/etc/shadow

Now, exit the mounted filesysten, unmount the root filesystem and reboot the system to single-user mode booting of the disk.

solaris# cd /

solaris# umount /a

solaris# init s

This should boot of the disk and take you to the single-user mode. Press enter at the prompt to enter a password for root.

This should allow you to login to the system. Once in, set the password and change to multi-user mode.

NOTE: Single-User mode is only to ensure that the root user without password is not exposed to others if started in multi-user mode before being set with a new password.

solaris# passwd root

solaris# reboot

This should do. You should now be able to logon as root with the new password.

The Sun Device Detection Tool can help you to determine if the Devices on the system is detected by the Sun Solaris Operating System.
If your device or system is already on the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) then this may not be necessary. Click here for the HCL in Sun Solaris.

However, there is no harm in running the tool. The tool also allows you to submit the device to HCL under the Reported to Work Function (RWF).

The tool can test the X86 system for either Sun Solaris OS or for the Sun Solaris Express Edition.
The Sun Device Detection Tool 1.2 can be downloaded from here and can run on X86 systems running Windows XP, Linux (with PCI tools installed) with Sun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed.
Acccept the License Agreement and download the tool.

1. Once downloaded, click Run to start the tool.

2. Select the Operating System (Solaris OS or Solaris Express Edition) and click Start.

This starts the tool and checks all the detected tool in the system.
3. Once complete, the tool will provide a list of device detected and the status of the drivers available.
A Green indicates the device is compatible with the Sun Solaris OS
A Red indicates that the device is not compatible with Sun Solaris or in other words there is no driver for the device
A Yellow indicates tha the device has limited support and may or may work properly with Sun Solaris Operating System.

Solaris Operating System for x86 Installation Check Tool checks the system on which you try to install the operating system and report if the system can run the Sun solaris OS properly.
The download is a simple ISO file which then needs to burnt onto a CD to create a boot CD. Once created, start the X86 system with the CD. The ISO can be downloaded from here.

For Sun Solaris Express Edition, click here

The tool checks and reports whether your x86 system can install the Solaris 10 8/07 OS. The Installation Check Tool loads the Solaris 10 8/07 kernel and looks for a hard disk on your system. Reports whether Solaris drivers are available for the devices the tool detects on your x86 system. This information helps you to determine whether the Solaris 10 8/07 OS is likely to run on your system.
Installation Check Tool also produces a table that shows whether a Solaris driver is available for each device the tool detects. The table tells you whether the driver is built in to the Solaris OS or whether a third-party driver is available.

Installation Check Tool first loads the Solaris 10 8/07 kernel. Then the tool generates a report that shows the major PCI components in the system and whether Solaris drivers exist for these devices.

This report package is written to a tar file that is compressed with gzip. You have the option to copy this report file to a floppy disk or to USB storage. The report package includes the following files:

A text file that shows the same information as the screen output.
An HTML report file that shows the full content of the report. No abbreviations are used.
The output of prtconf -pv, prtdiag, and prtconf -v.
The following is an example of the text information that is displayed on your monitor:

If the system includes two devices that require a third-party driver, the driver for the second such device is labeled “T-2” in the driver column of the table and in the Third Party Driver Legend.
If a report such as the example shown above is displayed on your screen, and if you do not receive any warning message that no disk is found, then the Solaris 10 8/07 OS can be installed on this system.
The next step is to check whether drivers exist for other on-board devices, such as network devices, video devices, and audio devices.
NOTE: Sun does not warrant the behavior of any third-party driver.

Installation Check Tool gives you the option to copy this driver report to a floppy disk or to USB storage.

Solaris Operating System for x86 Installation Check Tool displays a message if your system is suitable for installing the Solaris 10 8/07 OS.

Installation Check Tool is updated periodically to include knowledge of new drivers in the driver database that the tool uses. Drivers that are integrated into the Solaris OS and third-party drivers that are known to work with the Solaris OS are included in these updates. Check this web page periodically to make sure you are using the most current release of Installation Check Tool. The tool also displays a message to remind you to check for a new release.

OpenSSH is a free opensource version of the SSH connectivity tools. OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other attacks unlike Telnet,rlogin or ftp where the data is not encrypted and transmitted in plain text. Additionally, OpenSSH provides secure tunneling capabilities and several authentication methods, and supports all SSH protocol versions.

The easiest way to install OpenSSH in Sun Solaris is to use the pre-compiled packages from sunfreeware.

The following are the packages that are required to be installed for OpenSSH to work properly in Solaris 9:

OpenSSL (Latest stable: openssl-0.9.8f)

ZLib (Latest stable: zlib-1.2.3)

GNU Compiler Collection (gcc Latest stable: libgcc-3.4.6)

TCPWrapper (Optional tcp_wrappers-7.6)

and OpenSSH itself (Latest Stable: openssh-4.7p1)

To start of, download the packages from the following sunfreeware.com links Solaris 9 x86:

gcc

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/9/libgcc-3.4.6-sol9-x86-local.gz

Zlib

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/9/zlib-1.2.3-sol9-x86-local.gz

OpenSSL

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/9/openssl-0.9.8f-sol9-x86-local.gz

OpenSSH

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/9/openssh-4.7p1-sol9-x86-local.gz

Once done, upload the files onto the server so we can start to unzip the files and install.

Unzip and install gcc

solaris9# gunzip libgcc-3.4.6-sol9-x86-local.gz

solaris9# pkgadd -d libgcc-3.4.6-sol9-x86-local

…
…
Installation of <SMCgcc> was successful.

Unzip and install zlib

solaris9# gunzip  zlib-1.2.3-sol9-x86-local.gz

solaris9# pkgadd -d zlib-1.2.3-sol9-x86-local

…
…
Installation of <SMCzlib> was successful.

Unzip and install OpenSSL

solaris9# gunzip openssl-0.9.8f-sol9-x86-local.gz

solaris9# pkgadd -d openssl-0.9.8f-sol9-x86-local
…
…
Installation of <SMCossl> was successful.

Unzip and install OpenSSH

solaris9# gunzip openssh-4.7p1-sol9-x86-local.gz

solaris9# pkgadd -d openssh-4.7p1-sol9-x86-local
…
…
Installation of <SMCossl> was successful.

The packages are now installed.

Create /var/empty directory

solaris9# mkdir /var/empty

Change directory ownership to Root user and sys group

solaris9# chown root:sys /var/empty

Change permissions

solaris9# chmod 755 /var/empty

Add sshd user & group

solaris9# groupadd ssh

solaris9# # useradd -g sshd -c ‘sshd privsep’ -d /var/empty -s /bin/false sshd

Edit the default /usr/local/sshd_config file and make the following changes:

Replace the line

Subsystem sftp /usr/libexec/sftp-server

with

Subsystem sftp /usr/local/libexec/sftp-server

Generate Keys for the server

solaris9# ssh-keygen -t rsa1 -f /usr/local/etc/ssh_host_key -N “”
solaris9# ssh-keygen -t dsa -f /usr/local/etc/ssh_host_dsa_key -N “”
solaris9# ssh-keygen -t rsa -f /usr/local/etc/ssh_host_rsa_key -N “”

sshd at Solaris startup

Add a startup script /etc/init.d/sshd as follows to enable the OpenSSH server daemon “sshd” at the startup

case “$1″ in
‘start’)
        if [ -x /usr/local/sbin/sshd ]; then
                echo “Starting the secure shell daemon”
                /usr/local/sbin/sshd &
        fi
        ;;

‘stop’)
        echo “Stopping the secure shell daemon ”
        pkill -TERM sshd
        ;;
*)
        echo “Usage: /etc/init.d/sshd { start | stop }”
        ;;
esac
exit 0

Change the ownership & permissions on the startup script

solaris9# chown root:sys /etc/init.d/sshd
solaris9# chmod 555 /etc/init.d/sshd

Create a Symlink to the startup script at /etc/rc2/d/S98sshd

# ln -s /etc/init.d/sshd /etc/rc2.d/S98sshd

That is it. All done and ready to go. Try connecting to the server using a ssh client like PUTTY.

OpenSSH is a free opensource version of the SSH connectivity tools. OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other attacks unlike Telnet,rlogin or ftp where the data is not encrypted and transmitted in plain text. Additionally, OpenSSH provides secure tunneling capabilities and several authentication methods, and supports all SSH protocol versions.

Solaris 10 is by default installed with SSH server and the clients. However, if you have chosen to ignore SSH at the time of installation or have started the install with a minimal install then you may need to install OpenSSH manually.

The easiest way to install OpenSSH in Sun Solaris is to use the pre-compiled packages from sunfreeware.

The following are the packages that are required to be installed for OpenSSH to work properly in Solaris 10:

OpenSSL (Latest stable: openssl-0.9.8f)

ZLib (Latest stable: zlib-1.2.3)

GNU Compiler Collection (gcc Latest stable: libgcc-3.4.6)

TCPWrapper (Optional tcp_wrappers-7.6)

and OpenSSH itself (Latest Stable: openssh-4.7p1)

To start of, download the packages from the following sunfreeware.com links for Sun Solaris 10 X86 platform:

gcc

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/10/libgcc-3.4.6-sol10-x86-local.gz

Zlib

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/10/zlib-1.2.3-sol10-x86-local.gz

OpenSSL

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/10/openssl-0.9.8f-sol10-x86-local.gz

OpenSSH

ftp://ftp.sunfreeware.com/pub/freeware/intel/10/openssh-4.7p1-sol10-x86-local.gz

Once done, upload the files onto the server so we can start to unzip the files and install.

Unzip and install gcc

solaris10# gunzip libgcc-3.4.6-sol10-x86-local.gz

solaris10# pkgadd -d libgcc-3.4.6-sol10-x86-local

…
…
Installation of <SMCgcc> was successful.

Unzip and install zlib

solaris10# gunzip  zlib-1.2.3-sol10-x86-local.gz

solaris10# pkgadd -d zlib-1.2.3-sol10-x86-local

…
…
Installation of <SMCzlib> was successful.

Unzip and install OpenSSL

solaris10# gunzip openssl-0.9.8f-sol10-x86-local.gz

solaris10# pkgadd -d openssl-0.9.8f-sol10-x86-local
…
…
Installation of <SMCossl> was successful.

Unzip and install OpenSSH

solaris10# gunzip openssh-4.7p1-sol10-x86-local.gz

solaris10# pkgadd -d openssh-4.7p1-sol10-x86-local
…
…
Installation of <SMCossl> was successful.

The packages are now installed.

Create /var/empty directory

solaris10# mkdir /var/empty

Change directory ownership to Root user and sys group

solaris10# chown root:sys /var/empty

Change permissions

solaris10# chmod 755 /var/empty

Add sshd user & group

solaris10# groupadd ssh

solaris10# # useradd -g sshd -c ‘sshd privsep’ -d /var/empty -s /bin/false sshd

Edit the default /usr/local/sshd_config file and make the following changes:

Replace the line

Subsystem sftp /usr/libexec/sftp-server

with

Subsystem sftp /usr/local/libexec/sftp-server

Generate Keys for the server

solaris10# ssh-keygen -t rsa1 -f /usr/local/etc/ssh_host_key -N “”
solaris10# ssh-keygen -t dsa -f /usr/local/etc/ssh_host_dsa_key -N “”
solaris10# ssh-keygen -t rsa -f /usr/local/etc/ssh_host_rsa_key -N “”

Enable OpenSSH server daemon sshd to run at the system startup

Edit /lib/svc/method/sshd file and change the path for the SSH DIR, KEYGEN & the start daemon as follows:

SSHDIR=/usr/local/etc/ssh
KEYGEN=”/usr/local/bin/ssh-keygen -q”

‘start’)
         /usr/local/sbin/sshd

That is it. All done and ready to go. Try connecting to the server using a ssh client like PUTTY.