User Environment Feature Changes

Oracle Solaris 11 includes the following user environment and command-line argument changes:

• Addition of /var/user/$USER – Starting with Oracle Solaris 11.1, whenever a user logs in and successfully authenticates by using the pam_unix_cred module, a /var/user/$USER directory is explicitly created, if the directory does not already exist. This directory enables applications to store persistent data that is associated with a particular user on the host system. The /var/user/$USER directory is created upon initial credential establishment, as well during a secondary authentication when changing users by using the su, ssh, rlogin, and telnet commands. The /var/user/$USER directory does not require any administration. However, users should be aware of how the directory is created, its function, and that it is visible in the /var directory.

• Shell changes - The default shell, /bin/sh, is now linked to ksh93. The default user shell is the Bourne-again (bash) shell.

  • The legacy Bourne shell is available as /usr/sunos/bin/sh.

  • The legacy ksh88 is available as /usr/sunos/bin/ksh from the shell/ksh88 package.

  • Korn shell compatibility information is available in /usr/share/doc/ksh/COMPATIBILITY.

• Default path – The default user path is /usr/bin. The default path for the root role is /usr/bin:/usr/sbin.

• Command locations – Administration commands that were previously in /sbin have moved to /usr/sbin. In addition, the /sbin directory has been replaced by an /sbin → /usr/sbin symbolic link.

• MANPATH variable – The MANPATH environment variable is no longer required.

  The man command determines the appropriate MANPATH, based on the PATH environment variable setting.

• Developer tools locations – Developer tools that were previously in /usr/ccs/bin have moved to /usr/bin. The /usr/ccs/bin directory is replaced by a /usr/ccs/bin → /usr/bin symbolic link.

• File locations – Files that were previously in the /usr/sfw directory are now in /usr/bin.

• Editor changes – The vi family of editors, including /usr/bin/vi, /usr/bin/view, and /usr/bin/ex, are now links to the vim open source implementation of the vi editor. The traditional SunOS versions of these commands are available in /usr/sunos/bin/.

• Java version – Java 7 is the default Java version in this release. Java 7 includes several feature, security, and performance enhancements for Oracle Solaris, including the new OracleUcrypto Provider, which on SPARC T4 platforms directly accesses the underlying native (on-chip) T4 crypto capabilities for maximum performance while minimizing CPU load. For more details, go to http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/compatibility-417013.html.

  Change the default version to Java 7, as follows:

  # pkg set-mediator -V 1.7 java

Default Login Shell and PATH Environment Variable

In Oracle Solaris 10, the default scripting shell (/bin/sh) is the Bourne shell. In Oracle Solaris 11, /bin/sh is the Korn shell (ksh93), and the default interactive shell is the Bourne-again (bash) shell. When used as a login shell, bash retrieves configuration information from the first instance of .bash_profile, .bash_login, or .profile file.

The default PATH environment variable for bash is:

/usr/bin:/usr/sbin