kernel(1M)
NAME
kernel - UNIX system executable file containing basic
operating system services
SYNOPSIS
kernel-name [-afsrvx]
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 executable 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.
If the kernel name is not explicitly specified, then on sys-
tems capable of supporting the 64-bit kernel, the boot pro-
gram will attempt to load the 64-bit kernel in preference to
the 32-bit kernel by default. See boot(1m).
The moddir variable contains a colon-separated list of
directories that the kernel searches for modules. moddir can
be set in the /etc/system file. The minimal default is
/platform/platform-name/kernel:/kernel:/usr/kernel, but this
default can be overridden by a specific platform. It is com-
mon for many 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).
-f Causes Autoclient systems to flush and reinitialize
the client system's local cache. This flag is ignored
for all non-Autoclient systems.
-r Reconfiguration boot. The system will probe all
attached hardware devices and assign nodes in the file
system to represent only those devices actually found.
It will also configure the logical namespace in /dev
as well as the physical namespace in /devices. 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 system 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
Additionally, some of the subdirectories mentioned above
contain sparcv9 subdirectories that contain 64-bit versions
of the same module classes. For example, /kernel/drv/sparcv9
and /platform/sun4u/kernel/cpu/sparcv9.
x86
mach x86 hardware support
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
____________________________________________________________
| 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), syslogd(1M), system(4),
attributes(5)
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.
BUGS
Bugs in the kernel often result in kernel panics.
Reconfiguration boot does not currently remove filesystem
entries for devices that have been physically removed from
the system.
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