2 .\" Copyright (c) 2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved
3 .\" Copyright 1989 AT&T
4 .\" The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the Common Development and Distribution License (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
5 .\" You can obtain a copy of the license at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE or http://www.opensolaris.org/os/licensing. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
6 .\" When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each file and include the License file at usr/src/OPENSOLARIS.LICENSE. If applicable, add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information: Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
7 .TH KERNEL 8 "Nov 27, 2007"
9 kernel \- UNIX system executable file containing basic operating system
14 \fBkernel-name\fR [\fB-asrvx\fR] [\fB-m \fIsmf_options\fR\fR] [\fB-i \fIaltinit\fR\fR]
20 The operating system image, or kernel, is the collection of software comprising
21 the image files (\fBunix\fR and \fBgenunix\fR) and the modules loaded at any
22 instant in time. The system will not function without a kernel to control it.
25 The kernel is loaded by the \fBboot\fR(8) command in a machine-specific way.
26 The kernel may be loaded from disk, \fBCD-ROM\fR, or DVD (\fBdiskfull boot\fR)
27 or over the network (\fBdiskless boot\fR). In either case, the directories
28 under \fB/platform\fR and \fB/kernel\fR must be readable and must contain
29 executable code which is able to perform the required kernel service. If the
30 \fB-a\fR flag is given, the user is able to supply different pathnames for the
31 default locations of the kernel and modules. See \fBboot\fR(8) for more
32 information on loading a specific kernel.
35 The \fBmoddir\fR variable contains a list of module directories separated by
36 whitespace. moddir can be set in the \fB/etc/system\fR file. The minimal
41 /platform/platform-name/kernel /kernel /usr/kernel
46 This default can be supplemented by a specific platform.
50 The kernel configuration can be controlled using the \fB/etc/system\fR file
51 (see \fBsystem\fR(4)).
54 \fBgenunix\fR is the platform-independent component of the base kernel.
58 The following options are supported:
66 Asks the user for configuration information, such as where to find the system
67 file, where to mount \fBroot\fR, and even override the name of the kernel
68 itself. Default responses will be contained in square brackets ([ ]), and the
69 user may simply enter RETURN to use the default response (note that RETURN is
70 labeled ENTER on some keyboards). To help repair a damaged \fB/etc/system\fR
71 file, enter \fB/dev/null\fR at the prompt that asks for the pathname of the
72 system configuration file. See \fBsystem\fR(4).
78 \fB\fB-i\fR \fIaltinit\fR\fR
82 Select an alternative executable to be the primordial process. \fIaltinit\fR
83 must be a valid path to an executable. The default primordial process is
90 \fB\fB-m\fR \fIsmf_options\fR\fR
94 The \fIsmf_options\fR include two categories of options to control booting
95 behavior of the service management facility: recovery options and messages
98 Message options determine the type and amount of messages that \fBsmf\fR(5)
99 displays during boot. Service options determine the services which are used to
110 Prints standard per-service output and all \fBsvc.startd\fR messages to log.
116 \fB\fImilestone=[milestone]\fR\fR
120 Boot with some SMF services temporarily disabled, as indicated by
121 \fImilestone\fR. \fImilestone\fR can be "none", "single-user", "multi-user",
122 "multi-user-server", or "all". See the \fBmilestone\fR subcommand of
134 Prints standard per-service output and error messages requiring administrative
145 Prints standard per-service output with more informational messages.
157 Reconfiguration boot. The system will probe all attached hardware devices and
158 configure the logical namespace in \fB/dev\fR. See \fBadd_drv\fR(8) and
159 \fBrem_drv\fR(8) for additional information about maintaining device drivers.
169 Boots only to init level 's'. See \fBinit\fR(8).
179 Boots with verbose messages enabled. If this flag is not given, the messages
180 are still printed, but the output is directed to the system logfile. See
187 See \fBboot\fR(8) for examples and instructions on how to boot.
196 Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a particular
197 instruction set that are needed for booting the system. of the core image file.
203 \fB\fB/platform/\fIplatform-name\fR/kernel\fR\fR
207 The platform-specific kernel components.
213 \fB\fB/platform/\fIhardware-class-name\fR\fR\fB/kernel\fR\fR
217 The kernel components specific to this hardware class.
223 \fB\fB/usr/kernel\fR\fR
227 Contains kernel components common to all platforms within a particular
233 The directories in this section can potentially contain the following
242 Loadable device drivers
252 The modules that execute programs stored in various file formats.
272 Miscellaneous system-related modules
282 Operating system schedulers
292 System V STREAMS loadable modules
302 Loadable system calls
319 \fBuname\fR(1), \fBisainfo\fR(1), \fBadd_drv\fR(8), \fBboot\fR(8),
320 \fBinit\fR(8), \fBkadb\fR(8), \fBrem_drv\fR(8), \fBsavecore\fR(8),
321 \fBsvc.startd\fR(8), \fBsvcadm\fR(8), \fBsyslogd\fR(8), \fBsystem\fR(4),
322 \fBattributes\fR(5), \fBsmf\fR(5), \fBdevfs\fR(7FS)
326 The kernel gives various warnings and error messages. If the kernel detects an
327 unrecoverable fault, it will panic or halt.
331 Reconfiguration boot will, by design, not remove \fB/dev\fR entries for some
332 classes of devices that have been physically removed from the system.