UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

i am using sunOS 5.8. What is the command to know the OS bit (8,32,64...) while the server is under production and is it possible to change from one bit to another??

replies appreciated

raguram R

isainfo -kv will show whether you are running 32 or 64 bit. There is no 8 bit Solaris.

You may be stuck at 32 if you are using 32 bit hardware. If you're using 64 bit hardware, you can use a 32 bit or 64 bit kernel. I would never use a 32 bit kernel if I have a choice. I'm not sure how you flip back and forth...but my guess it that it takes a re-install. You certainly can't do it wlhile the system is running.

The command you are looking for is isainfo. Do a man isainfo to see which options you want to use to answer your specific question as it can report on device drivers, applications, and other things and there are various levels of detail it can report.

As far as changing goes, that is a kernel parameter so doing it on the fly is impossible. It is possible when you installed the OS it has both 32 and 64 bit versions on there so by changing your boot settings somehow and rebooting you could come up with a different kernel, but I've never tried that and wouldn't know how to do it.