kernel(1M)						  System Administration Commands						kernel(1M)

NAME

       kernel - UNIX system executable file containing basic operating system services

SYNOPSIS

       kernel-name [-asrvx] [-m smf_options] [-i altinit]

DESCRIPTION

       The  operating  system image, or kernel, is the collection of software comprising the image files (unix and genunix) and the modules loaded
       at any instant in time. The system will not function without a kernel to control it.

       The kernel is loaded by the boot(1M) command in a machine-specific way. The kernel may be loaded from disk, CD-ROM, or DVD (diskfull  boot)
       or  over  the  network  (diskless boot). In either case, the directories under /platform and /kernel must be readable and must contain exe-
       cutable code which is able to perform the required kernel service. If the -a flag is given, the user is able to supply different  pathnames
       for the default locations of the kernel and modules. See boot(1M) for more information on loading a specific kernel.

       The  moddir  variable contains a list of module directories separated by whitespace. moddir can be set in the /etc/system file. The minimal
       default is:

	 /platform/platform-name/kernel /kernel /usr/kernel

       This default can be supplemented by a specific platform. It is common for many SPARC systems to override the default path with:

	 /platform/platform-name/kernel:/platform/hardware-class-name
	      /kernel:/kernel:/usr/kernel

       where platform-name can be found using the -i option of uname(1), and hardware-class-name can be found using the -m option of uname(1).

       The kernel configuration can be controlled using the /etc/system file (see system(4)).

       genunix is the platform-independent component of the base kernel.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -a

	   Asks the user for configuration information, such as where to find the system file, where to mount root, and even override the name	of
	   the	kernel	itself.  Default  responses  will  be  contained in square brackets ([ ]), and the user may simply enter RETURN to use the
	   default response (note that RETURN is labeled ENTER on some keyboards). To help repair a damaged /etc/system file, enter  /dev/null	at
	   the prompt that asks for the pathname of the system configuration file. See system(4).

       -i altinit

	   Select  an  alternative  executable to be the primordial process. altinit must be a valid path to an executable. The default primordial
	   process is init(1M).

       -m smf_options

	   The smf_options include two categories of options to control booting behavior of the service management facility: recovery options  and
	   messages options.

	   Message  options  determine	the  type  and amount of messages that smf(5) displays during boot. Service options determine the services
	   which are used to boot the system.

	   Recovery options

	   debug

	       Prints standard per-service output and all svc.startd messages to log.

	   milestone=[milestone]

	       Boot with some SMF services temporarily disabled, as indicated by milestone. milestone can be "none", "single-user",  "multi-user",
	       "multi-user-server", or "all". See the milestone subcommand of svcadm(1M).

	   Messages options

	   quiet

	       Prints standard per-service output and error messages requiring administrative intervention.

	   verbose

	       Prints standard per-service output with more informational messages.

       -r

	   Reconfiguration  boot. The system will probe all attached hardware devices and configure the logical namespace in /dev. See add_drv(1M)
	   and rem_drv(1M) for additional information about maintaining device drivers.

       -s

	   Boots only to init level 's'. See init(1M).

       -v

	   Boots with verbose messages enabled. If this flag is not given, the messages are still printed, but the output is directed to the  sys-
	   tem logfile. See syslogd(1M).

       -x

	   Does  not  boot  in clustered mode. This option only has an effect when a version of Sun Cluster software that supports this option has
	   been installed.

EXAMPLES

       See boot(1M) for examples and instructions on how to boot.

FILES

       /kernel

	   Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a particular instruction set that are needed for booting the system.  of  the
	   core image file.

       /platform/platform-name/kernel

	   The platform-specific kernel components.

       /platform/hardware-class-name/kernel

	   The kernel components specific to this hardware class.

       /usr/kernel

	   Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a particular instruction set.

       The directories in this section can potentially contain the following subdirectories:

       drv

	   Loadable device drivers

       exec

	   The modules that execute programs stored in various file formats.

       fs

	   File system modules

       misc

	   Miscellaneous system-related modules

       sched

	   Operating system schedulers

       strmod

	   System V STREAMS loadable modules

       sys

	   Loadable system calls

   SPARC
       cpu

	   Processor specific modules

       tod

	   Time-Of-Day hardware interface modules

       As  only  64-bit  SPARC	platforms  are supported, all SPARC executable modules are contained within sparcv9 directories in the directories
       listed above.

   x86
       mach

	   x86 hardware support

       Modules comprising the 32-bit x86 kernel are contained in the above directories, with the 64-bit x86  kernel  components  contained  within
       amd64 subdirectories.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWcar, SUNWcarx 	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       uname(1),  isainfo(1),  add_drv(1M), boot(1M), init(1M), kadb(1M), rem_drv(1M), savecore(1M), svc.startd(1M), svcadm(1M), syslogd(1M), sys-
       tem(4), attributes(5), smf(5), devfs(7FS)

   SPARC Only
       monitor(1M)

DIAGNOSTICS

       The kernel gives various warnings and error messages. If the kernel detects an unrecoverable fault, it will panic or halt.

NOTES

       Reconfiguration boot will, by design, not remove /dev entries for some classes of devices that have been physically removed from  the  sys-
       tem.

SunOS 5.11							    27 Nov 2007 							kernel(1M)