Glossary
- active boot environment
The boot environment that is currently booted.
- alternate root (/) file system
A copy of the operating environment, not the currently running system.
- archive
A file that contains all of the files that were copied from a master system. The file also contains identification information about the archive, such as name and the date you created the archive. When you select to install an archive on a system, the system then contains the exact configuration of the master system you used to create the archive.
- arrow keys
One of the four directional keys on the numeric keypad.
- begin script
A user-defined Bourne shell script, specified within the rules file, that performs tasks before the Solaris software is installed on the system. You can use begin scripts only with custom JumpStart installations.
- boot
To load the system software into memory and start it.
- boot environment
A bootable Solaris environment that consists of a set of disk slices and the appropriate mount points and file systems. These disk slices might be on the same disk or distributed across multiple disks.
- boot server
A server system that provides client systems on the same network subnet with the programs and information that they need to start. A boot server is required to install over the network if the install server is on a different subnet than the systems on which Solaris software is to be installed.
- checksum
The result of adding a group of data items that are used for checking the group. The data items can be either numerals or other character strings that are treated as numerals during the checksum calculation. The checksum value verifies that communication between two devices is successful.
- client
In the client-server model for communications, the client is a process that remotely accesses resources of a compute server, such as compute power and large memory capacity.
- clone system
A system that you installed by using a Web Start Flash archive. The clone system has the same installation configuration as the master system.
- cluster
A logical collection of packages (software modules). The Solaris 9 software is divided into software groups, which are each composed of clusters and packages.
- command line
A string of characters that begin with a command, often followed by arguments, including options, file names, and other expressions, and terminated by the end-of-line character.
- Core
A software group that contains the minimum software that is required to boot and run the Solaris operating environment on a system. Core includes some networking software and the drivers that are required to run the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) desktop. It does not include the CDE software.
- critical file systems
File systems that are required by the Solaris operating environment. When you use Solaris Live Upgrade, these file systems are separate mount points in the vfstab of the active and inactive boot environments. Examples are root (/), /usr, /var, or /opt. These file systems are always copied from the source to the inactive boot environment.
- custom JumpStart
A type of installation in which the Solaris 9 software is automatically installed on a system based on a user-defined profile. You can create customized profiles for different types of users and systems. A custom JumpStart installation is a JumpStart installation you create.
- custom probes file
A file, which must be located in the same JumpStart directory as the rules file, is a Bourne shell script that contains two types of functions: probe and comparison. Probe functions gather the information you want or do the actual work and set a corresponding SI_ environment variable you define. Probe functions become probe keywords. Comparison functions call a corresponding probe function, compare the output of the probe function, and return 0 if the keyword matches or 1 if the keyword doesn't match. Comparison functions become rule keywords. See also rules file.
- derived profile
A profile that is dynamically created by a begin script during a custom JumpStart installation.
- Developer Solaris Software Group
A software group that contains the End User Solaris Software Group plus the libraries, include files, man pages, and programming tools for developing software.
- DHCP
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is an application-layer protocol that enables individual computers, or clients, on a TCP/IP network to extract an IP address and other network configuration information from a designated and centrally maintained DHCP server or servers. This facility reduces the overhead of maintaining and administering a large IP network.
- disc
An optical disc, as opposed to a magnetic disk, in keeping with the common spelling that used in the CD (compact disc) market. For example, a CD-ROM is an optical disc.
- disk
A round platter, or set of platters, of a magnetized medium that is organized into concentric tracks and sectors for storing data such as files. See also disc.
- disk configuration file
A file that represents a structure of a disk (for example, bytes/sector, flags, slices). Disk configuration files enable you to use pfinstall from a single system to test profiles on different- size disks.
- diskless client
A client on a network that relies on a server for all of its disk storage.