FAQ for Access Changes to SunSolve and the Sun System Handbook

April, 2005

This FAQ is designed to answer specific questions about the recent changes to SunSolve and the Sun System Handbook.

What Happened?

As of April 5, 2005, Sun requires a Support Contract for external customers to access much of the support-related information in the Sun System Handbook and the majority of the current SunSolve knowledgebase.

These changes will not affect technical manuals available at docs.sun.com, or information found on the BigAdmin site.

Why Is Sun Doing This?

Sun is working to ensure its Contract Customers have access to the highest level of quality support via the web. Sun is also looking to better protect its Intellectual Property and provide a consistent methodology to structure which content is available to all users and which is available only to Contract Customers.

Sun initiated this process in 2004 during the SunSolve entitlement project. This project ensured the following:

• Every user registering for a SunSolve login is required to provide a valid contract number.
• All existing SunSolve users must have a valid contract tied to their username in order to log in to SunSolve.
• A SunSolve user whose contract is about to expire is notified 45 days in advance and must provide a valid (unexpired) contract to maintain access.

What Changed for Users With a Support Contract?

Absolutely nothing. These users will continue to have access to all support materials on SunSolve and in the Sun System Handbook. These users simply need to log in to SunSolve as they normally do.

If you have a Support Contract, but have never logged in to SunSolve, simply go to SunSolve and and click on "Login".

What Is Available to Users Without a Support Contract?

All of the following will be available to the general Sun community:

• SunSolve
• The Archived Collection, which includes information about Sun's EOSL (End Of Service Life) products
• All security-related information, including all Security Sun Alerts
• All resolved Availability and Data Loss Sun Alerts
• Patch README documents for publicly-available patches
• The Sun System Handbook
• Hardware Specifications
• A limited version of the Full Components List (FCL), including:
• All "x-option" part numbers
• All related manufacturing part number(s)
• Part descriptions
• The ability to buy the part via the SunStore (U.S. only)
• Links to related documentation

Why Are You Changing Access to the Sun System Handbook?

Sun's goal is to continue to provide important "pre-sales" information to all customers. Any user will be able to continue using the Handbook to research part and system purchases. Access to detailed support-related (post-sales) information will require a contract.

How Do Users Get to the Sun System Handbook?

A separate username and password are not required for the Handbook. Access to the contract-side of the Sun System Handbook is provided via a user's SunSolve username and password. A user should log in to SunSolve and then click on the link to the Sun System Handbook or navigate to the Handbook and click "login".

What About Patches?

Solaris 10 Updates

Information on the policy for Solaris updates is available on the SunSolve, Software Update Entitlement Policy for Solaris web page.

All Other Updates

• The changes to SunSolve and the Sun System Handbook mentioned above will not affect the current policy for distributing updates.
• Currently, the majority of non-Solaris 10 updates are available to all Sun users, while a small number of third-party patches are available only to customers with a valid Support Contract.
• Any future changes to this policy will be clearly communicated via SunSolve and other Sun support sites.

How Does This Affect Partners?

There should be no impact for Sun's Partners. The majority of Sun's Partners have a Support Contract with Sun, and they should use this Contract to access SunSolve.

If a Partner does not have a Support Contract, access to the Sun System Handbook and certain documents from the SunSolve knowledgebase is available via SPE (the Sun Partner Exchange). A Partner can request access to this site at the Service Partner Exchange login screen. The "InfoPartner" application on the SPE site provides access to the Sun System Handbook and parts of the SunSolve knowledgebase.

What About the Open Source Community?

These changes will not affect Sun's commitment to the open source community. Sun continues to advocate for open standards. These changes restrict access to certain support materials, but in no way derail Sun's ongoing desire to share its products and technology with the world.

Where Can I Get a Support Contract?

For as little as $120 you can acquire a Support Contract, or Service Plan, from Sun.

If you are interested in purchasing a Contract or Service Plan, you can do so on either of these web pages:

• Sun System Service Plans
• Solaris Subscriptions

What About Warranty Support?

Customers without any type of Sun Support Contract or Service Plan do not have access to the contract-side of SunSolve or the Sun System Handbook. Details on Sun warranty support are available in the Sun Global Warranty Support: Overview.

Please include the customer name, contact information, and warranty information (serial number) in the email.

What About Time & Materials Customers?

Customers without any type of Sun Support Contract or Service Plan do not have access to the contract-side of SunSolve or the Sun System Handbook.

However, once a Time & Materials (T&M) customer is engaged (over the phone or in the field) with a Sun Support Engineer, the Engineer MAY forward contract-only documents to the T&M customer via email. The documents (or the applicable part of any document) should be pasted into an email (not sent via a link). The T&M customer may NOT re-distribute or re-publish the material, and all legal rights to the material are maintained by Sun.

What If I Have Problems Logging in to the SunSolve Site?

Please visit this MySun page for login problems: SunSulve Account Setup.

Where Can I Ask Additional Questions?

Use the 'Contact' link below.