Solaris 8 System Administration I (SA-238)

»

Details below

Supports Sun Certification

Who Can Benefit

Back to top

Prerequisites

• Perform basic UNIX tasks
• Understand basic UNIX commands
• Use the vi text editor
• Interact with a windowing system

Back to top

Skills Gained

• Discuss the client-server environment at Sun Microsystems and other important system administration terms and concepts
• Add users to the system using both admintool and command-line methods
• Configure user initialization files to provide a consistent login environment
• Implement basic system security
• Identify the function of root directory components
• Properly set file permissions using access control lists (ACLs)
• Use the Solaris 8 Operating System device naming conventions to configure and name devices
• Manage disk devices
• Use the format utility to display information and set up disk partitions
• Monitor and mount file systems including CD-ROM and PC diskette devices
• Perform maintenance on corrupted file systems
• Manage processes
• Configure print services
• Understand boot protocols and options and modify electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) boot parameters
• Understand and perform booting and shutdown procedures and options
• Understand and change system states on the Solaris Operating System server
• Install the Solaris Operating System on a standalone system, including update patches
• Use the pkgadd command to add software packages
• Perform file system backups and recovery procedures

Back to top

Related Courses

Before:

• Fundamentals of Solaris 8 Operating System for System Administrators (SA-118)

After:

• Solaris 8 System Administration II (SA-288)
• Shell Programming for System Administrators (SA-245)

Back to top

Course Content

Module 1 - Introducing the Solaris 8 Operating System

• Define the roles of a Solaris OS system administrator
• Define common system administration terms

Module 2 - Adding Users

• Create and manage user accounts on the local system using the admintool utility
• Describe the format of the files /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow for securing login access
• Describe the format of the /etc/group file for maintaining shared and restricted access to files and directories
• Add, modify, and delete user accounts on the local system with the commands useradd, usermod, and userdel
• Add, modify, and delete group accounts for the local system with the commands groupadd, groupmod, and groupdel
• Define the two different types of shell initialization files
• Describe the shell startup activities during login for the three main Solaris Operating Environment shells
• List the shell initialization files used to set up a user's work environment at login
• Describe the purpose of the /etc/skel directory
• Modify the initialization files to customize a user's work environment

Module 3 - System Security

• Create the /var/adm/loginlog file to save failed login attempts
• Monitor system usage with the commands finger, last, and rusers
• Use the su command to become the root user or another user on the system
• Modify the /etc/default/login file to restrict root access
• Use the commands id and groups to identify users and their group memberships
• Change a file's owner or a file's group using the commands chown and chgrp, respectively
• Explain how the special permissions setuid, setgid, and the Sticky Bit can affect system security
• Create, modify, and delete ACLs on files
• Control remote login access by maintaining three basic files: /etc/host.equiv, $HOME/.rhosts, and /etc/ftpusers

Module 4 - The Directory Hierarchy

• Identify the four main file types in the Solaris Operating Environment
• Describe the functions provided by regular files, directories, symbolic links, device files, and hard links
• Define the function of each subdirectory found directly within the root directory

Module 5 - Device Configuration

• Describe the disk components: sectors, tracks, and cylinders
• Define the term disk slice
• Identify a disk device by its logical device name, physical device name, and instance name
• Describe the purpose of the /etc/path_to_inst file
• List a system's device configuration information using the prtconf command
• Display the system's current disk configuration using the format command
• Show how to invoke a reconfiguration boot after adding a peripheral device to the system
• Describe how devices are reconfigured using the devfsadm command

Module 6 - Disks, Slices, and Format

• Explain the term disk slice
• Describe and create a disk label
• Define and modify a partition table using the format utility
• Describe the purpose of the /etc/format.dat file
• Use the format utility to save and retrieve customized partition tables
• Demonstrate how to view the disk's volume table of contents (VTOC) using two different commands: verify and prtvtoc
• Use the fmthard command to update a disk's VTOC

Module 7 - The Solaris Operating Environment ufs File Systems

• Describe the three different types of file systems in the Solaris Operating System
• Define the term file system
• List the components that are contained in the structure of a file system
• Create a new ufs file system using the newfs command

Module 8 - Mounting File Systems

• Define the term mount point
• Identify mounted and unmounted file systems
• Mount file systems using the commands mount and mountall
• Describe some of the commonly used options of the mount command: noatime, nolargefiles, and logging
• Describe the purpose and format of the /etc/mnttab and /etc/vfstab files
• Define the procedure for mounting different types of file systems
• List the system files used to determine a file system's type
• Unmount local and remote file systems using the commands umount and umountall
• Forcibly unmount a busy file system
• Describe how to mount and access file systems residing on removable media devices, such as diskettes and CD-ROMs

Module 9 - Maintaining File Systems

• Describe why fsck is necessary
• Describe how to check and repair a file system
• Display disk space usage by file systems
• Display disk usage of a directory
• Display disk usage by user name
• Demonstrate how to repair the /etc/vfstab file when the system fails to boot completely

Module 10 - Scheduled Process Control

• Start the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) Process Manager to monitor and control active processes
• Report active process statistics using the prstat command
• Schedule the automatic execution of commands, programs, or scripts using the commands at and crontab
• Define the files used to control user access to the commands at and crontab
• Create and execute an at job
• Describe the location and format of a crontab file
• Demonstrate the steps to create, view, edit, and remove a crontab file

Module 11 - The Solaris Operating System LP Print Service

• Describe the basic functions of the Solaris Operating System LP print service
• Define the important LP print service directories, files, and daemons
• Describe the function of a print server and a print client
• Define the terms local printer, network printer, and remote printer
• Use the Solaris 8 Print Manager to configure a network printer
• List the resources used by the print service to locate the destination printer
• Describe the differences between the local printing process and a remote printing process
• Use the print service administration commands: accept, reject, enable, disable, and lpmove
• Configure the LP print services from the command line using lpadmin

Module 12 - The Boot PROM

• Describe the main functions of the boot programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip and the nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) chip
• Explain the basic elements of the power-on self-test (POST) and the purpose of the Stop key to control the POST
• Invoke some common boot PROM commands from the ok prompt to customize how the system boots
• Use boot command options to boot a system in different situations
• Demonstrate how to display the device tree to list all the configured devices using the show-devs command
• Use the probe- commands to identify what peripheral devices (disks, tape drives, or CD-ROMs) are currently connected to the system
• Determine a system's default boot device using the devalias command
• Create a custom device alias name for a new boot device using the nvalias or nvedit commands
• Delete a custom device alias name with the nvunalias command
• Use the eeprom command within the Solaris Operating System to view or change the values of NVRAM parameters
• Demonstrate the steps to interrupt an unresponsive system

Module 13 - The System Boot Process

• Describe the four phases of the boot process
• Identify the directories that contain the kernel and its loadable modules
• Modify the kernel's configuration file
• Describe the eight Solaris Operating Environment run levels
• Define a system's current run level using the who -r command
• Explain the purpose of the /etc/inittab file
• Describe the steps in the init process to bring a system to multiuser mode
• List the directories that hold the run control scripts used to stop and start system processes and services
• Describe the steps to add a new run control script
• Use the following commands to shut down the system: init, shutdown, halt, poweroff, and reboot

Module 141 - Installing the Solaris 8 Operating System on a Standalone

• State the different installation methods available for the Solaris 8 Operating System software
• Explain the hardware requirements for a Solaris 8 Operating System installation
• Identify the different Solaris 8 Operating System software CD-ROM editions
• List the five Solaris software groups
• Demonstrate how to install the Solaris 8 Operating System software on a networked, standalone system using Solaris Web Start software

Module 15 - Administering Software Packages

• Describe a software package
• View software package information using the pkginfo command
• Add a software package from the Solaris Software CD-ROM using the pkgadd command
• Verify the attributes and contents of a software package using the pkgchk command
• Remove a software package installed on the disk using the pkgrm command
• View, add, and remove software packages using admintool
• Add and remove a software package from a spool directory using pkgadd and pkgrm

Module 16 - Managing Software Patches

• List the locations to access patches
• Explain how to access patches from the World Wide Web and anonymous ftp
• Describe the different patch formats
• Prepare a patch for installation
• Install a patch using the patchadd command
• Demonstrate how to verify what patches are currently installed
• Remove a patch using the patchrm command

Module 17 - Backup and Recovery

• Identify the logical device names for tape drives
• Define the two different types of file system backups
• Back up a file system to tape using the ufsdump command
• Describe how to back up a file system to a remote tape drive
• Explain the purpose of the /etc/dumpdates file
• Restore a file system from tape using the ufsrestore command
• Describe the procedure for recovering file systems
• Manage multiple archives using the tar command
• Control the actions of the tape drive with the mt command
• Use the fssnap command to create a ufs snapshot of a mounted file system for backup purposes

Back to top

Browse Other Course Topic Areas