Solaris Administration Interview Questions & Answers
1. Differences between Solaris 10 and 11
Solaris 10 uses traditional init.d scripts, while Solaris 11 fully integrates SMF. Solaris 11 uses IPS for
package management, supports kernel zones, and introduces network virtualization with VNICs. Boot
environments are also easier to manage with 'beadm'.
2. Use of SMF (Service Management Facility)
SMF manages Solaris services reliably. Commands include 'svcs -a', 'svcadm enable <svc>', and 'svcs -xv'
for diagnostics. It enables automatic service restarts and dependency tracking.
3. What is a Solaris Zone?
Zones are isolated OS-level virtualization. Global zones have full control; non-global zones are for apps.
Kernel zones have their own kernel (Solaris 11). Configure zones using zonecfg, install using zoneadm.
4. How do you patch a Solaris system?
Solaris 10 uses 'smpatch' and 'patchadd'. Solaris 11 uses 'pkg update' and 'beadm' to safely update using
boot environments.
5. How to check disk usage and performance?
'df -h' and 'du -sh' show disk usage. Use 'iostat -xcnz 5', 'prstat', and 'zpool iostat' for performance checks.
6. What is ZFS?
ZFS is a modern file system with features like built-in volume management, snapshots, checksumming, and
compression. It offers better scalability and reliability compared to UFS.
7. Resetting Root Password
Boot into single-user mode (ok boot -s), mount the root filesystem, and edit /etc/shadow to reset or remove
the root password hash.
Solaris Administration Interview Questions & Answers
8. What are VNICs and how to configure?
Use 'dladm create-vnic -l net0 vnic0' and 'ipadm' commands to assign IPs. VNICs support virtualized
networking in Solaris 11.
9. Live Upgrade / Boot Environments
In Solaris 11, use 'beadm create <BE>' and 'beadm activate' to patch safely. No downtime is needed.
10. User and Group Management
Use 'useradd', 'groupadd', 'passwd'. User info is stored in /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, and /etc/group.
11. Cron Jobs
Edit with 'crontab -e'. Format: '0 2 * * * /script.sh'. Logs in /var/cron/log or syslog.
12. Hard vs Soft Links
Hard links point to inodes; soft links point to file paths. Hard links survive file deletion.
13. List Installed Packages (Solaris 11)
Use 'pkg list', 'pkg info <pkg>', or 'pkg search'. Solaris 10 uses 'pkginfo'.
14. Rebooting Zones
'zoneadm -z <zonename> reboot' or 'halt'. Zones can be independently managed.
15. Troubleshooting Boot Failure
Use OBP (ok prompt), boot with '-v' or into single-user mode (-s). Run fsck, check SMF logs and
/var/adm/messages.
