Unit 4 – The Boot
Process
Randy Marchany
VA Tech Computing
Center
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The Boot Process
 4 main phases
– Boot Prom
– Boot Programs
– Kernel
– Init
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Boot Prom Phase
 Ensure the HW is working properly.
 Begin the process of starting Solaris 8.
 Run POST
– Scan the system for installed HW
– Run primary diagnostics on everything it finds
– Builds the device tree
 The system banner is displayed when POST is
done.
– Ethernet address, HW type, Processor type and speed,
hostid, memory size
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Boot Prom Phase
 Run the boot command if the environment
variable, auto-boot? Is set to true.
 It looks at the environment variable bootdevice to find the boot drive.
 It reads the primary boot loader, boot block
(bootblk) and executes it.
 The boot block is always located in sector
1-15 of the boot device.
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Boot Command Options
-a
-s
-r
-w
-v
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Interactive boot, system
will prompt you
Boot into single user or
maintenance mode
Use after installing new
HW
Mount / as writable for
repair
Verbose mode
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Boot Programs Phase
 Sole function is to load the secondary boot
program, ufsboot, and execute it.
 ufsboot locates and loads the basic kernel.
 ufsboot location is encoded in the boot
block.
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Kernel Phase
 The kernel is the software that manages access to
the OS and hardware resources.
 Two sections
– Platform independent piece called genunix.
– Platform dependent piece called unix.
 ufsboot loads these 2 pieces into memory, starts
the kernel and hands control over to it.
 The kernel uses ufsboot to locate and load
modules needed to complete the boot process.
 Modules are software programs that control a
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certain piece of HW.
Kernel Phase
 Main kernel files are located:
– /platform/ARCH/kernel
– /platform/ARCH/kernel/sparcv9
– Where ARCH is the architecture of the system (uname
–i)
– Sparcv9 is the directory that contains the 64 bit
support.
 Modules are located in /kernel, /usr/kernel,
/platform/ARCH/kernel or
/platform/MODEL/kernel (uname –m)
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Kernel Phase
 The kernel then mounts /
 Reads its config file (/etc/system) and
configures itself. This file is read once at
boot. If you make changes to it, you must
reboot for them to go into effect.
 Be careful with this file. If you mess it up,
you won’t be able to boot.
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Init Phase
 Once the kernel is loaded, it loads and executes
the init process.
 The init phase is the last step in the boot process.
 Init is the ancestor of all processes that run on the
system.
 Config file is /etc/inittab which describes the run
levels and the processes that are to be run as the
system transitions from 1 run level to another.
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/etc/inittab
 ID:run level:ACTION:Process
 ID – 1-4 character string that identifies the entry
 Run level – run level the system must be to run
the process. 0 – halt/shutdown, 1 – single user, 2
– multiuser no network, 3 – multiuser with
network, 5 – powerdown, 6 – reboot. Default run
level is 3.
 ACTION – keyword describes how the process is
to be run
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/etc/inittab
 ACTION keywords
– Sysinit – process is run before the console login
prompt is displayed
– Initdefault – defines the default run level where the
system will operate. Init will cycle through the run
levels unitl it reaches this level.
– Respawn – defines a process that should be started if it
is note currently running. If it terminates, restart it
again.
– Wait – tells init to wait until this process is finished.
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/etc/initab
 ACTION keywords
– Once – process is started when init activate the
entry but it is not restarted when it completes.
– Boot – process that init begins at boot time.
Run only once.
 PROCESS – th command or script that is
to be run when the entry is activated by
init. The system run level scripts are started
from here.
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Run Levels
 Determine the number of users that can
access the system and what is available to
those users.
 There are 8 predefined run levels but you
can add your own.
 Run levels 0, 5, 6 are transition run levels.
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Run Level Scripts
 Each run level is controlled by a run control
script (rc script) called /sbin/rcX where X = run
level the script controls.
 These scripts are run by init whenever a new run
level is entered.
 Example: we are at run level 3 and move to run
level 1. The /sbin/rc1 script is run.
 Note: the older run scripts used to be in /etc/rcX
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Run Level Scripts
 /etc/init.d
– True location of the service control scripts executed by
the /sbin/rcX scripts.
– Centralized location, these scripts start or shut down
the service on the system.
– Name Syntax: Sxxservice or Kxxservice
•
•
•
•
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S – start (run at boot)
K – kill (run at shutdown)
Xx – order number the service is started
Service – short name for the particular service
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Run Level Commands





init, telinit – change to a new run level
shutdown – move to run level 1(S)
halt – move to run level 0
reboot – move to run level 6
poweroff – move to run level 5
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Possible Scenarios
Modified /etc/system and Use reboot command
need to reload it
System needs to be
shutdown immediately
Use halt command
Currently in multiuser
mode but need to go to
maintenance mode
Need to shutdown
gracefully
Use init 1 or telinit 1to
transition to maintenance
mode
Shutdown –i 0 g –300,
for example
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