Solaris

Installed Solaris 0509 from DVD and it configured network interfaces as e1000g1 to e1000g4.

Problem is after installation it fails to plumb this interface.

Weird thing is if I do sys-unconfig it then tries to configure ipge1 to ipge4.

Confused. Which is correct?

p.s. Cross posted to oracle forums also.

try a newer version of solaris 10 and/or patch the system with the latest patch cluster.

How do you know that it fails to plumb? What is the error message?

If the install process configures e1000g1 thru' e1000g4 it should create /etc/hostname.e1000g1 thru /etc/hostname.e1000g4 files.

A booting Solaris knows that it should plumb these interfaces by the presence (or not) of these files. If this file(s) do not exist then create them manually. (The only text in the files will be the nodename for that interface as a single ASCII string. Nothing else.)

Ensure that /etc/hostname.e1000g1 exists (or otherwise create it yourself) and reboot the system. What happens?

Also, tell us what /etc/hostname.* files exist on your root hard disk filesystem.

Got to use 0509. And have installed S10 recommended cluster.

---------- Post updated at 09:48 AM ---------- Previous update was at 09:38 AM ----------

Failed to plumb IPv4 interface(s): e1000g0
Feb 9 11:22:28 svc.startd[7]: svc:/network/physical:default: Method "/lib/svc/method/net-physical" failed with exit status 96.
Feb 9 11:22:28 svc.startd[7]: network/physical:default misconfigured: transitioned to maintenance (see 'svcs -xv' for details)

ls -al /etc/hostname*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 10 Feb 8 19:38 /etc/hostname.e1000g0
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12 Feb 8 19:38 /etc/hostname.e1000g1

svcs -xv
svc:/network/physical:default (physical network interfaces)
State: maintenance since Sat Feb 09 11:22:28 2013
Reason: Start method exited with $SMF_EXIT_ERR_CONFIG.
See: http://sun.com/msg/SMF-8000-KS
See: man -M /usr/share/man -s 1M ifconfig
See: /etc/svc/volatile/network-physical:default.log
Impact: 6 dependent services are not running:
svc:/milestone/network:default
svc:/network/rpc/bootparams:default
svc:/system/webconsole:console
svc:/network/shares/group:default
svc:/network/ipfilter:default
svc:/network/ssh:default

svc:/system/fpsd:default (FP Scrubber - Online Floating Point Unit Test)
State: offline since Sat Feb 09 11:22:30 2013
Reason: Dependency svc:/system/system-log:default is absent.
See: http://sun.com/msg/SMF-8000-E2
See: man -M /usr/share/man -s 1M fpsd
Impact: This service is not running.

Interestingly, if I try ifconfig -a plumb it finds all the ipge interfaces now.

Don't understand how it thinks its e1000g during install but after a reboot it can't find this and think they're all ipge?

In 2006 I think, Sun switched from the ipge-driver to the more advanced e1000g driver for the Intel PRO/1000 adapter present in a T2000.

I can't explain, why this setup fault happened. But there is a shellscript /usr/sbin/e1000g_transition which will help you to switch your configuraion to the e1000g driver.

The help text taken from the script:

Code:

This script allows you to perform an optional driver upgrade
for the Intel PRO/1000 device present on this system from the "ipge"
network driver to the Sun standard "e1000g" network driver. The
e1000g driver include features such as link aggregation as well as
superior performance in most environments.  Moving forward, e1000g
will benefit from new features as they become available, bug fixes,
and performance enhancements.  The disadvantage is that some
applications configuration files may require modification to use
e1000g if they reference the ipge network interface.

This script must be run in single user mode.
This script will alter network interfaces and related system
configuration files. Configuration files for 3rd party applications
will NOT be changed. After running this script, applications present
on the system may require maintenance. The system may be in an
unsecured state. The effects of this script may be reversed using
the backout (-b) option.


For the latest information regarding this script, please refer
to Sun Alert ID 102502. This Sun Alert can be accessed from
http://sunsolve.sun.com.
Use the Sun Alert ID (102502) as the search query and choose
"Sun Alert Notifications" under "Sun Solve Collections."

Once the script has completed a system reboot will be required
to complete the upgrade.

That is weird but since it's a T2000 I would check that the firmware/OBP/hypervisor versions are up to date.

I've had some nasty experiences with Solaris version upgrades and/or putting on patchsets where the system crashes. Assuming it was caused by just a glitch I've recovered the system and done it over and over before searching and finding that the firmware was incompatible but Sun (Oracle) gave no warning in version release notes and/or patchset release notes. I've only ever had this problem with T2000's.

Do you know the history of your box? What version of firmware does it have and is it up to date?

Search unix.com for stuff like "T2000 patching".

After all the bad experience I have my own rule that if a T2000 gives any trouble always upgrade firmware/OBP/hypervisor before anything else.

Hope that helps.