Booting From a ZFS Boot Environment on SPARC Platforms

The following two options of the boot command support booting from a ZFS root file system on SPARC based systems:

-L

Displays a list of available boot environments within a ZFS pool.

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Note - The boot -L command is executed from the OBP, not from the command line.

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-Z dataset

Boots the root file system for the specified ZFS boot environment.

If you are booting a system from a ZFS root file system, first use the boot command with the -L option from the OBP to print a list of the available boot environments on the system. Then, use the -Z option to boot the specified boot environment.

For more information, see the boot(1M) man page.

SPARC: How to Display a List of Available Boot Environments During the Boot Sequence

On SPARC based systems, the menu.lst file contains the following two commands:

• title – Provides a title for a boot environment

• bootfs – Specifies the full name of the boot environment

As explained in the following procedure, to display a list of the boot environments within a ZFS pool, use the boot -L command. This command displays a list of the available boot environments within a given ZFS root pool and provides instructions for booting the system.

1. Become the root role.
2. Bring the system to the ok PROM prompt.

   # init 0

3. List the available boot environments in a ZFS pool.

   ok boot device-specifier -L

   where device-specifier identifies a storage pool, not a single root file system.

4. To boot one of the entries that is displayed, type the number that corresponds to the entry.
5. Boot the specified boot environment by following the instructions that are displayed on the screen.

   For instructions, see How to Boot From a ZFS Boot Environment or Root File System.

Example 7-3 Displaying a List of Available Boot Environments by Using the boot -L Command

# init 0
# svc.startd: The system is coming down. Please wait.
svc.startd: 94 system services are now being stopped.
svc.startd: The system is down.
syncing file systems... done
Program terminated
ok boot -L
.
.
.
Boot device: /pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@8/disk@0,0 File and args: -L
zfs-file-system
Loading: /platformsun4v/bootlst
1.s10s_nbu6wos
2 zfs2BE
Select environment to boot: [ 1 - 2 ]: 2

to boot the selected entry, invoke:
boot [<root-device] -Z rpool/ROOT/zfs2BE

See Also

For more information, see Chapter 5, Managing ZFS Root Pool Components, in Oracle Solaris Administration: ZFS File Systems.

How to Boot From a ZFS Boot Environment or Root File System

When booting from ZFS, the device-specifier identifies a storage pool, not a single root file system. A storage pool can contain multiple boot environments, datasets, or root file systems. Therefore, when booting from ZFS, you must also identify a root file system within the pool that is identified by the boot device as the default. The default boot device is identified by the pool's bootfs property. This procedure shows how to boot the system by specifying a ZFS boot environment. See the boot(1M) man page for a complete description of all the boot options that are available.

For more information, see the zpool(1M) man page.

1. Become the root role.
2. Bring the system to the ok PROM prompt.

   # init 0

3. (Optional) Display a list of available boot environments by using the boot command with the -L option.

   For instructions, see SPARC: How to Display a List of Available Boot Environments During the Boot Sequence.

4. To boot a specified entry, type the number of the entry and press Return:

   Select environment to boot: [1 - 2]:

5. To boot the system, follow the instructions that are displayed on the screen.

   To boot the selected entry, invoke:
   boot [<root-device>] -Z rpool/ROOT/boot-environment

   ok boot -Z rpool/ROOT/boot-environment

   For example:

   # boot -Z rpool/ROOT/zfs2BE

6. After the system has booted, verify the active boot environment.

   # prtconf -vp | grep whoami

7. (Optional) To display the boot path for the active boot environment, type the following command:

   # prtconf -vp | grep bootpath

8. (Optional) To determine whether the correct boot environment was booted, type the following command:

   # df -lk

Example 7-4 Booting From a ZFS Boot Environment

This example shows how to use the boot -Z command to boot a ZFS boot environment on a SPARC based system.

# init 0
# svc.startd: The system is coming down. Please wait.
svc.startd: 79 system services are now being stopped.
svc.startd: The system is down.
syncing file systems... done
Program terminated
ok boot -Z rpool/ROOT/zfs2BEe
Resetting
LOM event: =44d+21h38m12s host reset
g ...

rProcessor Speed = 648 MHz
Baud rate is 9600
8 Data bits, 1 stop bits, no parity (configured from lom)

.
.
.
Environment monitoring: disabled
Executng last command: boot -Z rpool/ROOT/zfs2BE
Boot device: /pci@1f,0/pci@1/scsi@8/disk@0,0 File and args: -Z rpool/ROOT/zfs2Be
zfs-file-system
.
.
.
Hostname: mallory
NIS domainname is ...
Reading ZFS config: done.
Mounting ZFS filesytems: (6/6)

mallory console login:

See Also

For more information about booting from a ZFS root file system, see Booting From a ZFS Root File System in Oracle Solaris Administration: ZFS File Systems.