Managing Boot Environments

Previously, you could perform a live upgrade or use the patchadd command to update your BE. In Oracle Solaris 11, the pkg update command is used to update a BE, or you can use the beadm command set to create, display, and remove BEs.

Tools for Managing Boot Environments

In Oracle Solaris 11, the beadm utility replaces the lu set of commands for managing ZFS BEs. In most cases, the pkg update command creates and updates a clone BE, so you boot back to the previous BE, if necessary.

Table 6-3 Comparison of Boot Environment Command Syntax

See Creating and Administering Oracle Solaris 11.1 Boot Environments and beadm(1M).

The system performs the following actions in most cases:

1. Creates a clone of the current BE that is a bootable image.

2. Updates the packages in the clone BE, but does not update any packages in the current BE.

3. Sets the new BE as the default boot choice the next time the system is booted. The current BE remains as an alternate boot choice.

Use the beadm command to create, rename, mount, unmount, activate, or destroy BEs.

Reviewing the Initial ZFS BE After an Installation

After a system is installed, the following root pool file systems and components are available:

# zfs list -r rpool
NAME                       USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT
rpool                     13.0G   121G  4.58M  /rpool
rpool/ROOT                6.81G   121G    31K  legacy
rpool/ROOT/solaris        6.81G   121G  4.07G  /
rpool/ROOT/solaris/var     364M   121G   207M  /var
rpool/VARSHARE              50K   121G    50K  /var/share
rpool/dump                4.13G   121G  4.00G  -
rpool/export                63K   121G    32K  /export
rpool/export/home           31K   121G    31K  /export/home
rpool/swap                2.06G   121G  2.00G  -

• rpool – Is the root pool and a mount point containing boot-related components.

• rpool/ROOT – Is a special component that is not accessible and requires no administration.

• rpool/ROOT/solaris – Is the actual root ZFS BE, which is accessible from the / directory.

• rpool/ROOT/solaris/var – Is the separate var file system.

• rpool/VARSHARE – Is a special component for the /var/shared file system that is new in Oracle Solaris 11.1 For more information, see Root File System Requirements and Changes.

• rpool/dump – Is the dump volume.

• rpool/swap – Is the swap volume.

• rpool/export/home – Is a default mount point for home directories. In an enterprise environment with many users, you might consider moving export/home to another pool.

How to Update Your ZFS Boot Environment

To update a ZFS boot environment, use the pkg update command. A clone or backup BE is created and automatically activated in most cases. The pkg update command displays whether a backup BE or a new BE is created.

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Caution - If you update your BE and also upgrade your root pool version, if one is available for the recent update, you will not be able to boot back to a previous BE, if previous BE is in a lower pool version. Make sure you have tested all the features and you are satisfied with the current release update before upgrading your pool version. For information about upgrading your pool version, see Upgrading ZFS Storage Pools in Oracle Solaris 11.1 Administration: ZFS File Systems.

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1. Display your existing BE information.

   # beadm list
   BE        Active Mountpoint Space Policy Created          
   --        ------ ---------- ----- ------ -------          
   solaris   NR     /          9.71G static 2013-01-04 12:35 

   In the above output, NR means the BE is active now and will be the active BE on reboot.

2. Update your BE.

   # pkg update
                   Packages to remove:   117
                  Packages to install:   186
                   Packages to update:   315
              Create boot environment:   Yes
   DOWNLOAD                                  PKGS       FILES    XFER (MB)
   Completed                              618/618 29855/29855  600.7/600.7
   .
   .
   .

   If your existing BE name is solaris, a new BE, solaris-1, is created and automatically activated after the pkg update operation is complete.

3. Reboot the system to complete the BE activation. Then, confirm your BE status.

   # init 6
   .
   .
   .
   # beadm list
   BE        Active Mountpoint Space  Policy Created          
   --        ------ ---------- -----  ------ -------          
   solaris   -      -          18.19M static 2013-01-04 12:35 
   solaris-1 NR     /          9.82G  static 2013-01-31 13:03 

4. If an error occurs when booting the new BE, activate and boot to the previous BE.

   # beadm activate solaris
   # init 6

   If the activated BE does not boot, see How to Boot From a Backup BE for Recovery Purposes.